The blank tile can be used for any letter a player wishes. In Figure 1, the symbol ¨ represents the blank tile. Table 1: Point Value and Frequency of Tiles There are far more tiles with the letter E, for instance than there are tiles with the letter Z, since E is a very common letter, and Z quite rare. The more common tiles generally have a lower point value or face value.

The 100 letter tiles have different letter frequencies and face values. It is specially marked because the rules require that at least one letter of the first word played must cover this square. The centre of the board, marked with a star is also a double word score square. There are 164 non-premium squares, 24 double letter score squares (light blue), 12 triple letter score squares (dark blue), 17 double word score squares (pink) and 8 triple word score squares (red). The 225 squares on the board are of two basic types, premium and non-premium. If chess clocks are not available the tournament director will inform the players as to how playing time is to be regulated. If a player’s time limit is exceeded, the game continues but the player is penalised 10 points for each minute over the time limit. 25 minutes are available for each player to complete the game. In serious play, a chess clock is used to regulate time.

Scrabble equipment consists of the board, which measures 15 squares by 15 squares, 100 letter tiles and racks on which players keep their tiles. Play passes from person to person until all tiles are used or no more words can be formed. Each player competes for the highest score by using his letters in combinations and locations that best take advantage of the different letter values and premium squares on the board. The game consists of forming interlocking words in a crossword fashion on the scrabble board using the various letter tiles. However, tournament scrabble games are always two-player games. RULES OF THE GAME Scrabble is a word game for two, three or four players. With thanks to him and with his blessings, we’ve copied below that introduction: Mohan Chunkath has written an excellent introduction to the basic rules for playing scrabble.

Scrabble rules two double word squares