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DO 2008 Commentary: Round 9

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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 9

The snow is gone. The snow melt is gone. The tulips are now the thing you see above all else and the sky is a brilliant blue. Ah.... Spring in Texas. Not sure what the past two days was all about, but we are back to our scheduled program and the weather is cooperating.

A few announcements before games began today, one from Mike Baron (Corrales, NM). He and Brian Cappelletto (Chicago, IL) will be appearing at a local Barnes & Noble for a book signing and challenge the author session. Both he and Brian will talk about the book and sign copies, but the real fun will be in playing them. Anyone who beats them (any opponent who has never played them before), will get a free Deluxe SCRABBLE game as a prize. Since they will be playing upwards to four games at a time, beating them may not be as impossible as it sounds! This Barnes & Noble is at 2201 Preston Road E in Plano, TX. Contact the store at 972.612.0999. The signing will take place from 8pm-10pm. Oh, the book they will be signing? Mike's famous Wordbook. And for NSA members and their ilk, a free laminated "poo" list to boot!

I'm not sure about the big stick, but I am sure that he walks softly. I was typing away when John Luebkemann (Bear, DE) came up and whispered in my ear, "Want to see a separated- tile 9 play made by a 1300-rated player?" This is like asking me if I want air. YES! I want it! I walk over and John sits back down opposite Lee Brooks (Lawton, OK). She gives me a big smile. Holding EIGNST?, she played through a separated D and G. Can you find her play?* In the end, it was John's win, 477-330. Plays like SONICATE for 83, AqUIVER for 63, and AZINE for 28 that he later front extended with TRI for TRIAZINE for 62 helped put him over the top score-wise. A nicer guy you could not find.

Ian Weinstein (Coral Springs, FL) is now into section D of USA Today. I'm inferring that when the tiles aren't good to him, he reads. This round, he played Michael Early (Fort Worth, TX). I sit down in Mike's vacated chair and Ian doesn't even look up at me. He knows I'm there, though, I can tell. So, I greet him and still looking at the paper he says, "I lost by 200, I'm not proud of it." So, I sense that I'm not going to get much out of him. I mumble something about us all missing out on good tiles every now and then and he said, "Nope, he played very well and he didn't draw the bag." That was all I got out of him. I see some of the board's better plays: SLAcKERS for 98, ADApTER for 70, REVIVED for 44, LENTOID for 76, OUTPLODS for 86, all Mike's. And then I spot ETHANES for 77. That was Ian's bingo.

Joey Krafchick (Roswell, GA) just lost to Cynthia Seales (Stone Mountain, GA), 391-368, but he did make a 9-letter outbingo! Holding TEAION?, he hooked onto an ID and made IDEATIONs for 80. Style points galore.

Diane Firstman (Brooklyn, NY) finds me and dejectedly explains that her opponent scored more in his first six turns than she did in their entire game. I walk over to her board and see that, indeed, this is true. Eric Harshbarger (Auburn, AL) played THIRAMS for 90, EX for 52, AIRDROPs for 61, and ANTELOPE for 93. There was another play, too, even I can count... Anyway, after six turns, he had 359 points. She played one bingo, AVIATIOn, and lost, 358-512. Her reward, she laughingly tells me, next round she gets to play Brian Cappelletto (Chicago, IL)! She's never played him before and she admits she's nervous.

At board 1, Doug Brockmeier (Yorba Linda, CA) was playing Jason Katz-Brown (Cambridge, MA). One of their suite roommates, Samantha Southard (Albany, NY) gives me the lowdown. It appears that the table 1 opponents were last seen this morning running together before heading over to the tournament venue. I guess all that fresh air was better for Doug; he won the matchup! Jason confessed to me later that he challenged Doug's play of AMBIANcE. He admitted he thought it was ENCE. Doug kindly informed him that it was acceptable both ways. That challenge probably cost Jason the game, as he lost, 389-405.

It may have taken her two travel days to do it, but Lynn Gunn (Mission Viejo, CA) arrived this morning to play! She was paired with Nancy Scott (Schertz, TX) this round and lost a close one, 337-342. I admire their completed game. They used the breast cancer protiles (the blanks have a tiny pink ribbon on them) and I love the look of those tiles. If you want to check out getting a set for yourself, visit http://protiles.net. A portion of all breast cancer Protiles proceeds goes to the Susan J. Komen fund.

I am now getting the feeling that I'm in Texas. No gun rack sightings, but David Moersdorf (Gatlinburg, TN) is wearing what I would call a cowboy hat today!

Ever the great host, Chris Cree (Dallas, TX) played RIGHTO in his game with round vs. Amit Chakrabarti (Hanover, NH). Not one to let an opportunity pass, Amit slammed down a 230-point triple-triple: FERRYMEN!!! WOW! Amit is pretty sure this is more than he's ever gotten before for a single play and he couldn't be happier about it. Chris played VOCODErS through the D for 67, but it was Amit's win with a whopping 665-358. When I tried to each Chris for a comment, his representatives said he was not available. :)

*The amazing Lee Brooks (Lawton, OK) found DIGESTiNG throuh the D and first G for 76 points! Way to go, Lee!