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#player1 Kwak Kwak
#player2 Dave_Koenig Dave Koenig
>Kwak: FIIMNRX 8H INFIX +46 46
>Dave_Koenig: AIIIORT L7 I.IA +11 11
#note Quackle's championship player ranks this and IOTA 7I very close to each other. IOTA scores 13 points more but has a far inferior leave. The best advice I can give in choosing between plays such as this pair is to err on the side of the better leave early in the game, when the board is still wide open for bingos, and to err on the side of taking the points late in the game, when bingos are less likely.
>Kwak: AEEMNRR K10 MARE +16 62
>Dave_Koenig: AEEIORT M1 ETAERIO +69 80
#note There's a little something to be said for playing ETAERIO at 9B or 7B instead of this position for 8 points less. It's all a matter of inferences from Quackle's last play. MARE suggests a strong bingo leave with at least another E and R, otherwise we would not have seen them played for so few points. By that logic, the triple-triple lane is more dangerous than usual, and the A8-D8 lane is less dangerous than usual, as Quackle is less likely to have a big consonant to play at D8. At the same time, since Quackle drew four new tiles, there's still not an out-of-this-world chance that it could have drawn a big consonant. If Quackle had just played two tiles it's almost certain that I would have played the bingo in a different position, because that would imply an even more likely to bingo rack and mean a far greater chance that I would beat it to a big play on A8-D8. But the 8 point scoring difference combined with the four tile draw was just big enough that I decided to play the more dangerous bingo. Your mileage may vary.
>Kwak: AEFNRTT 1G FATTEN.R +86 148
>Dave_Koenig: EELOSUW O1 SLEW +69 149
#note There is something to be said for SOWLE# here to repair the rack a bit more quickly at the cost of 6 points. At the same time, I recognized that with a high number of vowels played so far, there is a better than average chance of my rack repairing itself quickly.
>Kwak: HINORVV 4J VIV. +20 168
>Dave_Koenig: EEOORSU J11 EURO +12 161
#note I don't care what Quackle says. I strongly prefer this play to its alternatives. 12K ROUE is defective because it allows the N hook in addition to the S hook, when there are many N's unseen. EURO on row 12 does keep a stronger leave by retaining the R, but I'm likely to do a lot less scoring damage with bingos after it, compared to setting up the S hook on row 15. Plus I'm scoring four more points now and turning over an extra tile with both blanks unseen. I think that setting up the S hook on row 15 here is a worthwhile risk. It's a good principle to keep in mind that if you draw an S and want to do something like this, it's a good idea to do it as soon as possible after the opponent has bingoed, because the longer you wait, the greater the chance that the opponent is retaining an S of his/her own.
>Kwak: HNOOQRT K3 Q.N +24 192
>Dave_Koenig: DEEJNOS 15F JONESED +106 267
>Kwak: AHNOORT M9 ORTHO +26 218
>Dave_Koenig: ACHIKRY 7B HAYRICK +79 346
#note A fun word. It's good in TWL, but I don't think I've ever seen it come up in a game before.
>Kwak: AALNOUU 6B UNAU +22 240
>Dave_Koenig: DDDIIST 9F DID +14 360
>Kwak: AALLOPY 5B PALLA +37 277
>Dave_Koenig: BDEISST 10B BEDSITS +84 444
>Kwak: ?EGGOYZ B10 .OGGY +24 301
>Dave_Koenig: BEGMNOU 2C BOGMEN +24 468
#note A practical choice. It looks like I gave Quackle a huge comeback, but keep in mind that if I hadn't played on row 2, it would have had WALTZES for 124. It was clear that the only good chance to bingo was on row 2 and that making a shorter play could still leave good chances to bingo on row 3 in response. (The only hook I can make under the F, FE, allows the FEZ underhook.) By playing as many tiles as possible, I make it virtually impossible to bingo in response. And I have enough of a lead to absorb the damage of a big nonbingo Z play on row 1.
>Kwak: ??AELTZ 1A pLaZA +93 394
>Dave_Koenig: CEOPUW 3F OWE +30 498
#note The only play that is better on spread is SCOWP# E10.
>Kwak: ET N1 .ET +15 409
>Kwak: (CPU) +14 423
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