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NSC 2002 Commentary: Round 25

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.

David Mallick (Andover, MA) walks over and I think he's going to tell me about a great game, and he is, but it isn't one that he won. It's one he lost to Jeremy Frank (New York, NY), 308-560. Jeremy, or should we call him Mr. Bingo, got down PTOMAINE from the P for 62, COCREATE from the first C fror 76, SEEDING (hooking to create COCREATES) for 90, NeRULAS* for 73 (he was thinking NEURULAS, he thinks), and two fun nonbingos: BLAZED for 50 and TUGRIK through the I for 22. Poor Dave's opening rack was AOOOOHL. This game, Dave tells me that he didn't get an E on his rack until his 10th turn. In his previous game today against Stuart Goldman (San Francisco, CA), he got no E until the 8th turn. He is beginning to sound like Marlon Hill (Baltimore, MD) now with all this E-talk! Jeremy tells me that yesterday afternoon, he lost a game 315-319, then the next game he scores 498 and wins by more than 200 points, and the last game, he got a 431 and lost! So, he averaged 414 points and went 1-2 for the afternoon.

A tense game at table 1 in Division 1. Joel Sherman (Bronx, NY) lost to Nigel Richards (Malaysia), 379-403. The word judge this round, Lawren Freebody, tells me that Joel played VALENT*, which Nigel challenged off (second opinion called for). Nigel's next play was OPTICIST which Joel challenged. It was ruled acceptable (and a second opinion verified). Toward the end of the game, Joel held POLEYNN and Nigel had RVQZBYS. We all kept far away to let them figure it out. When the dust cleared, Nigel was stuck with only three tiles! He got down AUtOGIRO through the G for 68, OPTICIST for 70, and GLADIATE through the T for 63. Joel played ISOGONS for 77 and RIGHTFUL through the G for 86.

In Division 3 at board 1, Carlynn Mayer (Sparks, NV) has a big loss to Doug Brockmeier (Yorba Linda, CA), 480-318. With puppy dog eyes, she tells me that she's lost all four games this morning. In this game, she pretty much kept score, but I found her two best plays: AJEE for 40 and QATS down the triple for 50. Doug, on the other hand, got down SMAcKING to the G for 80, VENTAIL for 73, TRIOLET for 63, and PARAGONS from the PA for 36. Not a bingo, but a nice find nonetheless.

At a nearby Division 3 game, Thomas M Hall (Carlisle, PA) loses by 12 points to Ruth Hamilton (Lake Oswego, OR), 423-435. Tom got down TAVERNs for 65 and KERATIN for 90. She got down CORRECTS through the T for 89. When I asked what gave her the edge to win, she points out that she challenged off two of his bingos! That will do it every time!

I walk by Gerald Carter (Thailand) standing over his completed game shaking his head slowly from side to side. Like I need to, but I ask him who won and he tell me that Joey Mallick (Cape Elizabeth, ME) got him, 395-373. I'm impressed by Gerry's play of DUVEtYEN through the U. He also got down DIASTER. But Joey's RUINATES through the T and WARISON were enough to give him the win. Fellow countryman, Charnwit Sumrattanaporn (Thailand) came over to discuss that game and I thought I'd listen in to glean some fun facts. No gleaning possible, they talked in Thai. Speaking of which, Komol Panyasoponlert (Thailand) in Division 1 speaks almost no English. I tried to apologize for covering his scoresheet during a game and he thanked me! Well, perhaps it is for the better, he doesn't have to listen to my bad jokes.

At table 2 in Division 1 in what we are now calling the "cage" (the roped-off area enclosing the top six boards), Marlon Hill (Baltimore, MD) defeated Paul Epstein (Ann Arbor, MI), 399-345. I see Paul's STYRENES through the N and Marlon's PUNtERS.

A Division 1 cage game went to Jakkrit Klaphajone (Thailand) in his battle with Ira Cohen (Los Angeles, CA), 456-335. Jakkrit pointed out his better plays: aNOMALY for 110 on the triple lane (which sealed his victory) and HEELING. He notes Ira's FAIRIEs and DESTAIN.

We've got three generations of players in this room! Ruth Sawyer (Georgetown, TX) is the grandmother, Sylvia Sparkman (Belgrade, MT) is the mother, and Jessi Sparkman, word judge, is the third!

At the end of round 25, John Chew uses his magic numbers crunching machine to come up with some tentative ratings. If the tournament ended after this round, these three players who came into the event unrated, would leave with these ratings: Nigel Richards (Malaysia) 2056, Komol Panyasoponlert (Thailand) 1879, and Taewan Sutthasin (Thailand) 1831. Additionally, if there were a prize given for the person in Division 1 with the best performance up until this round, it would be Bruce D Ambrosio (Los Angeles, CA), who at 12-13, has received a 116-point ratings boost to 1770!

In Division 2, Clay Daniel (Dallas, TX), currently in 5th place, has gone up 223 rating points from 1532 to 1755. Mike Frentz (San Bruno, CA), currently in 6th place, has gone up 223 rating points from 1521 to 1727.

Dorcas Wallace (Bethel Park, PA) currently in 6th place in Division 3, has gone from 1330 to 1579, a 249-point ratings increase.

And like we don't already know, but Norbert Saldanha (Richmond BC), in first place in Division 4, has gone from 1371 to 1520 a 149-point increase. David Stokoe (Windsor ON), currently in 16th place, has gone from 1127 to 1317, a 190-point increase.

Division 5's big mover is Faye Brook (Huntingdon Valley, PA), currently in 18th place. She's gone from 932-1132, a 200-point increase.

Dielle Saldanha (Richmond BC) is the biggest winner of the whole event! Currently in first place in Division 6, her rating has jumped from 755 to 1082 for a 332-point increase! My question is, what do they put in the Vancouver drinking water!?