Rbsecbla ... any idea? Any idea how many points? Then you're obviously not a player or fan of a board game that has sold more than 100 million copies around the world.

Scrabble, the brain teasing word game has entertained children and adults and this weekend the best on the Island will pit their word skills against each other in the Bermuda Scrabble Club Tournament 2009.

The club began about 38 years ago, but did not start meeting regularly until about three years ago and the longest serving member and one of the only surviving founders Florenz Maxwell says people do not have to have a university education to play.

Mrs. Maxwell has been playing the game for more than 50 years and said: "I was introduced to the game when it was new in the 50s by an American friend, Ethel Oveide Thompson. I still have my original board.

"Years went by and I was able to play only when I visited the US once a year, because I didn't know anyone here to play with."

While working at the Youth Library, in the 1970s, she introduced her staff to the game and she introduced Guide Leaders from her district.

"Later, I discovered other Bermudians who were interested in Scrabble and thus the club was born," she said. "We have the elderly, two octogenarians, foreign workers, of both races, Bermudians, male and female. We have even attracted people from both political parties and one an MP (PLP backbencher Patrice Minors)!"

The skill set of players is not a requirement, because luck and your level of strategy only, determine the winner.

"Some of our players have consistent high scores, others are beginners, but everyone is thrown together by the luck of the draw," explained Mrs Maxwell.

"In this way many of our novice players have actually become top players. We have great fun and get along well together. There are no sore losers, sad sometimes, but not sore.

"The atmosphere of the club is congenial and we plan to keep it that way so that everyone who joins or visits can enjoy Scrabble. It's about strategy that is really what it is and it is a lot of fun."

She has found that it was amazing the number of people who are afraid to play Scrabble because they think they are not intellectual enough, but said: "That is a myth!"

"I mean we have all kinds of people and you don't have to have a degree to play Scrabble. We have people who didn't even finish high school who would beat the socks off of the PhD people.

"It is your strategy, your luck of the draw. You can pick seven vowels out of the bag and if you can handle seven vowels and strategically work them around other people's consonants then you can score a couple of points there."

Although the Club has been going for years, it is only until recently that they have found a home at the new Berkeley Institute.

"We used to meet at the Youth Library then I was in control of a location, but then we had to go to different places and be out at a certain time, but Berkeley has been really great, because we don't have to worry about all of that, but so far, so good," said Mrs. Maxwell.

"It is amazing the number of people who hear about it and come and play and we keep it on a level where nobody feels intimidated.

"I don't allow it and I just don't allow any attitudes, because sometimes people come and you can almost feel that they are ready to get superior. I just ease that."

People who play Scrabble play to win, but it is also a mental release for many. "I have to be very careful and I think everything depends on what you allow in the beginning, we come up there for relaxation and we don't need any nonsense," said Mrs. Maxwell. "The most tension we have is how am I going to beat this person across from me."

When people go to the club, who they end up playing is down to the luck of the draw.

"To a certain extent, you pick your partner according to the tiles, say if eight people are playing we will put in two As, two Bs, two Cs and two Ds, so if you pick an A then you know your partner/opponent is another A.

"And you have no idea who it is until you look over and then it's, 'gosh, I am playing you!' And you know that your socks are going to be beaten right off, so it is fun and you can't stop laughing.

"Some people who come from abroad and want to change it, but we say this is the way we play it. You don't have to do it everybody else's way all the time.

The Bermuda Scrabble Club Tournament 2009 takes place at The Berkeley Institute Staff Lounge on Saturday. Registration is at 5.30 p.m. and the game kicks off at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10 for members, and $15 for non-members and viewers tickets are $5 as refreshments are served.

For those interesting in joining or seeking more information, please ring Florenz Maxwell on 238-3727. Outside of tournaments, members meet up on the last Saturday of each month at the new Berkeley Institute.