Finding Small
12K (E)NDEW +26
Quackle likes 12H AWEEL#, the second-highest-scoring play, which compensates for the 3-point sacrifice by setting up 14H INDIE. #findingsmall
Chris Grubb vs. Alec Sjoholm (Game 37358)
Strategy Small
H1 PIN +17
I might prefer playing this for 9 more at I5? Can't imagine this is worth sacrificing so much.
Upon reviewal I like I4 TRIP, since it blocks a lot of annoying scoring plays at H1, despite allowing me to bingo next turn significantly less. #strategysmall
Joshua Sokol vs. Andre Popadynec (Game 38228)
Knowledge Large
L5 CONIiNS +0 (Lost challenge)
oh god, what an awful mistake. i really thought this was a word. i laid it down for a while trying to think of something better and didn't see nuncios. #knowledgelarge
Cesar Del Solar vs. Jackson Smylie (Game 33784)
Vision Medium
1D (A)TTIRE +18
I felt like I couldn't really play ARIETTE with FWW unseen. The best play is RETE C2, which blocks the 3x3 and clears up the rack nicely. (-4) #visionmedium
Carl Johnson vs. Matt Canik (Game 34493)
Strategy Large
H10 (E)EK +12
this move right here, officer. what was i thinking? luckily, i have an exact snapshot into my mental state at the time, so i'll write it here. let's see, i'm up by NINE points and he just set up an obvious S hook (yes, i forgot that it took a T until after i hit the clock). so, he has an S, and likely another E. he just played off two tiles, and my defense has been terrible this tournament, so it all comes down to this next move; it is crucial to prevent his bingo since i'm not ahead by much at all. this is a 36.5 point mistake (the obvious KEET is the only play here worth making) with no inference; with an EST inference (let's say), this "only" becomes a 33-point mistake. now, with a clear head: it DOES cut his bingo percentage to almost 0%, but he still scores 36 pts on average! and i'm not going to survive that with this lame move. and, most crucially, something that i realized right after, is that no sane person is going to play B(ID)E with a bingo leave. why would he set up a SCORING spot if he has a strong bingo leave, instead of trying to open up another bingo lane? so it's unlikely that he has a strong bingo leave, but is instead trying to set up a 50+ point score next turn. but i freaked out, didn't even think of BIDET, and had already decided to block the bingo lane at all costs. #strategySADDEST #focusworst
Chris Schneider vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 35418)
Strategy Medium
5I (P)AX +24
Not exactly a fan of this position either, but the fact that I just drew another A makes my miss of LOGAN look that much bigger. Since the X isn't that good of a tile on this board, it's probably better to just take the 2 more points with 9F (T)AX instead of trying to force the board open, even though I like open boards better against him. #strategymedium
Jay Levin vs. Samuel Kaplan (Game 42388)
Strategy Large
F3 TH(I)GH +16
tough situation here. should i do 14A JIG for real? it sims far best. but if i don't, JIG at H4 and GITCH at D2 are still significantly better than my lamish move. i definitely saw JIG, but it really didn't seem right. -14 #strategylarge
Cesar Del Solar vs. Leesa Berahovich (Game 35170)
Strategy Small
J7 (NU)TSY +21
Quackle likes 11E TREYS to score 10 more and restrict the 11 row, but I'm not so sure - between row 11 and SAL I'm pretty likely to bingo with EIRS after NUTSY. #strategysmall if anything.
