Most Successful Club Session (second career win vs. BriCap)

[aibretty]

Followed by what is probably my 8th career loss.

I have been dreading club a lot these past few months.  There are very few people who come on a regular place that I look forward to seeing, much less playing.  I had a very successful day, though which makes things a little more palatable.  And here we go:

Game 1: vs. Ellen Levine

It was a good thing I

Comments

[porosus]

I wonder why people haven't been coming? Are they still getting on the intercom to announce upcoming games of bingo at the senior center? And then there's the $1 buffet they've paid Bruce to endorse. What more could we want? Certainly not a mellow cafe that's centrally located with space and good food. People would avoid that shit like the plague.

I bought a road bike yesterday, and once the weather's nice enough, I'll start riding up for a few games on Sunday. It's 15 miles each way and it'll be good mental training to play a few games between rides, sort of like chess boxing or the biathlon. Maybe I should get a gun...

[esdscrabble]

nice games with BC. I've never played him (club or tourney) so I know when I do I'll have the intimidation factor to deal with which you seem to have gotten over. and al....i'm something like 0-7 against him. can't seem to get a win.

did the club move? is it still at the cafe in chicago? i always had a pretty good time there but it seems like things have changed.

[aibretty]

Club is now at a delightful senior center on the far north side. It's nice because it is a 5 minute bus ride from my house, and the lighting is good. That's about where the good stuff ends. The room is about 15x30 so it gets sort of tight when you have big personalities in there (think Al and Ellen). Also, random and strange seniors wander in and want to play, which is fine, but that's not really why I go. They also make very loud announcements over the intercom like "We will now be showing Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone in room B" or "Bingo will be starting in 5 minutes in room D".

It's quaint.

If you are ever back in Chicago, you should let us know and we will schedule an impromptu Young Ones session, which I think will be a more regular thing now that all us sub-40-somethings are becoming disenchanted with club.

[aibretty]

Oh and it took me until about the 3rd or 4th time I played him to get past the butterfly effect (being used here as "the sloppy play and strategy lapses induced by having butterflies in ones stomach").

[baxwest]

Enjoyed looking at your games against BC. Thanks for posting them.
How good is that find of ONEFOLd? of his. Incredible.

btw, I thought your play was pretty good, overall.
Two mistakes that stood out that had nothing to do with word knowledge:
DAM or MAD? when you could have rid yourself of the J and W with JAW.
And then when you played O(ID)IA for 12, (ZA)ire was available for 28. Your play left a better leave, but it sacrificed too many points.

[aibretty]

I sat on the AAADJMW rack for a long time. I played DAM, leaving myself with a JAWA(N) comeback, but those plays should definitely have been reversed. There is no doubt about that. I looked at it and thought that the DAM was the easy big scoring spot and that I should block it, but that is just playing scared

[aibretty]

AADO + WWX = WOADWAX!!