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2005 National SCRABBLE® Championship Commentary: Round 21

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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 21

A hard-fought battle was waged at division 1's table 4 this round with John Luebkemann (Pineville, NC) taking down Scott Appel (Trenton, NJ), 551-493. John played AMUSIVE for 82, TAVERNS for 87, YODELED for 84, and SENILITY to the Y for 63. Scott played RIGAUDON through the I for 70 and EROtICA for 83. Other great plays on the board were GNATTIER through the E for 86, XI for 52, and PIMAS/PE/IN/MI/AL/SI for 57.

While he has my attention, John tells me that he had a humdinger of a game last round, too, at table 2 against Brian Cappelletto (Chicago, IL), which John lost, 456-473. After overdrawing and Brian looking at three of his tiles (returning two to John's rack and placing one back in the tile bag), John managed to play AGERATUM through the E for 78. He also got down SUBLATE for 75, ALIENERS for 68, and ADJOINT for 48. Brian played RETINUE for 67, HURDLES/AGERATUMS for 98, VENInES for 78, and his own high-point, non-bingo, CROZES for 40. John said a game like that, "is one of the reasons that we play SCRABBLE^®."

Panupol Sujjayakorn (Thailand) continues his winning ways at table 3 in division 1 by defeating Lester Schonbrun (Oakland, CA), 390-383. I see Panupol's PETRONEl from the P for 70 and Lester's ALLElUIA (should ready ALLELUIA) for 68. Understandably tired, Lester admitted he didn't want to think about that board anymore and I encouraged him to head out and do something else.

At table 2 in division 1, Jim Nanavati (Burlington ON) defeated Joe Edley (Coram, NY). The score isn't readily available to me now, but I do know that Jim played CUTTlING through the U for 77 and DELVERS for 94, which Joe challenged. Joe got down bANSHIE for 82 and Jim played DUNGEONS from the D for 64.

Division 3's Judy McLean (Vancouver BC) finds me and asks me to check out table 5 in her division. When I get there, the players, Judy and Lam Tang (Vancouver BC), have their name badges off and arranged neatly at the bottom, center of the board, primed for a photo shoot. Judy played RODSMAN for 72 to which Lam responded with CRONYISm through the S for 76. He later got down SoZINES for 93. It was Lam's win, 448-336.

I catch Nat Gardenswartz (Newton, MA) filling out an entry for "best strategic play," and see his 345-306 losing board to Michael David (Portage, WI). The only bingo I can see is Nat's AGONiSES from the A for 74.

Cheryl Cadieux (Bay City, MI) tells me she is 13-8 and still smiling. In round 19, she had a 158-point triple-triple, SWEARING through the A for 158. This helped lead to her defeat of Denver Steele (Sparks, NV), 482-281.

Finally, I see a Doug Brockmeier (Yorba Linda, CA) game. It is now 9 wins in a row as he defeated Roy Kamen (Covina, CA), 466-230. I see Roy's ATOMIZES through the T for 77 and David's ARCHiVE for 84 and NORLAND for 69.

Roy is less than pleased that I chose to notice this game and asked where I was last game. He offered to create the game's beginning, against Judy Levitt (Los Angeles, CA), and I told him to go ahead. I've included a photo, too, but what he recreated was only two plays. Judy's opening AWA and his MAhARaJA to the A for 98 points. But, when you think about it, is there really anything else left to say? Wowsa!

A round 19 happening is slipped onto my desk from a helpful division 6 elf, the furthest division from the internet table. "An unnamed player in division 6 still hadn't shown up after lunch, so her clock was started. A few minutes later, she rushed in breathlessly, sat down, and said to her opponent, "I was winning--sorry!" Only in Reno....

Approximating a no-hitter in baseball, Michael Early (Fort Worth, TX) has, to this round, been 19-1. That is, by far, the best record in the room of nearly 700. It all came to an end this round when Steve Pellinen (St. Louis Park, MN) defeated the man with tiles of gold, 517-391. Looking over the game notes, it wasn't a completely error-free undertaking, either! I spot Steve's phoney UPSIZES* for 88, and later on, Steve challenged off Mike's attempted RECITANT*. Undeterred, Mike came back the very next turn to lay down ENTASTIC for 74. An overlapping dream of a play for 95 was made by Steve: OUtHEAR creating YEA/BONE/TA/AR. I also spot Steve's BRINIEsT. There may very well have been more spectacular plays, but I ran out of paper and was writing up the sides of the pad I had exhausted. Way to go to both players!

From table 10 in division 2, Rob Robinsky (Saint Paul, MN) shows me his come from behind winning board against Robert Crowe (Fort Wayne, IN). Shorthand notetaking with names as similiar as Rob, Robert, and Bob (and all three are scribbled into the margins) makes me a bit nervous about this, but I'm pretty sure Robert played EMBROILS for 89 and Rob played CeSTOID for 81 and BATTLER for 71. The thing I'm absolutely certain about is the Rob's last bingo. Holding the last P, and S, and a Z, he put down LAY, one short of the leftmost triple lane. As luck would have it, his draw from the back was fortuitous and on his next play, he got down PaNZERS/PLAY for 123 and out, winning the game, 437-365. Howdaya like them apples, huh?

Always more a philosophical storyteller, Andrew Golding (Verdun QC) from division 2, flags me over to tell me about his pre-NSC study preparations. He smartly took notes during his sessions with David Boys (former WSC and Canadian SCRABBLE^® Champ). One such lesson was Andrew's challenge of Dave's EXIMIOUS. It was good and Dave said, "You really need to do a 5-vowel 8s review before every tourney." So, like the father of two had nothing else to do, he did as Dave suggested and lo and behold every day so far in the event has been rewarded with at least one word played from that list. Day 1's word was AVIFAUNA, day 2's was OPTIONEE played through the P, and today's was ANORExIA played through the N. Nice to know that even though he can't be with us this time around, Dave is still "with" us.

