Blog Name: Marginal Revolution
Blog URL: http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/
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Blog Summary: Small steps toward a much better world.
This blog has been active since: September 2009
Post: Bad Scrabble strategy / November 28, 2009
Bad Scrabble strategy
I try not to blog Sarah Palin, but this passage, reproduced on Andrew Sullivan's blog, caught my interest for non-Palin reasons:
"Everybody in the family played Scrabble and took great pride in hoarding Ks and Qs and slapping them down in long, fancy words on triple-letter scores." -- Going Rogue, p. 12.
Sullivan's reader objects that there is only one K and one Q but I think permissible to use the plural in this context, referring to general acts of hoarding over time.
My point is that this is bad Scrabble strategy. The way to do very well is to put down seven-letter words on bonus squares, thereby getting the fifty-point bonus for using all your letters and doubled or tripled at that.
Such a strategy means maximizing one's holdings of S, R, E, T, O, A, and N, essentially, and dumping awkward letters which stand in the way. "ING" is a powerful combination. In addition, high frequency letters help you link up with other words running crossways, boosting your score further.
The astute MR reader will recognize here that we are dealing with portfolio theory, albeit where many assets are complements rather than near-perfect substitutes.
K doesn't mesh well with most other letters and so you should try to dump it quickly. Q is paralyzing unless you have a U to go with it. If you are happy because you could lay down "quit" on a double word score, for 26 points, I would say you are not a very ambitious Scrabble player, all the more if you hoarded letters and waited turns to do that. (You have some chance of "aliquot" or "quaeres" or "quinoas," but do you really expect to score "obloquy," "quassia," or "qigongs"?, keeping in mind that if you build upon an already-laid tile you need an eight-letter word with q to score the bonus.)
If this is her game of Scrabble, you can only imagine what her foreign policy would be like.
Correction: If you search inside the book, you will see that she is referring to the Scrabble strategies of her grandparents, not her own Scrabble strategies. They are the ones who cannot be trusted with U.S. foreign policy and it can also be said that she misses this chance to condemn their weak gaming strategies.
I thank Seth H. for the pointer.
Blog Name: Scrabble Adventures
Blog URL: http://doubleblanks.wordpress.com
RSS Feed: http://doubleblanks.wordpress.com/feed/
Location: Mississauga-Toronto
Blog Summary: The adventures of a tournament Scrabble player
This blog has been active since: November,2006
Post: A study strategy
A study strategy
A few weeks ago, I attended a Scrabble session led by our club director, Craig Rowland. Craig dubbed the session “Scrabble School” and reviewed some basic strategies (i.e., don’t close the board up with two and three letter words), reviewed when to open up the triple word score lane (using a presentation originally made by Adam Logan at the Toronto Scrabble Club), opening rack strategies, and when to trade tiles. Overall, the session was very helpful - although I would have preferred if people listenedto what Craig had to say (since he is an expert) rather than interjecting what they *like/prefer* to do.
One point that really stuck to me was Craig’s advice on how to study. He recommended the following strategy:
- learn the 2 letter words
- learn the U-less Q words
- learn the 3 letter words
- learn the 5 letter words with J, X, Z, or Q (most of the “power” tiles)
- learn the 6 letter “high-probability” stems to make 7 letter words (e.g., SATIRE?, TISANE?)
This strategy was recommended for those who are starting from “scratch”. I’m sure the strategy could be useful to players of varying levels of experience.
My Study Strategy
I’ve learned the 2 letter words and know most (if not all) of the U-less Q words. I’m trying to get the 3 letter words down, but a handful still escape me (like ALB or FOU or IFF to name a few). Right now, I’ve finished learning the TISANE? stem and am trying to learn TISANE??. My plan is to work through the top 100 high probability stems (as listed by Lexpert) but also study the 8 letter word when learning the stem. I remember Craig mentioned that better players tend to play more 8 letter bingos compared with beginning players. His reasoning is that you don’t always have an opportunity to overlay a tile or to hook off of another existing word. As such, learning to play through a word is very important. Thus I’m trying to learn the stem plus ??. I’ve finished TISANE? and now am tackling TISANE??. I expect learning the TISANE?? will take about a month as there are 247 words.
I originally anticipated learning the SATIRE? stem, but I think I’m going to go for STANED? instead. I came across this situation during the Toronto Open tournament but could only see the TISANE? words. STANED? is a bit lower on the probability list, but it’s something I want to tackle. As I’m learning these stems (say one a month for the full list of 7 and 8 letter words) I’ll try and master the 3 letter words and then start on the 5 letter words (and not just the ones with the Z, X, J, or Q). I’ll probably go after the 6 letter words next, as Tony Leah said that not too many players study those.
I’m also going to start simulating some games using Quackle to evaluate my board play. Based on the simulations that I’ve run so far, my greatest weakness seems to be my poor word knowledge, specifically not knowing the bingos. I’m using both Lexpert and Zyzzyva to generate word lists and for quizzing. Both are excellent study aids.
If you have any other suggestions, I’d love to hear from you (you can find my contact info in the About Me section).
