SCRABBLE: Anticipation
One of the cardinal rules for becoming a ‘winner’ at the game of scrabble is to anticipate what your opponents might do.
During the game of scrabble, players find themselves playing both offense and defense, at all times. This concept escapes many players. Seasoned players know that a great offensive score can be less valuable when it provides a high scoring comeback from ones’ opponent. Likewise, too much defense, shutting down the board for your opponent, can interfere with your own play too.
The more you know, the luckier you become. The more often you play, the greater the likelihood that you’ll discover some of the Dos and Don’ts of word placement and the superior way of using the ‘hot spots’.
When it is mid-game or later and some esses and blanks have yet to be played, it is reasonable to assume that your opponent has one or more of those valuable tiles on their rack. Both esses and blanks can be used to easily hook words on the board and lead to high point counts.
When a new player is playing against a seasoned player, the newbie often refrains from challenging the more experienced player, assuming that they know more. But when starting out, one should generally challenge strange words that they do not know. (When I lose a challenge I am more likely to remember that word.) Remember, seasoned players do not know everything.
Seasoned players develop the skill to track the tiles played during the game. That allows them to more easily anticipate the other tiles that are either still in the tile bag or on the opponent’s rack. While tracking is a valuable tool, I always advise newbies NOT to track unless they can do it with 100% accuracy. Poor tracking can lead to poor assumptions and then to losing games.
Players are responsible to count their scores for each play and announce them aloud to their opponent, before hitting the clock to end their turn. Most players anticipate that their opponent is counting accurately and rarely verify the announced score by recounting it for themselves. Until you know your opponet and their counting prowess, it is always good to recount each play or spot check at a minimum. Even though most errors in math are not intentional, it can effect the outcome of the final score. (The Official Rules allow for a recount when requested by either player, at games end. This is usually not an easy task. Better to keep the correct score throughout the entire game.)
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