| Player 1 |
|
#player1 David_Koenig David Koenig
#player2 Brett_Smitheram Brett Smitheram
>David_Koenig: AEEIORY 8H AIERY +24 24
#note The less point-greedy AIYEE is probably a little bit better.
>Brett_Smitheram: AVV I7 V.VA +18 18
>David_Koenig: AEHIIOT J10 HIOI +28 52
>Brett_Smitheram: ?ACEOPR 11D OPERAt.C +104 122
>David_Koenig: AEKNOPT 10D KOP +35 87
#note I had some reservations about this when I played it, but I failed to come up with the better alternatives. In retrospect I consider it my biggest mistake of the game. It sims very close to 12A KOAP and about three points behind H11 APEAK, but this is a case where the computer misevaluates. Both of those plays are considerably better than this one. The reason is that the board is already starting to become very tight, and if he does not have a bingo elsewhere on the board, he is very likely to make a good scoring play on the 12D-F spot, leaving me in a very difficult position to come back. Often the board is open enough on the early moves that you can just play a plain points-and-leave evaluation game, but occasionally situations develop like this one where it becomes important not to allow the board shape to drift into a bad one.
>Brett_Smitheram: ?AGNOTU 14D NOUGATs +66 188
>David_Koenig: ACEFHNT 12A FETA +36 123
#note This is almost the reverse of the previous situation. My choice does not sim nearly as well as a few others, but I believe it is significantly better than the sim thinks. Again it comes down to board shape. It is definitely not as good to play FACE 15A, even though it holds 12D NTH in reserve, because there is too good a chance that he will hit the 12D spot first, when again I will be on a very bad board for comebacks. The row 12 spot is a big one for both of us, and there is great value in taking it out first, but I would like to do so in a way that creates more openings on the left side of the board, so that he doesn't just pad his lead on row 15 without me being able to strike back. While it is true that my leave is unbalanced, the CH leaves a lot of scoring potential and can still hit bingos, moreover high scoring bingos, which is what I need to get back in the game. Also they mean that even if I do not draw a bingo, I might have some vertical scoring plays on the K or L column to open a new front. I had higher scoring plays on row 12, some of which I saw, but I thought that keeping the CH was much more powerful than the F and also that placing the E on the B column would be helpful. All of that said, I did not find my highest scoring play of 12B CANEH which is a bit better than most of the alternative row 12 plays, both because of the extra points and because the way it dangles the C at B12 makes it hard for him to block with anything other than a low scoring play straight vertically down from the C. Finally, it is worth noting that although there is a case to be made for a point-sacrificing play like FETA here, it was the badly board shaping play of KOP that forced me to resort to something like this.
>Brett_Smitheram: AASTW 15A TAWAS +32 220
#note An interesting choice by Brett to burn the S. His reasons for doing this were to limit the plays I could make hitting the 15H spot and because S's were not that valuable on this board.
>David_Koenig: BCEGHIN H13 C.B +21 144
#note I probably won't have much time with the B, K, and L columns open for bingos, and I need to maximize my chances to draw into one now. I also need to take out the H15 spot to stop him from padding his lead. I did not like A8 CHIEF because of how it killed the B column lane and left the unpromising BGN leave. But GAB or BAG was possibly better, as there is not much of a chance for -ING bingos here. That said, part of the reason I chose CAB was specifically to have the option I played on the next turn in case I did not draw a bingo.
>Brett_Smitheram: EEM 13A EME +23 243
>David_Koenig: EGHINTX 12J .HING +25 169
#note The G isn't a great tile to bingo through, but at least I am creating a new opening without interfering with the two lines that are already open. I know, of course, that my chances of bingoing are not great with the X, but I also know that Brett doesn't know I am holding it, and I want to confuse the issue and mix up the board enough that he might give me a spot for it while attempting to close things down for bingos. For example, an underlapping play on row 13 making GO might give me a GOX hook. I don't remember if I thought about THINGY or NIGHTY on column L, which have the advantage of setting up a spot for EX, but the problem with these is that they kill the lanes on columns K and L in order to create new ones, and if he is able to respond with a parallel play on column K, I am likely to be dead in the water. My chances are still poor on this board, but at least it is hard for him to kill all of the remaining lanes at once.
