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NSC 2002 Commentary: Round 14

Congratulations to our new National Champion, Joel Sherman!

See also: video clip 1 (2 MB), video clip 2 (2 MB). (video courtesy Roger Cullman)

Go to: Before the Tournament, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Round 6, Round 7, Round 8, 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 23, Round 24, Round 25, Round 26, Round 27, Round 28, Round 29, Round 30, Round 31, After the Tournament.

Round 14

The first game done this round was at table 1 in division 1 between Robert Felt (Atlanta, GA) and Panupol Sujjayakorn (Thailand), which Bob won 490-372. Bob played REPEATs down one lane from the triple and Panupol responded with NORITES down the triple for 82, making RE and ES. Bob also played TIMEOUTS through the O for 90, FAGOTED, and ENdBRAIN. What also contributed to the big spread in this game was that Panupol was stuck with the Q and Bob made about 60 points with his last rack, one tile at a time.

In division 5 at board 1, Gina DuMez (Elgin, IL) lost to Tim Olsen (Los Angeles, CA), 386-392. Gina played AILERON through the I for 69 and Tim got down LISTENED through the first E for 82 and REbAITS for 74.

Board 2 in division 3 had Robin Torrance (Idyllwild, CA) vs. James Abbott (Vernon Hills, IL). Despite Robin's beautiful find of OOgONIAl through the N (without putting the two blanks in, which might not make that read right, the word is OOGONIAL), he lost the game. This was mostly due to a good draw on the end where James held LIE and picked OUTS out of the bag. He then bingoed out with OUTLIEs, sticking Robin with his last draw: ACRTTV.

Mark Przybyszewski (Depew, NY) excitedly tells me that he is 7-0 +476 for today, which translates to 10-4 +617 overall. I find out that Sam Kantimathi (El Dorado Hills, CA) is also 7-0 for the day! Also in division 1, Evan Berofsky (Thornhill ON) tells me that he started the day with a 621 (already reported) and he ended it with a 506. In round 14, he bingoed out with HOvERED to win by 151.

Randy Hersom (Morganton, NC) lost his game against Joel Sherman (Bronx, NY) at board 1 in division 1, 377-501. He humbly admitted that maybe he played two plausible phoneys against the wrong person (one of them was TABULARY* which is good in SOWPODS (no it isn't - jjc)). In their game, Joel opened with ADENOID for 72. Randy responded with TABULAR for 67. Randy also played sOURISH for 68 and ANALOGS for 62. Joel got down PETIOLED to the D for 68. So, how did he win with two bingos to Randy's three? Joel played a few high-scoring smaller plays: QUIETS for 48, IZAR for 42, and CHEWErS for 54 through the H (not a bingo).

Fellow Canadians faced off this round and Craig Rowland (Mississauga ON) eked out a win against Ron Hoekstra (Kentwood, MI), 391-373. Craig played bODHRANS through the A and Ron got down ENCLOSER from the first E and AIRLIKE. Perhaps the most clever play of the game was Craig's little play of WEE. It snuggled in perfectly and made OW, RE, and the exciting ZINEb! The play was only worth 34 points, but it showed great board vision. Taking it to the wire, at the game's end, both players' leftover time was less than 10 seconds! These players are frequent sparring partners and admit that last Saturday they played several games and were 8-8. So, now they are 9-8!

I missed the celebration, but I hear that there was a fun birthday party celebration for Jim Kramer (Roseville, MN) at lunch today! A special singing telegram came and he was presented many balloon animals that Melina (daughter of Mike Baron (Corrales, NM)) and Amber (daughter of Joe Edley (Coram, NY)) enjoyed!

After round 14 and a dinner break, more than 100 players assembled in the Copper Room for the biennial Town Meeting. NSA employees, sat on the stage behind a skirted table and John Williams sat atop the table casually sharing remarks and fielding comments. Yvonne Gillispie shared her excitement about the School SCRABBLE^® Program. Once questions came from the audience, they covered the gamut from division cutoffs and ratings to newsletter enhancements and dictionary committee advancements.