Tile tracking is a technique used in Scrabble to deduce which letters the opponent might have by crossing out the letters which have already been played.

Unlike in card games, it is not illegal to follow and make note of which tiles have been played and therefore which remain. As the game goes on, the player has greater knowedge of which tiles their opponent may have, until there are no tiles remaining to be picked up and the player knows their opponent must have whichever letters are still unseen.

Tile tracking is usually done on a pre-printed sheet of paper. The player crosses out the tiles as they are played until only the opponent's letters remain.

Advantages

Tile tracking allows the player to deduce what letters their opponent may have with ever-increasing certainty. This allows them to make set-up plays, for example if they has an S and no other S's remain. It also allows them to block potential high-scoring moves for the opponent, such as a place where the X could be played for over 50 points.

Disadvantages

Tile tracking can take away time that would otherwise be used for finding words and making decisions about where to play them. Inaccurate tile tracking can lead to mistakes, such as setting up a spot for the player's S when the opponent also has an S.

References

• Official site of Mattel
• Official site of the National Scrabble Association
• Hotspotswordgame.com

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