February 20, 2005

• EEFGNRT

  
  

   

  
  

  In yesterday’s games, it didn’t take me long to make my first mistake.  Opening rack:  EEFGNRT.   Otherwise known as REGENT plus an F, in Scrabble parlance.  No 7-letter word there, and therefore no 50-point bonus for playing all seven tiles. 

  
  

  The three considerations are these:

  
  

  1.  Score points

  
  

  2.  Save some good tiles for the next play.

  
  

  3.  Keep defense in mind.

  
  

  4.  Play a word that’s in the dictionary.

  
  

  You’d think (4) is pretty obvious, but in the quest for points, it’s possible to reach too far, to think that the word you want to play is valid, when in reality it’s not.

  
  

  I considered FREET, a British word meaning “ill omen.”  Scores 24,  making it by far the best scoring play.  Problems:   1.  I wasn’t sure of the word.  (It’s valid.)  2.  FREET takes an A- front hook (AFREET is a demon in Arab mythology), and a -Y back hook (FREETY is British word, meaning “superstitious”), and my rack leave of NG contains neither an A nor a Y.  3.  To play FREET leaves the E directly above the double-letter square, allowing an easy 36-point comeback from an opponent lucky enough to hold an X plus a usable vowel.  4.  That leave of NG, while synergistic, runs the risk of having a vowel-less rack for the next turn.

  
  

  These considerations caused me to prefer to play off the E, the F, and the R; the remaining tiles of EGNT were the best leave I could manage.

  
  

  FER jumped out at me, and I reflexively made that my opening play.  That’s what I call a mistake.  A moment’s extra thought would have steered me to ERF or REF, both of which are superior to FER in that the best hook letter (T for TERF or TREF or REFT) is already on my rack.

  • 10:42 am
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