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Perfect scrabble game: all-bingo moves, max score, max tiles, randomized algorithmic search

7 Replies
Posted 2 months ago

Fascinating! I was immediately reminded of a game constructed by Jim Kramer and another Scrabble expert. They produced (without any computer assistance as far as I know) a game in which each move was the highest-scoring possible move at that point of the game. The first move is MUZJIKS (8B) for 128, because that is the highest scoring first move that is possible. If MUZJIKS is on the board, the highest possible second move is EXEQUIE(S) at H1 scoring 152. The most amazing result they found was that they ended up with 14 bingos! Despite always playing the highest scoring move on each turn, the remaining letters allowed for more bingos all the way to the end of the game. Another amazing result is that three of the plays in the game are 9-letter bingos. This game was done quite a while ago, and was based on a long outdated Scrabble dictionary (North American lexicon). I don't know if anyone has calculated the result for the current North American or international (Collins) dictionaries. I have attached a screen shot of the completed game.Screenshot of 14 bingo game where each move is the highest scoring move possible

POSTED BY: Tony Leah

Note, this post has been edited from its original version to ensure all examples are valid!

POSTED BY: Joseph Brennan

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Posted 9 months ago
POSTED BY: Alice Brown

Thank you for your kind words! If you are interested in learning more I encourage you to watch on YouTube:

They provide some great insight into Scrabble at the highest level.

POSTED BY: Joseph Brennan
Posted 9 months ago
POSTED BY: Alice Brown

I am glad this project inspired you, and I look forward to seeing what you build! It's great that we can apply programming skills at a high- and low-level to fun, real-world games. However the YouTube channel(s) are not my own, they belong to two of the highest ranked USA Scrabble players.

POSTED BY: Joseph Brennan
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