Have The First And Last Word: Scrabble Training Sunday

DANBURY — It’s time once again to start flexing your brain power and beef up your wordy know-how, because the 7th annual Eastern Scrabble Championship is fast approaching the Housatonic Valley. To prepare for board game battle, a Scrabble tournament training session is being held on Sunday, January 21, at The Inn at Ethan Allen.

The event, which is hosted by the Housatonic Valley Tourism District, will be led by Scrabble champion Ed Neugroschel of New Milford, who was among the winners of last year’s Eastern Scrabble Championship.

The training session will begin at 1 pm. The inn is on Lake Avenue Extension, immediately off I-84 Exit 4.

“We try to prepare the players, particularly beginners, for the differences in rules between tournament play and playing at home,” explained Mr Neugroschel.

“We touch on topics like word challenges and word lists, which tiles they may want to hold onto and which ones they may want to get rid of. We give them the tools to help increase their enjoyment of the game.”

As an added bonus, door prizes are being donated such as brunch for two at The Inn at Ethan Allen, host of the Eastern Scrabble Championship, and a $100 gift certificate from Danbury’s Borders bookstore, host of a monthly Scrabble club.

“The training was very informative and it opened my eyes to techniques used by the pros, like recognizing trailers,” said Christina Baldini of Dover, N.Y., a former mini-tournament winner.

Another previous min-tournament champ, Betsy Neuberg of Weston, commented:_“Anther advantage of the training session is just getting the feel for the competition beforehand.”

The training session is free and no experience is necessary. Participants will be eligible to compete in the five round mini-tournament or the 200-round Eastern Scrabble Championship slated for February 16-19, also in Danbury. For more information, contact Housatonic Valley Tourism District at 743-0546.