| Player 1 |
|
#player1 Orla_Judge Orla Judge
#player2 David_Koenig David Koenig
>Orla_Judge: BDEINRS H4 BINDERS +76 76
>David_Koenig: ?EJOOUY 10C JOYOU. +18 18
#note This is a tricky rack. I might have spent more time on this turn than any other in the game. The problem is that all of the good scoring plays keep a suboptimal leave with the blank. The best of them is SOJU 10H. There is a decent chance that I will have to play off the Y on the next turn before hitting a bingo with the blank, but at least it is likely to be a decent scoring interim play. JOYOUS is a considerable point sacrifice, but it clears the rack out quickly and creates an open board which is likely to have high scoring bingo possibilities on the next play. Quackle does not agree with my choice, ranking JOYOUS 6.5 points back of SOJU. I'm not too surprised to see SOJU ahead in the sim, but the 6.5 point difference seems steep to me. I would have expected it to be less than that. Most of the other plays Quackle suggests are worse versions of SOJU, but there is one different way of playing that I did not consider during the game. G8 YOU sets up a high scoring spot for JUS. It's not obvious that it's a J setup. However, the problem with it is that without many other hot spots on the board open yet, there is a decent chance the opponent might take it out first. Quackle ranks YOU below SOJU but above JOYOUS.
>Orla_Judge: AGIR C10 .IRGA +26 102
>David_Koenig: ?CDEELS 15C SCEDuLE +100 118
>David_Koenig: FFOORSU (challenge) +5 123
>Orla_Judge: LY 10C ......LY +29 131
>David_Koenig: FFOORSU 5E FUR.OSO +40 163
>David_Koenig: CFLMNNR (challenge) +5 168
>Orla_Judge: AKU B12 AUK +31 162
>David_Koenig: CFLMNNR D9 C.NF +32 200
#note I was very lucky that her previously play set this up, as otherwise I would have scored much less on this turn or needed to exchange.
>Orla_Judge: EHN 6J HEN +29 191
>David_Koenig: ALMNRTZ 6D LAM +26 226
#note LUZ is the natural play here and a perfectly good move. It scores a healthy 32 points and although the AMNRT leave is a bit unbalanced, it's one of the best four consonant one vowel leaves you can have without an E or S. However, I couldn't resist the idea of giving myself three shots at drawing an E for NERTZ/ZARF for 98 points. It seemed worth the six point sacrifice, because even if NERTZ gets blocked the Z is such a strong leave letter these days. The one downside of course is that LAM leaves no vowels, so that a three consonant draw could leave me in trouble. LAM sims well, behind LUZ by about two points but ahead of everything else. One way to think about the sim result is that the computer thinks LAM instead of LUZ would be worth it if it were a four point sacrifice, but six is a bit too much. My conclusion: I consider LAM an acceptable gamble, even though LUZ might be a slightly better play objectively.
>Orla_Judge: DENRT 4K TREND +19 210
>David_Koenig: NORTTTZ A9 RONZ +49 275
#note I didn't hit my E draw for NERTZ, and in the end I decided I needed to take the points for RONZ/ZARF despite the unfortunate TTT leave. However, this is a serious error. I missed that her play set up another spot for NERTZ at M3, which scores six more points than my play and keeps OTT, which isn't fantastic but is far better than TTT.
>Orla_Judge: AGN 9G G.AN +21 231
>David_Koenig: EELOTTT O4 .OTTLE +21 296
#note I thought DOTTEL was also good, but I was just unsure enough that I decided to play the spelling I was more certain of. I prefer the one ending in L, because the N column bingo lane is just a little bit harder to use. It's immaterial on this turn, because of the row 14 opening, but it might make a difference later. But this is a minor quibble.
>Orla_Judge: AAGIM 11I AMIGA +27 258
>David_Koenig: AEEHITW L8 WEI.H +32 328
#note There was a slight consideration for playing WEIGHT instead of WEIGH on the basis that there are two T's left for her to hook it and WEIGHT also interferes with the row 14 bingo lane. However, I don't think that I have enough of a lead to play like that. I sacrifice a lot of my own future scoring potential both by forsaking the AET leave for AE and by giving up the possibility of hooking WEIGHT myself, and I may need it, since bingos on column B or column C hooking SLAM are possible for her. My approach aims not to shut down the board, but to keep scoring so that I can outrun her bingos. Often the best defense is a healthy offense.
>Orla_Judge: ADPV M1 PAV.D +22 280
#note I don't know what Orla's rack was, so I can't truly judge this play, but it's an excellent kind of play to make in these kinds of situations. She is chasing and needs to keep the board volatile. This plays off several difficult consonants, keeps the openings on the upper left and bottom right available, and also opens a new front.
>David_Koenig: AEEIITT 13J TATIE +23 351
#note Without the possibility of a great leave, just playing off as many tiles and scoring as many points as I can is the best option.
>Orla_Judge: IQU 2K QU.I +26 306
#note Considering the score and the necessity of keeping multiple fronts open, I think Orla should have considered a play such as QUID F12 to give the best comeback chances. QUAI helps me out by locking down the top of the board.
>David_Koenig: EEIIIPT 7C TIP +16 367
#note With no other spot for bonuses than the B and C columns it was very important for me to take out both lanes. PIE or TIE would have been a big mistake because of the front S hooks. The all vowel leave here is not important compared to the defensive considerations.
>Orla_Judge: OW 1M .OW +26 332
>David_Koenig: ?EEIIRX M8 EX +39 406
#note MIXER 14E is best to guarantee an out on the next play, but this is good enough.
>Orla_Judge: ABEEOSV 14I BEES +32 364
>David_Koenig: ?EIIR 7M RI. +15 421
>Orla_Judge: AOV G3 VO. +14 378
>David_Koenig: ?EI 7H .IEs +14 435
>David_Koenig: (A) +2 437
|
