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#player1 Nigel_Richards Nigel Richards
#player2 Dave Dave
>Nigel_Richards: EENUV H4 VENUE +24 24
>Dave: ADIILOT 6A DILATIO. +63 63
>Nigel_Richards: AEGLO A1 GOALE. +27 51
>Dave: AEITUUW C3 WAU. +14 77
#note Quackle static evaluator likes B2 WAI keeping both U's, which I didn't think of. I only considered things like LUAU, UTU, TAUIWI, VAUTE. However, WAI does not do as well as my play in sim. Sim prefers F1 TAUIWI and exchange IUUW a tiny bit over my play, but they are all close enough that I do not consider this an error.
>Nigel_Richards: ADEGOPR E3 POR.AGED +74 125
>Nigel_Richards: ADENORT (challenge) +5 130
>Dave: ?EIOOTU B1 OU +11 88
#note He blocked OUTVOICE. Again, there is a negligible difference between this and a few similar plays. My choice is fine.
>Nigel_Richards: ADENORT D9 TORNADE +73 203
>Dave: ?BEINOT 15A TEN.BrIO +131 219
>Nigel_Richards: IQ F2 QI +35 238
>Dave: EFIKLNT 14H KIF +24 243
#note A weak play. The same tiles score more with KUFI 7G. Gotta learn to spot that OK hook. Even better than that is 13C KALIF.
>Nigel_Richards: AERRSTY I6 STRAYER +77 315
>Dave: ELNPTXZ 14B ZE. +50 293
#note This is really interesting! Evaluating by pure points and leave, I might opt to play ZAX for 12 fewer points to clean up the rack a lot more, but there were good reasons not to be afraid of the all consonant leave here. I have 4C AXON on the next turn, and an A draw gives 13C PANAX while an I draw gives G1 PIX or TIX.
>Nigel_Richards: ACEIMNS K8 CINEMAS +83 398
#note Sheesh! This is Nigel's fourth bingo in five turns, while I have a rack of seven consonants. Usually that would not bode well, but I had a feeling that I still had a chance to make some noise in this one.
>Dave: HJLNPTX 13C H.J +38 331
#note Definitely this before AXON, both because Nigel is much more likely to take the 13C spot himself and because there's a greater chance of something else developing with the X.
>Nigel_Richards: FOW G5 W.OF +26 424
>Dave: ELNPTUX L11 LUX +39 370
#note I saw CULEX first, but my gut told me that it wasn't the best way to create comeback chances. Nigel gets first crack at the bingo lanes created, and even if he doesn't have something there, he probably can make a good scoring blocking play. This play creates many more problems for him because it sets up hooks that work with only a few unseen tiles. With only two E's for AXE and four of the non-blank tiles able to hook EL there's a good chance he may not have a play there and have to leave the spot open for me. This is a major reason why this play is superior to TUX. (PL has better synergy than PT, but the board shape is more important here.)
>Nigel_Richards: CIM G1 MIC +31 455
#note Instructive play from Nigel. He doesn't pussyfoot around, being afraid to open up lines. He knows that he can't stop all my bingoing and scoring opportunities, and he needs to keep scoring himself in order to protect his lead. Yes, there's a chance I might bingo on the top row, but there's also a chance that my bingos or best scoring plays might be elsewhere, in which case the lane created helps him to keep scoring too. Plus he pockets another healthy 31 points.
>Dave: ?EEHNPT 8K .HEEP +48 418
#note I didn't have a bingo here, which I thought was the case, but I also thought there was a possibility I might be missing one. However, CHEEP is likely to be a better play than many bingos, so I didn't waste too much time on the clock worrying about what I might be missing.
>Nigel_Richards: ADIRSY 1G .YRIADS +45 500
#note What was most impressive to me about this was that Nigel laid down MYRIADS very quickly, I think without even verifying the count in the bag first. He left exactly one tile after the play, so he must have been keeping very accurate and quick mental arithmetic on the number of tiles in the bag. As you'll see, playing the S helps him not only score more points but also partially block my bingo lines.
>Dave: ?EGNRTT N4 RiNG.TTE +62 480
#note I have zero chance to win. Nigel's lead is too great, so it doesn't make sense to defer bingoing here. Furthermore, what I would really like is to draw the A after bingoing so I can drop it at 14E for 26 points. The S that he played on MYRIADS stopped me from playing this bingo for a higher score to the top of the board.
>Nigel_Richards: ABLNOSV O11 NOVAS +29 529
>Dave: I 13C ...I +14 494
#note Hypothetically, if I had not challenged PORTAGED and had drawn the A here, I'm sure that Nigel would have played an ideal endgame, beating me by two points.
>Dave: (BL) +8 502
#note Overall a high quality game by me, probably one of the best I have played against Nigel, but there was room for significant improvement on the KIF play. I've got to get that much closer to perfection to have my best chances against the Champ.
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