| Player 1 |
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#player1 Will Will Anderson
#player2 Paul Paul Holser
#title 2018 NSC Round 1
#description Will Anderson plays Paul Holser in Round 1 at the 2018 NSC
>Will: AADIOUU 8H AUDIO +14 14
#note Exchanging is ever so slightly better, says Quackle.
>Paul: ACEISTY 9F ICY +16 16
>Will: AAMQSUX M8 SQUAMA +61 75
>Paul: AELOSTV K7 V.OLATES +72 88
>Will: ?AGOTUX 8D GOX +22 97
#note This was the least objectionable option to me here. The various placements of GOX and XU on the right side of the board all yielded huge scores, and the nice L11 GUT kept the X along with my blank, delaying my eventual bingo.
>Paul: ABDHKPT L11 BATH +41 129
>Will: ?AEIRTU D6 lI.ATURE +66 163
#note I strongly considered 14J USHER here, but decided I didn't want to create that type of volatility; I also foresaw situations where I could use SQUAMAE myself later on if Paul wasn't confident enough to play there himself.
>Paul: DEEIKPR C3 KREEP +36 165
>Will: EGHLRTY 13B GL.ETY +28 191
>Paul: CDEIILV 15L EVIL +35 200
>Will: EFHIPRW 11B WH.P +24 215
#note This was actually a conscious choice over WEIGH; I was trying to keep the board controlled rather than create such a volatile opening, even though perhaps that doesn't come naturally do me. 16 points is a bit too much to give up, though. The two plays sim about 1.5 points apart.
>Paul: ACDIIJN 4A JI.D +40 240
>Will: EEFIINR 3C .IEF +14 229
#note Trying to get some action going in the top right quadrant
>Paul: AACEINN A1 NIN.A +36 276
>Will: EILNNRS N9 IN +19 248
>Paul: ACDEFNU J13 FAD +24 300
>Will: ELNORRS O4 ENROLS +33 281
#note At this score I felt I needed to score and hope to draw the blank or a lucky natural.
>Paul: CEINOTU 15D COUNTE. +39 339
>Will: ?AEORRW 4F ARROWEd +75 356
#note Big fail here, which I realized a moment too late. Obviously, the game is close enough that I need the extra eight points from NARROWER/NARROWED, which I did see, for the record; I reasoned that ARROWED would allow fewer out bingos to Paul, but at this score and with this pool, that's far from the most pressing concern. Bad job by me here.
>Paul: GINORSZ J4 .IZ +35 374
#note 3I SORING leaves spots for REZ and ZA, and would win for Paul.
>Will: BDEEMOT H1 OMB.E +27 383
#note 5H EMIT is best, leaving the awesome C9 BEHOLD for next turn along with 3K BODE.
>Paul: GNORS K1 GOR.S +16 390
>Will: DET F1 DE..T +11 394
#note Not a good start, but escaped with a win.
>Will: (N) +2 396
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