| Player 1 |
|
#character-encoding UTF-8
#player1 KR Kenneth Rubin
#player2 JJB John J. Bulten
>KR: AAEFIVX 8G FAVA +20 20
#note 1:04 [23:56] (fax 8g 26 +1.5) Completing the round robin against JJB at Mack Meller's house is KR, who draws B against V. KR picks up the V again for a mixed opening rack, from which he derives sufficient value; JJB gets the B on the second rack. Always shuffle after the opening draw! KR comments here (in Cross-Tables game 40467): "I like FAVA over FAX 8G because FAVA is more defensive. I like how the V splits the board, and I like keeping the X for future scoring." Simulation agrees hesitantly, among other word/placement "fave"s.
>JJB: AAEEFGY 9F FAY +21 21
#note 1:15 [23:45] (gaffe g6 17 +.7) The parallel is not strong and does not move enough letters; doubling the F with either gaffe is better on leave.
>KR: BEEIIOX 10D IBEX +35 55
#note 0:42 [23:14]
>JJB: ABEEGLL D7 LEG.BLE +22 43
#note 2:40 [21:05] Gelable/gabelle plays only through DS and not at all here. JJB rightly concludes that the rack calls for high turnover; legible 22 is just ahead of faxable 20.
>KR: CEHIORW 11D .OW +33 88
#note 1:01 [22:13] KR presses further ahead with mid-pointers.
>JJB: ADGLMOS 8A GAM.D +27 70
#note 1:39 [19:26] JJB tries anagramming the E in but does not see gladsome (the only other word is mangolds). The correct play is obvious though.
>KR: CEHIIOR 13A CHE.RIO +26 114
#note 1:52 [20:21] (ho c13 20 +1.9) KR also opts for turnover but his rack is good enough not to. "I like CHEERIO 13A because it's more defensive than alternatives like HI C13 and HELIO 7B." While directing a hook with hi might backfire, the correct turnover defense is not clearcut, as chiao, heroic, and ohia simulate well too, but cheerio seemingly outpaces them.
>JJB: IILNOST A2 TOILIN.S +60 130
>JJB: IILNOST -- -60 70
#note 0:33 [18:53] (icon a12 21 +26.1) Both players saw illegible and joked, but it ranks well if opponent had not opened the corner (icon, nicol, licit, litho, even hi 10). Problem is, JJB insists on forcing a bingo when it's unplayable (CDFNOP are the winning letters).
>KR: ADGISTT A11 DI.TA +27 141
#note 5:03 [15:18] (dight b10 28 +8.2) KR holds, then says "Nope" after 1:15. He cannot find a bingo either (for either player), but can improve his lead significantly. He adds, "I missed DIGHT B10, which is clearly better than DICTA. Keeping AST creates a lot of bingo opportunities on this board over the next 1-2 turns."
>JJB: IILNOST 14A .IL +18 88
#note 2:08 [16:45] JJB can now at least make the right dump, having lost chances at a higher play.
>KR: AGISTTZ K5 ZIGS +39 180
#note 0:57 [14:21] Still better than zits; leave is negligible.
>JJB: INNNOST A2 TONNIN. +9 97
#note 5:25 [11:40] (niton 14f 15 +8.7) JJB sees the unplayable santonin, the only bingo. He now invents another phony in the exact same location, and thinks himself wise for not putting an S on it! Turnover is the story today.
>KR: ADPRTTU L1 PRUTA +31 211
#note 1:28 [12:53] (challenge +9) KR doesn't bat an eye at the 9-pointer in double-challenge play, though it's mighty suspicious. He's busy working out another 30. He later says, "I guess TONNING isn't a word?" Nope, it's tonner, used with a number, so not implying a verb.
>JJB: EIINORS 12G NOISIER +68 165
#note 2:51 [8:49] (resinoid e1 70 +2) JJB finally draws playable bingos and sees resinoid but declines to give his opponent the opening, sacrificing 2 points. Simulation agrees, but only by about 1% win chances.
