Scrabble Clone Games: Hack-the-Q in the Endgame

The game that almost slipped out my hand after leading by as much as 99 points two moves back, then in a flash of brilliance, 007jem sprang with back to back bingos! When the smoke was cleared, I found myself trailing by 41 points and the battle went down to the wire in a thrilling endgame finish...

Let me begin my story from this board position:

(position after 007jem's pETITION)

After this bingo by 007jem, I immediately tracked down the 16 unseen tiles (nine tiles in the bag and seven in 007jem's rack) which revealed as AAEEEEEIOU?GRRQV. There was still blank! The easiest spot for opponent's bingo next turn would be the second column parallel to pETITION. There was another spot in the 14th column but it requires S in the second position which makes it difficult to play like ISOGRiV/SHETLANDS as one of possibilities based on unseen tiles, but it's unlikely to happen. And so, I focused my attention on the second column. My first thought was to play HAET/(pH, EA, TA, IT) but there could be a possibility of VAQUERo/pHo bingo. I also thought about PATH, but it would open the A and T for 8-letter word bingo possibility. How about the vertical play say five letter word parallel to pETITION like THEMA/(pH, EM, TA) but this could be an easy target for bingo and also a good scoring spot for the Q like tORQUE for 74 points, so I decided to play...

(position after tiger2002's MEATH)

It was a choice between HEATH and MEATH, but I played the latter. I drew RIOEE from the bag, and the unseen 11 tiles after this play were AAEEEU?GQRV. Check out 007jem's next play...

(position after 007jem's AcREAGE)

Alas, another bingo with a blank, and that was the only bingo spot for AcREAGE! Suddenly, I was behind by 41 points. The last rack of 007jem rack was EQUV per my tracking list. I was about to play HEARIE for 27 points blocking QUA spot, then out in the next play, but there was another spot for the Q, in the I of GRIP! Assuming I continued as mentioned, my final play would be DEMO for 11 points, catching 007jem with EUV (7 point value). In my initial calculation, the final score would have been 506-516 which loses. In endgame situation like this, I have my own style of arithmetic computation. The difference in score based on the current board position was 41, so it would be a negative score for me because I was trailing, say -41. Double the value of unplayed tiles and get the algebraic sum, thereafter the plays. You can also get the cumulative algebraic sum per turn like the following example:

Scenario 1:

-41

tiger2002: HEARIE +27 -14

007jem: QI -21 -35

tiger2002: DEMO +11 -24

007jem: (EVU) +14 -10 (losses by 10 points)

Scenario 2:

-41

tiger2002: HEAME +30 -11

007jem: QI -21 -32

tiger2002: NORI +10 -22

007jem: (EVU) +14 -8 (losses by 8 points)

Scenario 3:

-41

tiger2002: HIRE +26 -15

007jem: QI -21 -36

tiger2002: MOLE +14 -22

007jem: (EVU) +14 -8 (losses by 8 points)

I realized that two moves look-ahead allowing the Q-play won't be able to win the game. So, my next idea was to make the initial play that would block the QUA and QI spot, at the same time. Candidate words in mind were HAREEM, AERIE, AMEER or AIMER. And so, I continued with another set of scenarios:

Scenario 4:

-41

tiger2002: HAREEM +10 -31

007jem: VEX -13 -44

tiger2002: IO/(GI,ROT) +13 -31

007jem: (EQU) +24 -7 (losses by 7 points)

Scenario 5:

-41

tiger2002: AERIE +6 -35

007jem: VEX -13 -48

Variation 1:

tiger2002: MHO +12 -36

007jem: (EQU) +24 -12 (losses by 12 points)

Variation 2:

tiger2002: RHO +29 -19

007jem: TUNE -14 -33

tiger2002: MAG +6 -27

007jem: (QU) +22 -5 (losses by 5 points)

Scenario 6:

-41

tiger2002: AMEER +8 -33

007jem: VEX -13 -46

tiger2002: RHO +29 -17

007jem: TUNE -14 -31

tiger2002: YID +8 -23

007jem: (QU) +22 -1 (losses by 1 point); almost but not quite!

Scenario 7:

-41

tiger2002: AIMER +7 -34

007jem: VEX -13 -47

tiger2002: RHO +29 -18

007jem: TUNE -14 -32

tiger2002: EL/WE +8 -24

007jem: (QU) +22 -2 (losses by 2 points); aarrghh!

At this stage, I was looking at the possible tie breaks if the score was tied. Checking the Game Statistics, I had a better bingo score of 92 points for PURSLANE compared to his 85 points for AcREAGE. And so, I had the advantage in the tie breaks in case of a deadlock.

What else was left on tiger2002's choices. Check out the play:

(position after tiger2002's AIMER)

tiger2002 followed Scenario No. 7.

(position after 007jem's VEX)

007jem replied with VEX. In this board position, a play of HOLE/(WO, DE) for 15 points catching 007jem with QUE (12 points value) losses by 8 points. See tiger2002's next play:

(position after tiger2002's RHO)

At this point, 007jem had EQU left in his rack and no other choice but to play HOWE. Supposed 007jem opted for PE instead of VEX in the earlier move to block RHO, he would be left with QUV, and tiger2002 can finish it off with HELO or HOLE for an 8-point win.

(position after 007jem's HOWE)

Alas, 007jem used that square for his E, and so I need to look for other spot. Initially, I found EL/WE for 8 points! Can you spot the winning move? Check out tiger2002's final move...

(Final board position after tiger2002's MEATHE)

MEATHE/EE scored 13 points plus 11 points for unplayed QU added to 497, so the final score of tiger2002 was 521. On the other hand, 007jem subtracted 11 points from his 529 decreased his total score to 518. I almost blamed my previous play of MEATH, but it turned out to be the vital word for a back hook game winning move! However, I needed a four move look-ahead in order to catch 007jem.