Karl Higby vs. Mack Meller (Game 34724)
Knowledge Medium
exch IO +0
I apparently underestimated my chances of hitting a bingo after exchanging I instead of IO. Keeping EGINOS is actually great as even with some clunky draws (namely J for JINGOES and Y for ISOGENY or drawing an A, E, O, or U) would help. #knowledgemedium
Samuel Kaplan vs. Marty Gold (Game 47450)
Strategy Small
8D KIANG +30
8G TAKING has the best equity. I was leery of giving up an extra bingo lane, easier sevens lanes, and a chance to hook TAKING while using a DWS, which is why I chose KIANG; but I should also be concerned with keeping two T's. #strategysmall
Carl Johnson vs. Alec Sjoholm (Game 33634)
Finding Small
L12 DIVE +26
so stupid and tilted I was, getting pissed I didn't bingo and missed DEVI in the same spot for better scoring defense and likelier 3x3 through the I than the E. #findingsmall
Joshua Sokol vs. Jared Cappel (Game 42467)
Endgame Large
14I MOS +17
14M BYS for sure. I was unsure of SEPTORIAS, which is annoying. I wanted to block RELAND. This is -21. The best non-BYS play is the crazy J13 (T)OR for 5. #endgamelarge
Richard Popper vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 35855)
Tactics Small
8K (U)RARI +18
7D RIA is best, setting up my A. E9 VAIR, which I think I saw, is also better than URARI; the R helps the leave considerably. #tacticssmall
Alec Sjoholm vs. Sid Murali (Game 32990)
Finding Medium
H2 rEPULSE +72
PEEpULS is much better. I only see UPSLEEP* and recognize that as a phony, and I had already lost 2 minutes because I was late from lunch. Still need to see that shit.
#findingmedium
Joshua Sokol vs. Joey Mallick (Game 33805)
Endgame Small
13I KID(D)O +32
played this once I saw it, but didn't think about adding the S for long enough to notice (T)AW 13A. KIDDOS is slightly better. -2 #endgamesmall
Carl Johnson vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 46180)
Strategy Medium
C9 T(H)IRL +18
I can see why I didn't want to play sim-winner ZIN at L8 or G4, but that doesn't make this the right play. It opens a lane that is basically impossible to block. Maybe RITZY 12G or ZINS 11B? (-6) #strategymedium
Carl Johnson vs. Matt Canik (Game 34493)
Tactics Small
7B TELOGEN +68
Tied for best play with 11F ELONGATE scorewise. Seeing the board is open as is, I might as well get others going. This was held but not challenged. #tacticssmall
Richard Popper vs. Samuel Kaplan (Game 35215)
Knowledge Small
3H INGESTA +75
GENISTA and TEASING are a tiny bit better than INGESTA. Quackle prefers SWEATING for 78; amazingly, giving up column A is not expected to increase Darrell's average score beyond what he will get after TEASING/GENISTA/INGESTA. I'm unconvinced. If I'm honest, I was 99% sure GENISTA was TWL and opted for a 100% option. #knowledgesmall
Will Anderson vs. Darrell Day (Game 32816)
Finding Medium
exch BCFR +0
I think I didn't consider FLABS but I kinda remember considering FLAB and not liking that C- bingoes wouldn't play. I think FLABS is def worth it though, this is badddd #findingmedium
Jackson Smylie vs. Marwan Saadi (Game 35362)
Knowledge Large
E4 CRoCEI(N)S +94
I'll give myself a #knowledgelarge for challenging the valid 4 even though it only ended up costing me 5 points; it could've been much, much worse to have chickened out of a valid bingo on row 10.10:55
Will Anderson vs. Marlon Hill (Game 33170)
Strategy Medium
13J END(E)R +15
Bad decision here, should've exchanged. The board isn't nearly lock-down closed enough to be grabbing at such a low number of points and keeping a V. #strategymedium
