Areas right next to a played word are hard to capture, 2 parallel words would have to combine to form multiple 2 letter words, this create a natural buffer and

Areas right next to a played word are hard to capture, 2 parallel words would have to combine to form multiple 2 letter words, this create a natural buffer and you can corner off areas, block bonus tiles, offer easy point opportunities on away from the area you want to control to distract your opponent. A lot can be done with short words positioned well and can likely beat a more spelling knowledgeable person with positioning strategies.