Play Better Scrabble is written by National Scrabble Championship winner and the first victor on Channel 4's Countdown, Michael Goldman. The book contains strategies, hints and techniques for all stages of the game as well as instructional game examples, how to best use the S and the blank, anagrams and useful word lists.

Play Better Scrabble will allow anyone to learn the Open Board Method, used by the elite players today to win games. The Open Board Method, pioneered by Michael Goldman, encourages an expansive style that leads to high scores. This second edition has a completely new design, including 28 colour diagrams, while retaining the same indispensable advice as the original.

Republished on National Scrabble Day in 2019, Play Better Scrabble is an educational, entertaining and accessible book is full of expert advice and celebrates one of the world's most iconic board games. It's the perfect present for those who are keen to play in a more fulfilling way as well as win more games.

It's currently available for about £8 for the ebook, £10 for the paperback and £18 for the hardback from Amazon and other retailers. His author page is here.

The New Edition

The text remains the same but we've got a completely new design. The book has been more clearly structured into two main parts: strategy and secrets. And through the book, we've added sub titles to allow greater readability.

We've numbered every game example. There are 17 game examples that demonstrate the Open Board Method method through small examples all the way through to complete games.

We've kept the original words lists. The Scrabble lexicon has been updated since the first publication but the lists still provide a valuable resource. We have pull quotes throughout the book. These highlight key messages from the text.

Publishing Team

• Publisher: Merlin Goldman
• Editor: Malcolm Croft
• Designer: James Pople
• Illustrator: Richard Gibson

History of the Book

Play Better Scrabble was first published in 1983 by Michael Goldman and sold 5,000 copies. Michael won the National Scrabble Championship in 1977 and was runner up in 1979. He pioneered an open, expansive style of play that led to high scores. It's the style still used by elite players today.

Michael Goldman sold the book during breaks in tournaments and through the post. Finding an old copy, we decided to republish the book with an improved layout and colour images. We've left the text untouched. We hope that others will now be able to play the game he loved, the way he did.