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2005 National SCRABBLE® Championship Commentary: Round 3

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Go to: Anagrams Championship, 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, Round 20, Round 21, Round 22, Round 23, Round 24, Round 25, Round 26, Round 27, Round 28, Final Round 1, Final Round 2, Final Round 3, Final Round 4, Final Round 5.

Round 3

Not that we are sounding the trumpets or anything, but Gail Wolford (Portland, OR) just beat Nigel Richards (New Zealand), 393-334, at table 1 in division 1. I catch them picking up the board and she says, "I drew well." To which Nigel said, "Don't listen to what she just said... she played very well." I nominate him for the nice guy prize now and it is only game 3.

John Luebkemann (Pineville, NC) is in a barn burner this round against Evan Berofsky (Thornhill ON). The game is about two-thirds over when I walk by. Evan has played NONISSUe through the second N for 122 and John has played DEFLATER for 78, ERUCTING for 94,and HAmZA for 83. As I watch, Evan tosses down ZOMBI from the Z for 36 and John responds with the pretty PROEM/ZOMBIE for 37. At this point, the score is 386-299 in John's favor. I'm called over after it ends to find that Evan made two bingos in his last two turns, OPENCAST for 76 and ATELIER for 65. However, John bingos out with LINSEED on the triple lane, creating EL/LI/IN/ER/RE for 92 points, catching Evan with QWI. It was John's win, 536-464.

Sam Kantimathi (El Dorado Hills, CA) pulls me over to tell me about a play Panupol Sujjayakorn (Thailand) made in their game this round. Holding AILPRST, Panupol made an 86-point 9-letter-word through a disconnected N and E to the triple word square. Can you figure out the play?* It was a win for the current World National SCRABBLE^® champ, Panupol.

Bubbling with excitement, Richard Popper (Wilmington, DE) tells me about his four-bingo win this round, 561-327. Two of the bingos were challenged by his opponent, Carolyn Easter (Birmingham, MI), PARLOUS and PINANGs. The other two went unchallenged, and one was a phoney: CANNIER and GLASSER*.

A tense game at table 1 in division 3 with Karen Fishman (Stamford, CT) facing off against Maureen Kennerk (Hicksville, OH), who has been sitting in the very same chair since games began this morning. I see Maureen's SOdALITY for 66 and Karen's BRIEFeR for 80 and the phoney, FORETIDE* for 80.

A throwback to the old days when competitive SCRABBLE^® was played on flat boards is going on in division 2. Ann Sanfedele (New York, NY) and Dave Leifer (Alpharetta, GA) are playing with their board stationary and pointing to the side. Thus, both players have a similar disadvantage at seeing the board from this odd position.

Dave's son, Scott Leifer (Middleboro, MA) falls to his opponent, Robert Crowe (Fort Wayne, IN), 327-425, at a nearby division 2 table. I see Scott's two bingos, CUDDLIER for 74 and NONISSUE for 59, and Robert's sole bingo of APHElIA for 83 (should read APHELIA). I look closer and see a series of high-scoring plays like FRISK for 40, QUEEN for 48, and FLEET for 45 have helped Robert reach the game's win. I spot the word SMEW for 28 points and Robert says he will enter it in the MW conest!

Carl Madden (Brantford ON) had a big win this round, 441-260, against Mason Shambach (Battle Creek, MI). Early in the game, Carl got down fLORIST for 82 and toward the end, he found LIQUIFIES from the first two letters, LI, for 96 points. Whether he wins division 2 or not, Carl, now 2-1, will probably always remember Reno fondly, as he reached this NSC via an airplane, his first air travel experience!

Connie Creed (Philadelphia, PA) and Joan Mocine (Oakland, CA) are just wrapping up their division 3 game as I approach. Joan looks to have won, but Connie, sitting with one leg folded beneath her, is staring at the board, poised to commence a recount. Her scoresheet contains all numbers, no words, which can make recounting a challenge, and she reaches over for Joan's scoresheet to assist. Joan pushes away from the table and tells her to have at it. I see Connie's SORRIER for 90, Joan's SKiRTING for 63, and Connie's play of FOXES/SKiRTINGS with the S on the triple word score for 87 points. In the end, what appeared to be a 3-point win for Joan is actually a 1-point win, 384-383, as Connie found one turn underscored by two points.

Kevin Burbridge (Roseville, CA) struggled mightily this round in his division 5 loss to Rea Spidel (Memphis, TN), 300-465. Though he managed to play lITOTES for 83 (that should read LITOTES if the lowercase blank causes confusion), he ended up trading tiles four times during the game, which meant four scores scoreless turns. I see Rea's sPOILERS for 73 as I move onto to boards.

Wendy Wilkinson (Peoria, IL) is sitting alone at her completed division 6 board. She explains that it was a close one, but she lost to Ruth Barr (Sacramento, CA), 339-396. She points out her 65-point bingo, DRYNESs for 65 and Ruth's 65-point ARREARs, but notes that STALLING for 68 was the game's turning point. Ruth made some nice high-point tile plays: HEX/VEX, JEER, QUA, while Wendy got down ZAIRE.

I catch two players returning from an endgame challenge. Janice Kaye (Saint Paul, MN) bingoed out with FIERCER for 74, which won the game, 389-314, versus Barbara Besadny (Madison, WI). As this finish paperwork, I note Janice's 66-point GAIETIES and Barbara's find of AXIOM for 66.

It was a close one, but Jeff Myers (Granville, OH) manages a win, 407-387, against Ben Harrison (Cambridge, MA) in division 4 this round. Both players demonstrate the depth of skill in the room as they explain the tragic endgame, from Ben's point of view. With two tiles left in the bag, E and U, Ben's last rack was QEIZS? and he needed the U in the worst way. He got the E instead. Jeff played RUMmAGES from the R for 82 and Ben played OUTRIDE for 67. Ben lost a turn to OUTBOWeD* as Jeff says he knows all the OUT bingos. Jeff also got down ALIENERS through the R for 66 points.

Divison 2's Harriette Lakernick (Chicago, IL) defeated Lawren Freebody (Hawthorne, CA) this round, 483-312. Harriet blushes as I peer down at the board, embarrassed about her phoney. Not sure which word is "made up," I take a stab at VENTABLE*, which she played for 80, and she nods silently. Though "bluffing" is part of the game, some players really don't like to play unacceptable words. Harriet did get down CHARTERs for 72 and had her play of WINTLE challenged by Lawren. Of her opponent's playing style, Harriet said she was "gutsy," making board opening plays as she sought to get into the game. Sometimes the tiles just won't cooperate no matter how hard we try...

*Panupol played INTERLAPS through the N and E!