| Player 1 |
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#player1 David_Gibson David Gibson
#player2 JD JD
>David_Gibson: DILRY 8H DRILY +26 26
#note What a thrill! My reward for doing well on day 2 was to get to play David Gibson for the first time ever. I was pretty excited.
>JD: BEGIITU L3 UBIET. +22 22
>David_Gibson: IQ 5K Q. +22 48
>JD: EGHIITV 6J VI. +25 47
#note once I saw this I felt that it had to be the best move, but I missed GHI here at M2 for a few extra points.
>David_Gibson: EN M3 NE +12 60
>JD: EGHINOT 7G HO +12 59
#note what do you make of david playing NE here after taking almost 5 minutes to do so? I really wasn't sure. Knowing from david's highly defensive reputation that he was likely to keep things tight if he didn't bingo himself, I figured I would create another lane and hope that I wasn't just setting him up. I still have no idea what the right choice was.
>David_Gibson: UX 6F XU +30 90
>JD: EGINRTU J8 .NTRIGUE +63 122
#note this is an extremely weak play compared to TRUEING. I'm not sure why the 7 didn't come to mind. In fact, had I not had INTRIGUE available I'm sure I would've made the better play. Instead, I throw the board wide open when he has signaled that he has a strong leave. Depending on his leave, I may be lucky if he doesn't triple-triple next turn.
>David_Gibson: ?AEINSV 11D VINEgA.S +90 180
#note miraculously, david didn't have a 3x3 here.
>JD: AAADGIO 5A ADAGIO +25 147
#note this is phenomenally risky, but I could already foresee a tortuous, painful death if I played AGGADA.
>David_Gibson: AENOPRS 15C PERSONA. +83 263
>JD: ?ACEENS A2 CES.rEAN +80 227
#note shocking - my gamble pays off, and then I miss the 3x3. what a shame.
>David_Gibson: JOY 14B JOY +35 298
#note the 3x3 was fEASANCE. I looked for 7 minutes but did not find it.
>JD: ADDEIMR 2F ADMIRED +78 305
#note another stroke of luck brings me back in the game.
>David_Gibson: FLU 13C FLU +34 332
>JD: BENOORS 1F BOO +34 339
>David_Gibson: CKLP C3 PL.CK +36 368
>JD: EEFMNRS - +0 339
#note from everything I've gathered it didn't seem like gibson would ever play an intentional phony, especially not a 5. and yet as I stared at this word, I simply could not remember ever having seen it on a scrabble board or as a hook to LACK. In addition, a successful challenge lets me put down ENFRAMES. so I challenged. I don't regret challenging, but boy did it cost me.
>David_Gibson: EGRW 13J .REW +16 384
>JD: EEFMNRS 14L FEM +26 365
#note I overscored this by 2 points. surprisingly I still have fair winning chances.
>David_Gibson: GOT 15M TOG +22 406
>JD: ENRSTTW K1 W.T +9 374
#note this play is deceptively good because it allows me to play TUNE/a bingo, making it significantly harder for him to block effectively.
>David_Gibson: ELZ N4 LEZ +37 443
#note had I not played TUN he would've simply blocked on row 10. Instead, he has to play LEZ and pray that I don't have an A.
>JD: EHNORST O1 HORST +36 410
#note gibson pulled an A out of the bag on his last draw, which means that I in fact had a shot at ATONERS or ANTHERS here for the win. NORTH here is worth 4 extra.
>David_Gibson: AAAIIT D7 AIT +10 453
>JD: EN N1 EN +13 423
#note I went over by 10 points and had also given myself 2 extra, so we had the final score as 453-421.
>JD: (AAI) +6 429
#note It's strange to look over this game and realize that given the magnitude of errors I made I probably should have won, when in 20/20 hindsight giving myself an extra win would put me in first place! I made 3 of my worst mistakes of the tournament in the same game, and was given a new opportunity at each turn to win the game. That said, I don't feel too upset, for whatever reason. I was struggling with the cumulative effect of the insomnia at this stage, and on this occasion I just wasn't good enough to deserve to win. Besides, who knows how the rest of my tournament would've unfolded had I won?
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