| Player 1 |
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#player1 Noah Noah
#player2 Rafi_Stern Rafi Stern
>Noah: ?AEISXY H7 SEXY +28 28
#note Difficult casual game against Rafi from today. Rafi's racks but my commentary. XI seems better here because the SE are pretty helpful for Rafi. AESY? is strong and if he does OX I have a good OXY snapback.
>Rafi_Stern: DEENNNU G6 NUDE +23 23
>Noah: ?ADEIIO F2 OIDIA +14 42
>Rafi_Stern: ELMNNOR E3 MOL +21 44
#note MERLON seems better here, as ENNR could run into trouble on this board while MERLON doesn't open anything two dangerous (col F and row 8 balance well enough).
>Noah: ?AEMORY 10A YEOMAnR. +73 115
#note Interesting decision between MAY and YEOMAnRY. MAY tends to give Rafi almost nothing to do, but EOR? isn't as awesome as it often is afterward. Taking the immediate bingo allows me to work more on closing the board. These are just some thoughts about the play -- not very sure which is better.
>Rafi_Stern: EEENNRS 3C ER..NE +18 62
#note Nice play by Rafi to open -- we both like this better than alternatives like NENE or NEE 11C.
>Noah: ABEEETV D1 VE.B +38 153
#note Interesting choice between BEV(Y) and VE(R)B. I didn't spot BEVY. It scores two fewer points but blocks the Y. The Y is a great spot but not as dangerous when you factor in Rafi's last few plays -- he's more likely to have lower scoring tiles and either bingo or not be able to do something huge there. I can maybe take advantage of it next turn. One advantage of BEVY is that it closes down lanes a little more -- removing YE can help out on later turns where I might want to block.
>Rafi_Stern: AENRSTT 9G ..TRANETS +68 130
#note This seems too aggressive to me. NATTERS 4H keeps the board quite open but doesn't open such good immediate scoring for me.
>Noah: ABEEIOT 8L OBIA +36 189
>Rafi_Stern: ACHILOQ A5 ACHIL. +42 172
#note We were both pretty sure this was good, but it isn't.
>Noah: AEEEORT 1A REA.E +24 213
>Rafi_Stern: EJLOQRZ H1 JE.Z +90 262
>Noah: AEIOSTW 4H .OWIE +34 247
#note Playing off OW somewhere, probably at 11E is also good -- the pool is quite consonant heavy with only one E, and AEIST combos well with the open R. Another play I'm not sure about.
>Rafi_Stern: ACDLOQR K2 QA.D +28 290
>Noah: AFHSTTU 6K SHAFT +34 281
#note Very difficult position. HUT 11C, HUT 9C, and FAT 11C are all reasonable alternatives. I went with this because keeping more space open and scoring well seemed like good goals here -- the former because a bingo would really be helpful here, and the latter because scoring makes me less reliant on a bingo, and SHAFT scores immediately while keeping decent Q potential (though Q plays also tend to give back well for Rafi. A play like FAT or HUT just seems to lead to more games where we trade scores and Rafi wins, but there's a lot to analyze here -- I might be missing something.
>Rafi_Stern: CGLORTV K8 C.VORT +31 321
>Noah: EFINPTU 11C FUN +25 306
#note I missed EQUIP here, which is also good. Keeping the E is really nice here though, both for general balance and bingo purposes, plus I set up a scoring spot he might not be able to take advantage of, on a board where good low-risk, hittable scoring spots are dwindling. FNT can get really ugly, even though it does get me closer to the blank. I think I still prefer this.
>Rafi_Stern: DGGGLSW 11I GL.GG +8 329
#note Rafi can also exchange, but makes what looks like the correct decision here. The only reason Rafi would exchange is to draw the blank and try to stop me from winning with it, as it really helps me out here. However, if he doesn't draw it he is more likely to run into some ugliness from the pool, and even if I get it I'm not a shoo-in to win, as Rafi has good scoring options with the case DS for CAVORTS and ERMINED. GLOGG seems like a sharp choice.
>Noah: EIIPTTU 12A PUTTI +39 345
#note Keeping the E here seemed pretty strong, with not a ton of vowels left, and just a lot of tiles it combined well with. Ups my bingo % by almost 10 too.
>Rafi_Stern: DKLNRSW I3 D.RK +23 352
#note DOWN looks better -- Rafi mistakenly though it played off the R, and went with this.
>Noah: AEIINOU 2K .UOIN +28 373
#note Oops! Amazingly, if I draw the blank after this, Rafi can still block all my outs with (G)OWN and win. I should do (Q)UEAN, (G)ONIA, or (C)IAO to guarantee an out. How often do you want to keep IIO instead of AEI?!
>Rafi_Stern: ?ILNPSW 1N PI +22 374
#note Quackle's favorite is SPIN, saving PLoW A12 with LoW 13M backup.
>Noah: AEIO 6A .IAO +8 381
#note I could only think of LoWNS* as a possible out for Rafi, and excitedly did this, thinking he might play a phony out. In fact, AE J13 is best, blocking...
>Rafi_Stern: ?LNSW 14G LaWNS +21 395
#note That.
>Rafi_Stern: (E) +2 397
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