BANGALORE SCRABBLE CLUB

The Bangalore Scrabble Club is a non-profit forum of tournament playing scrabble enthusiasts in Bangalore. Scrabble sessions are held every Saturdays from 4 pm - 8pm at one of the function halls in the Karnataka Badminton Association, Jasma Bhavan Road, (near Guru Nanak Bhavan).

In 1998, while visiting Hyderabad Capt.Rex D'Souza participated in a scrabble tournament conducted by the pioneer of competitive scrabble in India, D.V.Dhamaraj. Inspired by the intricacies of the game and the "new" list of words, Capt.Rex D'Souza and his wife Lennie D'Souza, gathered a few other scrabble enthusiasts to form the club. The first ever scrabble tournament was held later that year in Bangalore, which attracted over 80 participants.

Though scrabble is a household name and a very popular word game, tournament-level scrabble is less than a decade old in India and needs a boost to popularise the sport. In India, national level tournaments are held in Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore every year. There are engineers, doctors, an IAS officer, architects, students and even homemakers among our scrabble fraternity.

Scrabble is a mind-sport, which promotes logical thinking and analytical abilities. The game was invented by Alfred Mosher Butts during the 1930s depression in America, and is now the world's most popular word game. This very popular family game is a great relaxant for stressed out people and is now attracting interest, like chess. World Scrabble Championships are held every two years since the first one in 1991.

The last World Scrabble Championship was held from Oct 21 -24, 2003 in Kuala Lumpur with 90 participants from over 30 countries participating. One of the two Indian participants is now placed 21st in the world ranking.

The Bangalore Scrabble Club has so far organized three national level scrabble championships. It has conducted a few free clinics for children, and we plan to do it on a regular basis involving various schools. BSC is also planning to popularize scrabble in the corporate sector.