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NSC 2012 Commentary: Round 25

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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 25

[error: no such id: bens] had a 498-404 over Komol Panyasophonlert (Thailand) this round. I walk up to the table and find Komol talking about it with Nawapadol Sayavesa (Thailand). Komol explained that Ben played REENDOW through the opening play of JENNY. He later played PARTNERS, VALoRIsE, and SIGNALED. In the endgame, behind by only 4 points, Komol thought he stood a chance and Ben played MAIZE creating four parallel plays: MI/AG/ZA/EL for 58.

Eight bingos! David Koenig (Silver Spring, MD) vs. Joel Wapnick (Montreal QC). RENEGADE, AIRSIDE#, PASTERNS, and DISRUPT for Joel; INVEAGLE#, EROTICA, INTROFY, and TRiZONE# for David. The game continued to be close throughout and in the endgame David played JOULE for 31 to which Joel played/overlapped with MAENAD/JA/OE/UN/LA/PED for 41. Knowing Joel has the A and that he can only win by going out himself, David was feeling the pressure. His rack was EIBH?. Amazingly through a separated S and I, David played out with BHIStIE for 15, plus 5 for the challenge. It was David's win, 489-479. While a group was gathered around the Wapnick/Koenig board, someone brought up Joel as a triple crown winner (WSC, NSC, and CNSC). Joel pointed out that he wasn't the only and then Adam Logan's name came up. The advantages to being Canadian stack up!

I meet Orlet Bullock (Miami, FL) before he headed off to lunch. A pharmacist by trade, he will be attending the Caribbean Championships in Guyana in two weeks, representing St. Vincent. He explains that the event starts with the players in teams and works up to and open format. There should be about 30 or so participants. He met David Koenig (Silver Spring, MD) at the last NSC and it was David who encouraged him to come to our NSC. He is now 14-11 and pleased with his performance so far.

Jacqueline Heller (Los Angeles, CA) tells me of a game with Irving Reed (Miami, FL). In a series of stacked plays, GLUTEN went down, then MAKE/EM/NA beneath that, and then the gorgeous PREMIX/EME/NAM/KI/EX on the triple for 80 points! Wowsa! In the next round, playing Brad Mills (Charleston, WV), a similar thing happened. FAWN went down, then ER/FE/AR, and then finally ZEIN/FEZ/ARE. Jackie pulled out a win in both of these games!

As we go to lunch, Chris Canik (Austin, TX) is 2-2 and enjoying his time at the tip.

I see a group of experts gathered around Rafi Stern (Seattle, WA), who is discussing his win this round, 409-407, against David Gibson (Spartanburg, SC). Since I arrived midway and since folks were heading off to eat, I could only catch that Rafi had played SMIDGENS which drew an unsuccessful challenge from David. Perhaps it was one of those "challenge or lose" situations.

Will Scott (Versailles, KY), like Nigel Richards (Malaysia), decided to use his bicycle as his mode of transport here in Orlando. Unlike Nigel who likes the Super 8 hotel chain, Will opted to camp this year. Last night, while driving home after a fun night with friends, Will got a flat tire. It took him a bit to fix it and then reach his campsite, exhausted at about midnight. He crawled into the tent to rest when fire ants decided to crawl all over him! Egads! He jumped up and spent the next two hours shaking all of his gear to remove these stinging, annoying insects. Then, he had to set about finding a hotel for the night. At 3:11am, he finally got to bed. So, if he's glassy eyed, this is why. On the plus side, he won three in a row this morning. So, maybe fire ants are good for the game?

Michael Gincel (Lakewood, NJ) stops by and describes the first half of today as "tragic." He may have only 5 wins, but he assures me that he is proud of them and he earned them himself. He is currently toggling with another player in his division for the lost spot in div 4.

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.