| Player 1 |
|
#player1 Ricky Ricky
#player2 Andrew Andrew
>Ricky: IQ 8G QI +22 22
>Andrew: ?EFHOWY 9H FOY +15 15
#note I thought of a few other dumps, disliking FY and FEW because they closed the board too much, and fancying the potential scoring power of the heavy tiles retained. FY and FEW do sim a little better, probably because the opponent generally opens up.
>Ricky: BRR 8J BRR +13 35
>Andrew: ?AEEHLW L8 .AgWHEEL +78 93
#note Wasn't 100% sure if AWHEEL took S (it does), but my eight sims best anyway. There's also HEWABLE 10I, just as good as RAGWHEEL.
>Ricky: EEPX 15H EXPE. +42 77
>Andrew: AAMNOOU 14E MANOAO +29 122
#note MANOAO and MONOAO have been much discussed on UK Scrabble recently, as an example of the Maori pluralisation inconsistencies (only MANOAO takes S). Quackle likes it, but marginally favours AUA K11 leaving MNOO.
>Ricky: ETV 15D VET +16 93
>Andrew: ADJORUW 13I ROW.D +36 158
#note I thought it was worth piling on the points here, taking out the hotspot in row 13 with ROWED. WO or WOR 13I are also good, the flashy ADJUROR K2 next in the sim.
>Ricky: EFMU C12 FUME +25 118
>Andrew: AJNSTTU D8 JUNTA +50 208
#note An obvious blow to score well and minimise Ricky's chances. He told me afterwards that he thought it was all over at this point.
>Ricky: ?DENORS M3 DrONERS +77 195
>Andrew: ACIKLST 6J CLI.K +27 235
#note On the principle that you shouldn't retreat mimsily into a corner when you have a powerful rack, I decided to open up the TWS file for my S. Disposing of the I is also indicated with seven unseen, so my choice beats CLANK. Quackle also proposes EIK 14L.
>Ricky: AEGU 8A GAU.E +39 234
>Andrew: AAGOSTT O6 STOAT +27 262
#note Tough choice here, with Ricky only a point in arrears and sensibly creating further floaters. I felt I had to maximise score and take out my previous hook, but Quackle has a preference for TOGAE E4 (12), GATOR 4I (10), OAT E10 (18) and other lower-scoring options that improve the rack leave. Takes strong nerves.
>Ricky: DENRZ E4 DZER.N +34 268
>Andrew: AABDGGI 11I BAG.IG +26 288
#note Cute word here, clearly best. GIGA or BIGA D1 are pretty good alternatives.
>Ricky: IRY 4K YI.R +12 280
>Andrew: ADIILTT F2 ILIAD +33 321
#note With three E's unseen, I was sorely tempted to keep back my D and L for EXPELLED 15H. TITI D1 achieves that, but for only 16 points while exposing the TWS. Looks as though I was right to maximise score in column F.
>Ricky: EISV O1 VIES +32 312
>Andrew: AEIPSTT 10B PI.S +29 350
#note Three in the bag, and this is the pivotal decision of the game. There are some bingos for Ricky in columns A and B (LUNCHING perhaps the most obvious), but these seem unlikely. So do I block, make a reasonable score with two tiles and go for a bingo leave, score more heavily in row 10 and empty the bag, or something else? I got Quackle to generate all moves and whittled them down on a many-ply sim, and the surprising result is IT 9A for just 7 points, returning 93.4% wins. Next up is INSET 10C, ITS G3; then there are single-tile fishes KA N6 and AT 10N. A real mixed bag. My reasoning was to score well, take the chance to empty the bag and make Ricky outscore me by about 40 in the endgame which I thought would be a tall order (my choice shows up at 88.95% win)
>Ricky: CHILNOO 12F LINO +19 331
#note Luckily I blocked HOOLICAN, and HOLONIC won't play. Ricky had a cunning play up his sleeve, and had wanted to start the endgame sequence with LOGION (he must have overlooked LOOING and OLINGO). But nothing seems to guarantee a win for him.
>Andrew: AEENTTU 4C AU..ENT +18 368
#note A few winning plays available, but I miss the best which is TEREK N2.
>Ricky: CHO 15A CH.... +42 373
#note Ricky's master plan didn't quite work with the O left on his rack...a very nice find, though.
>Andrew: ET 3B ET +8 376
>Andrew: (O) +2 378
|
