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#player1 Daniel_O'Dowd Daniel O'Dowd
#player2 doodle doodle
>Daniel_O'Dowd: EJMNRTU 8G JUT +20 20
#note So I beat someone who plays in the ABSP in real life :D Has a rating of 136. I hope to get lots of positive comments and criticism of my play in this game. The first rack was moderately difficult, and for a few moments I contemplated keeping J and playing something like MUN instead, hoping for a positive result. My pragmatism won out though after two minutes and JUT it was.
>doodle: ADEIIIL 9D ILIA +15 15
#note And I realised that her play here is almost certainly not designed as a setup to the outer edge.
>Daniel_O'Dowd: EMNNRRU D8 M.NER +20 40
#note I spent the best part of four minutes over a difficult decision here. JAM/MUN (17) is a candidate leaving ERRU. From the same spot, RUNNER leaves just M and scores 18, while stringing the board wide open. While I didn't let her rating faze me at all, I was conscious of not leaving it too easy for someone with doubtless high word knowledge to bingo a lot. I also considered trying to hook to the TWS/DLS above I, but not finding anything, I decided that MINER, leaving NRU, was superior - it slightly reduces the damage from a play there from my opponent, and avoids duplicates in the leave. Both MINER and RUNNER leave DWS hotspots below an E, so I went with the one that protected the leave, conscious that I couldn't keep everything closed always and my rack isn't the best.
>doodle: ADEIIMO 8A MAI. +24 39
#note Clearly a very unlucky draw. ID/JAI/DIE scores 25 but leaves AIMO, which is a bit risky with an open R/T. I don't like MAIM as played - though DEIO with open consonants is no bad leave I guess. I suppose I tend to evaluate such things slightly more statically than I could. Perhaps IO/JAI/OIDIA for 24 does better, partly closing down the board and preparing to rebuild with EM.
>Daniel_O'Dowd: AHNORUW C11 HOUR +21 61
#note The presence of W, H and U together makes this difficult - indeed I again spent 3 minutes fully here. At first I was tempted to playing off WH together, such as JAW/WHO, or HOW/HE/OR, but I felt like U would be awkward on the rack - after all I just kept it and look what happened. So I looked at HE/OR/HOUR, not knowing any hooks to it, and thinking that ANW isn't so bad because at least it's harmonious and has some strength for premiums. Normally I tend not to be so judgemental of U, I guess part of my issue was that I didn't have E or a nicer vowel to go with it - psychologically that can make it harder.
>doodle: ADEEIOT 15C IODATE +32 71
#note Still running light, she found a useful six here. I presume part of the motivation for dumping the rack was to stop me doing the same - you can't presume someone doesn't have your same word knowledge for any reason. I guess score was also a motivation - TOEA/TOR/OU/ER only gets 17.
>Daniel_O'Dowd: AILNUWW 10G WAUL +22 83
#note Now I've been really unlucky! I can't get rid of all of these at once, so I should be greedy and find the best score I can and compare it to changing. Had I remembered my alphabets I'd have played HEW/ORA/WAW for 39 and that'd have been that - ILNU has synergy too. Still, WAUL isn't bad and at least I was speeding up - only took one minute, leaving me 15.11 after this.
>doodle: AEEENOS J7 OE +13 84
#note It's the battle of constipation versus diarrhoea, as yet again she gets a light rack. Quackle points out the parallel LONE/NO/HEN/ORE for 25, but JUTE/OE is a patient move - just waiting for me to open the game or slip up.
>Daniel_O'Dowd: HINSSVW 6G SHIV +32 115
#note From bad to just as bad on my end. Originally I was looking at something like WISH/WOE, but then I realised that this not only opens the board inappropriately, but doesn't remove the V. SHIV was a happy find and I gratefully took the 32 points, temporarily surrendering my leave to the winds.
>doodle: ABEEINS 14F BEANIES +81 165
#note A proper rack at last!
