Book Review: Steven Gruzd - This handy 192 page book is ideal for the Scrabble player making the jump from games with granny after dinner to playing at club and tournament level. Subtitled “Top tips to help you win”, this easy-to read book runs briskly through many essential skills needed to raise your game, from the basis rules, to the important word categories, rack balancing, bonus finding strategies and the intricacies and considerations of the end game.

The author, Barry Grossman, has been around the Scrabble scene in the UK for decades, and his irrepressible dry Scottish humour is very much in evidence. Here’s his description of that moment ten minutes after the advertised tournament starting time: “People start to look at their watches and wonder why they aren’t playing yet. Eventually it is realised that either (a) someone is late and everyone else is being held up to wait for him, (b) someone is complaining they’ve been put in the wrong division or (c) the computer isn’t working.”

Grossman leads the player across Scrabble topography with the excitement and insight of a helpful, almost breathless David Attenborough traipsing through a muggy tropical rainforest. Without being condescending, intimidating or overwhelming the newbie with too many words or considerations at once, Grossman writes in a way that encourages the newer player to realise that the art and science of good Scrabble is achievable. For instance, he splits the 124 two-letter words into categories of words you already know, those you know but might not think are valid, and ones you probably don’t know, and leads the reader through the various groups systematically. He gradually talks the reader through the mental steps needed to examine likely racks for bonus words, how to maximise the big tiles (JQXZ) and explains the value of the “power tiles” (S and blank) that belies their modest face value.

Visually, the book looks modern and fresh, with artistic photographs of Scrabble boards at the start of each chapter, clear board and rack diagrams to illustrate points of strategy and tactics, and effective use of boldface type when discussing racks and words. It is peppered with small boxes entitled “Good to know” that offer titbits that are, well, good to know, such as which British newspapers run regular Scrabble puzzles (The Times, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and Daily Express) and short lists of unusual words. Grossman provides definitions throughout the book of most of the unfamiliar words mentioned in examples or lists, useful for making some of them stick in the brain. Each chapter ends with board diagrams of game situations that challenge the reader to “Have a go” at putting the advice into practice. It has more the feel of a guidebook than a textbook.

While the main targets are undoubtedly the ambitious kitchen Scrabble player or the club newcomer, even experts will enjoy the excellent collections of words from around the world, including Australian, Canadian, Hindi, New Zealand, South Africa and Urdu. Many of these are new to the Scrabble lexicon following the adoption of Collins. Newer players especially, and even those who’ve been around the boards for years without vastly improving their results, will gain from the easygoing style and solid strategies outlined in Need to Know? Scrabble.

Posted on July 30th, 2007 by Barry
Filed under: News, Strategy