| Player 1 |
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#player1 Aune_Mitchell Aune Mitchell
#player2 Jason Jason
>Aune_Mitchell: EIJV 8G JIVE +28 28
>Jason: ?AENOOT G8 .O +10 10
#note Missed OdONATE/(JIVE)d. Jeebus. (-32.1)
>Aune_Mitchell: ACMPR K7 CRAMP +37 65
#note Said after the game she didn't know if JIVER was good, but of course she's right.
>Jason: ?AEGNOT 12I ONsTAGE +77 87
#note Considered a bingo hooking under JO, but then thought: "Then you'll watch her -S hook CRAMP and kick yourself. Grow some stones!" Q agrees. She held and released, saying "You had mONTAGE," pointed to JO. "Yeah, I had a lot of options," I said. Karl Higby beat her the first round by almost 300 ... saw a few words on the board I was pretty sure were phony. But this told me I couldn't just put any old thing down.
>Aune_Mitchell: BBDFI O8 FIBB.D +42 107
#note TSAHTMIAO!
>Jason: EEMORUY J10 MO.EY +40 127
#note Riding on the way back down, I think to call Frank to update him on the tourney/tell him I may miss my flight again. "I'm on ISC ... Ben Schoenbrun just sent me a message," he said. "In the Albany late bird, Jason Idalski lost to Aune Mitchell. His rating was estimated at 1801 and hers was 825. Is this the biggest upset in Scrabble history?" That sent me into a 30-second rant in which I called him a punk and may have threatened to kill him.
>Aune_Mitchell: AOT 10E OAT +15 122
#note "Oh look, he posted to CGP," Frank said, which wound me up for another 30 seconds. "Oh, and he posted to the cross-tables forums." Exasperated, I responded: "I have an idea. Why doesn't he just go to the roof of his house, grab a megaphone and let EVERYBODY know?!"
>Jason: EEFLORU 11E FE +22 149
#note Missing FERUL(A)E, but I wanted to kill the spot. FOULER at 11A is another good alternative. (-7.1)
>Aune_Mitchell: ACHT 12B CHAT +24 146
#note Yeah, HAT's 33 at 11F if I don't block. TSAHTMIAO.
>Jason: EELLORU -EOULL +0 149
#note Doubted myself on LOCULE. Normally wouldn't have exchanged, but eight power tiles are out. Still, LOCULE's the clear play and this is lousy. (-16.7)
>Aune_Mitchell: AGIISTV 13C AI +16 162
>Jason: EHRRUUV 14F HURR. +19 168
#note Killing the S spot. Third on Speedy's list, but clearly best in sim. Trying to put a good face on this loss: She did go from 825 to 873, nearly beat John Morse on day 2 (lost by 20, for what that's worth), Matthew Ridout sent a very nice note after my CGP post ... and like I told Cornelia, maybe one day I'll get good enough that she can impress people by saying: "Idalski? I'm unbeaten against him!"
>Aune_Mitchell: EGINSST 6H TESSING +76 238
>Aune_Mitchell: EGINSST -- -76 162
#note OK, what to put on the challenge slip? I'm 100% on TESSING*, but she looked confident hooking it. If I'd had more confidence in SCRAMPS* being phony, then just putting TESSING on the slip might've been a good gambit. I reverted to what I was taught: Always challenge the whole play. Then she looked genuinely surprised when this was phony. This could've been an S- hook for me, too; it's unlikely she's baiting me. Naturally, I kill the spot later in the game.
>Jason: ELLTUVX 13F EX +39 207
#note "OK," I think, "NOW I take control." Uh, no. Given her rack and inability to block this spot well, Q says play V(A)ULT first. (-10.2)
>Aune_Mitchell: EGINSST 14A GETS +19 181
>Jason: LLNOTUV M11 V.ULT +16 223
#note Gah! If I'd know VOLANT, I could set up the -E hook for me and only me! This is second, big whoop. (-8.0)
>Aune_Mitchell: OY 15M .OY +18 199
>Jason: AAELNOQ 15A OLE +27 250
#note Gotta love playing novices ... this got a "nice fit!" Perhaps because there are four N's out (one she's got), sim gives a slight edge to ONE. (-0.7)
>Aune_Mitchell: AR 11E ..AR +18 217
>Jason: AAENNQR H7 Q. +11 261
#note NAE or ANE at N6? Weird. Of course, there are six I's out. My track was good here, but I don't think I noticed that. Tired of giving myself a headache over S(CRAMPS)*. (-6.6)
>Aune_Mitchell: EIW I6 WI.E +24 241
>Jason: AAENNRS J4 ANE +12 273
#note Q likes ANNAS at 5E. (-7.5)
>Aune_Mitchell: NSU K5 UN...... +36 277
>Aune_Mitchell: NSU -- -36 241
#note Even though I challenged it off, this play really unnerved me. Very plausible (I took like 30 seconds to challenge), and great board vision to see not just the extension, but that it still played after ANE!
>Jason: ADINRSZ 9C ZAS +29 302
#note Short on time, I knew this was a bad play, but nothing immediately jumped out. Q likes N(A)ZI ... makes the S(ANE) hook harder to hit. I'm playing defense ... I know I just need to stop her from bingoing. (-13.4)
>Aune_Mitchell: DNOPSUU K4 NU +10 251
>Jason: DDEIINR L1 DIED +24 326
#note DID instead? It would have prevented the impending tragedy. Even better is DIN or DINE at L3 ... gives her one spot to bingo, and it scores nothing. Board vision just went to pot here, as it sometimes does when I choke.
>Aune_Mitchell: ?INNSTW 2H INTW.NeS +74 325
#note Only bingo.
>Jason: AINPRRS - +0 326
#note Boils down to one reason: ego. Knew I'd seen it before, was pretty sure I'd challenged it before. And given my propensity to let phonies go, I figured if I challenged it was probably bad. I knew, knew, KNEW I could just play PAIRS (or PARIS or PIRNS) for 36 and win a good 90% of the time ... but I was 3-0, +99 and didn't want to go 4-0, +120ish in a tournament where I felt I could cash. And like Betsey's BOLE, I justl couldn't believe she'd play a bingo I didn't know. Like I said, ego. (-68.5)
>Aune_Mitchell: EIKL 1F LIKE +44 369
#note And I knew, knew, KNEW the K-bomb was coming. I just can't challenge. Total lack of discipline. Ah well. It was only a matter of time before my mistakes would eventually hurt me. (I eventually remembered I challenged Hector's INTWINES at the Linden NAST satty in a game I lost by 170ish, losing the tourney by six spread points. Why that experience didn't burn it into my brain...)
>Jason: AINPRRS 3C SPRAIN +25 351
#note If I wasn't so demoralized, I might've seen that (KI)R wins 1/8 of the time (E pick, I assume). I'm down to banking on an endgame phony. (-15.0)
>Aune_Mitchell: DEGILOU D3 .ULED +16 385
#note Better plays, but this does the job.
>Jason: OR E5 OR +10 361
#note Any 1500 wins this game without difficulty. A lot of 1200s probably win this game. Me? I choke. Yes, I was tired ... the adrenaline rush from 3rd in the main event was wearing off. Yes, I'd skipped dinner to post-mortem with Ember. But losers make excuses while winners find a way. Just don't challenge INTWINES. That simple. And I couldn't do it.
>Jason: (GIO) +8 369
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