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USSO 2006 Commentary: Round 11

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Go to: 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.

round 11

Evan Berofsky (Thornhill ON) is one of the first done this round. He whispers that he is 8-3 after having swept this morning.

I come upon a just finished game between Austin Nichols (Washington, DC) and Leesa Berahovich (Berkeley, CA). It was Austin's win, 486-422, but he has a certain amount of shame about how he got there. He got away with ANALIZER* in part because his first place was LINELIKE, which Leesa didn't like and challenged. Since it came back good, she was still smarting from that bad challenge when he tried the true phoney. He later tried ABATIC*, but she didn't let him get away with that one!

Andre Ornish (La Mesa, CA) has been at table 1 in division 4 all this morning. He tells me with a wry grin that he lost two and is now only 8-3. This puts him in fourth place in the division, non too shabby!

Pamina Deutsch (Corrales, NM) played Lewis Saul (Tucson, AZ) this round. For some reason, one of them let slip that Lewis was finishing up a book on Frank Zappa. So, I guess we should be keeping our eye out!

The two players who started today undefeated in division 1, finally faced off this round. It was Jim Kramer (Roseville, MN) vs. Joey Mallick (Cape Elizabeth, ME). Going in, Jim has lost all three games today and Joey had only lost two. But after the dust settled, Jim got the win this round, 409-360, so they were both down three losses this morning. Joey played ARGOtIC and Jim got down VEINLEtS, but he winning play was Jim's OXIDS to the triple hooking in front to create DWELT for 72 points.

That means, in division 1 Marty Gabriel (Charleston, IL) in first, Robin Pollock Daniel (Toronto ON) in second, Pakorn Nemitrmansuk (Thailand) in third, and Geoff Thevenot (Austin, TX) leading the brigade of other 8-3s in fourth. The others are: Joey Mallick (Cape Elizabeth, ME), Evan Berofsky (Thornhill ON), Darrell Day (Richardson, TX), Jim Kramer (Roseville, MN), and Rod MacNeil (Wilmington, DE).

I catch Kent Nelson (Sandy, UT) and John Luebkemann (Pineville, NC) bent over their completed game, analyzing the plays. It was John's win, 453-357. John called it the "s" game due to Kent's sILICATE for 68 and John's sIMPLEST for 86. John also got down SCURFED for 82.

I spy KC Frodyma (Silver Spring, MD) and Kaveri Raviraj (Mississauga ON) finishing up their game. I see TReNAIL and SAROD?S. I'm still trying to figure out that latter word...

Andy Bohnsack (Madison, WI) had a monster game this round against the always smiling and lovely Judy Newhouse (Houston, TX), winning 458-276. Judy's only play of any merit turned out to be a phoney: HWANS* to the triple for 45. Andy got down OUTRAVED though the A that hooked onto ZIN to create ZINE for 76, SHrIEKS for 80, and GREETERS for 77.

Ember Nelson (Buffalo, NY) got hit by the mac truck that is Helena Gauthier (Merrimack, NH) this round, losing 301-491. Helena plays in events in New England so I'm in the know about how good she plays and this game was no exception. While Ember got down ACOnITES and BEMOANED from the BE (not a bingo, but style points!), Helena played SEAQUAkE, ALIENEES, and EPHORAL.

Randy Greenspan (Buffalo, NY) is happy to proclaim that he won a game, his first of the morning. He defeated Ron Hoekstra (Kentwood, MI), 387-385. I see Ron's UNERRING and Randy's SInAPISM through the A for 94 and his outbingo of DOWSINg.

Sam Kantimathi (El Dorado Hills, CA) had a fun win this round, defeating Rusty Peltz (San Diego, CA), 470-375. Sam was holding AAEOBGS and it only plays through one tile. Sure enough, Rusty hung a Z out there and Sam slapped down GAZABOES for 90 points. Since Sam was behind by 105 points before this play, it was a welcome catch-up move. Similarly, later in the game, Rusty played VENISONS hanging the S in the triple lane. Sam fired right back through that S with PARCHISI. Sam's next play was RAPERs/PARCHISIs for a bunch of points. Game over, man.

Off to lunch!

(edit) Later in the afternoon, Matt Breden (Hampton, VA) came up to me with this great story. Instead of rewording it and possibly wrecking it, I invited him to sit down and type it in himself. This is his round 11 story:

I played Doug Bobkovich (Gilbert, AZ) and I had no idea what I was in for when we started. Doug bingoed with his first play (OUTGAIN) to which I responded YAY (literally). Then he doubled up the X with DEX. Then, using the space between the L and the D in LUG and DEX, he brilliantly played BLAZE for 79. Feeling desperate, I played KIDLESS* to get SMOG and a double-double for 105 points. Doug wisely challenged successfully and responded with DOUBTERS for 62. The score was 249 to 67 and Doug had a 182-point edge. Seemingly stuck in a downward spiral, I spied LINSEEDS for 72. I then drew VERSION to play atop KILLED for SKILLED and 84 more points. Later, Doug played AERIATED which I challenged and then spent several minutes examining my rack of CIINORT before deciding to risk INDICTOR for 62. Doug challenged unsuccessfully this time. Then, with a lead of 65, I decided to try to shut down the board to a bingo I knew was waiting on Doug's rack (AAEIRT?). I was unsuccessful, as he laid down ERAdIATE for 66 points putting him only 11 points down. As luck would have it, I was able to take advantage of the Triple Word Score and played JIVE for 42. A few plays later I extended VERSION to AVERSION, then Doug went out with FEE. Thoroughly exhausted and damp with sweat, I thanked Doug for the most exciting game I've played this tourney and quite possibly EVER.

Joey Mallick (Cape Elizabeth, ME) and Jim Kramer (Roseville, MN) are playing each other at Board 1 in Division 1. Steve Pellinen and Scott Smith are posting the game live.