People’s names forbidden?
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And top level checkers culture has pretty much memorized the game. Top level chess culture has thousands of opening lines memorized to the point that if you’re not spending years working openings you’re just going to be outclassed before the game gets fun.
The top level of any game or sport has people that are just so far beyond “average” players, it’s not even funny. People still play games.
T̻̘̤͕h͈͚̥̰̣̭͚̻̺o̳̝̰͉̖̝̼̣̮s̪̜͍̠e̺̘ ̫̗̪̙̭̲͓̗w͎̮͚o̙̙̣̞r̠̤d͓̪͎͕̘̦̣̩s͉͈͓̫̬ ̱̹̥̥ͅc͙̮̤̮̣̖̗͔ạ̜̳̣͈n͈̺̝̝̮̰͈ ̦̜̜͍͈̫ͅb̹̺͔̗̪̬͈̫e͍͚͚͖ ͉̮̠̤̻̦h̝̣̗̘a̖̱̩̱̞͙̙̖͚n̼͍͈̤͖̣d̪̪̠̘̤y̭̼̲̫̲̜̯,̺̻̗̟͚̯̯̼ ̯͈̬̣͉̤̗b̳̳̗͔͚̝̦u̺̪͎̳̤t̯͖͉̼̠̜̝̬ ̟̯̞̟̠͙̰̭t̝̺̱̞̮̜̭h̭̗̥̖̬̫e͖y̱̟̙̘’̩̮̮͓̥̺r̭̹͕͙̯͍e̟̜̤̩̙̝̺ ̼͚f̝a̞͖ị͚̟͉͈r̹̱l̬͕͙͍y̖̼͖ ̯̳͍̩̺i̜̪͇̯͙̼̝ͅn̩c̜̲̝̥͙̳͉͚o̖m̲̣͈̗͙̞̙ͅp̺̙̞͇̼̻̪͓r̼͙̞͈̞͍̩̖e͕̯̹̭̪h͕̬e̞͈̖͓̖n̤̜͙̩̥s͙ͅi͇͉̬̞̞̭b̼͇̠̥̟͍̭̫l͕e͍̯̟͎.̤̜̖̘ ̜͔̤̲̣ͅW͇̬̺̭o̻̝̘̞̟̼̱r̳͉̤̟̗̣͉l̜̤̟̻̮d̦̗͙̰-̳̮̬c̲̟̭̻̹̫͍͎l̯͖a̟͍s̱̺̱̱͉̹͇̺s͙̻͍̺͔̻ ̜͇S͕̫̝͓̣̲c͖̲r͇̠a͈̲̩̮͔b̲̟͉͚̘̜͔b͎̤̹̤͖l͉̳̫̘͍̱̯ḙ͍ ̰͓̱̙̠͈p̗͉̞l͕̘a͚̻y̙̞̟̙̞e̟̥r̻͚̞͔̭̲s̺͖̱ ̺͉̻̤̘̙̤ͅd̼̜̞̜̗͖͖̲o̜n͎̣͖̰̺̜̮̮’̲t͇̜ ̜̥̰͖̤̤͍̥̜h͍͉a̦̜v̹͕e̺͕ ͇̳͚̲͍t͔̰͇̖̙̺̰͎o͔ ̱̻̻̳̯͖̲k̯͍͕͙n͕̗͍͓̫̺̪̻͉o͇̖̯͕w͚͈͙̘ ̝̫̤̳w͙̲̳͚̬̳h̖͙̼̤̞̱̠a̱͈̱̦̘̹̭̬t͕̩̖̘͈̞̘ ͚t̝̮͙h̟e̪̪y̻͎͍͉͙͉̝̠̖ ͈̩͉̺͚̖m͎͕͈̤̩ͅe̟̯̯̗͍͖̝͎a̗͍̦̺͉̰̙͎n̮;̼̘̲ͅ ̙̣̲̱̙̦t̥̬̱̪̫h̙̺e̻͙͍̲̭y̱̠̳̬͕ ̞̙͖̹̮͎̪̣̜j̠u̦̬̭͖̺̦͕͈͈s̫̯̺͔̖̳͓ṭ̬ ̻̘͖͓h̼̙̟ͅa̜̭͓͇͉͉̬v̲̣͔̘e̬̗ ͍̳̲t̮̺̜̗͚͎͉o̞̤̟̥̥̻̞ͅ ̺̬̣̬̙͍̱͓k͎̹͔̖n͓̰̰o͉̺̦ͅw͍̞̺̦̙͇̫ ̭̤̖͓̻̗̻̞t̠̠͔̖̰h̦̗e͉̺̲̻y̬̱͔̖̠ ͉̣̪a͔͍̳̘͚͔̪̱̘r̮̗̖̼e͕͈͎͎̬ ̰͈̹̺̲͚͇̗i̩͕̳͕n̩͙̣̺͖̦͎ ̪̙t̪̙̖̰̲̲h̗͙͎̱̦͇̮̻e̜̮̱͉ ̳͔̲S̞̦̖̯̜̖̺c͙̜͓̱̞r̮͓͖͕a̮̠̗͇̣͔͉b̠̳̤̮͉̩͕̞b͙͖͚̠l̻̼̭͍͕̗̖ͅe̟͍̤̘͓̭̮ ͚̱͎d̙̤̹̲i̗͖͈c̠̬̞͚t̯̜̬̘͈͖̬i̻̻̪̱͔̤̠o̞n̼͎̻̯̞̳͙a͈͈̬͔̙̝͚̙r̻̥̣͓̠͖y̭͈̲̹̤͍̯͖.͔̻ ̺̪͍͍̙̪B̝̠̣u̪̖̯̙̩̱͖t̰̯̩͚̩̫̼̯̘ ͈̻͚ͅt̥̖͔ḫa̜̫̪̺̣ͅt̘̯̫͍̪͔̺̟’̬̱̳̠̱ͅs͎̬͚̞ ͔͎̭͎n̙̹o͕͈̹̠̩t̹̫̤͎̗̘͖̥ ̰̞̼͉t͙̩͍h̼̤̯͍͚e͖̲͓ ̝o̟͔n̖͕̞ͅl̰y̫̖̱̩̫͍̺ ̣w̞͙̣̝̺̖͔͚a̤̘͙͖̩y͙̘͙ ̰͉e͓̘̝̜l̼̼̰͚͖i̠̠̱̘̪̥̲t͓̤e̪̣ ͈Ș̣̟̺͓c̤̬̪͚͎̬ṟa͚̫̺̳͎̟̤̖b͖͔͚̤b̮̘̞͉̦̖ḻ͈̘̻̹͈e̖͈̯͇̭̠͔̠ ̤̜̻̰̬c̣̲͍̹̩̜͚͔u̙̼̝ͅl̳̞͖̪̼̠t͍̗͔̫̣̭͓̘ͅu̩̗r͖̞̗̖͚e̮̳͉̱̝̫͕͚ ̠̤̘̰̹̗i̜̙͕̹̫ͅs̻̠̬ ̲̬d̬̜ḭ̫̤̼̻̘̜̤f̩͍̩̗̹̬̻f͖̟͈͓͚e̤͓̗̞̰̮̞̪̫r̞̖͉̝͙͚̤̞ͅe̥̺̟̰̣͇͎̜n̝̟̪͕͎͍̗͇t͔͔̰̫̳̮ ̣͈̞͈f̩̠͉̫r̭̟̦̬͍͎̗̖ͅo̰̥̺̺͍̤m͈̝ ̲ṱh̺̫̞̣a̜̜̣̼̺̱̝t̥̗̳̜̣ ͓̣o̟̼̥̻͍̥̘̞f̥͉̦͔̜̱̦̻̩ ͓͇̫̖̝̲̖u̯̪̜̪̻͍̪̭s͓̬ ̰͔̜e̫͔̩͇͖̘̥͖̘v͉̠͕̮͔e͎r̗̦̟͉͎̫̳ͅy̭͓̥d̤̝̻͖͍a͕̪̤͓͖̘̺y͚͍ ̲̱̬̹̬̣ͅͅp̣͕l̰̪̘̺a̯̭̖y͍̝̠͔̳͕̦e̪̯͙͕̘̗̜̞r̟̗̦̻͙͚̮s̗͙̼̖̦ͅ.̺̟̟̪͚̭̜ ͕̺̭̱͕͖̪͔R̘̤̜͕͍̦e͚̜a̬̲̫̤̲͈͇̩d̹͖̳ ͍̦̫m̠͍̖̗̣͕͍o̞̥̻̻̩r͔̳̺̞͔͚e͇̗͔̮ ͙a͍̳͖͚̳̮̗b̘̹̙o̱̟̥u̖͙̰t͍ ͙̖̱̜͕̖̜̹ͅt̥̦̯̩̼̰ͅo̘p̳͉̙̝̖-̤̮̭̯͚̤ͅl̠̺e͔͍͓̩̻ͅv̮̮e͎͚̟̝̰l̮̪͍̠̥̝̭̬ ̩S̘͎̖̼̣̰̟c͙̯̟͍̰͇̠̜̼r͕̲͙a̖͈͕̟̣̤͓ͅb̗̹̟b̹̭̞l̫̟͙̫̪̲̜e̼̺̜̙ ͖̲͖̟̠̗̠c̲͙͖̝̜̦ͅͅu̠̲̘̰̞l͈͚̟̰͙̝ͅt̬͇͈u̙̻̹̥̫̳̠̬r̺͔̫͈̤̮e͍̠ ̝̭̝i͚͉̠̟̺͉̭n̪̬͎̥̝͔͖̮ ̩̰͖̱a͈̼̩̰͚̜̭̠n̯͉̩̫͍̟̹̞ ͙̭͈͕͉̳̼a̳̖̯͎̰̜̖̙͎r̰͙͍̥͙̝͓̫t̬͈͕͎͙͎͈̙i͖c͕̲̮̝͙͈ͅl̻͔͕̪̞̘̹͓e͔̬̤̦͎͙̟ ̻̞͎̜̯̠ͅf̫r̭̰͎̙̠̪ͅo̱̯̳m̙̼ͅ ̙̣̖̞̦̺̻͇T̜̻̥̳͈͉̲̲̫ḫ̺͈̼e̟̹̹͓ ̣̫͓̬̣S̳͈͕̱̦p͓̭̜e̖c̥ṭ͔a͍̥̣͇t̥o̤̥̟̟̝͔̟r͚͚̞̰͕͎̥̮ͅ.͎̬̰͚̫ ͖̠̣̠̣͚͖H̤̙̬̹̮̪̤ͅe͙̞͇͙̹̺r̦̖̼̫̖e̗͔͈’͇͖͙s̖̫͎̱̦̗ ̤̙a̙̫̪͉ ̙n̘̮̤͈͓o̯̮̮n̖̮͚͕͓͓-̞̜̺̯̺̣p̪̺̱̼a͇y̖̭̺̝͙͇̘w̜̻̪̟̻̟ͅḁ̥̲̻l͖̳͓̞̰̩̮̟l͓̱̘̩̩̝͚e̦̤̤̺̹̼̪d͈̺͈̠̥ ̼̘l͖̻͎ͅi̩̱̥̬n̪̯͈̞͉̻̜k̪͔̘͍̘̜.͙͚̤̲ͅ
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Perhaps they could shorten chess games by White declaring their opening, then starting at the everyone-agreed-upon move where it stops being by-the-book?
Back to Scabble & WwF ( 2% / 98% split )… I’d like an opinion on my strategy… I look first for TW,TL,DW/DL spots first, then scan rack for possible letter(s) to place immediately adjacent; if found, find longest word. Calc score; if WwF doesn’t show at least 90% of possible score, repeat. If I’m in a must win, repeat until I find the 100% word, or I get timeout warning (5 days?) or a nudge from my opponent.
Only if I’ve exhausted all the bonus tiles, I then look for words in my rack. Shuffle, shuffle, keeping an eye out for words and almost words.
And a few obvious strategies like play parallel worlds. I’ve never played competitively, so I’ve no idea what I’d “rank”. And real Scrabble is rarely played by me anymore; it’s really WwF now. My SO accidently watched an episode of Hoarders mid-pandemic, and a lot of stuff was tossed. Managed to keep a travel-style Scrabble at least.
In fact, I think my best WwF move was buying it for $0.99 a long time ago. Still don’t get ads. Had a hell of a fight when I moved from IOS to Android. I’m starting to get notifications to upgrade to something new, but I’m avoiding that at all costs.
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Well, I’m clearly playing it wrong. In our family you’re only allowed a word if you can convince a majority of the other players that it’s cromulent. We don’t even look at a dictionary.
This also allows the difficulty to be tilted slightly, for younger members of the family.
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The most important thing to know about playing Scrabble is to make sure that you never throw the letter Q into a privet bush.
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I had quite forgot, but this reminded me. We bought a Sinclair Spectrum in the eighties. It came with a Scrabble program. 48 kilobytes for the program, the display, and the OS. ‘Ha! I admire your spirit, little box! Lets try this on the hardest setting…’ It handed me my ass on a plate. I had another go, concentrating properly this time, and just won. It knew all these silly little words, which gave it twice the places to stick things.
I am told keen players will aim to get rid of all their tiles in one go in most games, and are willing to dump all their tiles. It’s a different game if you are keen. It doesn’t look much fun, though.
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Orla posted a picture of one of her earlier games. Just thought you’d like to see it. She said the score was 1054. I hope that’s the combined score. I haven’t checked.
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