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USSO 2006 Commentary: Round 8

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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 8

What a beautiful day in Phoenix! The sun is shining brightly on Camelback Mountain and Piestawa Peak. The latter mountain was named after Lauri Piestawa, who lost her life in Iraq while serving in the U.S. miliary. It seemed appropriate to rename the former Squaw Mountain with a more befitting name, that of a fallen Native American hero.

Last night's reception was a huge success and attended by hundreds of players and family and friends. I saw cocktail dresses, suits (Albert Hahn (Calgary AB) looked like a Canadian ambassador to the UN!), and funky fun frocks. At one point it was hard to see across the room, there were so many people nibbling and noshing and talking. The highlight of the event was "The Gift of Words" ProLiteracy drive that the NSA's Jane R. Williams helped organize. A table was overflowing with 167 donated childrens books! Learn more about the program at its web site. We expect more donations to come in as the US Open continues. Just told we received 20 more books today!

I am very happy for the air conditioning today as it is 107 degrees outside!

Mitch Bayersdorfer (Menlo Park, CA) has on a fun shirt today, it says "WANNA PLAY?" I say, yes!

Marlon Hill (Baltimore, MD) won big against Stefan Rau (Newington, CT) this round, 412-328. I see Stefan's CRANKIER and Marlon's opening play of TROOZ, TENONERS through the O, and uNSWEPT.

Craig Rowland (Mississauga ON) sees me and points to his 7-bingo board. Craig bingoed out and caught Joe Edley (Coram, NY) with BCAOQVA for 46 points. However, this isn't half the story. Joe won, 508-372. While Craig played RESTERS, ROGATION, and ASTRINGE (for 63), Joe got down INDAMINE, HANDIER, pRUNELLA, and TELEOsT.

Mark Przybyszewski (Depew, NY) had big win at division 2's top table, 429-282, versus David Hermanson (Temple City, CA).

While, at the end of the game, most players arrange the tiles in 5 by 5 grids of tiles on the board so the next opponents can easily see that the 100 tiles are accounted for before beginning, Daniel Stock (Rocky River, OH) has his own take on this exercise. I've taken a photo that explains it better than I can!

We are happy to have Stuart Goldman (Riverhead, NY) here this year. He is recovering from recent foot surgery and has to keep his foot elevated, but he's sitting close to his division 1 comrades and playing a mean game every round in division 2.

Jim Kramer (Roseville, MN) finally has a loss, he's now 7-1, after a 331-429 table 1 game to Lloyd Mills (Georgetown ON). The other undefeated division 1 giant, Joey Mallick (Cape Elizabeth, ME), was not defeated this round, so he continues as the top dog! You can check out the Jim vs. Lloyd game in the annotated game section.

At nearby table 2, Rod MacNeil (Wilmington, DE) is bent over his board in a tense recount. It appears that he's just lost, 372-375 to Robin Pollock Daniel (Toronto ON). From what I can glean, the game was Rod's, but Robin had some good last-minute board vision, which included finding PAPERY through the PE for a ton of points. She said, "Brian Cappelletto (Chicago, IL) inhabited me for a few seconds when I found that play!" The distinctive thing about the Rod-Robin game? No bingos!

Roger Cullman (Toronto ON) brings me over to a game that Paul Haverly (Mount Dora, FL) defeated him at, 407-396. Toward the endgame, with CLUB on the board, Paul fished a few turns and was able to get down CLUBROOT for 39. Earlier in the game, Roger got down PITHIER from PIT for 39. The game, as Roger put it, "was decided by the zed." Paul got down AZO/ZA for 43 points.

Diana Spiller (Ashby, MA) is jumping around excitedly. She had two monster plays in her win against Annette Bailey (Town Withheld, CT) this round, 496-327. At one point, it was 179-90 in Annette's favor, but Diana first got down CALlINGS through the I for a 90-point double-double, SLANTED for 82, and then the lovely triple-triple RETOOLED through the last E for 140 points. She reminds me that we should never give up!

Andrea Michaels (San Francisco, CA) calls out to me in a soft voice, asking if I'd like to see her 10-letter play. I said, "Is the Pope Catholic?" We made our way to her board versus Charlene White (Kearny, NJ). I see Charlene's IMPAIReD and JIBER on the triple, but it was Andrea's BROADENERS to the ERS for 92 that was the play of the game. Andrea's win, 460-380. She claims that though she's had a 9 a time or two before, she's never played a 10 until today!

The understated and ever-funny Jim Kramer (Roseville, MN) comes over to my table and asks, "Want to hear about my best blunder from yesterday?" I nod and he explains that in one game he had EINRTZ?. So, he played NERTZ and I was thinking that was a good play. He nods in agreement as he thought it was good, until he did an analysis last night and saw that it was an 80-point error. He could have played UNITIZER through the second I for 194 points. C'est la vie!

Lloyd Mills (Georgetown ON) 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.