| Player 1 |
|
#player1 AH Andy Hoang
#player2 JJB John J. Bulten
>AH: AGIY 8E YAGI +16 16
#note ~1:00 [~24:00] Quackle prefers 8g and here the quadruple word risk is greater because of Y value.
>JJB: ABEILMN 9F MINABLE +73 73
#note 1:04 [23:56]
>AH: LORT 8L ROTL +18 34
#note ~0:30 [~23:30] AH plays entire games very fast and makes good use of extra time when needed.
>JJB: AIJLMPT 7K TAJ +38 111
#note 1:34 [22:22] Not bad, but jimpy (by 2.7), jimply, and jimp/my/pam all score similarly, rank better, and block AH's next spot.
>AH: EQU E5 QUE. +32 66
#note ~0:25 [23:05]
>JJB: AEILMPU F4 LIP +32 143
#note 3:39 [18:43] Aim in the same spot assists vowel balance by 5.3 more, and again prevents AH's next hook. JJB's other candidate was puli/qi 23.
>AH: KNOST 3B KNOTS +24 90
#note 1:07 [21:58]
>JJB: ADEMNRU 4A MAUD +34 177
#note 1:40 [17:03] Best non-bingo, and maunder doesn't play or yield variants, but JJB misses underman 65 (24.4 diff).
>AH: DEFIW 6H WIFED +27 117
#note 0:28 [21:30] Effective use of clock and tiles.
>JJB: CEELNRS 6D C.. +7 184
#note 4:09 [12:54] Rattled by nearness of bingo, JJB misses many better leaves, worth up to 10.0. EELNRS is 7+20.1, but CENRS is 15+22.1, CELRS 15+21.8, CEENRS 6+28.4, etc.
>AH: HOW 5I HOW +40 157
#note 0:16 [21:14] Significant pressure on score gap.
>JJB: EEILNRS A4 .INER +21 205
#note 1:42 [11:12] JJB misses miler wondering about Milner*. Further, the neat ilka b1 16 yields EENRS +20.8, or, to match the points of the actual, lien 10e 20 underlaps with ERS +16.8. Both are 2.1 better, so the diff is not problematic this time.
>AH: ADIIO 10J OIDIA +25 182
#note 0:21 [20:53] AH's blitz mode remains fully operational with this impressive play thrown out all at once, but rack imbalances peep out.
>JJB: EGLNOSU 11D LOUNGES +71 276
#note 1:26 [9:46] JJB takes time to search for alternates then plays the only bingo.
>AH: IOTV D9 VO.TI +16 198
#note 0:59 [19:54] A little consideration time over a probable blank is certainly understandable.
>JJB: CDEGPXZ 13C Z.P +28 304
#note 2:04 [7:42] JJB misses quadrupling the X with xed 40 (8.5 better) or xi 38.
>AH: AEHVY 12J HEAVY +37 235
#note 0:13 [19:41] Straightforward frontal attack.
>JJB: BCDEGTX B7 DEBT +14 318
#note 2:22 [5:20] More time is consumed not finding vext for 5.9 more value.
>AH: ?EIOORT 14D sOOTIER +72 307
>AH: ?EIOORT -- -72 235
#note 0:40 [19:01] AH finally pluralizes a rare imperative-only that JJB can safely challenge after 21 seconds. JJB sees oestriol and AH sees overtoil, but they were not played.
>JJB: ACFGRUX 14E AX +29 347
#note 3:14 [2:06] JJB tries to block row 14, which needs no block, and unwittingly opens up row 15. While ax evaluates best, f(r)ugal 11 or 13 would also accomplish the goal of blocking all bingos. Opportunity missed.
>AH: ?EIOORT 15B sOOTIER +85 320
#note JJB is surprised by the extra points he yielded to AH and suddenly must calculate with a very heavy rack.
>JJB: CFGNRSU M12 .UG +14 361
#note 1:17 [0:49] JJB under pressure opts for a consonant rack that will likely play well in row 15 with the bingo-prone bag, hoping to leave bingo distance. Gulf 8 blocks, leaves better tiles by 7.0, and limits AH other options.
>AH: ER 2D RE +8 328
#note [~17:00] AH opens another bingo line besides column O and row 14, but lags behind in points and risks a stronger response. Ree/axe 14 is the better dump, but greatly simplifies blocking.
>JJB: CEFNRSS 1E FERNS +30 391
#note 0:30 [0:19] JJB tracks almost correctly and makes gut decision that AH has no bingo (correctly, it turns out). Chis 10 is the only outplay but blocking it will not help AH.
>AH: ?AAEENR O1 REANnEA. +74 402
>AH: ?AAEENR -- -74 328
#note ~15:14 [1:46] AH and JJB agree on this rack's strategy: use up all one's time to search. In the suspensful quarter-hour, JJB verifies track, while AH wisely even writes out all 26 alphagrams with an L, and remembers the invalidity of earnable*. Annealer does not play but inspires a phony. Best settlement is instead 20 in row 14 (e.g. average) or 22 in row 15 (e.g. regna), a net improvement of +49.
>JJB: CS I4 C..S +10 401
>JJB: (AAEENR?) +12 413
#note JJB sighs relief, challenges, and outplays in remaining seconds, having played a correct endgame by the skin of his teeth. AH will not always be racked with imbalance and phonies and, having lunched undefeated, still leads on spread at tourney midpoint and is likely to hang around at the top. Points improvable based on tiles played: JJB 0, AH 55 (i.e., JJB misses no points in placement given his leave choices). Points improvable based on values: JJB 65.9. |
