The board measures fifteen squares by fifteen, that is 223 squares of five different colors.164 dark green Non premium squares 24 Light blue "Double Letter Score" squares

24 Light blue "Double Letter Score" squares
12 Dark blue "Triple Letter Score" squares
17 Light red "Double Word Score" squares
8 Dark red "Triple Word Score" squares

One of the meanings of Strategy ( in Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary ) is "the art of devising or employing plans or strategems towards a goal". Tactic in contrast is a "method of employing forces in a combat". In military terms, strategy is a kin to generalship and tactic is nearer to manoeuvre of the forces in the immediate presence of the enemy.

SOME STRATEGIES

TO PLAY AN OPEN BOARD OR BLOCKED BOARD

Open Board is where there are many openings for both the players to form words leading to a high scoring game. This is recommended for a player when he/she - is confident of better word power than the opponent or wants to score likewise or is trailing the opponent in score and urgently needs a big score to get back into the game.

Blocked Board, in contrast, is where there are few openings to form works leading to a low scoring game. This is suitable for a player when he/she - feels that the opponent has a stronger word power or the winning of the game is preferable to a high score or has already commands a comfortable lead of 100 points and is determined to keep the lead and win the game without giving many openings to the opponent.

TILE TURNOVER

The number of tiles a player plays in each turn is the known as tile turnover. The simplicity of the strategy is - the more number of tiles per turn a player plays, the better. Since the total number of lettered tiles is only 98.

An Example : Letters in the rack - CALGNRE

A light red (pink) square (one way) opening on the board is available. Some of the words that can be formed and the points are:

ER - 2x2 = 4
RAG - 4x2=8
CLAN - 6x2=12
CLANG - 8x2=16
GLANCE - 9x2=18

Depending on the word power of the player, the more letters used to form a word, higher is the score. And a player with a better word power cannot miss two possible Bingos - CLANGER, GLANCER.

SOME TACTICS

RACK MANAGEMENT : In simple terms, it is managing ones rack - in terms of the words to be made out of the existing rack so that the new picks will not result in too many consonants or vowels. In which case, the player will be forced to exchange some tiles and lose a turn. Since there are 56 consonants to 46 vowels, the same ratio, i.e. 4 consonants and 3 vowels will stand the player in good stead.

SHEPHERDING : This is useful tactic to constrain ones opponent to play at a particular column or row one wants. This can be used for BINGO BREAKING. i.e. when a player suspects that the other player has a ready Bingo on his/her rack. In such a case, an enticing opening is made for a triple word which the other grabs deferring the Bingo.

TILE TRACKING : Keeping count of the letters and the number of each letter will help the player in assessing what is in store. Tile tracking is especially useful at the closing stages of the play to understand the rack of the other player and make moves designed to curtail the scoring opportunities of the opponent.

GROUND RULES

1. RANKING - It can be on the basis of wins. If the number of wins are equal, either on aggregate or spread. If all the above are also equal, then the aggregate of opponents. (Lesser the winner)

2. SWISS PAIRING - The first round will be Random Pairing, The second round pairing will be based on the results of the first round. The pairings will be 1 with 2,3 with 4,5 with 6 and so on. The objective is that people of equal calibre will be playing with each other rather than vastly different calibred players playing with each other resulting in one - sided matches. As the rounds progress, pairings will be on the basis of cumulative performance till the previous round

WORD LISTS

There are 121 two lettered words which are very helpful in making words parallel to other words on the board. And many of them are amenable to make longer words in later moves. They are :

1. AA, AB, AD, AE, AG, AH, AI, AA, AM, AN, AR, AS, AT, AW, AX , AY.
2. BA, BE, BI, BO, BY.
3. CH.
4. DA, DE, DI, DO.
5. EA, ED, EE, EF, EH, EL, EM, EN, ER, ES, ET, EX.
6. FA, FY.
7. GI, GO, GU.
8. HA, HE, HI, HM, HO.
9. ID, IF, IN, IO, IS, IT.
10. JO.
11. KA, KO, KY.
12. LA, LI, LO.
13. MA, ME, MI, MM, MO, MU, MY.
14. NA, NE, NO, NU, NY.
15. OB, OD, OE, OF, OH, OI, OM, ON, OO, OP, OR, OS, OU, OW, OX, OY
16. PA, PE, PH, PI, PO.
17. QI.
18. RE.
19. SH, SI, SO, ST.
20. TA, TE, TI, TO.
21. UG, UH, UM, UN, UP, UR, US, UT.
22.  
23. WE, WO.
24. XI, XU.
25. YA, YE, YO, YU.
26. ZO.

Lists of Three, Four, Five and Six lettered words can be compiled with the additional data of conversion of words from two to three lettered words with a prefix or with a suffix, three to four and so on.

FURTHER LISTS : In case of rack imbalace, further lists can be compiled for dumping vowels or consonants, as the case may be. High scoring word lists for premium letters such as J, Q, X and Z can also be compiled.

TILE TRACKING : Keeping track of the letters and the number of each letter will help the player in assessing what is in store. Tile tracking is especially useful at the closing stages of the play to understand the rack of the other player and make moves designed to curtail the scoring opportunities of the opponent.