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DO 2008 Commentary: Round 4

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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 4

Part of the tale of "how we all got here" is emerging. I know that Joel Sherman (Bronx, NY) was feeding Denise Mahnken (Long Beach, NY) strawberries while they waited for a flight from Houston to Dallas..... Others drove when flights were cancelled. Oklahoma City was far, but the flight seemed so iffy that Jason Katz-Brown (Cambridge, MA), Cecilia Le (Cambridge, MA), Rod MacNeil (Cambridge, MA), John OLaughlin (Cambridge, MA), and Alyssa Faria (Cambridge, MA) rented an SUV and drove to Dallas. They arrived at 5am which left precious little time for a solid nap before games began this morning.

From the "sizzle" category, Ben Withers (Houston, TX) in his game vs. Wallace Schultz (Las Vegas, NM), played ENoUNCE one short of the triple lane. Those thinking ahead and imagine the possibilities.... and one came true on Ben's very next turn. He slapped down ZORI on the triple, front-hooking and creating RENoUNCE for a buncha points. Nice going, Ben!

Both players were 3-0 going into this round, a good game was anticipated and delivered. Jason Katz-Brown (Cambridge, MA) opened with HELVE for 30. Chris Lipe (Rome, NY) replied with BOATMEN through the E. A nice open board. Other plays: OREIDES for 86, sLITHER/ZEDs for 90, and the fun WEKA by Chris; NUCLEOID or 76, COMBINEs through the B for 78, NAPERY for 44, and TOFU for 32 by Jason. It was Jason's win, 460-386. They go into lunch 4-0 Jason and 3-1 Chris.

Twelve-year-old Joey Krafchick (Roswell, GA), wins big this round, 434-265, vs. George Viebranz (Strongsville, OH). I see Joey's DANDERS for 72 and STOrAGE for 77. After the latter play, he tells me his rack was EEEIIIO, talk about bingo revenge! George got down JiNN for 54 and QUAY for 40.

A sign of a successful event is the amount of vendors that want table space to peddle their wares. This year, Mary Rhoades, Mary Krizan (Hastings, MN), Luise Shafritz (Las Vegas, NV), and Sam Kantimathi (El Dorado Hills, CA) are all selling SCRABBLE related items: boards, racks, tilebags, tiles, etc.

Michael Early (Fort Worth, TX) walks up to me and says, "It came down to REWATERS*/WATERERS." Sensing he sought me to follow up, I nodded and said, "Well, that's nice, Mike, but.... how about tying that more concretely to the firmament?" He didn't skip a beat and said, "Oh, I just beat Brian Cappelletto (Chicago, IL). I played the wrong one, REWATERS* and he let it go." A 417-389 win for the Texas denizen. Somehow I think there is more to this game, but I'm just not going to get to the nub of the matter, so I suggest he go get some lunch!

Robert Gillis (Owens X Roads, AL) and Laura Scheimberg (Littleton, CO) finish up toward the end of the session. Bob's wife, Marsha Gillis (Huntsville, AL) watches on while they wrap it up. I see Laura's aNTLIKE and Bob's OUTMAnS on the triple and lovely ANODYNES, a 98-point double-double. Bob's win, 382-333.

I catch Terry Kang Rau (Newington, CT) explaining a booboo she made to her husband, Stefan Rau (Newington, CT). Her opponent had hung a letter in the triple lane, and she wanted to block it, so she tried AEROLA*, which Paul Mulik (Joplin, MO) called off. It was his win, 369-290. My favorite play on their board: Paul's WOMYN for 32.