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#player1 ireland68 ireland68
#player2 Daniel_O'Dowd Daniel O'Dowd
>ireland68: AIKOOTZ 8G OAK +14 14
#note He has a powerful opening rack but it's a bit clunky, so it's best to get rid of the power tiles while he can score double. H4 KAZOO (46) leaves IT and the score compensates for the slightly random draw he will receive.
By contrast, his opening play H7 OAK (14) leaves IOTZ, which can hardly be said to be a super-leave. Z is nearly useless in terms of working towards bingos, which means it's really a vowel heavy leave. Presumably he was hoping to make a setup play across his own O - akin to playing Hope scrabble.
>Daniel_O'Dowd: ?AGGHOS 9H HOG +20 20
#note This was a 20 minute game, so I was slightly more pressured than usual to be swift. Starting with S? is a nice thing. I should ignore the blank for rack leave, and try to leave something like AGS?.
I8 HOG (20) does precisely that. I had 18:19 left after this move.
>ireland68: BIINOTZ 10I BON +21 35
#note So of course he got lucky and can play a Z-setup, but that's going to leave him with a duplicate I...he now has two problems to solve at once.
G5 BIZ (45) leaves INOT, which looks a little light to me (because as a beginner I'm accustomed to somehow unconsciously playing too many consonants off, so I try to keep 3:2), but does solve his problems. Of course if he'd played KAZOO he'd already have 45 and possibly a bingo.
Conversely, there is nothing to be understood behind his weak move of J9 BON (21). Players at lower levels seem bent on laddering quite often - I avoid it studiously unless I have a good scoring reason, but it's all the more curious given that he seems to be waiting for a gargantuan Z play that won't come.
>Daniel_O'Dowd: ?AEGSTU 11C oUTAGES +74 94
#note UpSTAGE is an easy find. During the game I found K3 oUTAGES for 74, and played it with 17:08 left, but 11G UpSTAGE (82) would score better as well as opening all of the lower half of the board - which is good if we presume I have better word knowledge or strategy. I sometimes tend to play a bingo slightly quickly once I see it rather than checking another option, to be practical with my clock.
>ireland68: AIITVYZ 10F ZA +65 100
#note He has brought this difficult rack on himself. He was content to bridge the score gap with J6 ZA (65) leaving himself the apalling IITVY. I think that is the best thing he could do though - if he has to change next turn, so be it. It's my own fault for leaving a TLS square open.
>Daniel_O'Dowd: ABINOOU 12C UNI +13 107
#note Very vowel heavy.
NAOI and UNIA are jumping out at me (I learned some vowel-heavy fours since this game). BOU isn't terrible, because duplicates are always awkward unless you know fix-words, so whichever I can score more with.
11J NAOI (8) is a bit limp but leaves BONU, which is far more tolerable.
K11 UNAI (12) leaves BOO - probably not worth the 4 points difference.
11J NUBIA (14) leaves OON, which is slightly stronger.
My play of L3 UNI (13) is lazy. ABOO is not so strong, and I've created an opening for him to bingo off TI as well as the two that are already there, despite my leave.
I should probably have played NUBIA.
>ireland68: IIORTVY L9 RYOT +23 123
#note J1 IVY (22) would be the best thing for rack leave, but dangling an I in the triple lane is nary a good idea! So it'd be better to play G5 IVY (22). 12F IVORY/BONY (21) exposes a TWS but in fact blocks the board a bit - might be a good idea for him to do that to stop me bingoing constantly.
His play of 12I RYOT (23) shows everything wrong that's possible. He leaves duplicate I, he leaves V, potentially the worst single tile in the game, and nothing else. He opens the top of the board and the bottom. Horror!
>Daniel_O'Dowd: ABEFIOO 7F OOF +19 126
#note Another difficult rack borne by my failure to solve the previous one. G5 OBIA (16) would fit the bill, leaving EFO.
As it was I played G6 OOF (19), which closes up the top left part of the board - not a good idea. ABEI is a bit light a leave too.
>ireland68: ?EFIIQV -II +0 123
#note An interesting rack.
At the household level we are told, Don't cling on to power tiles! Here though I think lays an exception because of the other problems of the rack - namely duplicate I, V and no good consonants.
Okay, F isn't that bad. But it's not a three percenter.
There is a case to be made for rejecting the immediate play of F5 QI (17), in favour of a move like 13K FIVE (27). There's no setup threat per se, but it's possible to say that IQ? is a healthier leave than EFIV? because of the zombie setups that the opponent might allow, or that a good or unlucky rack might yield. I think I'd play FIVE as a confident player, though I accept that it opens a triple lane.
