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NSC 2012 Commentary: Round 20

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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, Round 29, Round 30, Round 31, After the Tournament.

Round 20

Sam Kantimathi (Sacramento, CA) tells me that his game with Geoff Thevenot (Austin, TX) this round was his favorite of the tournament. From a TA on the board, same played TARTINESS for 80, which drew 5 more points in a challenge. Geoff made the back-to-back plays of YARDLANd and DOVETAIl, the latter of which blocked Sam's big X-play spot. Geoff was quick to point out that Sam adjusted well losing that spot by finding FLAX/AX for 54 elsewhere on the board! Sam also had an S at the right time and played DISK down the triple, hooking to make YARDLANdS for 54. Sam also played GANNETS and Geoff nestled QUEMING# to the G. In the end game, Sam had two triple lanes to block and he guessed the right one, because had he chosen the other, Geoff would have played SPHERING and won the game. As it was, a 467-390 win for Sam.

The game picked up by the point I find Chris Canik (Austin, TX) sitting at his division 3 table 1 board. He said the game with Roy Dixon (Dade City, FL) started lopsided. Roy started with a phony that Chris challenged off and in turn he played FROWARD, which drew a challenge from Roy, it is good! So, early on in the game, it was a 130-0 lead for Chris. He went on to win the game.

Michael Bassett (Port Clinton, GA) is one funny guy. He asked Dan Stock, his division leader, if he knew the definition of "inadequate." When Dan appeared stumped, he went on to explain, "Inadequate is winning a game by 290 and discovering that you are not even the one with the highest game spread within your household for the round." Partner, Heather Steffy (Atlanta, GA) won her game this round by 325, scoring a 647! I run into Heather a bit later and she explains she was playing George Asaka (Omaha, NE). She started well, getting down SURGERS, hooking to make SNECK for 89, then she triple-tripled with AEROLITE for 131, followed by a double-double UNPROVED for 98. Then she rested with shorter words: NERTZ for 48 and QUIRT for 48. Next came CINEASTE for 68 and then FLAXES for 36. George played both VENGED for 30 and LOOPIEST for 66. The best part of playing George, she said, was what a good sport he was. Their game spread was larger than his score, 322-647. What an amazing game for Heather!

Winter Zxqkj (Houston, TX) had a three-bingo streak: OVERFISH for 72, dUALISED for 70, and PARLORS for 65. Following this, his opponent Marty Gabriel (Charleston, IL) hit a string of luck: QUATE for 50, TEX# for 48, SEZ# for 47, JO for 38, and then MONGERED for 70, which drew +5 for a challenge. And the final flair: DeFICITS for 98 as an outbingo. A 479-381 win for Marty.

Ah, a nice front hook! To BOAT on the board, Jesse Matthews (Kelowna BC) played RIVER, creating RIVERBOAT to the triple. His win that round, 406-367, over Eric Goldstein (Scarsdale, NY).

Cheryl Allen-Munley (Tewksbury, NJ) had her second triple-triple of the tournament this round! She got down CHIGGERS through a G for 167. Her earlier triple-triple was REIFIERS, which scored less.

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, Round 29, Round 30, Round 31, After the Tournament.