| Player 1 |
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#character-encoding UTF-8
#player1 JJB John J. Bulten
#player2 PLB Penni L. Bulten
>JJB: AEEJLOR H7 JO +18 18
#note 0:48 [24:12] (joe 8g 20 +6.5) PLB has played club games a couple years but has generally stayed at a beginner level; she signed up for up to ten tournament games this weekend for the first time, as a favor to keep the contingent even. She knows all the tournament rules but is learning to internalize them. JJB has warned her he will play his best and trusts her to do so as well. All the same, he keeps a duplicate E on his rack unnecessarily with his opener.
>PLB: ACNRSU I6 CAN +18 18
>PLB: ACNRSU -- -18 0
#note 2:05 [22:55] (jun 7h 11 +18.9) PLB has reviewed the twos and threes en route to this tourney, but wants to make her own opportunity instead of going perpendicular with jun, jus, or jar (jura and the extension cajon 14 also rate well), claiming 18 when it isn't available on revealed tiles. This is an example of wishful thinking common to most all players, which needs to be recognized and avoided in Scrabble play. (There are a few bingo racks that she might have, but beyond taking time to search and rearrange, and to study lists, not much advice can be given about those.)
>JJB: AEEEFLR 9G FEE +21 39
#note 0;29 [23:43] JJB challenges the two off the board within the first second. He then proceeds to remove his duplicate Es more soundly.
>PLB: ACNRSU J6 CURS +19 19
#note 1:02 [21:53] (jun 7h 11 +7.1) Jun and jura still top the list, but curs 19 is a fair enough scoring opportunity (slight improvement: scaur).
>JJB: AELLOOR 8J .OLLER +21 60
#note 2:28 [21:15] (joual 7h 13 +4.0) JJB can hit the triple but his AO leave is worth -8.0. Much better to keep up the bingo leaves; the J can be hit again with joual or joule, and even tossing off fool or cool leaves AELR +9.6.
>PLB: ANU G9 .AUN +7 26
#note 0:49 [21:04] PLB sees a need to toss off tiles too and finds the best spot for these; she is picking up too many vowels.
>JJB: ABEGILO 13C BOILAGE +83 143
#note 1:13 [20:02] JJB has been looking at too many 4-voweled 7s and thinks he sees one. Best legit play is obligee 28, and he doesn't mean to pull off a phony, but it's likely to happen sooner or later.
>PLB: AEIO M8 .EI +4 30
#note 1:55 [19:09] (challenge, ciao 6j 6 +93.3; challenge, ice 6i 5 +84) PLB knows how to hold and challenge but her natural skepticism doesn't awaken at this play given her own vowel-bound rack. She has just looked at vowel dumps and attempts to remember aioli but it comes out as aeoli* 7. She takes time to look at the situation and recognizes the error, but then makes a simplification to lei 4 instead of looking at other slots. She has just reviewed words like agio/na 21, naoi/ag/oe 11, obia 6, ciao 6, and olea/on 8 (oe/lo/faunae 17 is also available). Taking the time to see the play and apply one's list knowledge is a skill to learn; it can start with putting rejectable candidates on the board and improving them as she is doing, but it gets more immediate with practice.
>JJB: AILOORS 12I OORALIS +68 211
#note 0:41 [19:21] JJB knows this cold rack and can put down the only bingo for another sixty. It's still early enough for PLB to catch up, but she would need the assistance of words and racks that she can be confident of.
>PLB: ACO L5 COA. +6 36
#note 1:59 [17:10] (soca o12 18 +12) PLB doesn't get to hit a premium, which she could if she spotted oca/ba 14 or had learned soca 18 (soul-calypso music). Ciao is available again, for 12.
>JJB: ?EGIMNT O4 EMIG.aNT. +62 273
#note 0:53 [18:28] (retiming e8 70 +8) JJB sees column E, but wants to take the opportunity to make a cheap 9 for fun. He is sure metering doesn't take an S, but then he finds the list word that does. He has scored the pelican with the assistance of a phony and will win 99% of possibilities; albeit, bingos like meriting, or regiment n3, will keep him above 99.9%.
>PLB: AQT 12B QAT +32 68
#note 1:46 [15:24] Now PLB is ready to make an optimal Q play.
>JJB: AHIMNRR N4 RAH +33 306
#note 4:22 [14:06] (ihram n2 48 +13.7) JJB considers ham 33 and harm 26 in this column, but takes the second-best play because he wants to start blocking and his board vision doesn't turn up ihram, the only play to hit both premiums. Honorable mention: murrha/roe/ho/ar 34.
>PLB: APS 14A PAS +15 83
#note 2:43 [12:41] (gap h13 18 +11.0; sap 14b 20 +5) Using the S reflexively as a plural. The simple triple, gap h13, gets more points, and in her chosen line she could still make pa/aba 13 to keep the S, or sap/aba/top 20 to use it; this is her second S and she will not draw another one.
