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DO 2008 Commentary: Round 1

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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, After the Tournament.

Round 1 sees Michael Donegan (Austin, TX) playing David Gibson (Spartanburg, SC) live online at Board 1.

Round 1

The first challenge of the tournament followed by gales of giggles and the first shush of the tournament by Bryan Pepper. Terry Kang Rau (Newington, CT) about doubled over at the challenge machine with KC Frodyma (Silver Spring, MD). Appears that KC tried the plausible MOFO*, which Terry challenged off. But the process was a lot of fun!

As often happens in opens, the first three rounds are a random occurence. The division is broken in quartiles and one player from each quartile is smashed together with three others for a round robin between these four players. Ratings in this event vary by as much as 1368, so players of all sorts of different abilities are matched up this morning. So, how to describe this.... Well imagine a big pile of wet clay tossed into the middle of the pottery wheel. And then imagine someone hitting the foot pedal at 70 mph. While the chances are that a vase might manifest from the exercise, more often clay goes flying in all sorts of directions, spattering walls, the floor, making a huge mess. In some cases, that is what is unfolding this morning as players try to make a toehold.

In the "who do we get for the first round" dance is Keith Pries (Denver, CO) vs. Brian Cappelletto (Chicago, IL). So, a 982 player versus, pretty inarguably, the best competitive SCRABBLE player ever. The game looks pretty mismatched. Both players keep their scoresheets out of my view, but the board shows: ViZARDS, REMISING, PREVALUED, and OUTrAVING. It was a 669-245 win for Brian.

A similar mismatch was going on two tables over bween Jason Katz-Brown (Cambridge, MA) and Peggy Altazan (Zachary, LA). I see dIAZINS, BESTRODE, and HAYRIDE. This was Jason's win, 456-251. Even as kind and gentle as Jason is, as the game ended, Peggy had the look of a deer in the headlights. She shook her head and handed me the result slip and said, "I lost by 300 points!" I assured her that just about anyone here would fare about as well against our MIT phenom. I hope she has some better balanced games today!

John Luebkemann (Bear, DE) doesn't want me to see his board vs. Karen Dacosta (Grand Prairie, TX). He won, 597-380. As I look over the board, I see TOTAlLY, MEDUSAN, TWOONIE, CLoWDERS, and the word I think he hoped I wouldn't: REINDITE*. Not sure who played what.....

A casual overheard comment from April McCarley (Austin, TX) in her game vs. Sam Kantimathi (El Dorado Hills, CA). She said, "Thank you for not playing another 7-letter word...." Checking out his aircraft carrier clipboard, I see he's just done a bingo/bango: NEROLIS and PAlLETED. When he played RIGHTED through the E, I think she just saw another bingo coming down! They are playing on a board owned by Luise Shafritz (Las Vegas, NV), pretty and pink and her tiles just pop!

Mark Gooley (Hawthorne, FL) is hunched over concentrating quite closely on DOUERE? I wonder if he ever got a play down in his game vs. Nathan Benedict (Tucson, AZ).

I can tell that Orry Swift (Dayton, TX) is in the room. He's still using the giant wooden O tile that his frat brothers made him a couple years back. He writes on it like a clipboard and carries it around the room. The combo of his towering height and this giant wooden thing slung under his arm make him a quick find!

A finished Winter Zxqkj (Houston, TX) vs. Marie Irvine (Augton, UT). I see that he's won, 504-311, but the words on that board! Winter did bingo out with EPIDOTE for 66, but what were these two plays? STIRRIT* for 66 and URGULINE* for 59?

Cecilia Le (Cambridge, MA) faced off against Zana Anderson (Layton, UT) this round. Their game was still in process when I walked by, but I spotted two of Cele's bingos: sALTLIKe for 61 and RIMIEST for 88.

Smiling and jovial, April McCarley (Austin, TX) and Michael Early (Fort Worth, TX) pull me over in the sunny foyer to tell me about their tournament ritual. I was ready to hear about not changed socks or favorite pens, but their ritual is truly unique. At every tournament they find themselves at, they gather to sing the "Fish Song" together. Probably trying to win me over to the cause, they sang it for me and both can sing, but I'm still not convinced that it is my favorite song!