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I am somehow surprised that I haven't made a tabblo on Scrabble yet--I am a huge Scrabble addict. I've been playing this game for more than 15 years already, but it was only in college when I played in tournaments. Competitive scrabble is quite different from the "normal" scrabble game--the rules are slightly different. For one, in competitive scrabble, there are only two players--this is mainly for strategy purposes. Then, depending on which part of the world you are in, you will have to base your lexicon (acceptable word reference) on an official list. Here in the Philippines, we used to follow the SOWPODS (combination of US's Official Dictionary of Scrabble players (OSPD) and UK's Official Scrabble Words (OSW); hence, OSPD + OSW = SOWPODS). But since two years ago, the committee of Scrabble players decided to stick with Collins Dictionary. Ever since, the scrabble players now follow CSW (Collins Scrabble Words). |
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I have been playing in tournaments for a really long time now--but since three years ago, I started moderating a scrabble club in our school. I do miss playing since I used to win some games. :) Anyway, in this tabblo I am going to demonstrate a typical game by two competitive scrabble players--which are, of course, just imaginary here. I am separating the pictures: Player One will be in Colored, the other in B/W. I'll make a recap of the game as it progresses. In this game, I used an ordinary Scrabble board set, a reference list, and Zyzzyva (a word validity checker).
The first picture in each turn shows you the letter tiles in the rack. The second one shows the actual word/s played. The third one shows you the tiles left AND those which are picked right after the turn. |
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ROUND ONE:
COLORED PLAYER:
Upon seeing these letters, I immediately saw the word FETISH. Playing this word gives me 32 points, since the first turn is always multiplied by two (Double Word Score). It also leaves just an O--which is good enough.
PLAYED WORD/S:
FETISH - 32 points
COLORED PLAYER: 32 points B/W PLAYER: 0 point |
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B/W PLAYER:
These tiles are not very ideal. There are so many vowels. And there are not so many opportunities to play a good word. So I settled for the word MAR, hooking F and E, thus making FA and ER.
PLAYED WORD/S:
MAR - 6 points FA - 6 points ER - 2 points
Total: 14 points
COLORED PLAYER: 32 points B/W PLAYER: 14 points |
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ROUND TWO: COLORED PLAYER:
In Scrabble Tournaments, one may "challenge" a word which is played by the opponent. An arbiter will check the validity of the word by using a scrabble dictionary or a certified scrabble software such as Zyzzyva. If the challenge is successful (which means that the word is not valid), the opponent takes back his tiles and loses his turn. However, if the challenge is unsuccessful (if the word really exists), the opponent gets plus five in addition to his score. If two words were challenged and both are acceptable, that will entail 10 points for the opponent. And so on. However, if there are more than one word challenged, the presence of an unacceptable word will make the challenge successful--hence the opponent must take back his tiles. In this turn, the word EYRE is played, which also hooks M, FA, and ER. The other player challenged the turn. It turns out that EYRE is an acceptable word (which means a circuit court held in medieval England by a judge). Note that the letter Y is on Triple Letter Score.
PLAYED WORD/S: EYRE - 15 points MY - 15 points FAR - 6 points ERE- 3 points Unsuccessful Challenge = 5 points Total: 44 points
COLORED PLAYER: 32 + 44 = 76 points B/W PLAYER: 14 points |
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B/W PLAYER:
In this turn, the word WHIM is played, which also hooks E. Note that the letter M is on Double Word Score. This means that both WHIM and EM will double their points.
PLAYED WORD/S:
WHIM - 24 points EM - 8 points
Total: 32 points
COLORED PLAYER: 76 points B/W PLAYER: 14 + 32 = 46 points |
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ROUND THREE:
COLORED PLAYER:
The tiles are quite bad since there are too many vowels. Removing at least one A will make this rack better. In this turn, the word CHAI (a kind of tea) is played. Note that the letter I is on Double Word Score.
PLAYED WORD/S:
CHAI - 18 points
Total: 18 points
COLORED PLAYER: 76 + 18 = 94 points B/W PLAYER: 46 points |
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B/W PLAYER:
The exact opposite thing happened to this player. The tiles are quite bad since there are too many consonants. Removing many consonants will make this rack better. In this turn, the word RUTTING is played. Note that the letters T and G are on Triple Letter Score.
PLAYED WORD/S:
RUTTING - 14 points
Total: 14 points
COLORED PLAYER: 94 points B/W PLAYER: 46 + 14 = 60 points |
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ROUND FOUR:
COLORED PLAYER:
The tiles are well-balanced (3 Consonants, 4 vowels) but there are no chances for a BINGO (a seven-letter word, which if played successfully gives the player extra 50 points). Removing as many tiles as possible will make this turn better. In this turn, the word HOODED is played. Note that the letter E is on Double Word Score.
PLAYED WORD/S:
HOODED - 22 points
Total: 22 points
COLORED PLAYER: 94 + 22 = 116 points B/W PLAYER: 60 points |
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B/W PLAYER:
It's almost a lucky set of tiles. One can spell VALOURS here, but there is no place on the board to put it. In this turn, the word VALOUR is played, leaving the R and the Blank tile for better use later. Note that the letter R is on Double Word Score.
