Not many posting winning scores, so here's mine: 2048 and 20368 points
I'm not going to claim it was first try. Probably my tenth. However, I got much better at avoiding the key mistakes:
- Always keep your highest number in a corner
- Use the rest of that edge as a "staging area" for the components that can next double the highest tile. Work the other tiles toward the opposite corner on that side and then double them upward into the highest corner.
- When you double the highest corner, you'll expose the "staging area" side. During this time, quickly work number back to fill that side so you avoid being forced to move the highest number out.
- NEVER let yourself fill a 3x4 grid. This will force you to move the highest column away from the edge and will probably end the game in a handful of turns.