Rummikub

Description

Two-player matches. Swiss tournament, with 5 rounds. Bronstein Clock timings: 10 mins per player + 10 secs per move. Standard MSO tie-breaks apply.

Rummikub is a tile-based game that was invented by Ephraim Hertzano, a Romanian-born Jew, who immigrated to Mandate Palestine in the early 1930s. He hand-made the first sets with his family in the backyard of his home. The game combines elements of rummy and mahjong. Hertzano sold the first sets door-to-door and on a consignment basis at small shops. Over the years, the family licensed it to other countries and it became Israel’s #1 export game. In 1977, it became a bestselling game in the United States. Game play continues until a player has used all of the tiles in the rack, at which point they should call out “Rummikub”, and are declared the winner. If the pool runs out of tiles, play continues until there is a winner or no player can make a valid play.
The score is annotated: the loser pays the sum of the numbers in his rack (jokers are worth 50), while the winner gains the same amount of points. Should one not perform an initial meld when game ends, he is charged with 100 points, provided he could not meld 30 points face value. Had he the possibility and chose not to, he’ll be charged 200 points.

Tournament Clarifications:
At the start of the game, each player takes 1 joker, and then randomly selects the remaining 13 tiles.Should either player get 3 doubles (pairs of tiles with both the same number and colour) then they can request that both players reshuffle the tiles and draw new starting hands.
For your initial meld, tiles must add up to 30 or more in 1 or more sets. Players may not build upon or manipulate sets already on the table prior to playing their initial meld, or in the turn in which it is played. If all tiles in the pool have been taken then you must perform a move that includes at least 1 tile from your hand. The Joker can be used instead of any other tile to create a set (including if that tile already appears twice on the table). It can also be used in the initial meld. Two jokers can be used in a single set.
A joker cannot be retrieved before a player has laid down their initial meld.
A joker can be retrieved from a set on the table by any player who can replace it with a tile of the same numerical value and colour that the joker represents. In the case of a group of 3, the joker can be replaced by a tile of the right number and either of the missing colours. Once a player replaces a joker, they must use it in the same turn as part of a set. Sets containing jokers can be manipulated in the normal way, potentially allowing the joker to be freed and used elsewhere. The winner of the game is the first player to get rid of all their tiles.
For tie-break purposes, the game is then scored. The winner pays 0, whereas the loser pays the sum of all tiles in their rack, with jokers being worth 50. If a player has not played their initial meld when the game ends then they instead pay 100 points if they could not have played a meld, or 200 if they could have and chose not to. During your turn, once a tile has been placed onto the table it must be played in that turn and cannot be taken back. A player cannot press the clock whilst the tiles on the table are in an illegal position. If they do then their time is restarted until the position is made legal.
If a player runs out of time then they forfeit the game and their score is counted from the tiles still in their hand.