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Noel's Tips
Rack Management
Learning Words
Tile Turnover
Changing Tiles

Possessing the Initiative
Triple-Word Squares
Tile-Tracking
Defensive Play
The Endgame

This time, then, that you play LYING for 24 points, putting you 90 ahead. Apparently, things are still not going well for him, but he has managed, against the odds, to find the J. He plays JUD, from O1, scoring 33 points, and ensuring that he is still in touch with you. Your lead is still 57 points, prior to your own turn, and you have picked up the rack now shown.

Board 3.

Your Rack: AGRRSTT

You have been unfortunate with the pick-up. You are, still, very much on the defensive, and, now, have a difficult rack. There are a lot of vowels left. You need to keep your rack from getting out of hand, or else you will be unable to respond, flexibly, to whatever he is next likely to throw at you. You need to deal with that double-R and double-T. You also need to keep cutting down his bonus-chances.

The playing of ART at I1 makes it even more difficult for him to play through the floating letters in PAsTRIES, leaving the letters that go in front of LYING as just about his only real remaining option.

You play ART for 12 points, putting you 69 ahead. He replies with PLYING/PA for 16 points, bringing the margin back down to 53 points.

Board 4.

Your Rack: AGNRSTU

You have no bonus of your own, and the tiles which you cannot account for, are, if anything, even more threatening. Your tile-tracking, grouped as I like to see it, into vowels and consonants, looks like:

These are all the tiles which you cannot account for. He could easily be sitting on a rack like AEERST and a blank. You must play as long a word as possible, horizontally, along line 12, under PA. You think of playing GRUNT/PAR for 21 points. The problem is, it still might not be good enough. A little thought lets you see that such a rack as AEERST and a blank, might make something quite simple, such as STEAmER, which sits perfectly under the RUNT of GRUNT, from I13 playing to the right, making PARS, UT, NE and TA, in the process, and scoring rather too well. What else can we do?

With no I’s left, and only one O and one U, the most awkward letter that you have, to put in his way, is the G. Placed at H12, the G is not really causing him any problems. You need the G further to the right. Clearly you could also do with playing an even longer word. You could play STRUNG and PAS, for 19 points. This is a rather ruthless, all-or-nothing move, and is an example of when it might be right to use the S contrary to your normal instincts. You extend the lead to 72 points and turn over 6 tiles, bringing the end of the game that much nearer. You make it almost certain he will not get a word on the board, on his next move, and will have to sacrifice more points to make yet another opening. PAS or PAT, which allows STRUNG to be played for 21 points, are probably equally good moves. The latter move would leave the S over the Triple-Word-Score, allowing him to score easy points, when making another opening. True, you would probably block such an opening, quite easily, but, all things considered, I think you are safer playing as far to the right as possible.

We will assume that you play STRUNG/PAS for 19 points, putting you 72 ahead. He replies with OU/NO/GU for 11 points, bringing the margin back down to 61 points.