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2007 Dallas Open Commentary: Round 15

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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 15

I ran into Rod MacNeil (Somerville, MA; 1873) just as games were getting under way for this round and he said, quite earnestly, leaning in as if to give me breaking news, "I'm playing someone I've never played before in a touranment." I poised my pen on the pad, wondering who it could be. He went on, "I'm going to play Alyssa Faria (Washington, DC; 1669)." And we both broke out with laughter. Alyssa and Rod and kinda close friends, and he's played her many times, but technically not in a tournament. So, when the game was over and they were outside in the smoking lounge, I asked how it went. He said, "It was a really good game, and I came in second." More giggles and then he whipped out his notepad for what he knew I wanted, the nitty gritty word facts. Alyssa admitted that in the 7 or 8 times they've played, she's never beat him, so this was some feat. Rod played EREPSIN for 72 and AZOTE for 72. Alyssa played RUNwAYS for 78, CEnTIMO for 78, and TOWERING from the T for 90 (I think that was her word, but if it wasn't, one of them played it on their board!). After this game, Alyssa is 10-5 and Rod is 9-6 with something like a +900ish spread.

Chris Cree (Dallas, TX; 1870) had a big win this round against Orry Swift (Dayton, TX; 1806). Poor Orry, as I came over, he tossed every piece of paper at the table atop the board, and then plopped down a pen for good measure. As I heard it thud, I promised him I would not take a photo, and I didn't. However, I did hear about some of the plays. Chris played RAGGEDY for 84, THUNDER for 73, RAZEEING for 79, and READAPT for 63. Two things that Orry did right that game. First was play THIRSTED for 66 and second was managing to block Chris' 169-point triple-triple PRAEDIAL. Nonetheless, it was a 513-335 victory for Chris.

Matt Canik (Austin, TX; 1207) had a very good game this round against Fran Silver (Cote Saint-Luc QC; 1734), winning 505-299. His better plays were BOUlDER for 74, ABSOLUTE for 70, and DICIEST for 87. When I mock admonished him for playing LEZ (that word has been expurgated from the School SCRABBLE^® dictionary, the OSPD4), he blushed and said, "I had to block the triple!" He is sooooo cute.

The play of the tournament, heard near and far is a play made by John OLaughlin (Sun Prairie, WI; 1882) in a game with Carol Ravichandran (Northville, MI; 1521). Holding AIDNST?, he played through WOO, can you find his play?* It was only for 78 points, but it was an outbingo that won him the game, 416-344. The players crowded around as the word spread about the find and I was waved over by more than a few players to view the find. Other fun plays on their board were John's FLANKERS and Carol's STEADING.

At the next table, another Carol, suffered a similar fate. Carol Kaplan (San Diego, CA; 1630) fell to Dave Wiegand (Portland, OR; 1961), 316-477. Dave opened with BUNCOED for 80 and bingoed out with SENorITA for 81. I spy Carol's VAUNTERS for 82.

I wanted to check out a game between Marcia Wade (Muncie, IN; 1228) and Wil Dabbs (Neosho, MO; 1430), but they were pouring over their board, deep into a recount. They didn't exactly have the fly swatter out, but you know when you aren't an invited guest, so I moved on to other boards.

So, when is SCRABBLE^® not just SCRABBLE^® and when is it a philosophical dilemma? This came up for me when a thoughtful Paul Holser (Wylie, TX; 1737) approached me. He wanted to talk, and I mean really talk, about his game with Doug Riblet (Austin, TX; 1679) this round. We approached the board and I could see the nearby Sam Kantimathi (El Dorado Hills, CA; 1800) about to jump out of his skin (you do NOT, and I repeat NOT, talk near Sam when he is playing, and he is a member of the NSA Rules Committee, and he might just whip out the rulebook and read it aloud if you do talk), so I picked up the bright yellow board and brought it a few rows away to the Internet/Director's area. I plopped it down and Paul started explaining the wrestling match he had with himself. By the flow of the game, toward the end, he just knew Doug had an S, and Paul held AAMPRZ? The only play he could find was a beauty: MARZiPAN to an open N for 90 points. The dilemma was, that this fell one short of a double-word score square. And Doug had that pesky S, didn't he..... So, knowing full well what he was doing, Paul laid down his pretty play and sure enough, Doug shot back with SPIV/MARZiPANS for 68. He recalls losing the game by about 50 points. Did he do the right thing?

*John OLaughlin (Sun Prairie, WI; 1882) played SATINWOODs through WOO for 78 points. It also drew a challenge.