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#player1 Dave Dave
#player2 Matt Matt
>Dave: EJOQTTV -JOQTV +0 0
#note A tough choice between JOT and exchanging. I asked Matt afterwards. While he thought that JOT was not a bad move, he also preferred exchanging.
>Matt: ?EINNOW 8B INWOvEN +76 76
>Dave: AEHITUZ 7G HAZE +41 41
#note I think this placement makes slightly more sense than row 9, as the other way sets up an X spot and underlapping scores off the Z.
>Matt: IIIII -IIIII +0 76
>Dave: IIKLTUU K5 KILT +33 74
#note Oof, a horrible leave, but what else am I supposed to do here? ULU K6 looks idiotic because of the front hooks. I supposed TIKI 9G might be the best alternative, but the leave doesn't inspire much more confidence, and I leave the many back hooks for HAZE to him. This move scores the most, takes away a hot scoring zone, and turns over four tiles, so I can at least hope for a favorable draw.
>Matt: HINORST 6B HORNIST +79 155
#note Matt Graham is the Cris Carter of Scrabble. All he does is score touchdowns.
>Dave: IIJTUUY 5I JU.U +15 89
#note Despite the subpar leave, this has to be the best. I get rid of three bad tiles and create an S hook on a really tight board.
>Matt: ORST L3 RO.TS +30 185
>Dave: BIITUXY 3K B.UX +26 115
#note UNBOX E5 is a better way to do this, as I score two more points and don't give easy scores off the X. Keeping the R and the front hooks of ROUTS open is preferable too. BUY 9I is also not a bad choice, hoping to do more with the X, e.g., EXIT I2.
>Matt: GNO 2M NOG +28 213
>Dave: EEEIITY 9K YETI +20 135
#note Again, a clearly best play despite not having the happiest of leaves. Gotta keep creating the volatility and giving myself a chance to get some good consonantage.
>Matt: AMRS O6 MARS +26 239
>Dave: AEEEIMY N2 ..EYE +23 158
#note Slowly, it seems, my leave is starting to recover, while I've still been managing to score decently. However, Matt has used his eses well to keep the board tight and protect his lead.
>Matt: Q F5 Q. +11 250
#note Ouch! Just when I thought I had a chance to recover, I got another three vowel draw. What would you do in this position? I found a play that sims way better than anything Quackle found.
>Dave: AAEIMOU D4 AI. +6 164
#note The purpose of this play is to set up UMIAQ B5 for 45 points. In the meantime, it bluffs Matt into thinking I have a very strong bingo leave, so he may be tempted to play on row 3.
>Matt: ADEEIR D8 .EARIED +22 272
#note A very interesting choice from Matt. The way he conludes this game is instructive. A lot of players nurturing a lead on a tight board like this might be reluctant to open the board like this. However, one of the problemswith that approach is that if you have all low point tiles and you don't play long, you score low and you prolong the game, allowing the opponent more chances to get back in it. Matt takes the opposite approach. He wants to beat me in the race to the blank and final S, and he wants to end the game as soon as possible, not giving me time to catch up. After the game he noted that this was the first of four six tile plays in a row by him.
>Dave: AEFMOUW 3B WAMEFOU +88 252
#note I was *not* expecting to draw into this!
>Matt: AAEITV 11B VA.IATE +20 292
>Dave: ?CDEEGO 14B CO.ED +26 278
#note I spent a while looking for bingos, but there were none.
>Matt: ADGNOP 15E DOGNAP +36 328
#note At dinner before the games, Matt was telling me about his cat's medical problems. When he made this play, I made him smile by saying, "a fitting word for a cat lover."
>Dave: ?ACEGLR H1 GA.R +18 296
#note I'm running out of time, but I've succeeded in creating multiple bingo lanes. Now I just need a favorable draw.
>Matt: DEFILL 12H FILLED +37 365
#note BIV is not a favorable draw.
>Dave: ?BCEILV F10 V.C +16 312
>Matt: NOPRST I1 ONS +26 391
#note Matt missed my other out play here. He should play PATRON C10.
>Dave: ?BEIL 14J oBELI +15 327
>Dave: (PRT) +10 337
#note Despite my low score in this game, I was happy with how competitive I made it when I was getting some awful, awful draws. (FW excluded, of course.)
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