Scrabble GM vs. AI -- the Rematch! Game #49

The Scrabble AI BestBot got the best of me in my 100-game Human vs. AI Ultimate Scrabble Battle, but I'm not ready to cede to our AI overlords! Introducing... the GM vs. AI rematch!
This 100-game series, running every Monday and Wednesday at 5pm ET for 50 weeks, will feature 20-minute games against BestBot with post-game analysis. Hope you guys enjoy, and wish me luck!
BestBot is the upcoming ultimate Scrabble AI from Woogles.io, to be launched in 2024. For questions, please email [e-mail].
Want personalized help taking your game to the next level or a fun gift for a friend? Check out www.mackmeller...! for more info or email me at [e-mail]!

[@wfchannel4673]

than din play is crazy. i almost certainly just play qadi with the thought i'm setting up za at minimum to ditch my z the following turn if nothing better for it materializes (zed also still available for a second z spot as well as playing down from the l so tons of options for it and i'd need to draw quite poorly to not score 40+ with it).

[@manaphylv100]

He was clearly fishing for QUANTIZE through the I. Fat chance, but worth a shot.

[@manaphylv100]

The bot was clearly going for QUANTIZE through the I when he played DIN. He was probably never going to hit it, but keeping scoring tiles made sense with his lead, and Q/Z are also good for blocking.

[@rhysgriffiths9675]

Is BY a possibility instead of BEY? It scores more points, doesn't float an E, and sets up BYE for yourself next turn. Although it has some downsides too.

[@manaphylv100]

Still gives the bot CURTATE or TRACTUS.

[@Superb17C]

I also suspected that BY was actually the best play on that turn, and Macondo agrees. BY sims about 0.7 win% higher than the second-place option BYE, with BEY coming in third. The scarcity of E's in the pool mitigates the downsides of BY: it reduces the chances of Mack drawing a fourth E as well as the chances of BestBot using the BYE hook itself.

[@rhysgriffiths9675]

@@Superb17C Good to know! I was also curious if there was a better performing play at 6:30. My instinct was to dump the O's somewhere with ROO, which might not score much, but would balance the rack and could be used defensively to block the R (which Bestbot used the next turn to score free points without giving back any counterplay) or score a little more on the left side of the board.

[@Superb17C]

@@rhysgriffiths9675 Macondo absolutely hates both 15H (R)OO and B13 ROO. It appears that the former play gifts the bot too many free points with scoring plays at 14J, while the latter play doesn't block enough of the bot's possible bingos. If you want to block, the sim thinks 15G O(R)A or A(R)O is most effective; if you would rather dump both O's, the sim prefers exch. OO over anything that actually puts the O's on the board. It's worth noting that Mack's decision to trade AINOOR sims best out of all the plays I've mentioned so far.

[@Para20Site]

Sometimes my brain just can't process the word when Mack mispronounces it. It wasn't till he typed it out I figured out what word SE-RAPES was.

[@whitesoxMLB]

BOUDIN was a dagger in the heart of any cajun

[@AmaranthRBY]

I wonder if sacrificing 4 points for a different positioning on the SERAPES turn could've helped. I think being one tempo behind on a pretty bad board after SERAPES was kinda awful, maybe there were better chances by keeping the top of the board more open long term? I doubt it would have saved you from the onslaught of I draws, but maybe it could've helped in some situations

[@mackmeller]

It's possible, though it's still fairly early so a one-tempo lead doesn't feel that insurmountable. The bot is next on turn so it's slightly more likely than me (since we both have random racks) to hit a floater first, which is a factor in favor of the more defensive SERAPES. Sometimes I feel like even when down it's better to play cautiously to avoid your deficit from getting out of hand, especially if the deficit isn't significant and it's still early. Not saying this is definitely such a case here, and if I were still down 50 after my bingo I'd likely be in emphatic agreement with you

[@eugenerichardson7691]

I am the first to comment and ask you what is the highest scoring play ever made that wasn't a bingo?

[@mackmeller]

Quackle played T(OR)QUATE as a nonbingo 3*3 on me for 243 once... that's gotta be up there! I don't know of a higher one myself but if others do feel free to chime in

[@eugenerichardson7691]

@@mackmeller wow ok cool thats pretty high.. How about ever in all recorded history of tournament scrabble? I wonder. because if in between two triple word scores, you had the words IN and HE in just the right spots, and you just happened to have QUZE on your rack, you could play QUINZHEE for 351 points. I'm always curious to find out about certain scrabble world records.

[@Oscar31YT]

NASPA records have it as B(RE)EZIER for 261 but I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s been higher scoring ones, especially considering games played online