| Player 1 |
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#player1 Joshua_Sokol Joshua Sokol
#player2 Scott_Appel Scott Appel
>Joshua_Sokol: CNOQRTT -QT +0 0
#note This opening rack was very interesting. It's not every day that it's correct to keep CNORT on an opening exchange. Often it would be stronger to play TORC, for example, if no higher-scoring plays were available.
>Scott_Appel: EFIRR 8D FRIER +24 24
>Joshua_Sokol: CINORST E3 TRICO.NS +70 70
#note Although this was a very good draw for what I kept. I had a lot of those. 5 plays score 70 here. Which one would you pick? I preferred the board after this play, compared to the one after the other plays. Not sure why, and it was definitely lazy not to realize that I2 CORTINS/CITRONS actually score as much as this.
>Scott_Appel: IJRV G5 JIV.R +20 44
>Joshua_Sokol: ADLNTUW D8 .AULD +22 92
#note I sorta missed JUNTA and JAUNT here. JUNTA is definitely correct. Dumb
>Scott_Appel: BHOO H2 BOHO +22 66
>Joshua_Sokol: ADINSTW I3 DIWANS +45 137
#note I really enjoyed making this play, blowing up my rack to zip up part of the board. Quackle, understandably, does not. It does not expect me to be able to follow suit in the next few turns, and suggests I3 DAW for 32. Boring Quackle. WITANS is 2 more, but allows for more board-opening scoring plays on Scott's part, which are also an issue after DIWANS, but not as much. (JOT)A vs. (JOW)L is really no contest at all. This play was held.
>Scott_Appel: GIOV 4A VIGO. +26 92
>Joshua_Sokol: ADFGTUY C2 FU.GY +26 163
>Scott_Appel: EILRTY A4 .ERITY +36 128
#note I can't remember what Scott said his last tile was, but it was a consonant. He said he considered playing J5 LYE, which would have worked out much better for him, it would seem. Perhaps he had another T, in which case this play makes sense. He was obviously worried that I had another S and that I would make a crushing play at L1 if he played LYE.
>Joshua_Sokol: AAADLQT J2 QAT +42 205
>Scott_Appel: EEEEEE -EEEEEE +0 128
#note 6 consonants, he exchanged 5 of them if I remember correctly.
>Joshua_Sokol: AADELPS 10B PA..ES +32 237
#note Another very fortunate draw that I can use to further suffocate Scott's options.
>Scott_Appel: HOTU 2J .UOTH +34 162
>Joshua_Sokol: ADEEEIL 1L DEAL +33 270
#note I had 3 choices this turn. I could play O1 LAID, keep EEE with 6 E's left, and give back an easy 7 lane, and leave the LM columns untouched. Or I could sacrifice 6 points to block those lanes, keep a slightly more balanced leave, and hope Scott doesn't have a bingo at O1 beginning in LA. I think I thoroughly explained why I made this play! Yes, I still sometimes play defensively, folks! :)
>Scott_Appel: ADN O1 .AND +25 187
>Joshua_Sokol: EEEEIKX 4L EKE. +18 288
#note I definitely liked this over any other play, including EXE(D) in the same spot for 6 more. This sets my X up nicely, and playing here forces Scott's 8s to miss all of the bonus squares. The defense continues!
>Scott_Appel: NOZ 6I .ZON +33 220
>Joshua_Sokol: ?CEEIOX 6I ....IC +23 311
#note But Scott's last play really messed me up! I made a middling play here after thinking for 6 minutes about what I could do. In the end I think I just had to play F2 XI, not B1 though, as it allows Scott to fish for 27 points. This was not a very good play at all, and it definitely snowballed
>Scott_Appel: ATW 2A WA.T +20 240
>Joshua_Sokol: ?EEEEOX 12A EXE. +13 324
#note I considered B9 E(P)EE here as well, but quickly decided that C12 EX was worse than EXE(D), simply because of the increased chance of continuing to run into vowel trouble. But with that logic of point sacrifice, I should have just exchanged EEEO. That play seems strong enough. EPEE is doing better than my play on a sim, since many of Scott's plays down column A give me a juicy X spot, I'd imagine, and if he doesn't play there I can play there next turn. Not comfortable taking that risk, though.
>Scott_Appel: INT 13A NIT +21 261
#note Yet another great strategic play by Scott!
>Joshua_Sokol: ?EEMOOU 5K MOO +28 352
#note I can finally block that 2x2, but I now have a new threat to deal with in the form of a bingo beginning in SA at 14B
>Scott_Appel: AB 1A AB +31 292
>Joshua_Sokol: ?EEEMPU 2F PU. +13 365
#note I have one objective this turn. I need to score enough in the next two turns to outrun Scott's bingo. If I cannot block his spot, his bingo is scoring up to 91 points, and I am 60 points ahead. I need to bank more than 31 points in the next two turns to win. How I do that is the complicated thing. Firstly, I definitely cannot empty the bag, since I have nothing that scores enough. So how can I score 32+ points in two turns? An incredible way of doing that is available. N6 (C)EE only scores 5 points, but sets my M up for enough to win. UMP(E)d is 33, and that's only the best I can do if I don't draw a consonant, but if I don't draw a consonant, Scott doesn't have his 90-point bingo. If Scott has a bingo at O8, which is likely, he is scoring 74/85 points, which reduces the amount that I need to score to outrun Scott. There are still a few scenarios in which I lose, but I have yet to find one that doesn't involve me missing a bingo. (C)EE is a fantastic play.
Otherwise, I can block his bingo. Among plays I considered, (P)i(XI)E seemed interesting, as it scored a lot, but I quickly realized that it loses if Scott fishes and hits a bingo I cannot block, or perhaps even if he plays something at 15B, which is quite likely as well. So I discounted that play as well. Similarly, P(EN)t at 11A does not score enough to outrun a bingo Scott could play elsewhere. Unfortunately, I missed another cool play, which was simply playing (XI)s for 18. But once again, if Scott successfully fishes, I cannot win the game. Ultimately I played this with almost no time left, and I was quite unhappy with it, since I knew that if Scott hit his bingo immediately, I would probably lose. Decidedly, I should have lost this game because of this large pre-endgame blunder, and the blunders preceding it.
>Scott_Appel: N 9C N.. +7 299
>Joshua_Sokol: ?EEEEGM A11 G..oM +21 386
#note I must block SALLIER. I played this with 5 seconds left on my clock, not realizing that if Scott had something from the M, I would lose by 1!
>Scott_Appel: ?AILLRS 14A .S +22 321
#note Luckily, 1) Scott had nothing from the M, and 2) he was very low on time as well. No bingos are available here. I really thought I had choked again.
>Joshua_Sokol: EEEE N6 .EE +5 391
#note -10, but I had 1 second left on my clock
>Scott_Appel: ?AILLR O8 LAR +15 336
#note -a lot, but he had gone over and needed me to go over too, so he did not play out.
>Joshua_Sokol: EE O8 ...EE +6 397
#note I see my out after going overtime. Final score, 391-326 in my favour. What an intense game. Congrats to Scott for keeping it too close for comfort.
>Joshua_Sokol: (IL?) +4 401
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