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USSO 2006 Commentary: Round 22

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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 22

Day four is as beautiful as all the others before. Last night, off in the distance, heat lightening was seen all over the Phoenix area, and some of it may have led to this morning's brief power outtage for some of us here at the Biltmore.

Division 1 has begun the end of the tournament segregation whereby the top two tables are put behind stanchions. It helps to keep neck craners and nearby whispers down to a roar. However, what was once a nice aisle has become a wall of sorts! Those in tables 3, 4, 5, and 6 might be brushed against a fair amount as players mill back and forth.

Nancee Mancel (Albuquerque, NM) has one favorite color: Turquoise. And it happens to be the color of most of her clothing, her protiles, and her division, this year! So, she is all turquoise!

Yesterday was full of statistical anomalies only heard one day late by me. Poor Shelley Sullivan (Windsor Locks, CT) overdrew by two tiles. Per the rules, her opponent, Thomas ORourke (Alpharetta, GA), turned over four tiles. Wouldn't you know it, of the four he turned over, TWO were blanks! And they both went back into the bag! He then later drew them and won the game. This morning, just as she sat down to play game 23, she opened a drink with a "fortune" in the cap top that read, "You pick wisely, but you lose anyway..." Apropos, non?

Toward the end of her round 22 game, Shelley Sullivan (Windsor Locks, CT) challenged her opponent's REINED, hoping it wasn't in the dictionry, as she was down 302-377 at that point and stood no chance of winning if she didn't try. Jeff Cooley (Jacksonville, FL) was relieved to see it in there and went on to win their game.

Division 3's Dawn Doyle (Ft Lauderdale, FL) just turned in her THIRD tie of the tournament! How does someone get three ties in 22 games?

Things were beginning to look "right" again, when I looked over and saw Brian Cappelletto (Chicago, IL) at table 1. His game wrapped up quickly and I went over to check it out. He smiled and said, "enjoy me here now, I just lost and probably won't be back!" Geoff Thevenot (Austin, TX) won, 450-383. Brian did get down what his annotator, Steve Pellinen, thought was a great find, MOHElEM for 80. Geoff played WINTERS for 75, GUNWALE for 93, and ANNaTTO for 77.

Debbie Stegman (Kew Gardens, NY) wanders over to tell me that she feels like the "den mother" of the top four games in division 2. She says she is older than any 2 of them put together! She has at least five of the 21 and under set at her table. The division director, Mary Rhoades, points out that of those five youngsters, three of them are left-handed. She's noticed over the years how many of the best players are lefties.

Debbie Stegman (Kew Gardens, NY) managed to defeat one of the 21 and under kids, Conrad Bassett-Bouchard (Moraga, CA), despite getting caught playing ZI* by mistake!

Nat Gardenswartz (Newton, MA) defeated Robert Quigley (New Haven, CT), 408-387. Robert played HINTeRS and Nat played OCEANiC and ETOILES.

Carl Johnson (Beaverton, OR) just had a monster find in the game he just won against Max Panitch (Toronto ON), 456-423. Though the play only earned him 68 points, he found LINEARISEd through the separated first E and IS! Wow! He is submitting it for the flashiest play!

Behind the velvet rope at table 2 in division 1, Robin Pollock Daniel (Toronto ON) fell to Stefan Rau (Newington, CT), 436-489. Robin played CARPING for 80, EMOTION for 70, and SHRIEVE for 74. Stefan got TRIUNES for 87, AEOLIAN for 70, and DREARIER for 70.

Another strong division 1 win, was by Jim Kramer (Roseville, MN) vs. Joe Edley (Coram, NY). Jim exchanged DGOTTW on his first turn, which didn't exactly set the best tone for the game. Joe's second play was BREWErY for 73. On play five, Jim got down TINIEST for 89. Later he played SUBEDITS for 89, HEX for 47, and QUARTZ for 72. Joe got in a nice 52-point QuINT, but it just wasn't enough and Jim won their game.

Brian Cappelletto (Chicago, IL) and Geoff Thevenot (Austin, TX) are playing each other at Board 1 in Division 1. Steve Pellinen and Scott Smith are posting the game live.