Many people are familiar with SCRABBLE from games at home or with friends.  Club and tournament SCRABBLE shares many similarities with this style of game play, but has some important differences.  First, the game is played head-to-head, with two competitors.  A timing device is used, and each player receives 25 minutes in which to make his/her moves.  If a player runs over this time limit, points are deducted from his/her cumulative score.  Each player is required to keep score throughout the game, and challenges are adjudicated using an official word source, described below.

In club and tournament SCRABBLE, word adjudication is a structured process.  It is also the subject of some controversy.

Word adjudication is generally performed by a third party, who looks up each word made in a challenged play, and rules the play acceptable if all words are found in the word source, and unacceptable if any of the words is not found in the word source.  In some instances, computers with software self lookup programs loaded on them are used, so that players can adjudicate challenges independently.  The player who is challenging the play types in the word(s) being challenged, and then the other player presses the button (usually enter or tab) to call for adjudication. 

In North American club and tournament play, someone always loses a turn when there is a challenge.  If the challenged play is acceptable, the challenger loses a turn.  If the challenged play is unacceptable, the player who attempted to play a phoney word loses a turn.

North American club and tournament play uses a particular source for adjudicating challenges - The Official Word List for Club and Tournament Play - Second Edition (or OWL2).  School play uses the Official SCRABBLE Players Dictionary - Fourth Edition (OSPD4), which is substantially similar to the OWL2, but does not contain a number of words deemed offensive by the publisher. 

In much of the English speaking world outside of North America, an expanded word list is used, which is often referred to as either SOWPODS or the Collins Word List.  There are players who favor the adoption of this expanded word list in North American play, and others who oppose this change.  It is beyond the scope of this website to present extensive arguments on this issue.

Part of Tournament SCRABBLE is a rating system, used to assign a numeric rating to each player, based upon performance in tournament play.  In each rated game you play, application of the rating system takes into account your rating, your opponent's rating, and whether you won or lost the game to determine the change in your rating as a result of that game.  In your very first rated event, you will receive a rating equal to your "performance rating," which is the rating you would have needed at the beginning of the tournament to have an unchanged rating at the end of the tournament, given your performance.

Because ratings can be more volatile early in a SCRABBLE player's career, ratings changes are subject to an increased multiplier during the first 50 rated games.  A different ratings multiplier is also used for very high rated players.

Generally, players who are rated under 1200 are considered novice level players.  Players rated over 1200 but less than 1600 (or 1700, depending upon who is making the determination) are considered intermediate level players.  And players rater over 1600 (or 1700) are considered experts.

If you have been playing SCRABBLE with friends and family, and you are looking for a greater challenge across the board, club and tournament SCRABBLE might be the answer for you.  You may find, though, that the competitive level is higher than you anticipated.  If you are looking for ways to improve your level of SCRABBLE play, here are some tips:

1.  First and foremost, learn every word on Mike Baron's Cheat Sheet, available free for download on the Resources page.

2.  Get the SCRABBLE Wordbook by Mike Baron, and work through his study methods.

3.  Get the book Everything SCRABBLE, by Joe Edley and John Williams, and work through it.

There are many other resources and strategies available to SCRABBLE players, but these are excellent tools to help you advance as a player.