My Favorite Plays from Reno

[wantonhalo]

I thoroughly enjoyed JD's CO category-wise tournament report, so I am going to do the same for Reno, and probably for later tournaments also. I will do the same four categories of five plays that JD did: good plays, bad plays, good games, and toughest decisions, but I think a 5x5 would be more fun. If you have any suggestions, please add them in

Comments

[skin_it_mahatma]

thank you for sharing these positions.

the phoney 10 is actually good in collins, has 2 very common twl anagrams that didn't play, plus a cool csw-only anagram.

[wallydraigle]

On one hand, I think it'd be cool if you brought some of these positions to club tomorrow so we can talk about them, particularly #1, #2, and #3. There might also be some positions from Conrad's day from hell that might be interesting to talk about, and maybe I can bring Quackle, as I think you guys can maybe learn from it (and maybe me too).

On the other hand, I can see others getting annoyed at me for doing that, so maybe it's not a good idea. What do you think?

[wantonhalo]

Alright, that sounds like it would be fun. I'm not necessarily sure I made the right play in all of these either, but I felt happy about them, and I also thought posting controversially would be more fun.

[rafij52]

Cool positions! Maybe you should repost the MOO position with a comment, so readers will know what you were thinking. If I didn't have WICCa I would have been in bad shape.

In the Dominick game, if you were looking to close the bottom left, what about playing JUTE for 19? If you draw an A you hit AZOI(C) and I don't think the C is much of a threat for bingoing based on the pool. D(J)IN gives you trouble after JUROR because of the N hook and the D.

[wantonhalo]

Thinking about this position against Dominick more, I'm realizing not much is dangerous here because the pool is revolting for bingos. row 7, column 1 and column 2 are all extremely weak here. By the same token, the D in DJIN is very ineffectual for bingos. JI(L)T seems like the play here, because it closes the EEG, which are probably the best bingo lanes on this board. Next turn I'd like to play somewhere like column seven to close the other E and the N. JUROR wasn't so good a play after all, perhaps. Thanks for pointing out the relative danger of bingo lanes, because I was being a little too simplistic in my thinking there.

Thanks for the POO suggestion; I updated it.

[rafij52]

Haha POO not MOO, and then you said TOO by mistake later!

[wantonhalo]

I didn't play MOO, I played TOO.

[wantonhalo]

What do you mean by trying to avoid the pool, also? I don't understand.

[wantonhalo]

Argh, meant to say I played POO.

[cuzzakenji]

after i saw da first 2 (5n4), i 4got WHAT category u said dhis wuzz.

while 5 aint a BAD play (NOW u KNOW), 4 almost defy descritpion. i aint like VID when i thought da score wuzz 278-270. at almost ANY gamescore, da BOARD POSITION n pool DICTATE VIRID. da unseen pool would almost force E1 VIRID (3Is n i'd want da extra tile cuz a lucky bingo downstairs COULD happen) despite 4H being much better (while i shouldn't HAVE 2 explain it, M1 FAX SHOULD b preferable 2 da babyish 14I EX CUZ izz POSITIONALLY superior).

AIRS--whatdafuck???? u wanna draw ENT, right? LEARN while u YOUNG 2 stop fishin 2 STICKS. da OOO exchange wuzz BAD n DAT wuzz better den VID.

[wantonhalo]

You should just give up hope now of me ever feeling like you do about AIRS, EIRS, and ING.

Also, OX goes at 11G.

[cuzzakenji]

i typed out a very long reply dat aint make it--i aint retypin it, but da gist of it wuzz STICKS izz STICKS. well, da most important part wuzz it aint bout feelin/thinkin like i or anybody else do--iss bout RECOGNITION n ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.

i closed da AIRS thing wif u shoulda had BAWTIES n got hit wif EX 2 make da point.

on da OOO (BAD--WORSE GIVEN EARLY game vs WEAK opp) exch, i simply suggested u COMPARE da SCENARIOS wherein ONE REQUIRE something (SIRE + 3 down 30ish onna positionally deficient S hook board) n da other one don't (OS + 5 up 4)...

noted dat GURRIES proper placement indicate u give SOME thought 2 POSITION. DO what da POSITION DICTATE izz BASICALLY HOW 2 EFFECTIVELY/SKILLFULLY play. IDn n WEIGHn da KEY FACTOR(s) izz what should dictate CHOICE. SOMEtime iss EASY, MOST of da time it aint--but it get EASIER wif PRACTICE/RECOGNITION.