Scrabble clubs meet

Scrabble players who have scared off family and friends with their prowess or love of the game have plenty of ways to feed their interest, thanks to the Internet and the National Scrabble Association.

The Internet offers several sites to play Scrabble, most notably www.games.com and www.playsite.com. Both sites require registration, but members get color-coded rankings as they play, to enable them to find opponents with similar expertise. New players start out with a rating of 1,200 and a light-blue color. As their ratings climb into the 1,300s, the color turns orange, and when they reach the “expert” level of 1,600 or above, their color turns red. If their ratings drop into triple-digit territory, their color turns green.

The www.games.com site also features a quick “Solitaire” style of Scrabble called “Scrabble Blitz” for players who don’t have the time or the desire to play a full game of Scrabble online. Scrabble Blitz gives players continuous four-minute games in which they try to build as many words as possible by themselves, competing against other players getting the letters in the same order. The ratings and color codes in Scrabble Blitz are the same, but orange-coded players in Scrabble Blitz will frequently score in the high 300s or low 400s in one four-minute game. Red-colored “expert” players will score in the 500s and 600s.

For players who like face-to-face competition, several Scrabble clubs meet weekly in the Washington area. Membership in the National Scrabble Association is not mandatory to participate in the weekly clubs, but it is required to play in any NSA-sanctioned tournaments. The Annapolis Scrabble Club, which meets Wednesday nights, is hosting a tournament in May, but it is only open to NSA members.

To join a club, contact one of the leaders listed below:

• Annapolis: 7 p.m. Wednesdays, Barnes and Noble bookstore, Annapolis Harbor Shopping Center. Leader: Mary Lou Goetz. 410/695-0575; mlgoetz@juno.com.

• Bowie: 7 p.m. Mondays, Barnes and Noble bookstore, Bowie Town Center (first Monday of the month) and at the Woodward Estate on 14977 Health Center Drive in Bowie (second and following Mondays). Leader: Linda Stephanides. 301/390-6751; lstephan@juno.com.

• Alexandria: 4 p.m. on first, third and fifth Sundays, Mount Vernon Hospital in Alexandria. Leaders: Dennis Rowe (703/883-5883; drowe@mitre.org) and Rick Settle (703/339-547; mulchin.man@verizon.net).

• Washington: 6 p.m. Tuesdays, Chevy Chase Community Center, Connecticut Avenue and McKinley Street NW. Leaders: Robert Linn (301/309-2629; blinn@fbw.com) and Ted Gest (202/966-5215; tgest@sas.upenn.edu).

The National Scrabble Association has a Web site (www.scrabble-assoc.com) that offers membership forms and information on upcoming tournaments and local clubs.

Mark Stewart