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NSA SCRABBLE® CLUB No. 531
Cambridge, MA
Frequently Asked Questions [FAQ]

Table of Contents

1. How do I join the club?
2. When and where is the next session?
3. When is the next tournament?
4. Who is the director of the club?
5. What is the average club player like?
6. Where can I find other people who want to play?
7. How do I find out more about all of this?
8. Who has won past Club and Open Tournaments?

How do I join the club ?

Just show up!  There's nothing to join and you can come and go at anytime.  We play with deluxe boards, protiles and chess clocks. You can bring these items if you have them or use the club's equipment while you're there.

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Where can I find other people who want to play ?

The Cambridge club is a good place to start! Visit our clubs page to find out about other clubs throughout North America.

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Who is the director of the club?

Ben Loiterstein Greenwood directs this club.  Ben is the 1998 Intermediate National SCRABBLE®  Champion and is an educational consultant for the National SCRABBLE® Association supporting the National School SCRABBLE® Program. 

Ben also teaches an adult education class called "Becoming a Better SCRABBLE®  Player."  You can get more information about the class under the "Fun and Games" section of the Cambridge Center for Adult Education's online catalog.   He recently taught a course there called "Scrabble Strategies" and in Summer 2004 taught a version of this class at the Newton Community Education center.

You can write to Ben at "staff" at scrabbleclub dot com.

Aaron Mandel co-directs this club as of September 2003.   He also maintains this page of unique SCRABBLE® information.

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What is the average club player like?

This club has an extremely diverse group of players ranging from 8 to 85 years of age and from an hour to almost fifty years of playing experience.  Most players are new to playing the game in a competitive setting. Some players are among the most highly rated in the U.S. and others aren't rated at all because they've never played in a tournament before. But everybody gets to play someone with roughly the same ability.

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When and where is the next session?

UPDATE: As of Sunday July 18th, 2004 the club is no longer meeting on a weekly basis.  We still expect to meet for club tournaments when possible, in Cambridge and Lexington.

The club is free and open to the public.  You may bring food and drinks to the playing session.  You will be paired up with another player either through a random drawing or by director assignment - in fairness to all, this club does not allow people to pick or choose who they will play.

Join the club's mailing list and get notified automatically of all club events. 

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When is the next tournament?

   Wednesday December 26, 2007 was the most recent one. Monthly ones starting in January 2008 are expected to be announced soon.. For updates, please join the mailing list [below]. 

We hold 3 or 5-round NSA-rated tournaments for club members but which are also open to other NSA members.  At times we also hold open, fully rated public events.

Everyone participating in a club tournament will receive a new or modified national rating from the NSA.   NSA rules require you to be a current NSA member to participate in any rated club tournament.  You can join the NSA at the tournament site by paying the annual NSA membership fee of $20.  This entitles you to 8 issues of the Scrabble News from the NSA each year. 

Each club tournament can consist of a different number of games and participants, depending on registrations and schedule.  These tournaments are open to all club members as well as any other current NSA members.  Ratings for those shown as "club" tournaments are calculated at 1/3 of the standard ratings used at "open/public tournaments".  Entry fees range from $5-16 with entry fee money used to pay tournament expenses, NSA rating charges, and provide cash prizes. 

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Who has won past Club and Open tournaments?

Past winners include:

2000
May        Michel Cohen    3-0 +598   +3 to 1797 [change in NSA rating]
July
 Div. A    Richard Buck    4-1 +306   +8 to 1710
 Div. B    Gregg Foster    5-0 +642   +7 to 1537
August     Judy Horn       5-1 +397  +13 to 1612
September  Joel Horn       5-0 +432  +13 to 1690
October    Richard Buck    3-0 +563   +3 to 1707
 

