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#player1 Will Will
#player2 Nigel Nigel
>Will: BEHNRTT 8D BERTH +26 26
>Nigel: IIII -IIII +0 0
>Will: ADLMNRT I7 DAMN +23 49
#note Tempting to play through the E, but I thought if Nigel played down to the triple after DAMN or MALT, it wouldn't be the worst thing, since I would get even more floaters with a decent leave. The surprising thing to me here is the strength of DNR (after MALT) relative to LRT after my play - I didn't realize that DNR is a significantly better leave. Still, the extra two points for DAMN make it a close call. MALT and DAMN sim closely together at the top on 2-ply, but CP picks E7 MEDLAR a hair above MALT and doesn't show DAMN at all, seemingly. Strange.
>Nigel: ADEELO H10 ELODEA +26 26
>Will: AFFLNRT D8 .LAFF +26 75
#note Here I considered BLAFF and AFFRONT, figuring that the open vowels in ELODEA were just enough reason to prioritize keeping NRT.
>Nigel: BEGOT G10 BEGOT +25 51
>Will: AIINRTY F6 YI.R +15 90
#note Tough call here. I considered J10 TIYIN and E10 YA as well. I think I'm liking YA in retrospect. TIYIN offered an easy bingo lane back to Nigel (though not a very easy double-double lane), which seemed pretty bad given that this board was terrible for bingos and I had a solid lead with tempo. However, I think that shedding one of my I's with YIRR is less important for that same reason - the board is horrid for bingoing, so grooming my leave is less important. It's fine to play inside with YA for 10 more points and be patient. The really odd thing is that simulation considers my bingo chances after YA and YIRR to be nearly identical. Part of that is that while my leave is more balanced after YIRR, I also have the E, R, and T available to hit after YA, I could get lucky with ANTIARIN or ANTIRIOT from 15A, and IINRT hits a ton of 9s through TE with common draws (unfortunately I wouldn't find most of them).
>Nigel: EOVW J4 WOVE +21 72
>Will: ?AAINTU J9 UTA +17 107
#note Considered E11 AA, which leaves column K available as a line for my blank-containing leave, but I thought that Nigel playing down column K would make a new lane too, and I didn't want him hitting a bingo before I did.
>Nigel: HPQ 5I Q.PH +36 108
>Will: ?AIINNS M5 SAININg +77 184
>Nigel: EGKS 13A KEGS +32 140
>Will: CEOPRSU A10 PUC.ER +51 235
>Nigel: MORT K9 MORT +30 170
>Will: AEILOST B4 ISOLATE +67 302
>Nigel: IRTUV A1 VIRTU +32 202
>Will: DEEINOY 4J .OE +26 328
#note This doesn't block anything, but scoring 26 saving the Y for a good shot at AY A7 seemed like a good way to outrun practically anything he might have.
>Nigel: AJR 15H .JAR +11 213
>Will: DEIINSY 14J YEN +29 357
#note Didn't take my full capacity for deductive reasoning to figure out where to play after AJAR. That being said, it's a good diversion, especially if he had something like Z? and is hoping for VELARIZE or something.
>Nigel: OZ 6M .ZO +32 245
>Will: DEIINSW O5 D.WIE +27 384
#note However, here I miss WINDIEST natural against Nigel Richards. The hilarious thing is that there are 7 tiles in the bag, so DOWIE probably wins more games, and is surely a better play.
>Nigel: X 14A .X +36 281
>Will: AGIILNS N10 AILING +23 407
#note Here it's absolutely correct to fish an I and preserve a great leave to counter-bingo if Nigel hits something here, or to potentially bingo out if he doesn't have a bingo and has to fish, emptying the bag. However, I counted up what would happen after VOIDANCE as a natural and I found I would still win comfortably, so I just decided not to give myself a chance to screw something up on my next turn. My spread was already quite subpar after 14 rounds, but with over half of the tournament still to come, I shouldn't have been making these huge spread-punting plays yet.
>Nigel: ?ACDINU E1 INCUDAt. +76 357
>Nigel: (EOS) +6 363
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