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#player1 JJB John J. Bulten
#player2 AR Anita Rackham
>JJB: AEEEEJM 8H AJEE +22 22
#note 0:29 [24:31] AR has reached second place with two games to go, at one game behind JJB, and has just beaten him the prior tourney day with a distracting phony. Can she tie for first or will he reach Gibsonization? JJB starts with a simple rack that does not need trading (Quackle has a comfort level with E near a premium at the start and rates 8f at 1.1 higher).
>AR: AFGLN K3 FLANG. +20 20
#note 1:12 [23:48]
>JJB: ?EEIMRV 6E oVERMI.E +72 94
#note 1:00 [23:31] Relying on a simple word for certainty, JJB does not search further for rivermen 72 or vermeils 80.
>AR: EEEFR H1 REEFE. +39 59
#note 1:17 [22:35] Duplicates will be a problem, with 7 Es on the board in 4 turns.
>JJB: ELPRTZ 3C PRETZ.L +58 152
#note 0:39 [22:52] AR has put out exactly the letter needed for this crazy word exactly where it needs to be. JJB had fantasized about ditching this word somewhere without any premiums but here is the perfect bingo equivalent. AR already has her work cut out for her.
>AR: ABDS M3 DABS +27 86
#note 2:06 [20:29] No need to play the S when the singular plays for 6 less (9k or m6); S is worth 8.0 on partial racks.
>JJB: ?ABIQUW 2B QUA +30 182
#note 4:13 [18:39] Search does not turn up another very indicated play, burqa 38 (12.2 difference in static value). He writes squaw 43, which burns the blank but is otherwise nondescript.
>AR: ACDI A1 CAID +40 126
#note 0:30 [19:59] AR takes good advantage of JJB's simpler play.
>JJB: ?BHILOW 5B BLOW +26 208
#note 1:58 [16:41] The only bingos are seen, blowfish/fishbowl, but they are not happening. Best static play is how 9h 30 by 7.4. While it might be important to toss the B before the H, the points might make up the difference.
>AR: X -3 +0 126
#note 0:14 [19:45] Rack unknown.
>JJB: ?CHHIIT 9D HITCH +21 229
#note 2:29 [14:12] At this point Quackle likes CHIT so much that it would play hi n4 14 without a premium as a giant setup, although JJB isn't claiming much for premiums either at 7.2 behind. This is just a situation where no standout play exists at all and the goal is not elegance but the best calculation. On the grounds that turnover is not a boon with a blank, it's hard to disagree with Quackle on hi n4 or 6a.
>AR: ELNOPST 8A POLE +27 153
#note 0:53 [18:52] It takes a little experimentation to go off the track and find netop 34 there (5.9 better).
>JJB: ?IIOTVX 1D VOX +27 256
#note 1:57 [12:15] JJB quadruples the V when he could triple the X at n2 38.
>AR: GNSTU A8 .UG +6 159
#note 1:07 [17:45] Gnu/fud 13 is more compelling and 6.1 higher value.
>JJB: ?AGIIIT 4J I.I. +8 264
#note 1:00 [11:15] Atigi 10h 14 is fine, but just above it is the prefab I dump at 4j.
>AR: INST 9K SIT +15 174
#note 1:53 [15:52] AR is probably shedding duplicates (to good effect) and Quackle is hinting with this closed board it's not so bad to burn the S, but on partial racks it makes 15.3 more sense to throw down zine 20 (second place is zines 22).
>JJB: ?AAGITT 11A sAGITTA +70 334
#note 0:48 [10:27] Disappointed that the two agitat? plays have vanished, JJB plays the only bingo he sees, sagittal without the L. AR says little but has never seen it (despite knowing sagittal); she asks him afterward if it is good and JJB is confident that it's a Sagittarius arrow. She double-checks and dismays him that it isn't English. Too much Latin; traditur dies die. But then the phonies are one-all for this matchup. Best dump is tag 10l 12, worth 42.9, so JJB can count a phony reward of 27.1 deducted from his missed opportunity points.
>AR: EINRSTU 12G NUTSIER +68 242
#note 1:16 [14:36] Of course it helps not to challenge when the phony is your only hope of bingoing now in reply. AR first lays down uniters in row 1 next to the re in reefer; but seeing it laid out makes it clear that that's not reuniters. She has her reserve ready. With sagitta* worth 0 instead of 70, your best play is again zine, worth 42.4 instead of 68; so the opportunity cost of not challenging is 44.4.
>JJB: ANOSUWY 13C NOWAY +40 374
#note 1:03 [9:24] An easy premium rebound.
>AR: KO 11J OK +26 268
#note 2:26 [12:10]
>JJB: AMNNOSU 14B NOM +16 390
#note 2:06 [7:18] JJB puts significant thought into directing oms to himself. He probably would be happier if he were to notice that it's easy for AR to claim 15a-c and that nom 14d gets 12 more, allowing himself amu and leaving ami open.
>AR: DOY 15A YOD +27 295
#note 0:41 [11:29] More points are available with yo 6b 30, which rates .4 higher. But shutting down the directed hook is good too.
>JJB: ADENRSU 13J END +17 407
#note 6:57 [0:21] JJB explains later that AR had shut down his bingo (asunder/oma), and AR says, "You mean danseur?" To be sure, danseur/nod/oma is sharper, and we've now moved from Latin to French. The sharpest would have been nom 14d followed by the probably unblocked danseur/ons/woe/amu. JJB instead spends all his time on an out in two, thinking hard to make end 17 to set up ursa/ose/kina 20, which it is not useful for AR to block (turrs/ends 20 might also be useful). Pretty resourceful, considering that simple pairings don't beat it and an exhaustive search is not likely to do better.
>AR: EINOR J10 N...R +9 304
#note 0:29 [11:00] AR probably does not know JJB's rack but she decides to play into his setup anyway rather than take the beautiful overlaps boronia 20 (3 disconnected tiles) or zoner 22, which net -2 after ursa. Her choice is to play noser*, which should be recognized be either player immediately as a classic phony and net -30 after ursa. Instead she gets 9 and the reply should be the backup sura/eds 12+6, net -9. So her risk is 21 and reward is -7, that is, her play was still 7 points short of optimal.
>JJB: ARSU 15H URSA +18 425
#note 0:06 [0:15] AR catches JJB in time trouble again and his phony receptor fails to go off again: another double-blind situation. JJB knows renos/senor/snore. If challenging, noser* 0, ursa 20+10, net of 30; if not, noser* 9, sura 12+6, net of 9; cost for not challenging, 21. But JJB gets the last laugh and pluralizes the phony without a second thought. Now, if challenged, ursa/nosers* 0, nomoi 18, sura/ais 15+2, net of -1 to JJB; if not, ursa/nosers* 18+6, net of 24; best valid play, sura/eds 12+6, net of 18; risk of 19 and reward of 6. Unbelievably, a successful phony on the last play. Again, the 6 can be deducted from JJB's lost points and, by not challenging or holding once JJB hits the clock, AR is giving up another 25 idealized points. Now it's two-all on phonies and a triple-blind situation.
>JJB: (EIO) +6 431
#note After JJB takes and holds the lead with an unexpected pretzel, the game goes quietly until both players lay down phonies; JJB gets to score his, while AR still has time to take back runiters* and play a real bingo. At the end, AR prefers a phony to an overlap through 3 disconnected tiles, and JJB prefers a phony to his own backup out. There may be a subconscious oneupmanship in the dictionary department even as AR is graciously withdrawing her claim on first place and JJB is Gibsonized for the first time. Known points available: AR 32, JJB 46. Overall points available: JJB 46.8, AR 106.1+.
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