>JJB: EIMNORY 10F M.Y +25 331
#note 0:51 [13:15] (correct score +3; oy 15a 32 +10.0) Even though the easy triple may be contraindicated often, it should still be counted. Here oy scores 32 and the leave EIMNR is easily better than EINOR, so the showiness of the hook can be discounted anyway; plus JJB loses 3 points on underscoring. Another good power/leave combo is yom/yo/or/ma, which takes board vision to consider parallels given the middling tiles.
>PLB: IT 15A IT +20 103
#note 2:00 [10:41] PLB knows how to make optimal use of a triple. Her calculation time is starting to run a little aground, but she knows from some experience how to keep herself to 25 minutes and she is beginning to practice it again more consistently under tournament pressure.
>JJB: EFIINOR M3 FIR +23 354
#note 0:37 [12:38] (fie 14e 26 +8.2) Since inferior and notifier don't go, JJB crams. Still, a bit showier would be fie/if/li/faunae 26.
>PLB: GIT K11 G.IT +10 113
#note 3:07 [7:34] (git 13l 17 +7) At 1:10 on this turn, it is discovered that PLB has overdrawn, and JJB gets to break up ING by removing the N. PLB momentarily disposes of the exposed tiles; she does not work out a parallel for 7 more points.
>JJB: EINNOVW 14K .WIN +14 368
#note 0:57 [11:41] (town 14k 14 +4.8) JJB can do no better than to double on this deliberately closed board, but town would get rid of O rather than I (even more desirable with only one of each remaining). Twin takes EKSY but in this configuration that is not very useful; town also takes SY.
>PLB: ADE 3J DEA. +8 121
#note 1:27 [6:07] (ae 14f 17 +9.4) PLB makes the sympathy play as she often prefers to play thematic Scrabble rather than competitive. In a tournament she needs to use an opening like fauna/e or twin/e or column H.
>JJB: ENOOPSV K1 VE.PS +38 406
#note 0:58 [10:43] (ovens k1 34 +.7) JJB scores his pointers along with the S; slightly better leave is ovens 34, especially given his fond bingo hopes.
>PLB: EX F13 .EX +12 133
#note 2:14 [3:53] (ex o14 35 +23) Even more so does PLB need to keep hooks and board vision in mind, because now ex/twine is worth 23 more and doesn't give opponent a high blowback opportunity.
>JJB: DENOOTW 1K .OWED +39 445
#note 1:51 [8:52] With a draw that reflects his suboptimal leave, JJB can still see the points play.
>PLB: ?DER 1H pRE..... +42 175
>PLB: ?DER -- -42 133
#note 2:01 [1:52] (xed 15f 33 +28.5) Focusing only on one part of the board at a time, PLB is confident there's a good extension play. There is, but it's reavowed 42 instead, and given her tiles that may not be enough to cash the blank for. If she kept alert to her own opening she could take xed 33 off the 3s list and score safely while retaining the blank. (Partial leave for reavowed is more than 20 behind xed; a blank should add 30 to your score as a rule of thumb.)
>JJB: AINNOTV 15D TA.ON +39 484
#note 1:07 [7:45] JJB challenges after 6 seconds of making sure, and then seals up the X spot. He would allow reavowed if PLB finds it, but she is likely to move on (which is also not always the best strategy: always consider all you can).
>PLB: ?DER C11 D... +7 140
#note 0:30 [1:22] (ed o14 17 +5.1) PLB's fish is not bad considering; she can be shown not to have a bingo on the rack, and she needs dynamic value points. Given what she actually will draw, the best scoring chances come from casting off twine or we in bottom right along with one consonant; but this relies on the difficult opening in row 2. Given what she could theoretically draw, she will do fine with reavowed 42, while opening plays in row 2 also value comparably (dree, deer, reed, or blank plays).
>JJB: BINTUVZ 15M NUB +19 503
#note 4:04 [3:41] (tub 15m 19 +1.6) JJB doesn't realize how closed the board actually has been made by both players and how little his rack has after an INV leave: he can literally only make 28 different plays, an exceedingly low number with tiles still in the bag. He has no Z options (he is already "stuck") and only a couple V options. Quackle prefers tub or nub, as well as vie/id 13 (even more blocky). In this respect JJB is now somewhat dependent on PLB to open up, and he has emptied the bag to give her theoretical knowledge of his rack too.
