Semi-Live Posting of Recorded Scrabble Games

Back to Posting Recorded Scrabble Games

Here is what you need to do to post (upload) a recorded Scrabble game as it progresses, having one person do all the data entry.

Before the Tournament Begins

To begin, as with all forms of game recording, the staff directly involved in recording games should read the Principles of Annotation document.

• Arrange clipboards, pencils, annotation sheets and seating for each annotator
• Add a link on your tournament home page to the recorded games page that you have been assigned.
• If you have a game logo, send it to John Chew to replace the boring default logo.
• Recruit detail-oriented, precise game recorders with clear handwriting.

At the Beginning of Each Game

• Prepare a large number of small pieces of note paper: one for each move that will be played, and some extras for out-of-band messages.
• Open Quackle, if you want to analyse the game as you go, or to have an easy board reference in case the game recorder miswrites the play.
• Open the ‘pgm’ .gcg editor and create a new game, entering the names of the players and description of the game.

During Each Game

Annotators should complete the annotation form. Emphasize to them that the most important information to record is that cannot be reconstructed at the end of the game: player racks and exchanged tiles. After each play has been recorded on the form, it is copied to a piece of note paper, recording the starting rack, position and direction of play, main word played, turn and cumulative score if known. The note is passed to the data entry person, via a runner if available. The data entry person adds the new information into pgm, being careful to enter the opponent’s next rack except at the very end of the game, to indicate that the game is in progress. For details about how to enter various different types of turns, look at the right side of the page. After each turn, the data entry person saves the game, and the data that has been entered so far will become available to viewers.

At the End of Each Game

• Obtain the annotation sheets from the annotators, and check for scoring errors or time penalties.