| Player 1 |
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#player1 Joshua_Sokol Joshua Sokol
#player2 Fern_Lindzon Fern Lindzon
>Joshua_Sokol: ADENPTU H8 UNTAPED +76 76
#note UNADEPT!!!! Last time I make this mistake.
>Fern_Lindzon: QT 11G Q.T +12 12
>Joshua_Sokol: DEIIIOS 14F IO.IDE +14 90
#note This move was fun. I would normally play J7 IODISE after her play of QAT, but I preferred the options that IO(D)IDE gave me if she bingo-ed. The 15A spot IODIDE opens is not that threatening, and favours six-letter plays with the S. IS is a good leave for that type of six-letter word. Fern is definitely going straight for a bingo here, and since I can probably infer an S, I'm not really reducing her chances by playing IODISE. There aren't really many things she can have here, actually, as she doesn't have an A (otherwise QA(T)), she doesn't have a U, and is probably consonant-heavy, since a QU play at G8 should come down with the rest of what she might have. Perhaps another T, an S and some other stuff. Maybe she doesn't even have an S. That was what pushed me to play IODIDE. She might not have been keeping an S, so why not shape the board in my favour? Unfortunately I really couldn't get a read on what she kept, so it forced me to make a move based on two different possible bad outcomes. Positions like these are why I've been playing a bit more aggressive lately, and this is no different.
>Fern_Lindzon: ?EGHOST K8 GHEtTO.S +72 84
#note Missing HOGTIES. She said she saw GHOSTED and HOSTAGE, but not HOGTIES. HOGGETS also plays at 15A for 90.
>Joshua_Sokol: AIRSTTX I11 .AX. +40 130
#note So IODIDE was wrong in that she could have seen her better options. I need to learn to play a bit less polarized in some spots. This turn, I chickened out of keeping the 6-tile leave of AIRSTT with 13H (E)X, since I couldn't see that many things I hit with. I missed STRIATA with an A draw, and that might have changed things for me. Instead I just took 6 more points. This is a clear mistake. I hit a 7 with 42 of the 72 unseen tiles, and that's not including some 8s I might be able to hit. I am 64% to bingo next turn after EX, and only a whopping 36% after TAXI. Definitely a mistake.
>Fern_Lindzon: IJNO L7 JOIN +23 107
>Joshua_Sokol: AIORSTT M7 OAT +26 156
#note ORT in the same spot is much better than it would usually be, since keeping more vowels allows me more flexibility if I don't draw into a bingo. But AIST is not good enough to outdo the superior bingo possibilities of IRST.
>Fern_Lindzon: EEIZ 15K .EIZE +45 152
>Joshua_Sokol: IORSSTV N12 RIT. +26 182
#note Here is where things start to go downhill a bit. I miss the 6 in my rack, which plays at 15A, and I sort of tunnel on blocking O8 for long-term risk reduction. I think I should blow up my rack here and play VISORS.
>Fern_Lindzon: ACOPST 15A CAPOTS +35 187
#note I read correctly that she didn't have a killer play on column O, but this isn't very good for me either.
>Joshua_Sokol: ENOOSSV N5 VOES +24 206
#note B13 OV(A) is difficult to, but correct to resist here. I'm still in the driver's seat, especially by removing the two biggest threats on the board with one play.
>Fern_Lindzon: AFH M11 FAH +30 217
>Joshua_Sokol: GLNOORS 9B LORGNO.S +62 268
#note phew!
>Fern_Lindzon: ILLY E9 .ILLY +18 235
>Joshua_Sokol: ABDEGIN 8A BADE +32 300
>Fern_Lindzon: MUY 14B YUM +34 269
>Joshua_Sokol: GIMNRRW O9 GRIM +18 318
#note Was tough to choose between D3 WRING(ER) and O9 GRIM here. I really didn't want to open anything new for Fern to use, and thought I could win on a closed board while forcing her hand. I still agree with my play, but it's not foolproof. I would play WRINGER against most people, I guess. Just didn't seem right against Fern for some reason. I think I don't give her enough credit, or I just overthink positions against her.
>Fern_Lindzon: AEIW 5K WAI.E +22 291
>Joshua_Sokol: CEENRVW O1 NERV. +36 354
#note Now witness the two turns that lose me the game.
Firstly, Fern overdraws, and I pick EKU. I decide to give her UK back, but I should have looked at my options first. It ended up being correct, but if I didn't have a ply at O1, or had another play I could make more proactively to block some other part of the board instead of open, I should have taken the K away so that she wouldn't hit me hard at O1 next turn.
Secondly, WEEV(E)R is just an absolute killer here. I did not know WEEVER.
>Fern_Lindzon: KLRU D4 LURK.. +20 311
>Joshua_Sokol: ACDEINW 4H DIWAN +31 385
#note With 10 minutes left, I was able to properly assess this position. I'm ahead 43 points, so at first it didn't seem like I could outrun a bingo by playing off one tile. I completely imploded here and went with my first impression, deciding I needed to empty the bag and block as many bingos as possible.
The play I originally considered that left one in the bag was 2N W(E), to block stuff as well as unload my least flexible tile while scoring a bit.
Secondly, Fern's overdraw on the previous turn actually may have worked in her favour. Normally an overdraw is a clear blunder in Scrabble, and this time it was no different. She got two tiles she most definitely wouldn't have wanted if she could have chosen what she drew, at a point in the game when it was crucial for her to bingo. Luckily she already had the blank in hand.
But since the game didn't flow smoothly after he play of WAI(V)E, I don't think I was able to see precisely what WAI(V)E did to the board in a way I normally wouldn't hesitate to notice. Maybe I was fatigued, exhausted, nearing the end of the tournament, but I completely missed that WAI(V)E created a sick insertion in (A)D(JOIN). That is definitely an important piece to this puzzle that I failed to notice.
Furthermore, this play seemed like the best option out of bag-emptying plays, but actually wasn't, due to the possibility of ADJOIN. WINCED plays at 6G for 37, and outruns bingos through the L in LURKER, while blocking the R, which seems like the most likely spot for Fern to bingo through after blocking the L.
She actually only has 5 unique options through that R. She has 9 through the L. NEURULAE plays through the U. But I definitely underestimated the R in NERVE, to which she has 8 options. 4 things play to the E in NERVE, and only UNBEATE(N) to the N (same for the N in LORGNONS). She also has FREEGAN(S) to the S in LORGNONS.
In any case, those being all of her options, DIWAN seems to do similarly well in blocking compared to WINCED, perhaps a bit better. But I missed the point! I can definitely outrun Fern if I play 10J W(EN), which I failed to consider for long enough. That puts me up 57, and even if ADJOIN doesn't occur to me, I can outrun almost all of her bingos if she fishes, since CNIDA(E) is 30 and destroys 3 lanes, or I can even bingo myself.
A U gives me AUDIENC(E) and DU(L)CINEA. An E gives me DE(R)ACINE, an N gives me C(R)ANNIED, an F gives me DEFIANC(E), an R DERACIN(E) and RANCIDE(R). So even if she bingos, I have many comebacks possible. And I can still outrun with CNIDA(E) some of the time.
So basically, I completely screwed this turn up. I missed ADJOIN, and miscalculated the possibility of outrunning a bingo.
>Fern_Lindzon: ?BEEFNR 6C F.EEBoRN +66 377
#note And when I saw her rack, I knew I had messed up. Great find by Fern, although I saw it immediately! ;). She had also held DIWAN, which was the second time that 5 granted me a hold this tournament.
>Fern_Lindzon: (ACEU) +12 389
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