Thomas Reinke vs. Will Anderson (Game 32896)
Strategy Large
O10 TI(X) +10
after an entire game of overestimating my position, here is a turn where I seem to have grossly underestimated it. I played TI(X) because I decided I probably needed to bingo to win the game. I felt like (V)ITA would allow him to block the 15 row, and then I would have basically nowhere to bingo (barring occasional 1 row bingoes). TI(X) leaves the 1 row as well as the A column, so given a blocking play may end up bingoing more than VITA. however, if I play VITA, he cannot easily block, since I will be in a position to outscore. all the vita blocks are pretty low scoring, so I think I can easily afford to play it. In a sim, VITA bingoes way more than TIX, which indicates the A at 15a is a good lane for me, and it may stay open quite often. The bingo draws on row 1 after TIX are: HR, HS, ES, AS, ID, GS, HS, IR, and RS. given random draws these happen 24/240, so 10% of the time. My position after VITA is surely better than that given the difficulty of blocking the lane while outrunning (just in a 2 ply sim Q has me bingoing 22%). This feels like a strategic error because I did not properly consider the future options after VITA, assuming that a block was inevitable. #strategylarge
Jackson Smylie vs. Greg Heidler (Game 33097)
Strategy Medium
9I (G)UY +14
ugh this is too difficult. with such a small % chance of winning, i don't know what's right anymore. it seems in these types of situations i have to limit the amount of damage he can do, so something like 4K AY or YA is going to sim best despite keeping a U. the problem with GUY, even though it does play short and keeps a good leave, is that it gives back so many points; i know this but have to hope he can't punish it too much. -3 #strategymedium
Joel Sherman vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 34026)
Strategy Small
9G WOK +31
Played this WOK thinking I keep the E for EWE but there are more front hooks to WE if I play the other WOK, but I realized after I hit my clock I should've probably played the other one because of JEW and other hard-hitting overlaps there. #strategysmall
Kenneth Rubin vs. Mack Meller (Game 34726)
Knowledge Small
B6 QU(E)UED +38
i should have played QUEUER (i wasn't 101% on it). i didn't want to give up an easy high scoring S hook. but it's important to balance my rack. -5.5 #tacticsmedium #knowledgesmall
Cesar Del Solar vs. Rafi Stern (Game 32705)
Finding Medium
J8 L(I)MB +28
CLIMB was not noticed in time, CNNS has some bingo synergy but CNNS is still 3.1 worse statically than NNS
Josh: yeah I was quite annoyed when I hit my clock. Being a native English speaker definitely didn't help me here, as LIMB did not very easily turn into CLIMB in my head. I have made this same mistake before. I played too fast and there is an inferior stratategem my brain uses when looking at similar positions to these. #findingmedium
Joshua Sokol vs. Jackson Smylie (Game 33930)
Strategy Small
M3 (AX)LE +11
Seemed justified with the blank in hand, but I almost did the much safer LUZ to create a really ugly board position. I think I prefer that now, but AXLE has its merits. #strategysmall 11:11
Ben Schoenbrun vs. Will Anderson (Game 33172)
Knowledge Small
I9 POLENTA +74
#knowledgesad for challenging JOBE. I swear my brain was like "yeah that's a word" but I was like "hmmm what if my brain's lying to me and it's NOT a word?" anyway. that happened.
