| Player 1 |
|
#player1 Joel_Sherman Joel Sherman
#player2 Joshua_Sokol Joshua Sokol
>Joel_Sherman: NO 8G NO +4 4
#note I was confident about this game because Joel worse than average and I draw better than average
>Joshua_Sokol: ?EGISWY G6 WI.GY +15 15
#note and to that play I replied with a resounding "NO". Seth Lipkin, wise Scrabble superior, spotted my bingo here. This isn't much worse, as it doesn't give him good floaters and forces him to have a hook to NO (probably has one 9/10 times at least) to bingo, but it will be an airball. I don't think he holds an S here all too often, but I have limited insight about the Sure Man.
>Joel_Sherman: AEHN 10F H.ENA +21 25
>Joshua_Sokol: ?AEELSU K5 EUcLASE +86 101
#note between EASEfUL and EUcLASE for one more, I figured it would be easier to control the board after EUcLASE, and Joel's responses were less likely to hurt. EUcLASE gives more back immediately, true, and does encourage play downwards which will end up clogging the bottom of the board, but it does leave two S-hooks just sitting there, the S-WINGY S-hook quite an issue unless blocked. I don't see how I'm going to block SWINGY that easily, but it can be done with overlaps on column F, but those can end up re-opening the top left once re-overlapped.
with EASEfUL, but biggest problem is an easy play down from H1. Not only can Joel score massively, but it opens up tough-to-block lanes for 8-letter words. EUcLASE does give Joel an L to play through to the triple, but that's less of an issue and of a likelihood than the E. In the end I didn't really know which play would lead to a more manageable board, but I felt like it was EUcLASE, and I also didn't want to throw that E out there when I'm only ahead 75, although I guess I'm creating an X hotspot.
>Joel_Sherman: AIQ 6J Q.AI +33 58
#note I wouldn't say EUCLASE was a success
>Joshua_Sokol: ?EIPRTU 5A PERITUs +78 179
#note Simply put, EUcLASE worked out quite well for me because I am luckier than Joel.
>Joel_Sherman: NOOSUY A2 YOU.ONS +39 97
>Joshua_Sokol: EFILNVZ 11C FIVE +25 204
#note I'm once again hopefully not hopelessly trying to control this board by getting in the way of a few floaters and an unlikely lane for a 7, as well as blocking the main bingo lane if Joel draws another S, to hook EUcLASE. The leave isn't great, but I retain the Z for bailout plays and L for (QUAI)L plays (which I don't necessarily want to make unless they score very well and give me scoring opportunities). I also create a spot to score 40-50 with the Z, except I now see that the only 4-letter word that fits at 12A is ZEES. Thinking I was setting up scoring with the Z was a mistake, and that's worth a few points. I think I should have just gone for the standard D4 F(I)Z, but I dislike the overly aggressive L11 FIZ. I also gave much consideration to N6 LIVEN or LEVIN, but that just does a bunch of stuff I don't want to do, such as create big bingo lanes that are hard to block.
>Joel_Sherman: DIJOS H10 .JIDOS +45 142
#note Joel senses my raging desire to lock the board down and after a few minutes, decides to blow it all open.
>Joshua_Sokol: AFLLNRZ D1 FRAZ.L +44 248
#note I failed to consider 14E AZL(O)N, which doesn't block enough to justify not taking the points.
>Joel_Sherman: CEEORSW 13A ESCROWE. +80 222
>Joshua_Sokol: AADELNR 15A ADRENAL. +80 328
#note sorry Joel
>Joel_Sherman: EKNT B1 KENT. +32 254
>Joshua_Sokol: BCGMOTV M3 VOM.T +22 350
#note blocking COMT(E) for 34, which I would have played to take the points. I considered this and 10B VOG. VOG would be a good play if I didn't want to accomplish anything this turn, but I felt like getting rid of the extra consonant and pretty thoroughly blocking anything hooking QUAI that could do sincere damage. Also mostly blocking the L in EUCLASE.
>Joel_Sherman: EIMR 1D .ERMI +30 284
#note glad to see that threat gotten rid of
>Joshua_Sokol: ABBCDGT 4L C.BB +26 376
#note I could also potentially just play C(O)B, which I failed to consider. The S's are gone so I retain the only hook! The extra 12 points and less clunky leave are very valuable however, so it isn't clearly better to play COB. But I think I should have!
>Joel_Sherman: GIOT O4 .IGOT +24 308
#note unfortunately Joel can't leave the B open. He's down more than a bingo here and he can't afford to give me easy scoring opportunities.
>Joshua_Sokol: ADGPTTU 9I AD.PT +16 392
#note I was going to play G(E)TUP but then I saw that he could play ENO(P)HILE through my P. I figured that I might outrun that, but I didn't like the prospect of it. If I play GETUP and he plays ENOPHILE, DIAPHONE, AIRPLANE, ELAPHINE or EARPHONE, and then he draws the X and a vowel, I could be in serious trouble. Quackle concurs and says this is usually the play that wins the most games (that I don't totally botch).
>Joel_Sherman: AD 11H .AD. +20 328
>Joshua_Sokol: AEGNOTU 8A .EGNO +7 399
#note I thought he was going for (A)NTHELIX 3D, but he said that JADE was just a scoring play and he was going for nothing in particular. Don't overestimate your opponents' foresight!
I thought this blocked his best play, but I felt like an idiot soon after. I need to block both of his spots for HEX. This is 14 points off 10A TOEA, but as Joel mentioned, this was "cute".
>Joel_Sherman: EHIILRX 10B HEX +35 363
>Joshua_Sokol: ATU 14A TAU +22 421
>Joshua_Sokol: (IILR) +8 429
|
