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DO 2008 Commentary: Round 2

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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 2

Ian Weinstein (Coral Springs, FL) had a romp of a good time with Tony Rankin (Austin, TX) this round, winning, 403-325. Ian opened with RACQuET. Later in the game, Tony played GANJA one short of the triple. And as "luck would have it, said Tony, Ian had two Ws and a blank and played WhEW/GANJAh for 52 points.

Their game in still in progress, KC Frodyma (Silver Spring, MD) vs. Joel Sherman (Bronx, NY). On their board, I spot ToRNADIC on the triple, ENTAILEd, ZOUAVES, DIORITE on the triple, and QUESTED.

Terry Kang Rau (Newington, CT) is still sporting sparkling nails from this past weekend's nuptials between Shelly and Jason Ubeike. She went on to win her game this round, 384-362 vs. Scott Gilstrap (Houston, TX).

Doug Brockmeier (Yorba Linda, CA) vs. Woody Chen (Flushing, NY) is wrapping up as I approach their board. Woody points to his scoresheet and says, "this has got to be the highest losing score so far." He lost to Doug, 422-452. I see pAWKIEST, ETIOLATE, EMERGER, and a fun 68-point nonbingo by Woody: QUIRT.

A pretty board between Amit Chakrabarti (Hanover, NH) and David Moersdorf (Gatlinburg, TN). I see Amit's WEBCASt for 83, POORI, HAIRDOS for 82, aLIENERS to the S for 74, and the fun SWIVET played to the ET from the triple for 48. Other plays: FANJET and INTREAT.

Scott Hawkins (Champaign, IL) is having a hard early morning. The triple-digit-rated player had Amit Chakrabarti (Hanover, NH) first and just lost this round to Sam Dick-Onuoha (Duncanville, TX). I comforted him because that was a pretty tough one-two punch there!

Travel companions with the shared burden of lost luggage, Diane Firstman (Brooklyn, NY) squared off against Annette Bailey (Town Withheld, CT) this round. Annette eked out a win, 397-383. Diane opened with OUTSANG and Annette replied with WAGONErS to the S. The game was close from the start. A fellow player is taking pity of them and driving them to a department store at lunch so they can buy some necessities until the luggage arrives.

An upset... opens are primed for them, aren't they? Mary Pastore (Pearland, TX) defeated Rod MacNeil (Cambridge, MA) this round, 461-443. Wish i had more to the story....

Glenda Short (Oklahoma City, OK) rallied valiantly against Jason Katz-Brown (Cambridge, MA) this round, but lost, 334-422. On their board I see BaRITONE, SAXATILE, and tIMELIER. He blushes as I write down COPLEDGE*. "She played LEDGE to the triple, so... I... played COP in front...."

Michael Early (Fort Worth, TX) walks up and says, "I was playing Tom Kowalik (Schaumburg, IL) and put down INFUSIVE for 78. He told me he needed to take a deep breath after that."