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NSC 2008 Commentary: Round 27

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Go to: 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, Award Ceremony.

Round 27

Conrad Bassett-Bouchard (Moraga, CA) defeated John Stardom (Ottawa ON), 402-383. I see Conrad's REEDINGS through the first E for 90 and STARVINg for 70. John played sHOREMEN for 72.

Mark Milan (Laguna Niguel, CA) had an extremely lucky play: LuCKIEST through the S for a 212-point triple-triple! No surprise, this helped Mark defeat Michael Early (Forth Worth, TX), 612-289. Mark's other nice plays were EMIGRES 74 and CONFLAtE 89 from the C. Mike got down ARENOSE for 77.

Kendrick Lo (Toronto ON) has just sewed up his win of division 5, with a 393-374 win against Lesesne Kunz (Denver, CO). Frustrating for her, I'm sure, this was their third game this tournament and he won all three! On their board, I see her IRONERS for 90 and his PROBATED for 73 and VAuNTED* thorugh the N for 90. They agree that the game was won with his play of SCURRY. He has played in only three tournaments, this being his third. Totally coincidentally, this Toronto-based champion haas played all three tournaments with the same directing team of John Robertson & Allen Pengally (division 5's director and assistant). John Robertson, usually pretty low-key, was over the moon about Kendrick's win! At the first tournament, Kendrick came in 2nd and at his second touranment, he came6th. Welcome to division 4 and above, Kendrick!

In division 1, David Gibson (Spartanburg, SC) is sitting at his completed game against Nathan Benedict (Tucson, AZ). I see David's ZEE, Nathan's ANATOMY, David's LYRICISE through the Y, Nathan's QATS/LYRICISES for 54, and David's HOLDERS for 74. My notes say FORM/OF/MO for 52, but not sure who played that. David got down LEaDIEST through the S and took the win, 404-385.

In division 4 at table 1, Phil Wertheimer (Short Hills, NJ) defeated Gwen Stewart (Ellicott City, MD), 355-324. I see Gwen's SERIATED for 62. Despite winning, Phil made no bingos this round.

Scott Garner (Champaign, IL) is wowed by Stephen Sneed (Fort Worth, TX). I smile and say, "who isn't?" One half of the current reigning Texas School SCRABBLE Championship team, Stephen is a terrific player and a polite 14-year-old kid! This was their third game and Scott won the first two, losing this one, 387-507. He says that Stephen averaged 45-points per turn until his 9th play.

Stefan Rau (New Britain, CT) is going to wind up his NSC with an Isadora Duncan flair. He has borrowed a long scarf from Alyssa Faria (Cambridge, MA). It is sheer white with black polka dots. Coupled with his bright, floral Hawaiian shirt, the scarf is wrapped around his neck with a more than fashionable insouciance. He is actually handsome and beautiful all at once!

The players were asked to leave the room as they finished this round (to keep the chatter down during these crucial end-of-championship games), as they had with round 26. As soon as the last result slip came in, pairing could be computed and posted immediately. I went into the hallway this time to see the swell of people in that space. Players were laughing and crowding around their divisional bulletin boards. Word Gear, which had done a brisk business during the event, had closed up shop and moved the new sample Hasbro deluxe board into the playing room atop the press table. I was able to get a few shots of it. The fact that is has a working grid and that it folds in half for transport is a huge plus. However, sticks in the mud like us aren't so sure about the different colored premium squares! With this new board, the triple word squares are orange (not red) and the double word scores are red (not pink). Now that it is available for purchase, order yourself one from WordGear and see how you interact with the new colors!

I ceased to be a working Interner reporter this round as my computer, which was beside Chris Cree's computer, was commandeered by some players who wanted to watch the game between Nigel Richards (Malaysia) and Brian Cappelletto (Chicago, IL). All I could do was snap photos of them crowded around both screens. John Chew, with sharper elbows, was able to keep them off his! Actually, I was happy to share. Cecilia Le (Boston, MA) and John OLaughlin (Cambridge, MA) were watching, too, from their tiny laptop in the playing room (once their games were over).

One more game to go!