Hemispheres (Alpharetta 9/3 - 9/5/2011)
Yeah, this was definitely a tale of two tournaments for me. There was the bad half (the round-robin) and the good half (the repeats). It all added up to one big pile of mediocrity. Thankfully, the vast majority of the field was equally mediocre and I ended up the tallest of the 10-10's. I managed to cash and lose rating points. I started to type out a full tourney report, but then my browser decided to quit itself randomly and LJ saved none of my cut, so it's just going to be a bingo list and some impressions.
Mine: (34)
SIXPEN(N)Y, ANcONES
CURBsID(E)
TRISEME, ANEMIAS
None
None (yeah that's a tournament first, back-to-back 0-bingo games)
s(O)FTCORE, SAU(T)OIRE (Bingo-bango), URBANIT(E), AI(R)TIGHt
SPhE(R)OID (2x2)
ATEMOYA (2x2), LINEATE (bingo-bango)
BOGARTs
AnO(I)NTED (2x2), (I)NNOVATE
INJECTs
DENOTI(V)E, M(I)SHEARD
SPORTED, REc(LA)IMED (yay, my first tourney 9)
LATINIT(Y) (drew a challenge), (S)ENsATED, RO(M)ANISE
ORBIEsT, (N)oNADULT, MILREIS (drew desparation challenge, all bingoes from turn 10 onward)
RENDERS
(R)EFUTING, IMI(T)ATOR
LANNERs, MINORI(N)G, AGATIzE, NASTIER
RUS(H)IEST, OVeRTIM(E)
MALMIER, RAT(H)OLES
Theirs: (34)
UNPEELs* (held and released so I could play SIXPENNY)
NUTSIER, NEGATED, L(Y)RIcIST
FOIlINg
VELiGER
PEONIES, CU(R)aTING, P(E)RSONAL
TWINERS
V(I)NeGARS, GALOOTS, R(E)MOLADE (3x3, bingo-bango, to go out...I hate this game sometimes)
OUT(R)AIsE, GRoVELS
ORbITAL, F(O)RELAND, ABETTOR
FIBSTER (to open), FEELERS (bingo-bango), IN(S)ULTER (turn 4)
G(N)ARLERS* (Grrr....), ESTRIOL
BELD(A)MES, TORULAE
ATONIES
None
None
NEUTRAL, DOc(T)oRI(N)G (2x2, great find by Joey), ME(L)ODIES
RAVELiN(G), eLEVONS
None
MEGATO(N)S, OuTDONE, (P)ARTIERS
fELINES
You can see how my tournament went in the bingo list. After 11 games I only had 14 bingoes (record 3-8), then I got 20 in the last 9 (record 7-2). Meanwhile, my opponents got down 23 bingoes in the first 11 games and only 11 in the last 9, 6 of those in my two losses to Joey. I certainly didn't draw like gangbusters, but more importantly I didn't handle those bad racks well at all, and after each loss through the first 3 sessions I just got sourer, and I missed tons of good plays. I need to be better about not letting previous results affect the game at hand. I'm such a front-runner, and I just need to be in more control of my emotions and divorce the play of the game from the results. It's hard, but it needs to be done if I want to become a better player. I was lucky to start drawing well again starting in game 12, but I can't be dependent on momentum picking me up like that everytime. It's also time to do a review of the 5's again that's not Aerolith/JT. I played WILEY* (got challenged off, WILY was 18 fewer points), and chickened out on WHEEN during a close endgame, but I got bailed out with the X.
Thankfully Katie was there to provide moral support when she wasn't running the entire tournament. She did an awesome job directing, handling disputes, running data entry, etc. She really only needed help with pairings near the end, since all 3 divisions had their own different complications. Commentary ended up being too much, she needs to become more familiar with the board, and she was swamped handling everything else. She did have a lot of fun, especially with the people-watching that our community provides, and is looking forward to doing this again. After-session Anagrams was fun, even if I didn't pull off the steals that John and Kenji did.
