Back to Posting Recorded Scrabble Games

Principles of Annotation

Game annotation or recording means capturing all of the information about a game so that it can be replayed elsewhere. It requires at least as much concentration as playing Scrabble, and a good knowledge of the mechanics of the game, but even a novice player can be a good annotator.

The annotator sits beside the player and holds a clipboard with annotation sheets and (in the case of live annotation) a laptop. If enough annotators are available, it's preferable that one annotator sit with a clipboard beside the player, and another annotator sit with the laptop beside the first annotator and further along the table.

All information should be recorded onto paper first and then entered into the laptop. There are two reasons for this, first that laptops do occasionally crash so having a backup record is essential, the second is that when a player plays quickly there may only be enough time to jot down a brief note about a play such as which tile was played off in a one-at-a-time endgame. Make sure that the paper information is correct and complete before entering it into the laptop. It does not matter if there is a delay of a few minutes in updating the laptop; viewers cannot tell if this is due to the player thinking about the play or a technical problem.

Before the game begins, introduce yourself to your player, and if you have not already done so ask what you should do if you cannot see the player's tiles. Some players don't like to be touched, others don't like to be talked to. If you ask them what they prefer, they will be more aware of the need to let you see their tiles. Make sure that your clipboard and the laptop keyboard are positioned so that the opponent can see nothing on them.

When your player draws his tiles, record them. You may not get another look at them. If you can't see them, draw the player's attention to this fact as prearranged above.

When the player exchanges tiles, record which tiles were exchanged.

When the player makes a play, record the coordinate in standard notation, the main word formed, and the score as announced. If the score is incorrect, never say so to either player, even after the game is over. You must not affect the outcome of the game in any way. Incorrect scores cannot currently be entered into the laptops; flag them on the paper record and report them to John after the game for editing using pgm.cgi.