2001
January    Richard Buck    7-0 +882  +20 to 1691
February   Michel Cohen    4-1 +319   +4 to 1801
March      Ben Loiterstein 4-1 +370   +4 to 1662
April      Rod MacNeil     5-1 +257   +6 to 1756 
May        Ben Loiterstein 5-0 +615  +20 to 1680
June       Ben Loiterstein 6-0 +701  +14 to 1694
July       Richard Buck    6-1 +680   +2 to 1798
August
 Div. A    Bruce Adams     7-0 +315  +27 to 1715
 Div. B    Chris Guilbert  7-0 +1178 +12 to 1501
September  Judy Horn       5-1 +346  +10 to 1770
October    Loren Mitchel   6-1 +703  -2  to 1884   Photo
November  
 Div. A    Judy Horn       4-1 +296  +7  to 1732
 Div. B    Chris Kulig     4-1 +314  -2  to 1324   Photos
December   Ben Loiterstein 6-1 +410  +7  to 1677   Photos Challenged Words

2002
January
 Div. A    Joe Mallick      5-0 +310  +6  to 1909   Photos
 Div. B    Chris Kulig      5-0 +517  +4  to 1328 
February 
 Div. A    Richard Buck     5-0 +319  +12 to 1774  
 Div. B    Edgar Thomas     5-0 +259  +20 to 1033 
March
 Div. A    Paula Kaufmann   4-1 +131  +1  to 1701  
 Div. B    Jason Holmes     4-1 +261  N/R to 1085 
April      Richard Buck     4-1 +493  +5  to 1782   Photos
May      
 Div. A    Judy Horn        5-0 +418  +18 to 1758
 Div. B    Gerri Martin     5-0 +289  +9  to 1484
 Div. C    Carl Durdan      3-2 +333  -5  to 1004
 Div. D    Marek
           Janota-Bzowski   3-2 +152  +4  to 757
August      
 Div. A    Joel Horn        5-0 +333  +14 to 1786
 Div. B    Isaias Sarmiento 5-0 +396  +9  to 1456
 Div. C    Ronald Mignery   4-1 +317  +8  to  903

November [held in conjunction with the Lexington Club]
 Div. A    Steve Saul        4-1 +244  +7  to 1826
 Div. B    John Van Pelt     4-1 +175  +10 to 1688
 Div. C    Ben Loiterstein   5-0 +285  +12 to 1613
 Div. D    Peg Whitten       5-0 +363  +12 to 1284
 Div. E    Renate Bachman    5-0 +267  +29 to  940
 Div. F    Jackie Prince     5-0 +151  +30 to  811
 Div. G    Nicholas Cheung   4-1 +443  N/R to  963
December
 Div. A    Joel Horn         2-1 +91   +4 to 1787
 Div. B    John Van Pelt     2-1 +292  -3 to 1685

2003
January    Photo 1 [all winners]  Photo 2 [Division winners]
 Div. A    Joel Horn         3-2 +153  +2 to 1789
 Div. B    Isaias Sarmiento  5-0 +508  +3 to 1475
 Div. C    Trix Kout         4-1 +355  +5 to  828

February   [with 24 players and over $200 in prizes]    

 Div. A    Photo        Richard Buck       4-1 +346  +3  to 1820
 Div. B    Photo        Ryan O'Donnell     5-0 +371  +26 to 1003
 Div. C    Photo        Jackie Prince      4-1 +148  +10 to 820
 Div. D    Photos 1 2   Josh Segal         5-0 +541  N/R to 1146

March      Photo    Challenged [and/or looked up] Word List
 Div. A    Joel Horn       5-0 +425    +7  to 1760
 Div. B    Emily Saltz     4-1 +345    +18 to 884
 Div. C    Erica Klempner  5-0 +427    N/R to 1189
 Div. D    Joev Dubach     4-1 +696    +17 to 569 

April      Photo [large] of Listed Winners       
           Photo [large] of High/Low Prize Winners
           Challenged [and/or looked up] Word List
Upper Half    1st    Joel Horn            5-0 +697
              2nd    Judy Horn            4-1 +404
            Class    Chris Kulig          3-2 +70
Lower Half    1st    Joev Dubach          3-2 +41
              2nd    Shakurra Amatulla    3-2 -172
            Class    Lindsay Harrison     2-3 -203