I may post a couple of my games later, I just haven't been in a mood to go through the scoresheets from this tournament and Quackle them. The two losses I had to Joey were particularly close games where it felt I made a borderline decision and got punished heavily for it. Those I could probably use some advice on; we'll see if I get around putting them up on x-t. I definitely need a break from tourney Scrabble though, so taking these next couple of months off, with just some club play, will be greatly appreciated. Cheers!
Mine: (34)
SIXPEN(N)Y, ANcONES
CURBsID(E)
TRISEME, ANEMIAS
None
None (yeah that's a tournament first, back-to-back 0-bingo games)
s(O)FTCORE, SAU(T)OIRE (Bingo-bango), URBANIT(E), AI(R)TIGHt
SPhE(R)OID (2x2)
ATEMOYA (2x2), LINEATE (bingo-bango)
BOGARTs
AnO(I)NTED (2x2), (I)NNOVATE
INJECTs
DENOTI(V)E, M(I)SHEARD
SPORTED, REc(LA)IMED (yay, my first tourney 9)
LATINIT(Y) (drew a challenge), (S)ENsATED, RO(M)ANISE
ORBIEsT, (N)oNADULT, MILREIS (drew desparation challenge, all bingoes from turn 10 onward)
RENDERS
(R)EFUTING, IMI(T)ATOR
LANNERs, MINORI(N)G, AGATIzE, NASTIER
RUS(H)IEST, OVeRTIM(E)
MALMIER, RAT(H)OLES
Theirs: (34)
UNPEELs* (held and released so I could play SIXPENNY)
NUTSIER, NEGATED, L(Y)RIcIST
FOIlINg
VELiGER
PEONIES, CU(R)aTING, P(E)RSONAL
TWINERS
V(I)NeGARS, GALOOTS, R(E)MOLADE (3x3, bingo-bango, to go out...I hate this game sometimes)
OUT(R)AIsE, GRoVELS
ORbITAL, F(O)RELAND, ABETTOR
FIBSTER (to open), FEELERS (bingo-bango), IN(S)ULTER (turn 4)
G(N)ARLERS* (Grrr....), ESTRIOL
BELD(A)MES, TORULAE
ATONIES
None
None
NEUTRAL, DOc(T)oRI(N)G (2x2, great find by Joey), ME(L)ODIES
RAVELiN(G), eLEVONS
None
MEGATO(N)S, OuTDONE, (P)ARTIERS
fELINES
You can see how my tournament went in the bingo list. After 11 games I only had 14 bingoes (record 3-8), then I got 20 in the last 9 (record 7-2). Meanwhile, my opponents got down 23 bingoes in the first 11 games and only 11 in the last 9, 6 of those in my two losses to Joey. I certainly didn't draw like gangbusters, but more importantly I didn't handle those bad racks well at all, and after each loss through the first 3 sessions I just got sourer, and I missed tons of good plays. I need to be better about not letting previous results affect the game at hand. I'm such a front-runner, and I just need to be in more control of my emotions and divorce the play of the game from the results. It's hard, but it needs to be done if I want to become a better player. I was lucky to start drawing well again starting in game 12, but I can't be dependent on momentum picking me up like that everytime. It's also time to do a review of the 5's again that's not Aerolith/JT. I played WILEY* (got challenged off, WILY was 18 fewer points), and chickened out on WHEEN during a close endgame, but I got bailed out with the X.
Thankfully Katie was there to provide moral support when she wasn't running the entire tournament. She did an awesome job directing, handling disputes, running data entry, etc. She really only needed help with pairings near the end, since all 3 divisions had their own different complications. Commentary ended up being too much, she needs to become more familiar with the board, and she was swamped handling everything else. She did have a lot of fun, especially with the people-watching that our community provides, and is looking forward to doing this again. After-session Anagrams was fun, even if I didn't pull off the steals that John and Kenji did.
I may post a couple of my games later, I just haven't been in a mood to go through the scoresheets from this tournament and Quackle them. The two losses I had to Joey were particularly close games where it felt I made a borderline decision and got punished heavily for it. Those I could probably use some advice on; we'll see if I get around putting them up on x-t. I definitely need a break from tourney Scrabble though, so taking these next couple of months off, with just some club play, will be greatly appreciated. Cheers!