Rules, Rules, Rules

Each club has its own style of play — some are just social outlets where people get together to have fun. Other clubs' meetings are very competitive and each session is essentially a mini-tournament. Our club is a healthy mix of the two. We have fun but we also take the game seriously. Since prizes are awarded periodically we follow established tournament rules. However, the prize structure has some luck built into it so that it is not always the top players who win the prizes — everyone has a chance.

Yes, it's still the Scrabble® game you know

The basic rules are the same as the game you play at home but there are a few differences which reflect tournament play rules:

• Only two players compete in a single game.
• Games are timed. Each player has 25 minutes to complete all of their plays. Ten points are subtracted for each minute or fraction thereof that a player goes over 25 minutes.
• In the U.S. and Canada, the primary word source used to determine the validity of words played is the NASPA Word List, last revised in 2023 [NWL23]
• The player who goes out first receives double the point value of the tiles remaining on the opponent's rack.

New Players Take Note

New players are allowed certain exceptions until they win three games at our club. New players get an additional five minutes for their games. They can also use the NASPA two- and three-letter word list [provided to new players] during the game. They may also challenge words without penalty. Players will be considered to be new players if they have never played in a tournament before and have not yet won three games at our club.