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Invented and designed by
Alfred Butts during the great depression and originally
known as "Criss-Cross Words", Scrabble was
renamed into the board game we know today in 1948.
Today, Scrabble is not
merely just a board game. It is an internationally
competitive "mind sport" with an active
competitive circuit, Scrabble Clubs, National Associations
and World Championships.
Growth of Scrabble Clubs
across the globe continues each year and the standard of
competition grows along with it. As a mind sport, Scrabble
is quickly approaching the level of intellectual challenge
and respect that is held by other mind-sports such as
Chess.
The growing popularity of
Scrabble today defies the myriad of similar rival
word-based board games that have emerged over the past two
decades.
Successful Scrabble players
know that there is far more to this game than just
spelling and vocabulary skills. Scrabble is a mind sport,
requiring mathematical skills, analytical and strategic
skills, and a mild dose of luck.
To the recreational
Scrabble player who enjoys a game with the family over the
kitchen table, the lack (or bad luck) of drawing the best
(or worst) collection of tiles out of the bag is a major
component of whether a player wins or loses. The more
advanced and competitive the player, the less luck plays a
part. Strategic skills largely eliminate the luck
component.
There are several reasons
why Scrabble is growing in popularity year by year.
In earlier eras, there were
problems with different dictionaries allowing or
disallowing various words. Today, Official Scrabble
Dictionaries have been almost totally standardized
internationally for English language play. There are now
just two slightly differing sets of official words - one
for North America and another for the rest of the world.
The Scrabble Clubs
themselves generate publicity in their communities,
offering not just competition, but also a social scene for
the less serious yet still enthusiastic recreational
player.
Inter-club tournaments,
Nation Championships and World Championships draw major
media attention.
Even ESPN has trialed
televising Scrabble competitions and is believed to be
keen on expanding their coverage of Scrabble as a
competitive mind sport.
In several countries,
Scrabble Clubs and associations are working actively with
Government Education Departments to introduce "School
Scrabble" - combining the academic and the sporting
aspects of Scrabble into the school curriculum.
The internet is playing a
role in the growing popularity of Scrabble with numerous
websites available for playing Scrabble online.
Educational resources and advice from Scrabble experts is
also readily available online.
The future growth of
Scrabble internationally appears assured. Given that the
International Olympic Committee is now considering a
number of mind-sports, such as Bridge, for possible
inclusion in future Olympic Games, it is not beyond the
realms of possibility that at some future point in time
Scrabble itself may become an Olympic sport.
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About
The Author
Trevor
Johnson is the author of the highly
acclaimed "Scrabble Bonus Word
Techniques" e-book series, available
at http://www.bonuswords.com.
Scrabble®
is a registered trade mark of Hasbro Inc
in the USA and Canada, and throughout the
rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons
Limited (a subsidiary of Mattel Inc.) of
Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. Hasbro is
not affiliated with J.W. Spear & Sons
Limited or Mattel Inc. |
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