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#player1 Stefan_Kac Stefan Kac
#player2 Zach_Ansell Zach Ansell
>Stefan_Kac: BCEEGNN 8F ENG +8 8
#note 29th Silicon Valley Classic
August 15, 2021
Game 13
Good morning, enjoy this dog's breakfast on your very first rack, and don't take too long against the fastest player in the room. To find one of sim's better plays you must first open your mind to keeping CG or NN. You must cease to be an artist and become a bean counter. You must close yourself to the voluptuous beauty of EBCN and learn to prefer only slender, overgroomed racks that impress others more than they impress you. Out with the savoury, in with the sweet. Sooo, I whiffed on BENNE here. ENG sims 7 off of BENNE. Sim also much prefers BEG, NEB, BEN, etc. Can't really argue with sim on opening plays, can we? Against Zach you do at least have to consider playing a little extra defense, but if I see all the options I never ever go this far out of my way for defense on opening plays. As it is I decide I just am not keeping the CG or NN together, period, and this stubbornness leads unavoidably to ENG over GEN or NEG. After the game we determine that any other play gives him a bingo.
>Zach_Ansell: AETT 7F TEAT +14 14
>Stefan_Kac: ?BCEKNP 6H BECK +26 34
#note Mis-scored as 23. Spent forever trying to avoid making this play as it can easily result in a wall and a deficit, but there's just nothing else here.
>Zach_Ansell: INSTY L2 TIYNS +29 43
>Stefan_Kac: ?ABCNOP K1 BAP +13 47
#note Def not quite awake yet. Opp can hold another ess after TIYNS, but drawing five tiles is hardly a lock to bingo. Sim's faves 3I COB(I)A or CAB(I)N reclose the upper left and leave only ess hooks, so I think it's defensible to pass on those. But PAN(I)C would have been just fine.
>Zach_Ansell: MOT 1H TOM. +24 67
>Stefan_Kac: ?CDLNOO 2B CONDOLe +73 120
>Zach_Ansell: GIJ C1 G.JI +24 91
>Stefan_Kac: ADEORRW B4 ARROWED +69 189
>Zach_Ansell: UZ 8B .UZ +25 116
>Stefan_Kac: FIIOQRX 7B .X +34 223
#note Pretty sure I did see (N)ORI/(J)O/(AI)R already and decided to wait. This assumes opp will be looking to bingo or open elsewhere. I should however drop the F here along with the X, since holding it for 4A doesn't actually make any sense given that I will absolutely need to play off one of the IIs next turn. I did consider A9 FIX as well. It sims behind these others but in hindsight I think it might be best. A9 bingos can flip the game in a hurry, and many of the (FIX)T bingos I give back would come down at A9 anyway for around the same score.
>Zach_Ansell: AEU M3 EAU +23 139
>Stefan_Kac: FIIOQRR D2 .ORI +23 246
>Zach_Ansell: AW A3 AW +20 159
>Stefan_Kac: AFINQRS D8 .ARFS +34 280
#note Hmm, did I think A9 FAQIR would get hooked? Am I finally developing some inference skills, or am I just a pig in pasture this game? This is one of those sims where the second-best play is the first-best play with the S tacked on the end, so if I am just that concerned about the hook then I can play FAQIRS and indeed it is probably still better than ZARFS. Much better. But if I think he has a hook, then there is one fewer in the bag for me to draw and the extra turnover is worthless. So I should play FAQIR, because I know for sureness that I myself do hold the hook. Big takeaway from this tournament is that I spent way too much time looking for alternative plays and mainly just talked myself out of obvious bests like FIX and FAQIR. I don't trust myself to play fast yet.
>Zach_Ansell: III -III +0 159
>Stefan_Kac: AEINOQT 12B QI. +12 292
#note Let's finally clean up this mess. I think QAT(S) can too easily stoke a comeback by affording opp a short play that scores and opens. Also, sim confirms that QI(S) bingos fully twice as often, ~26% to ~13%. I need someone to help me understand how QATS can nonetheless sim slightly ahead of QIS at two-ply depth here.
>Zach_Ansell: AIN 13A AIN +21 180
>Stefan_Kac: AEGNNOT N5 TONNAGE +67 359
>Zach_Ansell: EY 3C ..EY +22 202
>Stefan_Kac: EEEIILV 8L VI.E +33 392
#note I've been classically conditioned not to play at O11 in this situation, but with the timer off and from the comfort of my apartment I can now see that LIEVE eliminates the one terminal ess hook on the board, brings us one tile closer to an empty bag, gives me a far better chance at drawing into a balanced rack, and floats only EEs of which there is already one floating down there. Gotta love a game where you can play wretchedly and still romp to a blowout victory.
>Zach_Ansell: AEFLORS 12H LOAFERS +81 283
>Stefan_Kac: ?DEEIIL 11K ID +19 411
#note If I have kept up with tracking, then sim's faves LI(L)IED or E(L)IDE down the middle are pretty safe and can threaten a bingo. As it is I have no idea and play oversafe. I'm too concerned about opp bingoing off the R in row ten, whereas I should be trying to do so myself. Holding the blank and an insurmountable lead, this is the time to go robot and play for spread. FML. ID is ok though because it leaves six in the bag, which from my persepctive is the perfect number.
>Zach_Ansell: MPV J11 V.MP +24 307
>Stefan_Kac: ?EEEHIL 15F HEILs +32 443
>Zach_Ansell: EHIRSTU O1 RUTHS +40 347
>Stefan_Kac: DEEIO 11D .IDO +16 459
#note E9 DEE
>Zach_Ansell: LU F5 LU.. +6 353
>Zach_Ansell: (EE) +4 357
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