| Player 1 |
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#player1 RF Roger Freeman
#player2 JJB John J. Bulten
>RF: CGI 8G CIG +12 12
#note ~1:00 [~24:00] With this tournament RF makes the "most states" list for the 2020 season. He considers this one of his best games.
>JJB: AKRTUVY G6 YU.K +19 19
#note ~2:00 [~23:00] No specialized vocab needed on this rack, as yuck outplays the most obvious competitor, kay, and even kaury 23, by their static values.
>RF: AH H6 AH. +16 28
#note ~1:10 [~22:40]
>JJB: AGJRTVW I4 VAW +18 37
#note ~1:37 [21:23] Jaw is considered and evaluates as only .7 better, but it's very comforting to dump that V and not have to spell gyttja.
>RF: FIN 9D FIN. +11 39
#note ~0:53 [21:47]
>JJB: GJORTTV E8 V.GOR +18 55
#note 1:35 [19:48] The best play is for once obvious.
>RF: BR 5I .RB +10 49
#note 1:45 [20:02] Brr for the same score might block better.
>JJB: AHIJNTT D11 HAJ +35 90
#note 0:49 [18:59] Given the consonants haj beats haji and hijra, and given the points it also beats the undoubling taj.
>RF: NOY 10G YON +23 72
#note 3:22 [16:40]
>JJB: AAEINTT 13B TA. +20 110
#note 0:49 [18:10] And now taj is best. JJB wanted natative* to be a word but that honor has been given to natatory.
>RF: ??CLOSS L5 SChOoLS +64 136
#note 2:33 [14:07] RF is happy for this spot, which allows significant extension that never comes to pass. JJB immediately sees one of the optimal plays, crossly 76 (compare ossicle, loessic, colossi, classon).
>JJB: ADEIMNT 14A MEDIANT +95 205
#note 1:35 [16:35] JJB is also happy that RF did not block the flashy bingo. The other bingo is also flashy: marinated 67.
>RF: OR 15G OR +8 144
#note 4:19 [9:48] With another probable bingo rack, RF falls for triple-word magnetism (road c11 scores 6 more).
>JJB: AIPPTTU 11H PUTT. +20 225
#note 3:26 [13:09] Why not pupas for 4.2 better? Papist plays there, and puparia/ute/pad scores 23 too.
>RF: ET 15A ET +21 165
#note 0:43 [9:05] Triple-word magnetism is not always bad.
>JJB: AEILNPW 12C W..P +16 241
#note 3:24 [9:45] War 13 yields the best leave (7.1 diff), but warplane 32 has overlap and underlap and was a missed opportunity!
>RF: DE K3 DE. +6 171
#note 1:37 [7:28] Dev 8c 14 opens up a bingo line, which RF needs, and gains 8.
>JJB: AEEILNU 3J A.IEU +12 253
#note 2:15 [7:30] Another great crossword play missed is lierne/id/vee/yawn 31 (certainly worth the leave, 3.6 better); airn also plays there. Instead JJB wants to open the bingo line himself and show off his vowel dumping.
>RF: EEFMNRT 2D FERMENT +70 241
#note 0:36 [6:52] RF wastes no time in seizing upon the heel of the play and is about to retake the lead. Second place was the neat turfmen 36.
>JJB: EILLNRS 1A ILLER +26 279
#note 1:36 [5:54] JJB mourns his duplicates but still finds a neat relief.
>RF: EOZ 8L .OZE +39 280
#note 0:38 [6:14] RF takes the lead at a fortuitous time.
>JJB: AELNNRS 1G AN +16 295
#note 2:55 [2:59] While JJB continues the triple-word magnetism, warplane is still available for 25 and is again the second-best play! Nona/on/za rates 4.2 better than an.
>RF: UX 2N XU +36 316
#note 0:32 [5:42]
>JJB: BEGLNRS K8 BLE. +25 320
#note 1:05 [1:54] JJB pulls ahead with an excellent parallel, but could still go down with all consonants.
>RF: DEO N6 DO.E +18 334
#note 1:37 [4:05]
>JJB: GIINORS B1 .IGROINS +72 392
#note 0:54 [1:00] Since origins/signior(i/y)/signori/seignior do not play, at literally the last minute JJB spots the bingo, throws the tiles down, hits the clock, and then wonders why he's never mentally split that into li-groins. He ends the game still doubting whether he misspelled ligroines; but it's a chemical, not a French word, so -ins is also good. Praise the Lord.
>RF: AAEIIQS A6 QI +24 358
#note ~2:05 [~2:00] RF has not succeeded in rack management given the three power tiles and now faces a daunting endgame. However, he admits he has no real choice but to play qi 24 (qis/ors 25 would yield the S too cheaply).
>JJB: DEO N6 ....D +20 412
#note 0:35 [0:25] JJB mistracks but realizes RF cannot go out, so he opts for two higher-scoring plays, and is on the right track. Rode or redo 10 would net 20. Dozed 20, si 21, open 12+6 yields only 17 net. However, de 10n 27, si 21, hoo 10+6 yields the desired 22 net, 5 better than actual and 2 better than playing out immediately.
>RF: AAEIS 4A A.EA +10 368
#note ~1:12 [0:48] Given JJB's two outs, RF's best is si/hajis/ai 21, 9 better than area 10 based on leave. RF still holds on to the S despite the nearness of the end.
>JJB: EO 6L .O.E +7 419
#note 0:14 [0:11] JJB spots the second-best out, after open 12.
>JJB: (IS) +4 423
#note RF, all the way from Nashville, can be proud of most of his choices, but JJB's play was on point (aside from missing several parallels) and a literal last-minute bingo saved him. JJB was surprised that (p)reschools, minischools, etc. could not go down. Points improvable based on tiles played: JJB 10, RF 35. Points improvable based on values: JJB 29.8.
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