| Player 1 |
|
#player1 Tom Tom
#player2 Dave Dave
>Tom: EGV 8G VEG +14 14
>Dave: AABDPRR 7H BARD +16 16
>Tom: DEOT 9H DOTE +17 31
#note I'm guessing Tom might have missed the BARDE hook here, but his move does have the virtue of keeping the board fairly tight.
>Dave: ALNNPRR K4 PAR.N.R +20 36
#note This was a tough call. Based on his first two plays, it seems like he might be close to a bingo Putting him on an S is not a sure thing, but it's not at all unlikely. However, especially early in the game I like to play by the mantra, "concentrate on your own game." This move is far better for me than all the alternatives, in terms of scoring decently and clearing out the consonant junk. It also occurred to me that if he wasn't sure about the unusual spelling of this word, he might challenge or be afraid to S hook it.
>Tom: EHIRSTU 11H HIRSUTE +92 123
#note At least it wasn't a double-double.
>Dave: EFILNOR N10 F.LON +32 68
#note It's a tough choice between this and FILE or FLOE L1. Keeping the slightly vowel heavy rack seems a little funny, but I like retaining the E. It's hard for me to quantify or explain it, but I also just had the feeling that the board was likely to stay open longer this way.
>Tom: IJN M13 JIN +40 163
>Dave: BEIKOQR L3 QI +30 98
#note This is definitely better than cashing in on a triple right away because I can play BROKEN 15H or BROKE O7 next turn.
>Tom: AEY O8 AYE +23 186
>Dave: BEIKORT M1 REITBOK +113 211
#note After these messages we'll be reitbok.
>Tom: CELSSTY 1G CLYSTE.S +92 278
#note As you can see, Tom's 950+ spread points in 8 games were no accident.
>Dave: EEFNVWW N5 EF +30 241
#note What else are you gonna do here?
>Tom: HOO 2H OOH +34 312
>Dave: DEMNVWW I1 ..WED +16 257
#note This is a really tough situation, and I'm sure Quackle hates my move. The "consistent" follow-up to the previous move is WE 3I, again the only decent scoring move but with a not very bright future. Trading may seem called for, but I had a feeling that if I didn't take out row 3, it was very likely he would play there, scoring well and quite possibly blocking the bingo lines. My play is aimed at trying to create some lines that will stay open for a few moves, while the bottom of the board is hotter.
>Tom: AAAIIII -AAAIIII +0 312
>Dave: AEMNSVW 15H VANME. +36 293
#note Objectively, this move is clearly best, and it took looking beyond HAVEN and AWNS O12 to find it. However, I could have virtually assured myself the $20 prize for best Walter Cronkite word if I had played NEWSMAN here.
>Tom: AAIIIII -AAIIIII +0 312
#note I don't think I've ever seen an opponent trade 7 on two consecutive turns before, but that is what Tom did. Hard to doubt him based on how strongly he played in the rest of the game. The tide has turned now, as his loss of time has allowed me to catch up...
>Dave: ?AEEMSW H4 WE +21 314
#note ...but this was far from my most awesome choice.
>Tom: DPU 5E DUP.. +18 330
>Dave: ?AAEIMS 12D AMIdASE +78 392
#note I liked this better than MALAISE so as not to give him quite as high scoring a ZA spot. However, after ZAX I would not be a happy camper. Granted, that's not so likely after his last move.
>Tom: ?ACIIRT E2 CAR.ITIc +60 390
#note Tom's got several bingos here, but they all score 60. Fancily making the blank a C instead of an S drew a hold from me and also took away IXIA D7.
>Dave: AEGIIUX 13B IXIA +28 420
#note I was so fixated on cleaning up the rack that I missed EAUX 11C scoring a bunch more. I deserved to be punished with ZONING B10. Instead I was rewarded by picking up the Z myself.
>Tom: NTU 14B TUN +22 412
#note Whatever Tom's rack was here, without the Z his chances are not good.
>Dave: AEGLOUZ 14I ZOA +33 453
#note The simplest, keeping a few outs open, but the duck comes up with the very cute GLUTE 7B, blocking his high score of LOGOI and setting up another big ZOA spot.
>Tom: GLNOO 8A LOGO. +21 433
>Dave: EGLU O2 GLUE +11 464
#note I laid down GLUER 4A here, which is what I intended to do after the last move. I was about 99% sure it was good, but at the last moment I decided discretion was the better part of valor and switched to this move. Still, no good reason not to play LUGE in the same place.
>Dave: (N) +2 466
#note Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.
|
