| Player 1 |
|
#player1 Joshua_Sokol Joshua Sokol
#player2 John_Chew John Chew
>Joshua_Sokol: ACMMNVW H7 CWM +20 20
#note after 2000 iterations on 4 ply, playing horizontally sims better. I considered it in this spot, but didn't put enough thought into the ramifications of playing vertically against John Chew.
>John_Chew: HINP 7E PIN.H +17 17
>Joshua_Sokol: AIMNNVW F6 M.NIVAN +26 46
#note I didn't consider the other candidate play here, E5 IM(P)AWN. It's a bit volatile, but more defensive against the average rack. John is unlikely to have an S here. Although I think I made the right play, I should be able to consider these factors and see a play that stops one short of a double word score without instantly discounting it.
>John_Chew: INP E11 PIN +20 37
>Joshua_Sokol: ANOTTUW D10 TOW +29 75
#note OUTWANT* is not a word. Next!.. This really didn't work out. I considered this and 8A WANTO(N) for 5 more. I estimated the TU leave to be around 4 points worse than the AUNT leave here, and that TOW was positionally stronger by around 3 points. I am more likely to hit an early bingo after TOW, and I am ridding the board of its largest hotspot to race for that bingo. On the other hand, if John had seen his bingo through the N in WANTON, I might have lost my turn. I guess there was no stopping him. TOW sims 1.3 points higher than WANTO(N), so I was around 0.7 points off in my estimative analysis.
>John_Chew: CDELOOR C5 COLORED +71 108
#note John also had DECOLOR here, which he missed based on our post-mortem analysis. It's 3 more points, but much riskier.
>Joshua_Sokol: ABEINTU C2 UNI....... +26 101
#note lots of plays to consider here. I bypassed all that thinking that I couldn't afford to spend time on and played this. I had spent a solid few minutes on my last turn only waffling through two options, and with the likes of UN(COLORED), BI(COLORED), BU(N)A G5, 14B TUBAE, 5C (C)UB and 14B BUTANE, I would never have made it to the end of the game in time. This word is new in CSW15, but not a word in TWL2016. UNICOLOUR# is also valid only in Collins. I thought they fixed that... Reminds me of when I played FAVOURITE through disconnected tiles to win a game by a smidge and it was challenged off before the word was valid in TWL.
>John_Chew: ASY B8 SAY +32 140
>Joshua_Sokol: ABEITUZ B6 BE... +28 129
#note Once again many, far too many options here, so I allot to extend John's play with a phony for the second straight turn. I swear I didn't mean it, John! I do respect your word knowledge, mostly from playing drunken anagrams and "Fry Your Brain" with you in Fort Wayne! And I was in a pickle! But 14B ZIBET was too many points (unsure I actually counted it) to give up. I should have gone with that I think.
>John_Chew: AKO A4 KOA +17 157
>Joshua_Sokol: AGITTUZ 14B GUTTA +22 151
>John_Chew: ?AAIORS 15F SOlARIA +73 230
#note 15E AbROSIA looks more dangerous at first, but seeing how it blocks 4-letter words from 15A more than makes up for the scary-looking J14 square. It creates a scoring-heavy board John would like to have at this score.
>Joshua_Sokol: EEIOXYZ B2 XI +38 189
#note here is where I think I screwed up. Once again I have an abundance of options with my awkward combination of tiles on an awkward board. B2 XI, which I played, retains 14K OYEZ for 39, or possibly something even better depending on my draw/John's next play. The EEOYZ leave seemed like it was more likely to improve my next play's score than the EIX leave if I played OYEZ first. But what about the play after that? I'll probably need a bingo to win, and not playing more tiles for shots at good bingo tiles is counterproductive. 6I OXEYE came to mind, playing as many tiles as possible and scoring, but that couldn't have been right, as it gave John a tremendous spot to score, row 5. 40 points, easily. I briefly considered OXEYE at 14J, making EA#, hoping John would forget he was playing TWL. EIX also seemed better to respond to an opening John might make, but then I remembered I was the one who should have been creating openings. I think my main mistake was judging that EIX wasn't as flexible as EEOYZ. I also consiedered B1 EX, for 2 less, since the EIOYZ leave seemed better with all those E's left to draw. 2 points fewer made it a tough call, but I think EX is probably better. This even though my most likely next play left me with an I over an E (OYEZ). My other concern here was whether or not PINCHY* was a word. I considered I7 (H)EY to leave me with two turns of heavy ammunition to hopefully mount a comeback, which I think would have been correct, not only in this context but also against an opponent who is probably thinking that I'm thinking about hitting a bingo next turn rather than scoring 80 in two turns with my ZX combo.
>John_Chew: DEEIRTU 6I ERUDITE +67 297
>Joshua_Sokol: ?EEGOYZ O5 G.EZ +42 231
#note Fate smiled upon me as I drew the blank on a two-tile draw. But concealed behind that smile was karma. Karma loves to send you hidden surprises. Always look for a bingo. Even if you don't know ZYGO(T)EnE, surely you can find ZYmOGE(N)E. Ack!
>John_Chew: FILO L11 FOLI. +16 313
#note A great board-controlling play by John, using math to begin restricting the board. In a few turns, you would be hard-pressed to see a spot for an easy 8-letter word.
>Joshua_Sokol: ?EEFHOY K10 FEY +33 264
#note Many similar plays at K10. This one is the best one in that spot based on what's left to be drawn. I don't know where I'm going to be able to hit a bingo on this board, maybe a 9, but would that be enough? Other options are worse in terms of equity and in terms of score.
>John_Chew: EIRRRST -RR +0 313
#note his rack was something like this I imagine
>Joshua_Sokol: ?EEEHNO 5I HONE +32 296
#note Like I said earlier, John might not have a super high rating, but I definitely believe he is a good player. I was not taking any chances here, I'm certain his chances of hitting a bingo were very high. I decided that I could now outrun him, since his leave is probably comprised of one-point tiles. Therefore playing here instead of at 15A to leave the board open was likely appropriate. John could hook HONE with S(HONE) (I'm almost certain he had an S), but that would leave me many lines to play through!
>John_Chew: EIRS 15A RISE +23 336
>Joshua_Sokol: ?ABDEET 4L BED +24 320
#note I now had a great chance to steal this game, with M2 BEAD(I)EsT for 83! But I inexplicably tunnelled, despite looking through that letter, not thinking to make the blank an S or at least not thinking of many possible orders of tiles! This at least made the game more interesting..... I'm setting up my ATE with A(BED) at this point.
>John_Chew: AEQRU 3J QUARE +42 378
>Joshua_Sokol: ?AEJSTT C13 J.. +20 340
#note I was going to play TAJES at H1 if John continued to not score many points, but I needed a bingo here. So I decided, why not fish for an A to hit ASTATI(N)E at G1 in a very awkward but proper lane? And you know what, maybe there are more things to hit, such as through the I in FOLIA?
>John_Chew: DO G5 DO. +8 386
#note John smartly attempts to block a lane that was previously off the radar completely.
>Joshua_Sokol: ?AAESTT 14H ApAT.TES +76 416
#note Amazingly hit unblockable bingos in two ridiculous spots to steal this. Undeserved after missing bingos on two separate turns.
>Joshua_Sokol: (EGLLRV) +20 436
#note the G column was especially bizarre, as something can fit in the order of _N_S, forming (I)S(M)! If this wasn't luck
|