>PLB: ?EENRUY 4I YE. +11 151
#note 3:51 [-2:29] (keep time +30) PLB now has the playable tiles but not time to work out the mathematical endgame that should prevail with her opponent stuck with the Z. She controls tempo and can keep opponent guessing by having options to go out or to score more without going out. In this respect her choice is very good: yep 11 allows many outs in one unblockable line, knocks out opponent's best line and gives him nothing hookable, and also retains reavowed/unavowed 42. Opponent can retain zit/ut after unavowed, and tie/et/aide after reavowed, by playing hoed 8 (sticking PLB with U in the latter case!), dulling the threatened force; so prune 13+42 appears preferable, netting 58 to PLB in all. After yep (or yep/yap with blank as vowel), no play besides tripling or going out appears to have the necessary start value for such a good net, and it's safe to say no other out in two will net so high either. Initial analysis of longer sequences indicates that opponent has enough power to cast off one tile at a time that it's better not to give him many more chances, as PLB doesn't have the same power to score high several turns in a row, without row 1. A plan of playing several turns and sticking out opponent might begin joeys/us 15, which blocks plays of V alone and compels opponent to reply vied 19 (vie doesn't do as well); to lock out K, PLB follows with inn 5, indicating curst 9 (because it can be blocked with curse); since Y cannot now be blocked, PLB seizes the eh spot with re/er/de 11, which forces grith 9, and with KZ fully blocked PLB can finish with coaly 15, pass, jeu 11, pass, uh 5+30. But after all this her net is only 55. (Opponent does not want to conserve K rather than V and play ki first, because yep, eh, rune would also net 55, and may be improvable for PLB.) She must play cautiously and not get stuck with one of her common letters, because that reduces spread from opponent's rack by half; so running opponent out on the long path does not score as well as playing faster. Yet, better than all of these is to retain row 1 and make it the last play after making it unblockable! And what play does this? Yep 11 again (not er/ora, which allows kier, etc., even though it's still likely to score more than joeys). The only other play that retains row 1 is rep, but opponent can play ki, forcing ye/re as the only Y dump that retains row 1, and the reply zit/tye undoes all the power. So the correct route is yep 11 and letting opponent play his best: hoed 8, jeu 11, in/ilex 13 (early ki would allow kirn), er/ora 5, ki 6, and the big finish unavowed 42+30, net of a whopping 72. We must conclude that PLB has hit upon an expert opening of the best move series under tournament conditions, which not only blocks opponent but gives her an unassailable, leisurely 42-point finish.
>JJB: DHIKTVZ N1 .H +10 513
#note 2:35 [1:06] (hoed i11 8, jeu 7h 11, in 12f 13, er 2k 5, ki 10l 6, unavowed 1h 42+30 +2) JJB has time to realize that opponent retains both unavowed and reavowed and that there is no obvious way to block them, and that he might do best to claim plain points, by which hoed 8 (removing 12 from rack spread) is better than eh 10 (removing 8) by 2 points. But he can still play out optimally if PLB continues setting up unavowed.
>PLB: ?ENRU 7F Ra. +9 160
#note 0:36 [-3:05] (keep time +10; jeu 7h 11, in 12f 13, er 2k 5, ki 10l 6, unavowed 1h 42+34 +53) If PLB had been able to work out either unavowed or reavowed, she could play off a tile or two now and net 73 remaining in all. She could also go out with several words, retaining a bit lesser score (after the game, she is able to find prune with this rack). Under mounting time pressure, she determines to use her 3-letter J list and at least score the J for 9. Now opponent has za and kiva for equal score and spread leave, but za 10 leaves PLB without an out. Further, opponent can block her U with gin instead of gun, and even if she can block the K with inn instead of ki it is undesirable for both players to be blocked. So she must play gun 4, after which opponent's ki 6 forces her to go out with ne 7+16 rather than getting stuck with the N! Thus best play now only nets her 20.
>JJB: DIKTVZ F5 DI.K +11 524
#note 0:43 [0:23] (za g6 10, gun h13 4, ki 10l 6, ne 5h 7+16 +18) As outlined, za now has all the strategic value that JJB can still squeeze from this game, giving him a maximal net of -11. Instead he dumps tiles worth a bit less, which (as he fails to realize) also allows PLB an out as is soon to be seen, netting him -29. Since he mildly threatens to go out now with tiz and voe, there is no value to trying to string him out.
>PLB: ENU 5D NU.E +10 170
#note 0:34 [-3:39] Though she has gone over time, and missed an expert continuation, PLB shows her strong intuitive skills by making two perfect endplays out of three! (In the meantime, Andy Hoang loses his game to finish 4-1, and Mark Owens wins the main event undefeated; this gives JJB third place in a 5-way tie on his massive +612 spread.)
>PLB: (TVZ) -10 160
#note PLB's +30 final bonus is time-adjusted to -10 herein. Though PLB made some beginner moves, they are sprinkled with strong intuitive plays that keep the challenge going: her selection of an extension for vowed was merely a vocab error, not a tactical error. All the same, she still did not knowably have enough opportunity points to defeat JJB's 500 game even if she had gotten the value of challenging his phony bingo and of going out with unavowed 42. And JJB's game is still admitting of much improvement, such as spotting ihram in the midgame or za in the endgame. Known points available: JJB 31, PLB 224. Overall points available: JJB 80.5, PLB 308.3+. |
