Durham, NC Jan 14-16, 2012
Starting Rating: 1547
Ending Rating: 1541
Record: 11-9 -372
Average Score: 399
Bingos/game: 2.0 (40/20 games)
This tournament benefited the Duke Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplantation Center. I’m happy we contributed to this cause, but it is freezing in there and I think if we do it again we should find a building with heat. I was wearing my coat the whole time. It was fun playing in a tournament again after having missed both Atlanta and Delaware due to illness. Here is a recap of my games:
Round 1 vs. Suhas Rao: I won 437-403. I bingoed with MERGERs and SORTIED. He bingoed with LIONISE and ETESIAn, forming nI* in the process, which I overlooked because of the blank. He also phonied with AVON* (challenged off).
Round 2 vs. Suhas: I won 416-407. My opening play was COGnIZE for 106. He S-hooked it with PAIRINGs, and on his next turn played RETEARS and a few turns later, OLEINES. But he phonied twice: DJINNIS* and MOE* (I challenged both off) and he also lost a turn exchanging, so I was able to keep the score close and eked out a win.
Round 3 vs. Alan Riechman: I won 423-350, bingoing three times with zONULAE, NETTING, and EROTICS.
Round 4 vs. Alan: I won 392-368, bingoing with PAVANES and the misspelled, but unchallenged, SCaIENID*. (I know how to spell it but the blank threw me off.)
Round 5 vs. Matt Bernardina: I lost 514-341, wiping out all the spread I had acquired up until then. I had ORAtION and totally spaced out on playing lousing while debating for several minutes over lignous*. He had CLEATING and NOnMETAL. My downfall began when from a rack of CGINTQS, I played CITY for 27 with the C on H1, leaving GNQS. He then bingoed from there, scoring 86. My next rack was ADGNQSW and I had to exchange. He then played XI parallel to CLEATING for 52. The lesson here is: Do not open the board if you’ve left yourself junk with no strong come-back play in case of a bingo.
Round 6 vs. Matt: I won 435-402. I had MANNITE and JADeITE, he had PRiNCES.
Round 7 vs. Daniel Milton: I won 402-331. I had NESTING and HERnIAS.
Round 8 vs. Daniel: I lost 416-384. I had VERBIAGe and WHEEDLES; he had ESTRANGE and BALLADS.
At the end of day one, I was 6-2 but only +39, because of all the close games and one blow-out.
Round 9 vs. Robb Griffith: I won 416-399. I had RINSERS, COINTeR, he had ROSEAte and MEDIATED.
Round 10 vs. Robb: I won 477-371. I had FoVEATE, DISASTeR and OUTGAZE. He had RANKLESS and I tried to front hook it with a C but it was challenged off. However, there is something known as a crankless engine, there are almost 30,000 Google hits on the word, and it is in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary. My Word spell checker doesn’t like it, though.
Round 11 vs. Ryan Fischer: I lost 466-361. I had OUTLEARN; he had FAcEABLE (a nice 19,000-probability 8), and LaYERINGS. I challenged PONGED but it’s good. Ryan has posted the game here, with my racks included:
http://www.cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=10302#0#
Round 12 vs. Ryan: I won 383-353. I had SArONGS; he had RELIVINg and INTREPID. He front-hooked RELIVINg with a P but unlike PRELIFE (and -IVES), PRELIVING* is not good. Ryan has posted the game here, with my racks included:http://www.cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=10303#0#
Round 13 vs. Kevin Gauthier: I won 366-355. I had ORATION, he had SORTIES. He played lightning fast.
At this point I was 10-3 +11. Then I proceeded to embark upon a 6 game losing streak.
Round 14 vs. Kevin: I lost 455-315. I had FREESIA; he had STaRRED and ANTISERA and big J and Z plays.
Round 15 vs. Erickson Smith: I lost 536-489 (really 491). I had 5 bingoes: sANTERA, TRUNDLE, ANURESIS, MOUTHED and RELIERs. He had LEARIEST, STOMPING and PAINTERS, the triple-triple that won him the game. As seen in my annotated game, the play that doomed me was RELIERs, which hung an R in a triple lane. But in order to score a triple-triple, VIED had to be front-hooked to form IVIED by an I in the 3rd position and the word had to go through the R in the 7th position. He had the perfect word for the spot. Plus he got 44 points from my rack. The consensus seems to be that I shouldn’t have chanced it, since I had a nice lead and he was fishing. My reasoning was the pool was mediocre, hence the 44 points of high point tiles I was stuck with (why couldn’t he have some of them?), and the chances of him having the perfect bingo were small. But this is not based on a mathematical assessment, just my (flawed) human instinct. Quackle agrees with the consensus. The game is posted here: http://lotting.livejournal.com/4073.html
Round 16 vs. Erickson: I lost 420-340. I had vITTLES and PUDdLIER; he had OSSETRA, IODATION. He phonied with AGENIC* for 17 and I had strong doubts but didn’t challenge because I didn’t want to lose my bingo spot. I was feeling very dispirited from the preceding game and was downright glum by the end, when my last rack was NNQUUUX.
After day two, my record was 10-6, -80.
Round 17 vs. Rahn McKeown: I lost 494-362. I had WRESTLE and aNISEED; he had DIALOGER and DEVEINs. Rahn posted the game (without my racks) here: http://www.cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=10232#0#
Round 18 vs. Rahn: I lost 453-428. This was a fun, close game, even though I lost. I had MISHEAR for 91, GODLIEST and RELOAnS; He had aLEWIFE, and the game winning ECTOZOAN. He back-hooked alewife with an S but it’s not good. Rahn posted the game (without my racks) here: http://www.cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=10233#0#
Round 19 vs. Daniel Milton: I lost 511-381. I had ERGATEs and REsITED; he had OUTGLARE, REAsONS and a 62-point X play. I had to exchange my first two racks of the game. This one in particular is unbelievable: AFRRRRT. (I kept ART.) I was starting to wonder if I’d ever win another Scrabble game.
Round 20: vs. Daniel: I won 432-401. I had HOMINIEs and ANEURINS; he had ARTIEST and MUNChING. Well at least I won another Scrabble game.
So I finished 11-9. My rating is still in the doldrums of the mid-1500’s, where I’ve been since last May. The plan going forward: Learn more words, particularly 8’s. Reinforce the old words by studying like a maniac. Play with more foresight of consequences. That's the hard part.