Penalty Challenge
In penalty challenge, a fixed amount of points for the penalty is agreed on before the game, either by the two players or more often in tournament play, by the organizers. If a player challenges his opponent's turn and it is invalid, the letters are taken back as usual. However if the word is valid, the word remains on the board and the challenger loses 5, 10 or however many points the agreed penalty was. This can either be given to the opponent or subtracted from the challenger's score, depending on the agreed rules.
This is a compromise between single and double challenge, with many of the strengths and weaknesses of the two. Players are unlikely to challenge a word they know just to gain thinking time, as it would cost them some number of points. On the other hand, the potential loss of points of a failed challenge may discourage a player from challenging a word they believe to be invalid, increasing the chances of an invalid word remaining throughout the game.
Read more about this topic: Challenge (Scrabble)
Famous quotes containing the words penalty and/or challenge:
“No true believer could be intolerant or a persecutor. If I were a magistrate and the law carried the death penalty against atheists, I would begin by sending to the stake whoever denounced another.”
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778)
“I always draw a parallel between oppression by the regime and oppression by men. To me it is just the same. I always challenge men on why they react to oppression by the regime, but then they do exactly the same things to women that they criticize the regime for.”
—Sethembile N., South African black anti-apartheid activist. As quoted in Lives of Courage, ch. 19, by Diana E. H. Russell (1989)