By contrast his play of changing II is baffling. I cannot understand what anyone would think to play such a move.
>Daniel_O'Dowd: AABEIRT 13C RIBA +24 150
#note The beginnings of another bingo. There are still 7 of 9 I's (not Borg) in the bag, so the last thing I want is a duplicate if I play 3 or more tiles off. Nominally a player might think on Level 0, "keep eirt", and play a move like 13K BAA (16).
Better still; F5 AB (20), which reopens the top of the board though keeping AEIRT. But leaving an I is akin to skydiving with a faulty parachute. Sure, there might be some 2-I sevens, but I'm not going to be able to decode the irregular ones. Still in this case, those seem to be the best spots.
M3 RIBA contains the phony TIB*, but it wasn't challenged.
>ireland68: ?EEFQVW 6D FEW +30 153
#note I remain astonished by this guy's play. 883 is a few hundred points high.
He should probably try to keep in touch with something like 13K FEW (25). His spot of opening up the top with the same word is not a good idea since I'm probably the more knowledgeable player or the one better able to play bingos.
>Daniel_O'Dowd: ACDDETV H11 .VADE +39 189
#note This certainly is an odd game - 9 E's and 7 I's still in the bag.
N6 DEV (18) blocks the triple square, though ACDT is hardly a spectacular leave.
E1 CAVED (33) leaving DT at least tries to compensate with score.
8K EVADE (39) is weak - leaving CDT cannot help even with the dearth of E's and I's around.
>ireland68: ?EEGNQV 5C VENt +26 179
#note This is so ugly that changing might be in order with the open board. A move like 5B VENGE (18) isn't solving his troubles. Change 4 and leave EN?.
VENt of course doesn't deserve to be spoken about in public. :))
>Daniel_O'Dowd: ACDELRT 15F TR.ACLED +62 251
#note A bit of good luck abounds! Nowhere to play CLARTED, so TREACLED it was.
>ireland68: EEEGLQW 14K EWE +16 195
#note His problems are in relief now. Still no change. Just putters on waiting for lightning to strike his dreck.
>Daniel_O'Dowd: DHORTTY D4 H..T +20 271
#note T has become holy (only one left in the pool), and I should try to keep my O unless I play a 5 or a 6.
I still have 10:55 so my clock is no problem thankfully. I end a heck of a lot of games in the dying seconds.
J1 THY (23) might be unnecessarily opening the game, but it does leave DORT - about the best I can do in the situation.
4D HEFT (20) isn't worth it - DORTY doesn't quite have enough value to be a good leave.
>ireland68: EGILOQS 8A LOGS +30 225
#note He has an I but he does not see!! N1 QIS (27) purges the invader and gets ready to bingo with EGLO.
>Daniel_O'Dowd: DIORRTY A2 TORRID.Y +63 334
>ireland68: AEIILQU -I +0 225
#note His play was really taking the mickey by now I can see. It's disappointing, but later in the week I'll show you a win I had against a 1358 who really embarrassed himself.
>Daniel_O'Dowd: ACDEINS N8 CANDIES +88 422
>ireland68: AEILQSU 8M I.E +15 240
#note My latest bingo pretty much sews up the game. He didn't see TEQUILAS.
>Daniel_O'Dowd: AEEMNRX B1 MAX +37 459
#note And of course he left a hotspot...
For the British among you,
WHAT IS A HOT SPOT NOT?!
NOT A GOOD SPOT!!
Although in this case I have a stronger play since EENR is nice and threatening.
>ireland68: AILLQSU O1 SQUILLA. +104 344
#note I vehemently refuse to believe he knew this word himself. Either way, if he does know it, what the hell has he been doing with his play?!
>Daniel_O'Dowd: EEEINPR 14F PE. +25 484
#note PED leaves EEINR with an open M, and an open S, and an open L, while scoring the most.
>ireland68: IIJNPTU 4K PUNJ. +28 372
#note Again - it seems unlikely he should know this word. No matter anyways - my job now is to maximise my spread as if I were in the last round of a tournament.
>Daniel_O'Dowd: EEIMNR 5J RIME +26 510
>ireland68: IIT C1 IT +9 381
>Daniel_O'Dowd: EN 13M N.E +14 524
#note And I was pretty pleased to wrap this one up with over 500!
>Daniel_O'Dowd: (I) +2 526
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