>Brett_Smitheram: DNR L7 R.ND +8 251
#note A small glimmer of hope. Brett did not score much, and the M1-M7 spot might come in handy.
>David_Koenig: AEOSSTX N10 OX.ATE +32 201
#note The hope here is either that I draw a bingo on column O or a big play on row 15 such as JEES, and he takes out the wrong one. Again, I am very desperate, but at least he won't have time to take out the K column.
>Brett_Smitheram: ELW 15L WE.L +33 284
>David_Koenig: EIOSSTU O4 SOUTIES +76 277
>Brett_Smitheram: EIOU N2 EUOI +12 296
>David_Koenig: GJLNRRR 3L GJ. +22 299
#note I finally got myself back into the game, only to draw a terrible 7 consonant rack, and then of course Brett took away the spot for my rack cleaner GRRRLS. It may look bad to play through this rack, but again it is a question of tempo and board shape. Right now the M3 spot is one of the only scoring places on the board. If I trade and let him take it out in a board killing way, then my comeback chances become much worse. This play at least keeps me in striking distance. (Actually giving me a temporary lead, though one that is likely to fade, given the terrible leave.) And it may encourage him to make an L1-L4 play that would make the board harder to close down. The glimmer of hope I have here is that it may be hard for both of us to score much, giving me a bit of time to untangle the rack without falling too far behind.
>Brett_Smitheram: DDU 13L DU.D +19 315
>David_Koenig: BELNRRR L3 .RR +8 307
>Brett_Smitheram: DI O1 ID +12 327
>David_Koenig: BELLNNR A10 RE..L. +9 316
#note Just terrible luck. I finally cleared out all of the extra R's only to draw duplicate L and N. My play still keeps duplicate N's unfortunately, but it does created some more much needed volatility. With both the Q and Z still in play, this game is not nearly in hand for Brett, though he obviously has the advantage.
>Brett_Smitheram: IL F8 LI.. +6 333
>David_Koenig: ABFLMNN 9E M.B +17 333
#note Still only one vowel! I figured Brett was aggressively setting up the S for SLIPE or a bingo lane on column D because he had correctly surmised that he was far more likely to hit it than I was. My play does give the chance of hitting FLANNIE on row B, though I thought it was likely he was holding the other I because of his LIPE play. (With so few vowels left and the Q still out, burning the I on a low scoring play without the other would have been questionable.) But my choice to sacrifice a few points and keep the F was not just about hoping for FLANNIE.
>Brett_Smitheram: INQS 7C QINS +30 363
>David_Koenig: AFLNNOZ A8 FO...... +42 375
>Brett_Smitheram: EETY D6 T.E +4 367
#note Brett has the nice scoring B8 EYE, but playing it immediately will lose to NAZI D4. It is natural to try to block the Z play with the T and follow up with EYE, because I don't have a useful way to block it. However, TI would allow ZATI or TIZ and IT would allow ZA/ZIT, which both win for me. The move he played takes away the scoring spots for the Z and he still scores enough for a narrow win with a slightly lower scoring out. It is one of a small number of plays that Quackle finds that win by a similar margin, but it turns out there is an even better block that would have won by six more points. Just dropping the E at E6 would take away the high scoring spots for the Z and set up an unblockable higher scoring out play on row 5. (Note that this would not work after ZEN gets added in the next update!)
>David_Koenig: ALNNZ 10L .Z.. +14 389
>Brett_Smitheram: EY B9 YE +16 383
#note An instructive alternate variation instead of TIE, which only wins by one more point, is AHED/ECH, answering NAZI with TYE parallel to the NA. Sometimes you can win in an endgame by taking away your opponent's best scoring play, and sometimes you can win just by going for more offense yourself. Finding any one of these wins in a time pressured endgame when a massive lead had slipped away on a seemingly tight board is impressive, in my opinion. Many players would have faltered in Brett's stead.
>David_Koenig: (ALNN) -4 385
>Brett_Smitheram: (ALNN) +4 387
|