Diana Spiller (Ashby, MA) got served a bowl of revenge this round in her board 1 division 3 game against Jessie Jones (Yuma, AZ), losing 291-532. The game's better plays all have Jesse's moniker on them: DIAbASES through the E for 70, CITHERNS from the C for 67, sCENTING through the C for 62, and URANIDES through the R for 78. Diana plays in the Lexington SCRABBLE^® club directed by Judy Horn (and I sometimes even show up there), so we are all extremely proud of Diana's tremendous run so far. Despite this loss, that she has the grace to smile about and congratulate Jesse on, she remains in first place with a 17-4 record. Way to go, Diana! This win pulls Jesse into third place with a 16-5, yeah, Jesse!

At the nearby board 2 in division 3, Jeff Martin (Albuquerque, NM) defeated Wallace Schultz (Las Vegas, NM), 397-288. I see Wally's DOPaMINE through the O for 74 and Jeff's TEAZeLS for 84 and ARANEIDS for 72.

The room is clearing out quickly as people go onto their evening outings and I see a few boards still undisturbed. Table 35 in division 1 is one such board. It is a 454-358 win for Ron Hoekstra (Grand Rapids, MI) vs. Robert Linn (Potomac, MD). Just as I'm about to talk to Bob about the game, Gail Linn (Potomac, MD) walks up and shares her round 21 417-392 win against Matthew Levine (Berkeley, CA). Her favorite play, for obvious reasons, was the outbingo CURSIVE for 84. It nestled in just so and created UP/RE/SPA. At one point, she was down by almost 100 points and pulled out this win. Her 10-11 records tastes all the sweeter for this game!

There is almost too much to communicate about this rounds division 1 board 24 game between Michael Baker (Portland, OR) and Ira Cohen (Los Angeles, CA). Ira played ShEARER for 72 and then Mike responded with PAESANI, hooking to create ShEARERS for 79. Ira played RANDILY/RESTATED for 89 and Mike got down ERINGOeS from the first E for 77 and RESTATE for 70. By craftily sticking Mike with QLI, Ira won the slugfest, 451-442. Long after this game is completed, Mike sits over it, contemplating what he could have done to change the result. He smiles and consoles himself to be in contention for the high loss prize!

I'm going to try my best on this one. Randy Hersom (Morganton, NC) has his almost completed board at table 10 in division 1 set up, waiting for me to happen by. Toward the end game, leading by 432-370, and with 7 tiles left in the game, Randy exchanged CLQ with the intention of making no more plays till the bag was empty. His opponent, Jim Kramer (Roseville, MN), not hip to this strategy, continued to play and draw, making three more plays to Randy's passes. The game ended with both players passing and not drawing the last tile in the bag, which turned out to be the dreaded Q! Holding ARRDGNS on his rack, Randy subtracted the face value of 9 points from his score. Holding ACILINR (Randy remembers vaguely), Jim, too, subtracted 9 points from his score. So, with a 423-412, Randy defeated Jim, and neither of them got stuck with the Q!

So, a great game and big ouch goes out to Darrell Day (Richardson, TX) for his two-point loss to Nigel Richards (New Zealand) this round, 464-462. Darrell played FOUR bingos in a row: STILLED, LIZARDS, OARLIKE, and INTIMATE, but Nigel played VEINLETS and the amazing 140-point triple-triple BROADENS through the D! In the end, it was that dastardly Q that did in the gentleman from Texas. He ended up eating the Q and losing the game by a mere two points.

Ever a force in our community, Rich Baker (Eureka, CA) and Liz Ashby (Eureka, CA) have relocated from Long Island, NY, to Northern California and they've become members of club 566, the Redwood Coast SCRABBLE^® club. As they did on the East Coast and in their international tour/tournaments, I see Rich and Liz contributing to many fine events being hosted in and around club 566! I was able to catch the club gathering at the big board for a photo op. Look for them all on this round's photos.

Big kudos to Bill Sullivan, father to Brendan Sullivan (Shrewsbury, MA). We were short a division assistant and Mary Rhoades was going it alone in division 2. Bill came on board to rescue her from the onslaught of responsibilities and he's worked like a dream. He even fits in the black and white referee shirt!

John Chew, tired of the all the work and no play, sat down to a 15-minute-per-side game of SCRABBLE^® with School SCRABBLE^® phenom, Andre Ornish (La Mesa, CA), after the room cleared out. Andre's side of the game started off like gangbusters with four bingos: FREAKIER, OATLIKE, GERMANE, and BrEEDER. John, mock upset that I didn't ask him to list his bingos, admitted he had none to list. The game ended badly for the high-rated NSA webmaster, 287-595. YEAH ANDRE!!!

We are all delighted to have Stefan Fatsis (Washington, DC) playing at the NSC this year. In the ESPN produced finals, Stefan will do the host duties, but until then, he is slogging away in the bowels of division 3. Many reading this site will be happy to learn that Stefan is doing a blog of sorts on the Wall Street Journal web site. His first piece entitled "The Third Division Blues" can be found at this link.

Please do check out the annotated game section and see the 398-364 win by Dave Wiegand (Portland, OR) against Brian Cappelletto (Chicago, IL). My two favorite bingos: FIsHWAYS and OCTANtAL.