Scrabble officials have been grappling with watertight rules for international tournaments in order to establish certain global norms. What to do if the opponent takes too many tiles out of the bag - or not enough - plays a dubious word, and when, precisely, does the game begin?
These are some of the issues on rules an international committee has been dealing with.
Ahead of the ninth World Scrabble Championship in November, WSC organiser Philip Nelkon (Great Britain), asked that the World English-language Scrabble Players Association examine the body of rules regulating such a global event to make certain they conform to an international standard.
Amy Byrne (UK), chair of the Wespa rules subcommittee, said: “The overwhelming issue was the penalty challenge” as well as knowing precisely when the game starts and how to resolve matters when a player takes too many tiles from the bag.
In the rules being submitted to WSC organisers, a five-point penalty would be applied to the opponents for each valid word challenged.
Eight years ago, the WSC had stipulated a five-point penalty for a wrong word or words. But the committee has also proposed other options for wrong challenges.
Also in the rules laid down, to start the game the player’s timer begins once the first of seven tiles is drawn.
Some discussion has taken place on whether to impose a penalty if a player takes a tile or more too many from the bag.
But taking too few tiles is equally dealt with, particularly in the end game when a player does not take the required number of letters, leaving the opponent to take the remaining tiles to empty the bag.
If “the mistake is caught before the player has made their next move, then the opponent must choose the appropriate number of tiles from their own rack and give them to the player.
“However, if the underdrawing is only discovered after the player has made their next move and started the timer, then there is no penalty, and the game continues.”
The six-member subcommittee took about 15-18 months to assess and review the issues involved with rules.
“Please note that this is version 1 of the rules,” said Byrne, “that will be refined after the WSC when we’ve had feedback from the players.”
Committee members discussed rules in force in their own national federations and associations, she pointed out, and they “were very knowledgeable about the issues being discussed.”
Byrne underscored that the rules “will have to be continuously reviewed to keep abreast of developments and changing needs in the competitive world of Scrabble.
“National Scrabble associations will continue to use their own game rules for internal competitions unless they make a decision to adopt either in full or in part these generic game rules” adopted by Wespa and forwarded on to Nelkon.
However, Wespa chairman Allan Simmons underlined that the adopted body of rules would have to be used in any international competition where the association’
Other members of the committee are Jojo Delia (Malta), Trevor Hovelmeier (South Africa), Sam Kantimathi (USA), Joan Rosenthal (Australia) and Siri Tillekeratne (Canada).
Other committees are completing reports on the international ratings of players and analysing the method of allotting national quotas for the WSC.
An estimated 25,000-50,000 players compete in international Scrabble tournaments in English in about 40-45 countries.