| Player 1 |
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#player1 Dave_Koenig Dave Koenig
#player2 Marsh_Richards Marsh Richards
>Dave_Koenig: AEJPPSU 8D JAUPS +44 44
>Marsh_Richards: AAEFGOU 9C FAA +21 21
#note This is not a bad choice, but I might prefer AGUE 7E to fix the vowel consonant balance faster.
>Dave_Koenig: BEHNOOP 10D PHO +28 72
>Marsh_Richards: CEEGIOU G5 COU.E +11 32
#note By not clearing enough vowels on the last turn, Marsh left herself without great scoring options on this turn. The play she chose is the most reasonable and safe way to balance her rack. However, if she wanted to be adventurous she could have lit the board up with EUGE 11A. This simultaneously sets up a big scoring lane on the A column and sets up big hooks on JAPE with a D, R, or S. It's a dangerous way to play, considering that she doesn't have any of the hook letters yet. But since she is already trailing in the game, it might be worth the risk.
>Dave_Koenig: ?BDENOO D8 ...ED +30 102
#note Dang it, she blocked NOBODIES/DOBLONES, I thought. I spent a while looking for a bingo that fit but never spotted the one that did: BOOKEND 11F. I did get to play DOBLON for 39 points in the very next round.
>Marsh_Richards: EGGIINS 11F SIEGING +70 102
>Dave_Koenig: ?BKNNOO H11 .BOOK +42 144
#note There are two playable bingos here, BONNOCKS, which I did not know, and NONBOOKS, which I thought of but wasn't sure enough to try. However, scoring 42 and keeping the blank is nearly as good as bingoing. It probably would be just as good or better if not for the double N leave.
>Marsh_Richards: LNNRSVY J10 V.NYL +21 123
#note Clearly best.
>Dave_Koenig: ?NNRRST 6F R.NT +6 150
#note Setting up the RONTE#/RONTS# hooks to give me more spots to bingo. It's true that this takes out the only open vowel I have, but I was worried that if I didn't do it, she could kill most of my bingo chances by dumping a few tiles herself in this part of the board.
>Marsh_Richards: ?AHNORR C11 HORN +22 145
#note Quackle also likes RAV 10H, but this play is perfectly good.
>Dave_Koenig: ?DLNQRS -DLQ +0 150
#note At first I was going to keep only RS?, but the bag was starting to slant slightly towards vowels, most of the N's were gone, and keeping one might help me play through the G on column L.
>Marsh_Richards: ?AEIILR 5I AIRLInE +64 209
#note REMIGIAL is the safest way to bingo. She first laid down LAIRIER# J1 but then changed her mind to AIRLINE. This does not make a lot of sense to me. My last couple plays imply consonant trouble so if she has to slot a letter in the triple-triple lane, it's better to put a consonant there. Notwithstanding the safer J column bingo IRIDEAL#, I'd rather play HAILIER# than LAIRIER#, so as to put a zero point blank representing a harder consonant to use in the triple lane.
>Dave_Koenig: ?AAENRS O4 S.RENAtA +74 224
#note No triple-triple unfortunately. There is the beautiful disco 9 LANGRAGES L5, but it's not as good as this of course.
>Marsh_Richards: AEMNOUW B12 MEOW +30 239
#note UNMEW 14B looks like a bit of an improvement over this. As the board gets blocked up in a close game, points are at a premium. There is a little bit of value in holding one of the last two U's with the Q unseen, but it's not worth scoring six fewer points here.
>Dave_Koenig: BDEILSV M3 BL.VE +22 246
#note SLIVED# 15J is the star play here. I *thought* about it, but I didn't really know the word and couldn't risk it.
>Marsh_Richards: AINOQRU 13J .ANQUI +36 275
#note Marsh had the very nice bingo QUARRION# on column K. I did not know the word.
>Dave_Koenig: DDGIMST J2 MID.S +23 269
#note I missed the beautiful play MIDGUT N9 here. It scores very well and sets up my case S for a big hook on row 15. Now I'm starting to get desperate and angling to open up the top of the board, as well as setting up an X spot on 3I.
>Marsh_Richards: CDEIORT A14 DO +28 303
#note This looks clearly best, as I could score well in this same spot with FA, WO, YA or YO.
>Dave_Koenig: DGILTTW N12 W.D +14 283
#note I thought about playing TWIG/TWIT on row 3, but thought it was too likely to run into something like ZIT H1 shutting down the board. Instead I keep the L3 X spot open, and it might be hard for her to make a play to that closes it down without giving me something on row 1. Also, I was hoping to draw the last U for the WUDU hook. I'm in bad shape, but when you're down, you just have to create a lot of volatility and hope sometimes.
>Marsh_Richards: CEIORTT 14F TR.O.IE +13 316
#note I liked Marsh's play, and I complimented her on it as soon as she made it. In these situations bingos are unlikely and the few hooking and scoring tiles are the ones that are likely to make a difference. It makes sense to play for rapid turnover to try to get to the Z, X, U, and even the F and Y. As it turned out, she blocked the spot where I wanted to play GENTY#. However, Quackle sees that she had a better scoring spot to play these same tiles: NORITE N5 off the blank N for 27 points. A star play indeed.
>Dave_Koenig: EGILTTY N1 GEY +21 304
#note Ooh, I had the very fancy insertion BINGE 12H, making NGAI#
>Marsh_Richards: ACETTUX 15M TUX +38 354
#note Marsh could have played this at I1, but it seemed more dangerous to slot the T at 1I. I mean, there's not much chance of me bingoing up top, is there?
>Dave_Koenig: AEILRTT 3C LITERAT. +70 374
#note It turns out that I had three possible bingos, LIFETIME and REALTIME# in addition to the one I played. Whereas after TUX I1, I would have had no playable bingos ending in T. If Marsh had time on the clock to work out these possibilities, she might have chosen to go the other way, but as in many of our games my fast play had left her little time to work out the endgame. She also had the option of TAX I1 to hold the U for the WUDU# hook. Now it turns out that I escape with a miracle win after bingoing and drawing the good scoring F tile.
>Marsh_Richards: ACEEITZ L8 TZI.A.. +36 390
#note This is Marsh's best play, and it makes the endgame close, but not quite close enough.
>Dave_Koenig: F F2 F. +13 387
>Dave_Koenig: (CEE) +10 397
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