The scrabble board is a 15×15 square, with a star in the middle. Some people don’t realize, but the start that you must play your first word on, does count as a double word score.
Aside from the middle tile, there are 16 other double word score tiles. There are also triple word scores, which are the best spaces in the game. They are evenly spread out on the outside edge of the board, exactly 8 tiles apart so that you cannot hit two of these spaces with a single word, unless you use at least 1 letter than has already been played. If you can manage to pull this off, and create an 8 letter word that touches two of these tiles, your score for that play will likely be 150+. This is because your word score is getting tripled twice, and if you used all 7 of your tiles, you also get 50 points for the bingo.
The next best spaces in the game are triple letter score tiles. There are 12 triple letter score tiles, spread throughout the scrabble board. These spaces are best used by creating cross-word plays with very powerful tiles like X and Z. By placing an X, J, Z, or Q on one of these spaces, you can easily score 50-60+ points if you create a word going in both directions. The other great way to play a triple word score space is by placing a high value tile on that square, and then extending the word to reach a double letter score space. This would triple your letter, and then double the entire word. It is quite possible to score 60-70+ with a 5-letter word by doing this. Even with tiles that aren’t worth quite as much, like H or W, it is still possible to score a lot of points by using these two strategies for triple letter score tiles.
The last type of space on the scrabble board is the double letter score square. This is used similarly to the triple letter score, but obviously yields less points overall. The two strategies mentioned above for triple letter score spaces are the best approach to these spaces as well. Either create two words going in different directions, with a high value tile on the double letter score, or else try to place a high scoring tile on the double letter score space, and then extend the word into a triple word score or double word score square.
Because of the way the scrabble board is set up, it is not possible to get a triple letter score and triple word score in a single play. But it is possible to get a double letter score and then a triple word score. If a triple word score space is opened up on the board, try to place your highest value tile on the double word score, and then make sure to extend your word to hit the triple word score. Remember- your letter will be doubled first, and then the entire word will be tripled. It’s a very powerful way to score a lot of points.…