Go to: Commentary Games Players Standings Photos

Back to 2007 Dallas Open Live Coverage

2007 Dallas Open Commentary: Round 8

[ ]

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 8

John OLaughlin (Sun Prairie, WI; 1882) met up with Mark Milan (Laguna Niguel, CA; 1767) this round at table 2. It was John's win, 476-369, but wasn't a clean win. He got away with TENDANcY* for 76 and later played TEMPURAS from the T for 89. Mark got down GEARLESS to the final S for 80. To add insult to injury, John ended the game with an outbingo of DILUTOr for 64.

A barn burner of a game went down at table 5 between good buddies, Chris Cree (Dallas, TX; 1870) and Jim Geary (Phoenix, AZ; 1854), with Chris pulling out the 9-point victory, 465-456. Their in-progress game shows Chris' IONISED and Jim's FINALISE. The E in Jim's play dangled dangerously in the bottom triple lane and Chris couldn't use it. So instead of doing a cheap block, he opted to open a triple line elsewhere. The ploy didn't distract Jim, who used the open E to get down AXMEN for 42. The board had barely turned around when Chris seized upon that A and slapped down RETINULA for his own triple play, this one for 77. Later in the game Jim played the 90-point double-double REViSION for 90 and Chris got down EPEEIsT.

The ever-tanned Greg Heidler (Waialua, HI; 1766) was playing Gregg Speicher (McKinney, TX; 1366) this round and they were in a "holding" pattern when I approached the board. Greg played SPEANING through the I for 64 and Gregg held for a bit before finally challenging. The play is acceptable. While they were at the adjudication machine, I poached a look at their scoresheets. Gregg had played the mineral ANALCiTE for 70 and Greg played SToURIE for 66 and CATHODES for 92.

An outplay of GUMTREES for 76 brought Sam Kantimathi (El Dorado Hills, CA; 1800) my way. He'd been waging word war with Jason Katz-Brown (Cambridge, MA; 1922), getting down DECORATE and GOURDEs to Jason's DIOrITE and LOURING. At the game's end, through a U on the bottom triple lane, Sam found and played GUMTREES, which hooked beneath and created BIG and FEM, too. Very exciting.

The game of the day, however, was at the next table, between Dave Wiegand (Portland, OR; 1961) and Fran Silver (Cote Saint-Luc QC; 1734). I walked by the in-progress game and Fran pointed out a 203-point play on their board, BILLOCKS* played through an L. John Chew was quick to point out that the play was not acceptable. We decided Dave meant to play BULLOCKS. About 10 minutes later, when the game was finalized, that play contributed to a monster win for Dave, 734-294, a personal game high score for Dave. As the crowds pushed in, everyone wanted to see this board, I grabbed Dave's scoresheet. The best plays he made that game: BILLOCKS 203, ARNATtO 70, KHAF 46 (which drew a challenge), STRUDEL 88, IMPIETY 69, VOX 40, and an outbingo of PEIGnOIR for 78. Fran managed to get down LADDERS for 74. Of the game she said, "my last tile was an S, which I never got to play." She also got stuck with the Z, an all around tough loss for Fran.

Jill Turney (North Vancouver BC; 1597), who has been a sleeper success story at this tournament so far (she was 5-2 going into this round), played Jean McArthur (Austin, TX; 1619) this round. On their board I spot THULIUM, DESTINES, TRICKERs, and some with scores (they were written down spottily on their sheets) FARNeSOL for 64 and KINGLETS for 76, the latter played by Jill. As I was watching, Jean played TEASING, hooking the S to make ARVOS for 78. Jill challenged, the play was ruled acceptable. This bad challenge notwithstanding, Jill went on to win this game, 412-404, and ends today with the best record of any female playing at the DO. Grats to Jill!

Kevin Burbridge (Roseville, CA; 1429) had a good game with Robin Pollock Daniel (Toronto ON; 1856) this round, losing by just a few, 351-367. She wanted me to see Kevin's 9-letter play of RESINATED through the first E to the D for 77. He also got down TREFOIL. The play she liked best made by her was HOTLINK, parallel to ALIF, creating AH, LO, and IT for 43 points. It was a cute, nestled play.

Terry Kang Rau (Newington, CT; 1419) insisted I check out out the 9-letter play on her board, too. Her opponent, Nathan Benedict (Tucson, AZ; 1850) got down ABOMINATE for 86 through the I and second A. I also see DROUkED on their board.

Katya Lezin (Charlotte, NC; 1040) came up to the Internet table at the touranment's end to say that her son finally had a win. Noah Lieberman (Charlotte, NC; 540), who was about 0-29 going into round 8 (he played in an Albany tournament recently and lost all his main event games) won his game! So, this long losing streak has been brought to an end. He's happy! His mom is happy! And, frankly, all of us were overjoyed at the news. A player of two even got teary.

So, we end today the way we began it, with Brian Cappelletto (Chicago, IL; 1974) undefeated at the Dallas Open. He went 14-0 at last year's event and has won all his games today, and is now 22-0 here. In his best serious deadpan, John OLaughlin (Sun Prairie, WI; 1882) said, "gosh, I hope everyone isn't mad at me when I beat him tomorrow morning." They are playing round 9 at the annotated table 1. Tune in and check it out, y'all!

Addendum: Chris Cree (Dallas, TX; 1870) took a bunch of us out for a Thai food meal. It was extraordinary. The word nerds, John Chew, John OLaughlin (Sun Prairie, WI; 1882), Jason Katz-Brown (Cambridge, MA; 1922), and Dave Wiegand (Portland, OR; 1961) sat at one end of the long table playing anagrams well into the appetizer course. A couple plays I could glean from my end of the table: Jason's steal of OUTDELIVER from OUTDRIVE and Dave's steal, from himself, of LAMENTATIONS from MELATONINS. Carla Cree (Dallas, TX; 1610), Chris, Pat Sanchez (Dallas, TX; 1167), Bryan Pepper, and I managed to have civilized, non-anagram conversations at our end.

More anagrams, speed SCRABBLE^®, and a new John Chew-created gambling SCRABBLE^® derivative were played at Casa Cree for several more hours. Where do they find the ongoing stamina?