|
The Resurgence of Scrabble®
by Trevor Johnson
(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.)
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.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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.
This article provided by the Family Content Archives at: http://www.Family-Content.com
Home
Page - PeopleOfFaith.com - Visitor
Agreement
((c)
2004 People of Faith |
HOME
|
