| Player 1 |
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#player1 Joshua_Sokol Joshua Sokol
#player2 Craig_Rowland Craig Rowland
>Joshua_Sokol: DGIIINO H8 INDIGO +20 20
>Craig_Rowland: DEILOOR 12H .OODLIER +72 72
>Joshua_Sokol: ?EIIJLN G13 JIN +35 55
#note Although my bingo% is at a whopping 85% and my average score at an even more impressive 100 points for next turn, I should have played JINgLIE(R) here. I wasn't 100% and I wanted spread after losing basically 3 games in a row to start things off. That was my reasoning behind JIN, but I shouldn't have made that play. It's too early.
>Craig_Rowland: ?HO F14 HO +28 100
#note After 13 minutes, Craig played this. The longer he took, the more I thought "crap, I should have played JINGLIER". I don't remember precisely what he had, but he had the blank and only one playable bingo, and he opted to go for a 3x3 instead, just like I did. But he took far too long, and now he was forced to play basically the entire game with less than half of his original time left.
>Joshua_Sokol: ?AEIILW I12 .W +26 81
#note This was an opportunity for me to hone my fastplaying skills, which I very rarely use against an opponent live. So my decisions henceforth are likely wrong in theory, but they were made quickly and with the intent to run Craig's time down as much as possible AND get back in the game, which seemed to necessitate 3x3ing given Craig had to have a crazy strong rack here. I missed WEIg(E)LIA at N8, even though I had more than ample time to see it. I should probably play it in theory, but alas, this is an abnormal situation, so maybe my play was right. My only thought process was "how do I maximize 3x3ing/ 2x2ing and bingo percentages for next turn", but I shouldn't have had those processes at all, and this play is not consistent with any thought process other than "run him down and play as quick and as dangerously as possible".
>Craig_Rowland: ?AEGITT K5 AGITaTE. +86 186
>Joshua_Sokol: ?AEIILU 10H .UI. +7 88
#note Another turn, another missed bingo. AqUILI(N)E 9B this time.
>Craig_Rowland: DFNO O11 F.OND +27 213
#note The problem with leaving triples open when opponent is under time pressure is obviously the fact that finding plays on triple words is very easy, so Craig didn't have to spend much time debating what to do here.
>Joshua_Sokol: ?AAEILY L1 ALIYA +20 108
#note I need to keep 3x3s open so I can come back.
>Craig_Rowland: AQRSU 1J QU.SAR +45 258
#note Damn
>Joshua_Sokol: ?BEIOSW 15A BEsWO..S +144 252
#note This is actually phony! It must have been the time pressure or otherwise Craig would have very likely challenged this. It scores way more than the best valid option WIShB(ON)E 3x3 for 108.
>Craig_Rowland: MORU 8K .UMOR +24 282
#note So I'm right back in the game with more than 12 minutes more time left than my opponent. Things are looking pretty good.
>Joshua_Sokol: BFINNTU 3I UNF.T +18 270
#note 13L INF(O) scores best, I should probably have played that. The leave isn't great but that's not important here. I need to keep time pressure and scoring pressure on and play as if I were playing a 5-minute game
>Craig_Rowland: ET M11 T.E +6 288
#note After he made this play I started to get really demotivated. I knew what was coming and I hated it. He was down to 6 minutes or so!
>Joshua_Sokol: BEHINSX 2L .EX +41 311
#note This is better than last turn. Good thing I drew the S. Scoring pressure and time pressure are strong now, hoping he missed whatever he was going for...
>Craig_Rowland: AEEINST 4C ETESIAN +68 356
#note Nope... I was really AGITATED here!
>Joshua_Sokol: BHINRSV B12 HIV. +20 331
#note Now I had to bingo soon. This play, I thought, maximized my bingo % and Craig's thinking time, but playing C3 V(E)RB is much better for bingo prospects, although it might take less time off of Craig's limited clock.
>Craig_Rowland: ACPR 11B CRAP +29 385
>Joshua_Sokol: ABGNORS A5 BARONGS +89 420
#note BROGANS is better. I forgot about its validity. What a lucky break!
>Craig_Rowland: EKLMY C2 ME.KLY +38 423
#note Now after this play, I would have hoped Craig would be over, but he played his disadvantage really well by scoring impressively well and seemingly making strong plays. He had around 3 minutes left and it was the endgame already, so I couldn't hope to win on time.
>Joshua_Sokol: AAEELTZ F8 LAZE +43 463
#note At least the bag was empty. I had around 18 minutes on my clock and I focused extremely hard. I retracked around 5 times. I recounted every play. And I found my best endgame play with minutes to spare after looking at the board from his perspective for many a minute. I spent the rest of the time I deemed necessary to find this play, which is still, surprisingly, the best endgame play. I am notoriously bad at endgames so I am happy to have seen this. It's best by 29 points.
>Craig_Rowland: CDEEPRV D8 REP.VE +24 447
#note -3, still impressive given the simple crumbs left on Craig's end.
>Joshua_Sokol: AET B1 TEA +16 479
>Joshua_Sokol: (CD) +10 489
#note It was a hard-fought battle, but in the end I made some good plays and managed to win. Normally I wouldn't be proud of this but since the big blow the 2014 NSC delivered to my personal confidence in my Scrabble ability, I am proud of basically any win I can muster up.
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