>Daniel_O'Dowd: NNOPSSW E9 .OWS +37 152
#note Meanwhile I'm still struggling. I did well to find LOWS after about four minutes thought. I had considered POW/WOP, and OWNS to the triple word or to SHIVS. I decided score was more important here than being rid of 2 N's on a moderately closed board. Look ma - no vowels!
>doodle: DGKLPTY 13G KY +32 197
#note More rubbish. Asking Quackle shows a few nice K words - KYDST, KYPE, KYND, KLAP and KYTE. KY is the highest scoring choice though and no wonder she played it.
>Daniel_O'Dowd: DNNOPRS 11I POND +20 172
#note Meanwhile in the village of the damned, where only the big bad O resides, I felt optimistic for the first time in a few racks. Admittedly I've not been in poverty with the nice juicy letters I've had, but I want to get a bingo or be close to one - and at least now I can make a good dump and have a decent leave. I could also have played POND over the ES of BEANIES, but I decided it was better to block the open S since I hold one for plurals myself. No reason to open the triple lane.
>doodle: DDGLPRT B6 GL.D +10 207
#note This is beginning to resemble trench warfare Scrabble! Not much to do here, just dump and carry on.
>Daniel_O'Dowd: CENRRSY 11B C...Y +16 188
#note I saw CHEWY straight away and having only 7 minutes left, decided to be practical and just play it.
>doodle: ACDOPRT L11 .OC. +14 221
#note I guess there was an element of closing down about DOCS - without knowing SHIVA/SHIVE it's hard to be aggressive on this board unti someone cracks.
>Daniel_O'Dowd: EENRRSX 5H EX +23 211
#note With the X came hope that I'd be lucky and be abe to wrest some initiative out of her hands. 33 isn't that big a difference, so I was quite pleased with how this had gone so far. I just dumped the X and awaited events.
>doodle: ADEFPRT K5 FED +28 249
#note A strong move.
>Daniel_O'Dowd: ENORRSV L2 ROVE +19 230
#note I was still nervous and struggling to find good rack dumps to be honest. I decided now was the time to push hyperspace, and open it up. If I'm going to win it's clear I will have to bingo back - ROVE doesn't give the best leave but it does make it hard to close things down.
>doodle: ?AIOPRT 1L TRIP +30 279
#note Seeing this rack makes me feel slightly lucky - if she'd played a bingo here I'd have been in real trouble.
>Daniel_O'Dowd: FGINRRS 4F RIF +23 253
#note And again, just finding the best score I can, hoping something will soon turn up.
>doodle: ?ABEOQT 3E QAT +18 297
#note A simple Q dump closes up the top left of the board for good, but her trip to the top right has kept it open enough..
>Daniel_O'Dowd: EGNNRSU M5 GUNNERS +75 328
#note And here I got a miracle! Suddenly I had stolen the lead but it was still going to be very close...
>doodle: ?ABEGIO 8M .OB +15 312
#note I guess NOB was designed to make it hard for me in an endgame - the idea being that there are lots of bingo prone tiles, and I might conceivably underscore too much in blocking her from an out in one, or fail to do so.
>Daniel_O'Dowd: ?AELTTZ O8 .LAZe +15 343
#note I now see that I could have finished it with LAZARET - a word I will try to remember. My thinking was that if she has AEGIN? and one vowel, an eight might be possible that I don't know about, through the B. I should score as much as I can while stopping that just in case, so that I can get out next turn. BLAZE left TNT, and the likely chance of a vowel for TENT/TINT in two places. I'm no good at endgames yet though of course - so this could be rubbish.
>doodle: ?AAEEGI 13L .AGs +27 339
#note And fortunately for me there are no game ending plays or superscores.
>Daniel_O'Dowd: ENTT 5C TENT +11 354
#note And I got a VERY close win :D Pleased with that!
>Daniel_O'Dowd: (AEEI) +8 362
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