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#player1 Dave Dave
#player2 Nigel_Richards Nigel Richards
>Dave: AAFLNST 8H ALF +12 12
>Nigel_Richards: AILOORT J8 .AROLITO +65 65
>Dave: AABFNST K13 FAB +19 31
>Nigel_Richards: EIOPRV 11H PO.VIER +24 89
>Dave: AADKNST N6 TANKA.DS +67 98
#note I did see ASKANTED and had a teensy bit of doubt on the word, but I still would have played it against Nigel. However, slotting the A at 8M did not seem worth the two extra points, as it could easily run into a big J or Z play.
>Nigel_Richards: GJO 8L JO.G +60 149
#note So of course he hit me with the J anyway.
>Dave: BEENOTX O13 TEX +32 130
>Nigel_Richards: EHU G8 HUE +17 166
>Dave: BEENNOR O1 ENROBE +29 159
>Nigel_Richards: ?AEINTV 1H VENTAIl. +83 249
>Dave: CEGNNPY F10 PENNY +34 193
#note Quackle's static evaluator likes GYP F9 slightly better than this, despite the duplicate N's. But what that doesn't take into account is the board closing effect, since GU has no front hooks. I am happy with my choice here.
>Nigel_Richards: EIIL H11 .ILEI +24 273
>Dave: ?ACDGMO E9 GAM +25 218
#note This is not a bad play. I still have a decent shot to bingo on the right side of the board, and the OGAM hook might come in handy. However, with the last blank on my rack and the score deficit, I think the play DOGMAN 12A was a worthwhile risk here. I did not think of it during the game.
>Nigel_Richards: OU 9L OU. +20 293
>Dave: ?CDIILO 14B ICIL. +20 238
#note I was afraid I might be missing nines to TE here, but I have no bingo. There are other reasonably plays here, but mine is fine. Not with the idea I intended though.
>Nigel_Richards: DEIW 12B WIDE. +25 318
>Dave: ?ADIOTZ A13 ADZ +51 289
>Dave: ?ADIOTZ -- -51 238
#note A terribly stupid play on which I should have known much better. I am 100% sure that at some point in my Scrabble study I had looked up ICILY and known it did not take any hooks, but my rust crept up again and I had forgotten. I had convinced myself that dicily* was a normal English word, and I had been all ready to play AZIDO on the A column. Furthermore, I read his previous play as an inference that he was concerned about the hook and was trying to block the lane. That is a TERRIBLE inference, because if dicily* was good, Nigel surely would have known it, and he surely would have used the same tiles to play WIDE A12 himself. I could even argue that the tile gods gave me a reprieve by having Nigel play those exact tiles to give me a warning NOT to play dicily*, and I failed to heed the message. Furthermore, what makes this all the more painful is that I had a great play of C9 ZODIAC, which would have scored 56 points and still held the blank, putting me in very good position to come back.
>Nigel_Richards: EMRU D8 MURE. +25 343
#note It would not surprise me at all if Nigel sniffed out the ZODIAC possibility and was intentionally blocking it.
>Dave: ?ADIOTZ 15A ZO +35 273
>Nigel_Richards: DGO C7 GOD +20 363
>Dave: ?ADEIST 3H STeADIE. +68 341
#note Another terrible failure on my part. I had INSTEAD or DISSEAT at B2 for a significantly higher scoring bingo when the points are very much at a premium. Quackle thinks it is better to play DISSEAT, probably because I need the volatility of the ATOM hook. Even after it, I would have only been about 25% to win.
>Nigel_Richards: ENRRSUW B4 RERUN +15 378
#note Perfect endgame play by Nigel, of course. Quackle says B6 SUR is equal with this play on spread.
>Dave: ACHQSTY 4D YACHT +31 372
#note It is better for spread to eat the Q and score with my other tiles here. YACHT is the right idea but a bad execution simply because I give him a significantly higher scoring out play than he would have had otherwise. YECHS is best.
>Nigel_Richards: SW I1 .W.S +21 399
#note When Nigel has a game like this one, where he is not able to score a lot and instead muddles through a bunch of mediocre scoring plays, and I lose a turn with a phony instead of finding a 56 point Z play of a word I know perfect well that holds the blank, I have every reason to believe I just threw away a very good chance to beat him. Undoubtedly one of my worst games of the World Championship.
>Nigel_Richards: (QS) +22 421
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