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Back to 2005 National SCRABBLE® Championship Live Coverage

2005 National SCRABBLE® Championship Commentary: Round 5

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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 5

The first game to finish this round among the well-fed and well rested players is between division 1's Joey Mallick (Cape Elizabeth, ME) and Ira Cohen (Los Angeles, CA). Each player had a mere 9 turns each and there were a total of 8 bingos on the board. Joey played 5 of them: NITRATED for 63, MINORCA for 78, OXIDATE for 86, FUGLEMAN through the A for 78, andd NEOLiTHS for 74. Ira played ERECTErS for 86, HAGRIDE/OXIDATED for 106, and he bingoed out with BIOGENS for 77. In the end, it was Joey's win, 514-474.

As I sit at division 1 director table, Tim Adamson (Saint Paul, MN) walks up an turns in a 618-292 game result slip in his win against Jean Carol (Cincinnati, OH). He says this was his first tournament game where he had 6 bingos. The board is already torn up, but he tells me that after exchanging his first two racks, he got down four bingos in a row: INTRORSE to the E for 77, NIOBATES through the T for 74, INITIAtE from the first I for 74, and DIALOGED from the first D for 64,. He later got down COINABLE from the C for 89 and bingoed out with RELUcENT through the first E for 70. WOW!

Bryan Pepper, the division 3 leader, is fond of handing me a sheet of paper with table numbers and plays he sees and likes as he wanders around his division. TRIAGES is written down with a star next to it. I ask why and he explains, "Oh, that is the word of the round this time. I've seen it on six boards so far!"

Table 9 in division 3 is winding up as I approach, with a 369-346 win for James Dodds (White Oak, PA). His opponent, Ben Dweck (Great Neck, NY), has his head in his hands and I can't tell if he is upset or not. Part of the problem is Ben has the most hair on his head of virtually anyone else in the room, so it is hard to see his face. I kneel down by his scoresheet and see that Ben is actually smiling, but with a bittersweet twist. The game, he explains, was his and he messed it up. Jim is nodding in agreement. I see ALEUrONE for 68 played by Jim and Ben's DESIRING for 76 and POLITER for 69. Late in the game, Ben had a brain cramp and tried TRIAZO* for 70. Jim challenged it off and caught Ben with GZITKA? in his hand, which when doubled, gives 42 points to Jim, winning him the game. However, Ben wins style points for use of materials on hand. He is tile tracking using a black keno crayon.

Stan Miranda (Albuquerque, NM) and Dan Unger (Alameda, CA) are in a recount as I walk by them hunched over their board in division 3. I see Stan's REINVEST for 62 and GOOIEST for 76. Dan got down BERIMED for 84 and RELATION for 70. The recount stands and it is Stan's win, 432-430.

At table 39 in division 4, another recount is in progress between Joan Knobelsdorf (Palm Harbor, FL) and Pat Burnham (Corte Madera, CA). I stand nearby and hear that the intitial 366-364 score stands and it is Joan's win.

Joseph Oele (Roseville, CA), finished with his round 5 game that has already been cleaned up, tells me that last round he had a doozy of a game. He scored 600 points (the most he's scored to date in a tournament game) and averaged 50 points per turn over the course of his 12 plays.

Division 1's Paul Sidorsky (Calgary AB) is away from his board. Opponent, Sam Kantimathi (El Dorado Hills, CA), is staring down and I read the body language to be a loss for Sam and I am right, 270-442. I see Paul's HELMETS and RITZIER.

Rusty Peltz (San Diego, CA) pulled up an upset against Trey Wright (Van Nuys, CA) this round, 512-465, in their division 1 matchup. And this loss is despite Trey's beautiful 185-point ReTRYING triple-triple played through the second R. Plays on their board, not sure who played what: SAVORER for 76, DEVALUES for 62 through the V, PANTOFLE through the L for 84, QuASH for 72, and WONKS for 64.

I stop by an endgame discussion between Matt Graham (New York, NY) and Jim Kramer (Roseville, MN). I see that it was nearly a 100-point win for Jim, 432-326. Coverage of this game is interrupted because I'm told that Nigel Richards (New Zealand) has lost his second game today and to another woman! This time Lisa Odom (St. Louis Park, MN) knocked him down, 519-316. The game was picked up, but I'm told that Nigel was "remarkably unsorry for himself" over the loss. Yeah Lisa!