Nitya Chagti vs. Jeremy Hildebrand (Game 40041)
Finding Medium
O1 ZHOS +58
Played ZHOS quite quickly but didn't stop to think of N2 SHASH, which scores 9 more and draws into a boatload of heavy Z plays on column A or at the very least O1 ZO/ZOO. #findingmedium 14:42
Vince Castellano vs. Will Anderson (Game 33168)
Strategy Large
11C YEW +33
This is a huge mistake because it allows 10B JAR creating a pretty much unblockable A(JAR) hook. I was trying to block 11C RAJ, but I should have played D1 WYLE allowing it and the board is toast. #strategylarge
Joshua Castellano vs. Iliana Filby (Game 36967)
Finding Large
L3 OBOE +22
I completely didn't see JOE until about 15 seconds after I hit the clock. BOOT(E)E is also really nice but also isn't congruent with my game plan #findinglarge
Matt Canik vs. Will Anderson (Game 33560)
Tactics Small
O7 GYRONS +43
i considered not burning my S. i could save that spot, or let him burn equity trying to block it. what do you think? i could play 1G GYNO keeping RST. or even GYNOS keeping a more synergystic RT. -2 #tacticssmall
Cesar Del Solar vs. Jay Levin (Game 33682)
Strategy Small
K2 WY(T)E +24
was happy to draw the last remaining Ss and to see him play BIKE and block most of the ?AT setups. I might want to play wyn/by here. looks close. EGSS at least takes out the 7 conso rack danger. I should probably do that. I wanted to keep both Ss to hit SCURVY as a scoring play, hence not WYTES. however there is something to be said for playing the S to avoid the 7 consos. I think WYN is the play #strategysmall
Jackson Smylie vs. Maxim Panitch (Game 35245)
Tactics Small
L4 R(E)WAX +46
VAR(I)X might be better since I keep the W for J10 and G7. I don't like 2E AX since it leaves me vulnerable should Leesa decide to gambit and throw a 3x3 or a lucrative hook open. I thought I could just draw an A and play J4 V(I)VA, which doesn't seem to get blocked a ton. I think VAR(I)X is OK but I liked using columns L and M instead of J. #tacticssmall
Joshua Sokol vs. Leesa Berahovich (Game 33134)
Tactics Medium
exch OUUWW +0
Quackle hates this exchange and wants me to conserve spread by playing G3 WOWS, blocking the bingo lanes on rows 2-4 while saving 4I LUAU for next turn. #tacticsmedium
Jerry Lerman vs. Alec Sjoholm (Game 32985)
Finding Small
E6 V(AL)ONIA +20
I liked finding a play that opens up nicely. I think if I wanted to also dump my G here with Column H already being one of my main bingo lines, E2 VAGIN(AL) was a slightly better play for 2 more. The sim agrees. #findingsmall
Samuel Kaplan vs. Edward H Zurav (Game 36852)
Knowledge Large
B1 JIN +24
poor endgame. i wan't totally sure on FLOCS so didn't want to play it first. #endgamelarge #knowledgelarge. i bled a lot of spread this tourney and it may have made some difference for the cash prizes.
Cesar Del Solar vs. Charles Reinke (Game 32706)
Finding Small
J2 JOHN +36
Q actually recommends SOH at J8 for 42 points here. I suppose it holds JEAN at J2 next turn. This and JEON are neck and neck, I suppose it's a matter of how volatile I want next turn to be #findingsad
Howard Pistol vs. Matt Canik (Game 32980)
Strategy Small
O8 QUE(Y) +48
-0.5 i think, QUELEA lessens disaster racks next turn. i typically like taking Ys in triple lanes because they're good dumps of ugly letters for my opponents. #strategysmall
Cesar Del Solar vs. Leesa Berahovich (Game 35152)
Finding Large
2B DEFOG +35
I immediately miss one of the three extensions of QUATE, ADEQUATE. This is pretty terrible. I only saw TORQUATE and COEQUATE when playing QUATE. Last turns' slight mistake snowballs into a much larger mistake on turn 2. #findinglarge
Joshua Sokol vs. Joey Mallick (Game 34559)
Finding Large
10F GOA +21
this was absolutely terrifying. I saw that I didn't have DOGMA through the D in DEFINITE. I saw that I had GLIOMATA with an I or an L. I saw the -MATA suffix more than once. Yet, I miss dOGMATA. #findinglarge
Will Anderson vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 32878)
Tactics Small
9J IGLOO +13
