| Player 1 |
|
#player1 Joey Joey
#player2 Carl Carl
>Joey: EHLLNRZ 8G LEZ +24 24
#note I thought about HELL, but it was too hooky. I don't mind the clunky leave since he can't do much without an A on this board.
>Carl: AEHKLOR 9F KORA +27 27
#note This was one of my worst games. KOLA 9F is obviously better. You never know what kind of mistakes will happen after a sleepless night two nights prior. (-7) #focusmedium
>Joey: CHLNRSS I7 C..R +18 42
>Carl: ABDEEHL G6 HA..ED +11 38
#note I was really happy to have found this unorthodox play, figuring it frustrated Joey's S spot while setting up the BLE combo at H4. To my indignation, Quackle absolutely HATES this play, going for KEBLAH F9 (which I didn't see), or the more obvious BARE, BARD, BARED 10G. (-13) #visionlarge, #strategymedium
>Joey: EHLNOSS 11I SHO +28 70
>Carl: BEFILOR H1 FOIBLE +47 85
>Joey: ?AEJLNS L8 JANgLES +98 168
>Carl: DEIPRRT 8L .IRD +36 121
>Joey: AAGIITU 13G AUGIT. +10 178
#note AGOUTI uses the same tiles, scoring another point and not giving back as much.
>Carl: ?EPRSTV 14B PRiVETS +80 201
#note Too weird. I thought Joey might be setting up something big with AUGITE, and maybe he is. But PRIVETS doesn't do much to take out 15H. Something like SORPTIVE 2G (which I don't think I saw) or PRIVIEST 3F (which I did see) is best. (-6, #strategymedium)
>Joey: ABEFIMX M7 F.X +42 220
>Carl: MNNOOPT H12 M..T +27 228
#note Way off. KNOP F10 is the play. If I'm going to play at H12, then MUSO+. (-12) #visionlarge
>Joey: ABEEIMR N6 BA.E +27 247
>Carl: NNOOPUY 11C POUN. +16 244
#note Wrong again. YOURN C11 scores the same but is better positionally at this score. (-4) #strategysmall, visionsmall.
>Joey: AEEIMNR O1 MARINE +31 278
>Carl: NNNOOWY 4H .ONNY +20 264
#note I saw sim-winner OWN 12C, but figured that NNOY was too inflexible for next turn. (-5) #strategymedium
>Joey: AEEIQST 15A QI +37 315
>Carl: AEENOWW 12A ENOW +30 294
#note I saw sim-winner WOW 12B but didn't like keeping a vowel heavy rack. It's better than opening the TWS. I just can't think without sleep, and consequently I'm making mistakes on nearly every turn. (-6) #strategymedium
>Joey: ACEEIST F9 .A.E +14 329
>Carl: AAEGTVW A8 AGAV. +27 321
#note WEAVE A8 is best. Jeez, can I get one thing right this game? (-3) #strategysmall
>Joey: CEIIOST B9 OI +11 340
>Carl: DEEITTW K4 .EWT +14 335
#note This play might actually be correct, although it sims poorly. The details show that it bingos more than any other play-- for instance, sim-winner TWINED J1. Given Joey's last two racks it seems like my best shot is to bingo out after he bingos. But the sim doesn't give Joey credit for a bingo-prone rack, and many of his bingos block mine. One other mistake was taking too long on this play, leaving me with only about 90 seconds for the pre-endgame. -12?
>Joey: CEGILST C6 CLIT +13 353
#note: JM: My tracking had a much more threatening bingo pool than it actually was, and emptying the bag is usually wrong anyway. CIG 3G looks pretty strong.
CJ: A major inflection point, and the biggest "gift" I received at Nationals; Joey had mistracked and thought that the bag was more bingo-prone than it actually was. CIG G3 leaves me in a terrible position because it threatens bingos, doesn't empty the bag, and leaves me with 90 seconds to figure out a brutal pre-endgame. As it stands, I have an easy decision with the bag empty.
>Carl: DDEIOTY F3 DEITY +24 359
#note With 90s left, I played this quickly, having noted it as the best out-in-two that I saw. I had been looking for out-in-twos because I figured Joey was going to bingo. There's actually one better sequence: DOSED J14, threatening TIDY N12 and TYIN J1. (-2) #endgamesmall #timemanagementmedium
>Joey: EGIRSUU M13 SIG +26 379
#note JM: At least I realize this is a word now after challenging it last month. But it was only good enough to minimize the spread of the loss.
CJ: This outcome is especially lucky when you figure that Joey was very close to a bingo but drew bricks multiple turns in a row. If he'd drawn anything reasonable, he wouldn't have been in a position to make a mistake.
>Carl: DO 10N DO +19 378
#note Anyone can make such a mistake, no matter how good they are. I probably made five times the number of mistakes. The problem was that, as it turned out, my mistakes didn't matter and theirs did. In another words, I was a luckbox.
Not only did I draw well at Nationals, but there were at least three games like this where a higher-rated opponent made a critical mistake that cost them the game. Without those mistakes, I probably wouldn't have made the finals. Everything was just aligned in my favor.
>Carl: (ELUU) +8 386 |
