| Player 1 |
|
#player1 Jason Jason
#player2 Josh Josh
>Jason: AA -AA +0 0
>Josh: ?DENNTV -NV +0 0
#note He has a very good leave, so I don't want to give anything back. Do I still play VEND? And if so, where?
>Jason: EGIILNS -I +0 0
>Josh: ?ADENTT 8F TAuNTED +68 68
#note Any insight on this particular play would be useful. I felt the U was the least dangerous thing to give Jason but a lot of UN- 8s exist. I felt like this also blocked a lot of 7s.
>Jason: EGILNOS 9B LEGIONS +66 66
#note I wonder if Jason missed SI(D)ELONG. I would have. I don't even remember the word...
>Josh: CMOTTWZ K5 COM.T +18 86
#note I was actually unsure of MOTT and I felt like it would be stupid to lose a turn here over possibly a couple of points. If I was 100% I would have played MOTT at 10C. I also considered C(uS)TOM for less because I want to be able to use my Z in the near future. I missed COMT(E) in the same spot but I don't really like it as much. This way I set up my W in two spots and don't give back as much in terms of bingos. But COMT(E) shifts the right board hemisphere upwards and maybe I want that for control and scoring purposes. I dunno, I feel like that O at K6 really helps me score and take out the trash on my rack next turn. Interesting turn but it would seem MOTT is still the best play. It scores and reduces scoring for Jason really well.
>Jason: OVX 10A VOX +28 94
#note The board is going south toward David Gibson's homestead!
>Josh: BEIKTWZ 6J Z.WIE +39 125
#note So it's clear I want to score here I think. W(O)K sets up ZIBET/WOKE for 45, but that's 63 points and it might quite likely fail, so it's cute but doesn't seem right. Keeping BIKTZ doesn't leave me anything that promising next turn, and it's a close game, so I think I need to play off some clunk, and Z(O)WIE does that very well. It also doesn't take an S. If I can draw an A I'm in business, so long as Jason doesn't interfere with BAT(I)K. This was also a reason to play ZOWIE.
>Jason: OW 9K .OW +13 107
#note Jason doesn't like where the board is going, and makes that known to me. a 30-point deficit wouldn't please me either if I had to play on this board on this turn. This is a decent opening play that doesn't seem that dangerous.
>Josh: ABCGHKT M3 BAT.K +32 157
#note I thought there might be some awesome words playable. I couldn't see any! BHAKT(I) at M1 and BACK(LO)G at B5 are really nice! Although I don't think they are correct to play. I guess BHAKT(I) has some merit but I like my play more. (W)HACK gives a nice S hook to my opponent and doesn't have a much better leave to it. (W)ATCH doesn't but it also doesn't score as well and leaves me pretty clunky stuff. 10I BAHT is something I missed but it's really cool as well if I want to open stuff up, which I don't. So my play seems correct.
>Jason: LRUY L8 ..URLY +20 127
>Josh: CEEEGHI 10F GEE +21 178
#note Not much to choose from here other than GIE in the same spot. Both plays seem very similar. I chose the one that leaves me with the most variety! :)
>Jason: ?ADEINR N8 INARmED +75 202
>Josh: CDEFHIN O13 FEH +35 213
#note wow CHEFING is good with one F. I was wondering! That may have drawn a challenge too! I don't really see the need to sacrifice 6 points and play FED so as to keep a more bingo-prone leave here, although it is tempting. I think that every point matters here, since the game is fairly close.
>Jason: ART C9 ..TRA +24 226
>Josh: CDEINRU D2 REDUCIN. +76 289
#note What a pull...
>Jason: EINRRST 3C T.RRINES +70 296
>Josh: AAGNOQV 5C Q.ANGO +32 321
#note The game is still really close! Here I had to choose from playing VA(N)G for 30, keeping the Q for later, or playing Q(U)ANGO. I knew that QUANGO didn't totally eliminate H1 as a scoring spot, which was why I was considering VA(N)G, but I decided that the risk was most likely not worth the reward and that I should just take the gift of having a playable Q at this point.
>Jason: FI O7 IF +30 326
>Josh: AEOOPSV L4 PO. +29 350
#note Considered PA(R)VO 12A and this. This takes out a key scoring spot and scores, and keeps a balanced leave that can score next turn too.
>Jason: DMO H1 MO.D. +30 356
>Josh: AEOSSVY 12A VA.Y +28 378
#note Pretty much the only play here I would think. I was very lucky to have drawn the S and another scoring tile.
>Jason: AIPUU 6B PI.A +27 383
#note Jason had just drawn UU here. He realized that he would need me to either screw up or not have either S to win at this point.
>Josh: EEHJOSS 14A JESSE +37 415
#note But I had both SS. I saw S(PICA), believe me. I just wasn't 1000% sure it was good. But what's important to see is that Jason may have (M)AILABLE. In this case, I should play one of the plays I considered before Jason played PICA, N2 JESS(E). It sets up my case O for 32. I cannot find a scenario in which JESS(E) loses as MAILABLE is the only way Jason can score enough to win. JEES at N1 is even better as it sets up OH for 47. Another winning play appears to be 2H (O)HO which I failed to consider, mainly because I wasn't totally sure of SPICA. Anyways, the only way I lose here is if UU are in the bag, but I needed to realize MAILABLE was available. I had the time and the correct tracking. So this play probably qualifies as my worst play of the game, as at the same time that I sacrificed around 30 points by not playing JESSE/JOSHES and SPICA, I also failed to recognize that the pool allowed Jason to bingo in one spot that I could have safely blocked.
My thought process for this turn was that I was setting up OH for 47 and that it wasn't worth keeping the E and playing JESS in the same spot, since I probably couldn't draw a 5 beginning in Hat E15 anyway and OH was more points to begin with.
>Jason: AEILLUU 15E LUAU +14 397
>Josh: ABHIO 15A OH +47 462
>Jason: EIL 2B LI.E +12 409
>Jason: (ABI) +10 419
|