>KR: ?DELQTU K10 QU.D +28 239
#note 2:00 [10:53] (suq j12 32 +4.2) KR picks up a blank and knocks out the third of the four power tiles he draws. Suq and qi score more and will probably help the leave, but suq is slightly more of an opener and qi is risky. Quetzal/quezal are available for show, and not worst.
>JJB: ?AAEORR 1L .ROA +18 183
#note 1:41 [7:08] (aerogram c1 73 +19.6) Now JJB's time is short and he is tempted by many lanes, so doesn't spot aerogram, nor opera for that matter.
>KR: ?EELTUV 3A .VULE +16 255
#note 3:40 [7:13] (velure m8 20 +1.7) KR cannot shut down enough lanes as his lead should indicate him to.
>JJB: ?AEOPRS M4 ESPARtO +73 256
#note 0:42 [6:26] (saprobe m3 90 +17) JJB spotted trappose before it was blocked, and considers apposer but settles for the weaker esparto. More work would have yielded saprobe 90; another stellar play is vaporers 88, and aparejos 80 is showy. He must now defend a 1-point lead.
>KR: ?EEEOTT 2K T.EE +14 269
#note 2:02 [5:11] (eve b2 18 +2.4) Even holding another T, eve 18 is competitive, but here the bingo is calling.
>JJB: AEEKMNW N7 WEAK +35 291
#note 0:32 [5:54] (week n7 45 +.1; correct score +10) JJB wants the points he left on the table with his last bingo, and chooses weak over week though Quackle slightly disagrees. He loses 10 on uncorrected score. Can he bingo in the remaining lanes?
>KR: ?DEOOST O3 STOOlED +91 360
#note 2:22 [2:49] KR has the S to his blank and also uses half his remaining time to calculate the highest score (correctly defining the word as defecated). He returns to a bingo-level lead and pulls the last 5 tiles, which will decide whether the game has truly been converted.
>JJB: EHIMNTY - +0 291
#note 1:32 [4:22] (mity 14g 22, jay h7 13, hen 15f 30+12 +50) Yes, no win. Best now is not to challenge nor to waste time thinking about thymine, but to create a setup, namely mity/hen, which nets 51. After a correcting recount, this loses by only 8, or wins if opponent goes over; this is an alternate win path besides winning a hopeless challenge! Passing leads to jun 10 with net of 1. Compare him 4c 29, jay h7 13, teeny l11 17+12, net of 45; and enmity 14e 32, jay h7 13, hi 6j 13+12, net of 44.
>KR: CJNRU H7 J.. +13 373
#note 2:27 [0:22] (jun c2 10, thymi 14f 27, ecru e3 12+4 +27) Now KR needs to calculate a sure out in two with jun 10, net of -1. With jay 13 and no out, mity 4c 28 sets up hen 5c, which can be blocked with nu 2e 7, leading to hen 14g 12+8, net of -28. Over the board, the pairs jun/jin and ecru/uric should be findable in the time allowed.
>JJB: EHIMNTY 4C HITMEN +35 326
#note 4:07 [0:15] (mity 4c 28, nu 2e 7, hen 14g 12+8 +15) Mity nets 41, hitmen 26, but JJB has had enough and decides to go for the points upfront rather than set up. Minty 4c 30, arc b8 11, eh 13m 14+4 nets 37; him 4c 29, urn 5e 16, teeny l11 17+6 nets 36.
>KR: CNRU H1 CUR. +18 391
#note 0:14 [0:08]
>JJB: Y E2 Y.. +6 332
#note 0:14 [0:01] (my f4 7 +1) Missing a final point. Yet it's now literally anybody's tournament with six players, two games to play, and all at two or three wins.
>JJB: (N) +2 334
#note KR demonstrates competent play without pulling a bingo until finding an optimal 91 at the end, and his only significant neglect is failing to find an out in two, which could have been done in his two minutes. JJB missed aerogram and saprobe, lost a phony bingo and challenged a valid bingo, and underscored by 10; he still had remote win chances after opponent's bingo gives a lead of 69 but he could not construct the best out in two either. Both go on to play Mack in the final two rounds. Known points available: KR 36, JJB 95. Overall points available: KR 57.2, JJB 150.2. |
