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Scrabble is a board game for people who love words, the interaction of words, and people who enjoy a challenge. While a good vocabulary and the ability to spell are definitely an advantage, there are also a few tactical skills that help in winning at Scrabble. I often play against my father, whose general knowledge and vocabulary far outrank my own, but more often than not I will get the upper hand by tactical play, and not just because the luck of the letters.

Tips:

1. Do not always just play the longest word that you can find in your hand. It's very tempting to show off by laying down a 6 letter word, when often a 2 letter word placed strategically on the board could earn you more points.

2. Look for places to go on the board that utilise the coloured squares, and then find a word that fits them, rather than trying to fit the word you've seen in your hand just anywhere on the board. For example, find a triple letter score square, look at your highest scoring tile, then try to fit a word around that square. Use the coloured squares as much as you can and prevent your opponent from taking advantage of them.

3. Add your words onto the end of other words to create more than one word at a time, remember you score for the whole word that you may have just added an 's' onto the end of, as well as the other word that you have created using the s.

4. Block your opponent. If there is a triple word score square going begging, but you can only put a low scoring word on it, just go ahead and do it - don't leave it there for your opponent's turn.

5. Place words alongside other words so as to make a series of 2 or 3 letter words going in the opposite direction. The more words you can make the more points you will score, and also the spaces that you fill between words make less available places for your opponent to go.

6. A good dictionary is important. You will need one handy for disputes. An official Scrabble dictionary is preferable which lists all sorts of words that you probably never even knew existed, but which are perfectly legal. It would be nice to know what they all mean but it's not essential. A Scrabble dictonary also has a very useful list of two and three letter words at the end, with their definitions, which are very useful for placing adjacent words, filling those annoying little gaps next to high scoring squares, and for finishing off your tiles at the end. My favourite two letter word is qi, which is great if you get the q without a u.

7. If you do have a 7 letter word in your hand, do all you can to find a place to play it on the board - this scores you an extra 50 bonus points on top of the word score.

8. Try to use all your tiles up first at the end of the game, and don't get left with high scoring tiles in your hand. If you don't - these count against you at the end, and are added to the score of the person who finishes first.

9. Enjoy the challenge.

Learn more about this author, Imogen Hardy.
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