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#player1 Robert_Kahn Robert Kahn
#player2 Joshua_Sokol Joshua Sokol
>Robert_Kahn: AJR 8G RAJ +20 20
#note In this position I tried to start shaping the board in a closed manner. It seemed from my recent showdown against Robert that he prefers an open board.
>Joshua_Sokol: ABDELLM J6 BLAMED +30 30
#note So the obvious options here are BLAMED, LAMB, BLAM and BALM forming RAJA. I always like to rely on long-term board position, and this seemed to be an instance of me relying on that over what most players would do, which would be keeping the superior leave for less points and giving up less floaters. I preferred not making an S a very strong tile just yet. BLAMED seemed to seal a good portion of the top right, but it doesn't really do much good apart from that. An H can always be played for RAJAH, which would create an S hook, and a word could easily be played down on column K to fork the board. In that sense, maybe this was an oversight.
>Robert_Kahn: DEV K10 DEV +23 43
>Joshua_Sokol: ELNOQRU K2 ROQUE +32 62
#note Yeah, like I said, open board. Seemed inevitable from the 2nd move... Not much I can do, so I'll just ride the waves. At least this isn't creating another 7 lane anymore!
>Robert_Kahn: OW I8 .OW +26 69
#note Yay! I no longer have to worry about (J)AR, followed by A(JAR)/FA(L)TERED/(ROQUE)T and then either a 3x3 or a word making C(ROQUET)!
Unfortunately there is still the faint possibility of something like (DE)EM 11J followed by A(JOW)AN, then you know the rest...
>Joshua_Sokol: IILLNPU 4K .UILL +30 92
#note These are really interesting positions. He's probably holding some leave like AEINR, AEIRS, etc. In that sense I maybe shouldn't open any new lanes. Although how often does what I open favor me over Robert? It would seem that on an open board, if you open lanes that are also scoring spots after a short play by your opponent, they will favor you some percentage of the time, to an extent similar to how much they favor your opponent when they can play a bingo with what you opened. This is not the case on a closed board, since the chance of your opponent having a bingo skyrockets once you make a play that opens new lanes.
In any case, it looks like placing a tile on the 3x3 would likely favor me just as much as Robert, obviously depending on what each of us holds on our rack. The L might be too risky compared to, say, a B, especially given Robert's range from his previous play. I think I might go with L3 PIN or NIP on a redo.
>Robert_Kahn: ACEEINR O2 RE.IANCE +80 149
#note This is on the worse end of bad consequences of playing QUILL over PIN/NIP, but it is still a lesson learned by me.
>Joshua_Sokol: EIIMNPT 3D PIMIENT. +64 156
>Robert_Kahn: DHIOY 4A HYOID +43 192
>Joshua_Sokol: EGNORTU A4 .UNGER +30 186
#note Not sure I knew (H)OGNUT. That is a better play than anything else here. Keeping a balanced leave is also quite important, and given that, I should have taken the time to conside OUG(H)T, which is also a better play than this. Looks like a medium mistake here!
>Robert_Kahn: AEILSTT G6 TE.TIALS +61 253
>Joshua_Sokol: EOORSTT H1 TO. +9 195
#note Damn, now not only is the board dynamic, I'm down more than a bingo and there are many very good scoring spots. My idea was that I would block the most likely/lucrative one while keeping as much open as possible in terms of bingo potential while maximizing my own. There are also two blanks to come, and I need to draw at least one of them to stay in it. Hoping next turn I will bingo and draw some good stuff.
>Robert_Kahn: EGV M3 G.VE +16 269
#note good, one less cheap spot to worry about and a small score. Unfortunately this means he likely has one of the blanks.
>Joshua_Sokol: ?AEORST E3 ..OlATERS +86 281
#note And I just drew an unnecessary one. At least he won't be getting it.
>Robert_Kahn: ?ABCKRT 13I BRACKeT +92 361
#note oy...
>Joshua_Sokol: AFHIINW D9 WAIF +29 310
#note I had a bad case of twisted logic here. WAIF is the obvious play. Keeps me in line, within striking distance, and with a reasonably good leave that can either bingo or score next turn and beyond. I knew that N10 spot was strikingly good, but I imagined that any play there would open up something else that I could work with, hopefully after an S draw. Therefore I quickly dismissed 14M IF as a candidate play and went with the only thing that remained. WAIF is probably the play, but I was too keen on it for the wrong reasons.
>Robert_Kahn: FISX N10 FIX.S +44 405
#note ouch. Hopefully I can still draw into a bingo and eke this one out.
>Joshua_Sokol: EEHINNO O11 NI.ON +32 342
#note Nothing else would ever win it looks like. I need the H and the maximum score here to be able to outrun. NI(T)ON is the one and only choice.
>Robert_Kahn: PSUY 13A YUPS +29 434
>Joshua_Sokol: AADEEGH - +0 342
#note There I was, holding a clutch bingo, hoping all of last turn that Robert wouldn't be able to outrun it. I saw SOYUZ at C11 and that was way too much. Then he laid this down, hesitantly, and I was confused. He made the play, blocking HEADAGE# (shoutout to all of you Collinsers), and I held. Of course WAIFS is good, and of course YUPS has got to be good, like a YUPPIE. I even remembered that that was most likely the definition entry for the word YUP on Zyzzyva. But I recounted during my hold, and my play came just short, putting me at 432-434. I couldn't fathom losing in that way... Anyways, he didn't have an out and wasn't going to think I had a bingo... He seemed to be having trouble tracking me. So I challenged.
>Robert_Kahn: NOOZ C7 ZOO +30 464
#note But his best play was OOZ(Y) anyway! We both missed it... -47!
>Joshua_Sokol: AADEEGH 1B HEADGA.E +64 406
>Joshua_Sokol: (N) +2 408
#note "Interesting..." were the last words heard during this game's regulation time. Did I mutter them, or had it been my opponent?
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