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2007 Dallas Open Commentary: Round 13

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Go to: Before the Tournament, Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Round 6, Round 7, Round 8, Round 9, Round 10, Round 11, Round 12, Round 13, Round 14, Round 15, Round 16, Round 17, Round 18, Round 19, Round 20, Round 21, Round 22, After the Tournament.

Round 13

Chris Cree (Dallas, TX; 1870) squares off against buddy Brian Cappelletto (Chicago, IL; 1974) this round on the stage in an annotated game for the world to see. I'll have to go check that out before too long.

An overjoyed Noah Lieberman (Charlotte, NC; 540) comes up to the Internet table to tell me about his win this round, 477-353, no less. A great, great score! His best play was WITNESS for 80.

At table 5, Michael Thelen (West Jordan, UT; 1637) and Dave Wiegand (Portland, OR; 1961) had a bard burner. Michael played CUATROS for 72 and RESTORER for 68. Dave's plays were TRENDOID for 66, AUbRIETA for 59, and LIANOID for 62. I guess Dave isn't letting any awkward OI racks slow him down.... Dave runs out for a quick break while Michael conducts a recount. No changes, and Dave wins, 403-394.

Sam Dick-Onuoha (Duncanville, TX; 1645) defeats Keith Savage (Kenner, LA; 1797) this round, 449-407. I see Keith's GEROnTIC for 61 and Sam's REDLINES for 72 and DEFAMINg for 78.

Another game wraps up and by the look on the players' faces, I've no idea who won. Turns out Orry Swift (Dayton, TX; 1806) got a few more points than Chris Lipe (Rome, NY; 1717), 453-401. I see Orry's MURIATE, PREELECT from the P (raise your hand if you would see that word, I'd go three Es: I'm doomed!), and BOPpERS (Orry points out, he preferred SAPROBE, but it didn't fit). Chris played BLEATER, SAnTIMO, and the wonderful WUSSY/SaNTIMOS for 39 points.

Darrell Day (Richardson, TX; 1773) says, "Chris Cree (Dallas, TX; 1870) beat Brian Cappelletto (Chicago, IL; 1974)." Just as I'm about to say, "Go Chris or Good on Chris, Darrell then says, "but not by enough, I'm still behind Brian on spread." Go figure! These players! Gesturing to his game with Nathan Benedict (Tucson, AZ; 1850) this round, (430-395, Darrell's win) he points out Nathan's UNBEARs and TENSILE. I noticed VALORISE and he explains how he played that through the A, then played YERKS from the triple through the R for 48, then played WAXED above VALORISE to the right top triple for 48, and finally coming down from the D in WAXED, he played DECAPODs to the triple for 92. Some fine plays there, for sure.

I quietly walk by Glenda Short (Oklahoma City, OK; 1432) playing Robin Pollock Daniel (Toronto ON; 1856). With her clock running, Robin pushes her scoresheet toward me and said, "look at this score." Sure enough, she was getting waxed, 470-211. As I looked over the board, I spotted wINTERS for 73, DUSTIER for 78 and ASTILBe for 71, all by Glenda (if I could read her scoresheet right). Just then, Robin smiled and said, "how fitting," as she put down INANE for 10 points through the second N. Ouch.

Austin Bradley (Waco, TX; 1461) is in a nice-looking game with Siri Tillekeratne (Calgary AB; 1637). I see ENTAILER, PILASTER, SPONgERS, ROUNDEL, and MAYVINS. They were too intent for me to find who the who, what, and why.

Benjamin Bloom (Miami, FL; 1578) has finally found his voice: he won a game! Must have been his power lunch. This round he played Paul Mulik (Joplin, MO; 1502). On their board, I see Ben's SARDINES and SAVIOrS, and Paul's CLIMATE.

Michael Early (Fort Worth, TX; 1734) tells me that he got away with DEPORTAGE* for 92 this round.

Rod MacNeil (Somerville, MA; 1873) vs. Geoff Thevenot (Austin, TX; 1854), 408-377. Rod is in the middle of a big end-game discussion wtih Alyssa Faria (Washington, DC; 1669) and there are tiles all over the sides of the board. I glean that these plays were made, but I'm not sure by whom: THIAzIDE for 72, MOTILES for 74, CRIMSONS for 74, and FORtUNE for 65. It was Geoff's win, 408-377.

So, on the stage, Chris Cree (Dallas, TX; 1870) exchanged CE and on his next turn slammed down ESERINE for 78. Two turns later, he played SOFTENS for 82. Two turns after that, OBLIGED for 77 went down. Brian Cappelletto (Chicago, IL; 1974) did play mOUTHIER for 72 and KINASEs for 83, but it just wasn't enough and Chris handed Brian his second loss of the tournament, 455-392.