WESPA

A playing board, 100 letter tiles, 4 tile racks and a tile bag (Appendix 1); Of the 100 tiles, 98 carry letters and two are blanks; each letter tile shows its score value at the bottom right (Appendix 1); The board's playing area is 15 x 15 squares (Appendix 1)

All tiles go into the bag; each player draws one to decide who plays first, and the player whose tile is nearest the beginning of the alphabet — with the blank preceding "A" — starts (Appendix 1); The exposed tiles are returned and the bag shaken to shuffle (Appendix 1); Each player then draws se...

The first player places a word reading across or down with one tile on the centre square; diagonal words are not permitted (Appendix 1); All tiles played in any one turn must lie in one continuous line, horizontally or vertically (Appendix 1); Tiles touching others in adjacent rows must form comp...

A light blue square doubles the letter; a dark blue square triples the letter (Appendix 1); A light red square doubles the word; a dark red square triples the word (Appendix 1); Where a word crosses both kinds, letter bonuses are added first, then the whole word is doubled or tripled (Appendix 1)

The standard rules describe a game for 2, 3 or 4 players (Appendix 1); WESPA rules require one on one (1.1(b)(i)); The standard rules end the game when all players pass twice in succession (Appendix 1); under WESPA rules they do not, and six consecutive zero scores end it instead (1.1(b)(ii), 5.2...

Players have a duty to be present for their games (2.3.1); Separate rules cover both players absent and one player absent (2.3.2, 2.3.3); Lateness can lead to optional or compulsory forfeiture, with defined consequences (2.3.4, 2.3.5, 2.3.6)

Because the unsuccessful-challenge penalty is set per tournament (3.10.13(b)), the same play can cost nothing, five points or a whole turn depending on the event; Check the tournament announcement before playing a risky word — under "double challenge" a failed challenge costs the turn (3.10.13(b)...

Facing a play, the opponent may issue a challenge, call "hold", or accept the turn (3.10.1, 3.10.5, 3.11); The turn is accepted if the opponent neither holds nor challenges before the player's replacement tile reaches the rack (3.10.1(b)); Accepting a turn waives the right to challenge it (3.10.1...

Upsetting a board intentionally is a very serious offence: immediate loss and ejection from the tournament (5.2); An offender not in the lead loses by the current margin plus 100 points; an offender in the lead loses by a margin of 100 points (5.2(a), 5.2(b))

The turn score is the sum of the tile values plus any premium values earned (Appendix 1); When several words are formed in one turn, each is scored, and shared letters count at full premium value in every word (Appendix 1); Playing all seven tiles in a single turn earns a 50-point bonus, added af...