May         Challenged [and/or looked up] Word List
 Div. A     Mike Wolfberg        4-1 +639    +12 to 1731
 Div. B     Peg Whitten          4-1 +280    +14 to 1249
 Div. C     Lindsay Harrison     5-0 +516    +29 to  796
 Div. D     Lauren Comeau        4-1 +232    +13 to  710

June
 Div. A     Ben L Greenwood      4-1 +274
 Div. B     Ellen Miller         5-0 +398
 Div. C     Lauren Comeau        4-1 +402

July
 Div. A     Richard Buck         3-0 +406 
 Div. B     Joev Dubach          3-0 +139

July 19     Cambridge, MA  Open Tournament - click date for full coverage

August 9    Somerville, MA Open Tournament - click date for full coverage

August      1st place  Richard Buck    2-1 +129    -2 to 1786
            2nd place  Carl Durdan     2-1 +49    +13 to 1152

September
 Div. A      Richard Buck             4-1  +278 
 Div. B      Bennett Schlesinger      4-1  +336
 Div. C      Tom Davis                3-2  +237
 Div. D      Lauren Comeau            4-1  +188
 Div. E      Sonya Harrison           4-1  +113

October    Club members were busy playing on the Cape.

November   Challenged [and/or looked up] Word List
 Div. A    Richard Buck       3-2 +415   
 Div. B    Ben L Greenwood    5-0 +539  
 Div. C    Thomas Davis       4-1 +355  
 Div. D    Lauren Comeau      4-1 +678   

2004

February     Photos
             Challenged [and/or looked up] Word List

 Div. A      Richard Buck             4-0 +268 
 Div. B      Adam Levine              4-0 +269
 Div. C      Myron Feld               3-1 +200
 Div. D      Ben Harrison             4-0 +538
 Div. E      Michael Cresta           3-1 +318

March

Div. A       Judy Horn               3-0 +268    +8 to 1620
Div. B       Ben Harrison            3-0 +475    +8 to 966

April

Div. A       Richard Buck            4-1  +133   +2 to 1877
Div. B       Jamie Ryan              5-0  +382   +7 to 1210

May          Photos
             Challenged [and/or looked up] Word List

 Div. A      Jere Mead             4-1 +310
 Div. B      Ben Greenwood         5-0 +570
 Div. C      Adam Rodriques        4-1 +310
 Div. D      Trix Kout             4-1 +600

June         Photo of many players
             Challenged [and/or looked up] Word List

 Div. A      Joel Horn             5-0 +317    +17 to 1776
 Div. B      Ben Greenwood         4-1 +271    -1  to 1565
 Div. C      Ben Harrison          5-0 +242    +15 to 1014
 Div. D      Marek
             Janota-Bzowski        4-1 +150    +14 to 706

July

 Div. A      Carl Durdan             3-0 +221    +13 to 1469
 Div. B      Aaron Mandel            3-0 +244    +9  to 1163
 Div. C      Myron Feld              3-0 +479    +3  to 1122

[none held in August]


September

 Div. A      John Van Pelt           3-1 +237 
 Div. B      Ben Greenwood           3-1 +212   
 Div. C      Ben Harrison            3-1 +423   
 Div. D      Renate Bachmann         3-1 +45 

October [photo and rated results]

November [photo and rated results]

December

 Div. A      Joel Horn          
 Div. B      Carl Durdan            
 Div. C      Renate Bachmann            
 Div. D      Linda Giovinazzo  

2005

February      

March

April

June

July

December

2006

No club tournaments.

2007

July

August

December

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How do I find out more about all of this?

You can join our mailing list so that you will be kept informed of any club events and activities.  Any member of the mailing list can post a message that will be sent to all other mailing list members.  You can also remove yourself from the mailing list at anytime.

In addition, be sure to visit the National SCRABBLE® Association for information about becoming a member, receiving the newsletter and word lists, reading about past and future tournaments, and much more!

 Write us for more information.

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This page was last updated on Wednesday December 26, 2007 02:44 PM -0600

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