PLAYED WORD/S:
VALOUR - 18 points
Total: 18 points
COLORED PLAYER: 116 points B/W PLAYER: 60 + 18 = 78 points |
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ROUND FIVE:
COLORED PLAYER:
Tricky one--I almost played PAEAN beside the word HOODED (the letter P would be beside the second O), however, playing such will leave me with only G and S--no vowels. The best play here is PENAL because at least the opening for the Triple Word Score is now taken. Note that the letter P is on Triple Word Score and the letter A is on Double Letter Score.
PLAYED WORD/S:
PENAL - 24 points
Total: 24 points
COLORED PLAYER: 116 + 24 = 140 points B/W PLAYER: 78 points |
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B/W PLAYER:
The letter X is probably the most useful tile after the Blank and letter S. I played the word XU (Vietnam money), which hooked the two Os of HOODED, thus forming OX and OU (Hawaiian fruit-eating bird). Note that the letter X is on Double Letter Score and is used twice here.
PLAYED WORD/S:
XU - 17 points OX - 17 points OU - 2 points Total: 36 points
COLORED PLAYER: 140 points B/W PLAYER: 78 + 36 = 114 points |
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ROUND SIX
COLORED PLAYER:
Not so good tiles--if only E had been I to form the BINGO word WAKINGS. I played the word KNEW, which hooked N to CHAI. Note that the letter K is on Double Word Score.
PLAYED WORD/S:
KNEW - 22 points CHAIN - 10 points
Total: 32 points
COLORED PLAYER: 140 + 32 = 172 points B/W PLAYER: 114 points |
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B/W PLAYER:
It didn't take me two seconds after seeing these tiles to spot LOFTING, with the blank tile as N. Many bingo words (7 letter words) use prefixes or suffixes. I have always been keen on these because bingo words always mean additional 50 points. I played the word LOFTING, which hooked L to E and O to W, forming EL (elevated railroad) and WO (woe). Note that the letter L is on Double Letter Score and I is on Triple Letter Score.
PLAYED WORD/S:
LOFTING - 33 points EL - 3 points WO - 5 points BINGO Bonus - 50 points
Total: 91 points
COLORED PLAYER: 172 points B/W PLAYER: 114 + 91 = 205 points |
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ROUND SEVEN
COLORED PLAYER:
It seems that I'm out of luck here. It is important to remove one of the two As. I decided to just play safe and play BA (eternal soul in Egyptian mythology) hooking K, forming KA (Egyptian spiritual self). Note that the letter B is on Triple Letter Score.
PLAYED WORD/S:
BA - 12 points KA - 6 points
Total: 18 points
COLORED PLAYER: 172 + 18 = 190 points B/W PLAYER: 205 points |
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B/W PLAYER:
I decided to be more adventurous and played BENZOL. Note that the letter Z is on Triple Letter Score. It scores 37 points. But since the other player challenged it, I get 5 extra points.
PLAYED WORD/S:
BENZOL - 37 points Unsuccessful Challenge - 5 points
Total: 42 points
COLORED PLAYER: 190 points B/W PLAYER: 205 + 42 = 247 points |
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ROUND EIGHT
COLORED PLAYER:
I also decided to be more daring and played PAGES, hooking P with OU, forming OUP. Note that the letter P is on Triple Letter Score and is scored twice, and the letter S is on Double Word Score. Since the other player challenged it, I get 5 extra points.
PLAYED WORD/S:
PAGES - 28 points OUP - 11 points Unsuccessful Challenge - 5 points
Total: 44 points
COLORED PLAYER: 190 +44 = 234 points B/W PLAYER: 247 points |
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B/W PLAYER:
Considerably not-so-good tiles. Good thing, I can form the word DINED and hook up the D with O and I with L, forming OD (hypothetical power) and LI (Chinese unit of distance). Note that the letter N is on Double Word Score.
PLAYED WORD/S:
DINED - 14 points OD - 3 points LI - 2 points
Total: 19 points
COLORED PLAYER: 234 points B/W PLAYER: 247 + 19 = 266 points |
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ROUND NINE
COLORED PLAYER:
Extremely unpleasant tiles--so many vowels. Good thing, the letter D can help me form the word AUDIO, hence I get rid of four vowels (AUIO). Note that the letter A is on Triple Word Score and the letter I is on Double Letter Score.
PLAYED WORD/S:
AUDIO - 21 points
Total: 21 points
COLORED PLAYER: 234 + 21 = 255 points B/W PLAYER: 266 points |
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B/W PLAYER:
Lucky me, I have the letter S. I decided to be very daring again and played YINS (female in yin yang). Note that the letter I is on Triple Word Score. I get plus five for the challenge.
PLAYED WORD/S:
YINS - 21 points OUPS - 6 points Unsuccessful Challenge - 5 points
Total: 32 points
COLORED PLAYER: 255 points B/W PLAYER: 266 + 32 = 298 points |