Wow. I had severe tunnel vision on this first move. I only saw X(U) which was very defensive and draw into some stuff like OTOLOGIC and ZOOLOGIC or something else if more stuff is opened. The other thing I considered was IGLOO 9J to try and set my X up. I totally failed to consider another X setup play, COL(U)GO I5. It's a less worrisome version of IGLOO, giving around 2 points fewer back on average, fewer bingos, and giving me a little bit more. IGLOO is more defensive down the line, which is good if things fall into place, but not good when they don't. I also totally missed OXIC 7J, which is standard. I would consider this a mistake over COL(U)GO for sure, even though IGLOO appears to benefit me over time. FWIW X(U) sims similarly well to the X-setup options, and it also seems to complicate the game the most. With so few moves available in the position, I find it most outrageous that I failed to see other candidates, and am more concerned about that than anything else. #findingsmall #tacticssmall
Michael Early vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 35825)
Finding Medium
2K (F)OZY +38
D11 (T)OTTY seems right, I hit SIZ(Y) with an I, DOZ(Y) with an O, ZEDS or DE(CRYING) with an E, and a whole host of other fun scoring plays exist because I kept the Z, the best tile in Scrabble. #knowledgemedium #findingmedium
Joshua Sokol vs. Jim Nanavati (Game 40109)
Tactics Small
11H (FA)RER +16
Damn, just FAIR bingos quite a bit more. Too focused on undoubling Rs; of course the AERRS leave is stronger despite the dupes. #tacticssmall 18:46
Will Anderson vs. Terry Kang (Game 33397)
Vision Large
A1 A(P)ER +21
I was about to do O1 REpAIRE(D) until this got blocked, but if only I looked a little harder, I would have seen A2 (P)EARlIER. I should have put him away several turns ago and now! #visionlarge
Richard Popper vs. Samuel Kaplan (Game 47734)
Finding Large
3H cHIN(O)OKS +86
how does one spot KIbOSH(I)N(G) D7 and miss SINKHOl(E) O1. I sadly thought this was better than KIBOSHING so I played it. It is indeed better but ugh. #findingSADDEST
Seth Lipkin vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 47184)
Strategy Large
K9 C(I)T +15
C7 ECU is good here because I'm still scoring enough to stay in reach and, assuming my opponent has the J, I can still pick up a bingo after this. #strategylarge
Marty Gold vs. Nitya Chagti (Game 39568)
Finding Large
exch Y +0
It does give me a good bingo %, but the exchange was not worth it. 10F ZLOTY was missed and is certainly worth it because it gives me a juicy S hook that's not easy for Beth to block. The duck's blood pressure has increased. #findinglarge
Samuel Kaplan vs. Beth Mix (Game 44969)
Endgame Large
G11 L(A) +2
I thought the A(V)A play was genius, which it was, setting up Q(A)t/t(OY) and Qu(AY) unblockable. Sadly it gives me an out I somehow failed to see!!! And then I play this for some really stupid reason. Maybe hoping she missed Qu(AY)? #endgamesaddest
Irene Gedney vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 39598)
Knowledge Large
3J (F)AZED +36
3J (F)EAZE looks good here because I can use the D and S hooks + the Z isn't right on top of the double word as it would be with 3J (F)AZE. #knowledgesaddest
Terry Kang vs. Nitya Chagti (Game 38773)
Knowledge Large
10D ENTICES +72
I honestly thought he had taken away a ticket back into the game, but unfortunately I did not see my bing to the O, once again. Damn. If I had only thought about this rack as more than a "play ENTICES/IGLOOS if he doesn't block and play it with KIS if he does block" #findinglarge #knowledgelarge
Michael Early vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 35825)
Vision Medium
exch GNOQ +0
NC: Exch. NOQ I'm a dumbass. I saw the floating G and I thought "I don't need the G" but I can play 5F bingos ending in ING by keeping it #STRATEGYMEDIUM #VISIONSADDER
Nitya Chagti vs. Noah Slatkoff (Game 40846)
Tactics Small
I8 STRIGAE +76
Another tank here as I evaluated as many placements as possible. The board after STRIGAE was pretty close to locked down, FOXIEST plays aside; maybe one or two more defensive moves would create a real problem for Dave. Quackle actually prefers 11A STRIGATE and I5 AIGRETS, both of which I considered; I'm not sure I thought of 14B SEAGIRT, which is also a play it likes better. #tacticssmall
David Koenig vs. Will Anderson (Game 34597)