| Player 1 |
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#player1 Conrad Conrad
#player2 Noah Noah
>Conrad: GHLTUUY 8F UGLY +16 16
#note [Commentary by Noah] I randomly remembered that a few people wanted to see this game annotated and posted, so I'm doing that now. The game results didn't actually matter that much, as Conrad and I were co-Gibsonized for the finals. They weren't nothing though, both determining who would go first in the first game of the finals, and who would gain the ratings. As for this rack, it seems clear to make a self descriptive play here.
>Noah: AEEINOP 9H OE +11 11
#note Not much to choose from here -- Conrad commented afterward that he thought I'd have kept a leave stronger than AEINP. AEON 7G was the main other option, and it's hard to say which is better. I liked going for bingos on this quiet board.
>Conrad: GHLOTTU 10E TOUGH +24 40
#note Stronger than OUGHT because it gives me much less in terms of bingo lanes (no column K, weaker row 11) and scoring spots (column E). The TOUGHY hook is of little concern with no Y out and a high likelihood I kept no Y with OE.
>Noah: AAEIINP 11E AI +10 21
#note This time this seems clear over plays like APIAN or PIA, as it gives less back while having a comparable total score over this and coming turns.
>Conrad: ILNOTVX 12C VOX +36 76
#note Increases Conrad's lead and makes it hard for me to do much -- an ideal play.
>Noah: AEINOPW C9 WAI.E +30 51
#note INWOVE is also here, but I'd rather score and avoid opening up the row 8 scoring spot, while opening up more hooks.
>Conrad: EIJLNRT F6 JE. +26 102
#note ILNRT is not a great leave, and exchange JL is another option, keeping a leave that works nicely with row 14, column D, and column G. I'm a suspicious of sim results here, because I think the next turns will have static evaluator making a lot of plays that give too much back on both sides. If I remember correctly, when going over the game, we came to the conclusion that the two options are comparable in terms of average game score, and thus JEU was better because it was less volatile -- if you exchange and don't draw a bingo (which happens about half the time per Quackle), you would've preferred to just take the points right away.
>Noah: DEINOOP B9 OP +25 76
#note Opens up the worst kind of spot -- strong and easy to hit -- but all the reasonable plays do that here, and this has the best points + leave combo among them.
>Conrad: DIILNRT A4 NITRID +31 133
#note LID is also available, but going for points looks best here, especially given how friendly the pool is.
>Noah: ?DEHINO 14A HEDONIc +87 163
#note HOrDEIN is also available, scoring 2 less but making the right of the board much easier to access. That might be better, especially against Conrad, who tends to (not too strongly) prefer a closed board against me, but both plays are good choices.
>Conrad: EGLNORS D3 LONGERS +76 209
#note The only bingo.
>Noah: DEILMRU 4C M.ULDIER +62 225
#note "
>Conrad: ADEINRT 3H TRAINED +75 284
#note DETRAIN gives back much more, which makes it not worth the 2 points.
>Noah: ?EKNORY J10 YOK +39 264
#note This is clearly better than KEYNOtER, the only bingo, here, and the best of a lot of plays that score well and keep the blank.
>Conrad: AACFIST L1 FA.ATICS +86 370
#note The only bingo.
>Noah: ?BEENRZ 13I ZEBRiNE +115 379
#note This is nuts.
>Conrad: AEFMRSW O10 WAF.RS +48 418
#note I don't want to reanalyze this position, since we went over it pretty extensively a couple months ago. Suffice to say that we both agreed that WAFERS was correct. Feel free to analyze for yourself if you're not convinced.
>Noah: AEELPSV 1L .AVE +30 409
#note Same story as WAFERS.
>Conrad: BCEMNOQ A11 BOC.E +39 457
#note Scoring is very important and Conrad will be able to play the Q in the endgame if need be.
>Noah: ELPSTTU 2J PL.T +28 437
#note This was close to winning if Conrad made fairly obvious plays that I saw (it's 13 back if he plays optimally, which could happen, but is no guarantee since he's low on time and it's a very tough endgame), so thought I might be missing a win. As it turns out, this valuates best against optimal play. I do wonder if anyone can find a play that gives me better chances to steal the endgame.
>Conrad: AAIMNQ 15M QI. +12 469
#note Best play here is INTIMA H1, since it scores well and blocks my best out, forcing SUITE 6J. This is a more paranoid play, which is the smart play here, since spread doesn't really matter for Conrad.
>Noah: ESTU 1G UTES +18 455
>Noah: (AAMN) +12 467
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