Vision Medium
N2 BRAInI(E)R +68
Scored as 78. This is the only bingo, but I did not consider playing at 15H after BENT came down; RABIETIc and BIRRETtA are available. #visionmedium #scoring
Alec Sjoholm vs. Gary Waltuch (Game 33629)
Tactics Unspecified
K10 TELLY +22
sick block, though I guess it was pretty likely. This was a huge blunder since TELLY takes an S! I would like to say that I knew this and it was an exploitative move, but it wasn't. Optimally TROLLY is the best play here despite hanging the Y. Or just CLOY or COLY for safesies. #knowledgequestionable #tacticsfail
Joshua Sokol vs. Bob Frey (Game 35815)
Vision Large
1L (B)ONG +21
At this point I was shitting my pants. I thought he had S? and was gonna end me on row 14. I burnt a lot of time thinking of ways I could block, I even considered 14D TOC before realizing that was insane. I eventually resigned to just play equity, but I had already used like 5 minutes or something. B2 NOTC(H) looks fine here. #visionSADDEST
Chris Lipe vs. Joshua Castellano (Game 34968)
Knowledge Medium
9G DRY +20
wrote down BYRON* here, didn't play it. Didn't know D(O)RMY surely. I also wrote down "NOT BEST" next to my play because I really didn't like it. #knowledgemedium
Sue Gable vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 38420)
Endgame Large
13H (O)Y +9
from this position arises (edit: what I thought was) the most amazing endgame sequence I've ever seen a sub-1000 rated player play. I genuinely thought I was Q-sticking here. (edit: And I was)
Quackle's choice is N1 NU, and it seems to win by 209 according to its endgame analysis, so at least that's consistent with its estimations here. Still don't know if I should trust this.
#endgamesaddest
Irene Gedney vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 39598)
Strategy Large
I3 DOCKE(T) +16
wow, it looks like i made a very amateurish bad play. i'm surprised I6 OF(T) and 9I OF sim THAT much better than it. i gotta get better!! - 12.5 #strategylarge
Jay Levin vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 32941)
Strategy Small
1H RO(N)IN +18
:O blocked IRONIES and DERISION and didn't have a blank! I think I have to go for turnover here with IRO(N)IES despite being more likely to hit a bingo after RONIN #strategysmall
Fern Lindzon vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 33976)
Strategy Large
10I (V)O(E) +8
Drat. NOESIS scores 45, and playing parallel to OBOE on column M with any number of things retainng one S is just far better than fishing just an O. Might've been a bit tilted drawing my third consecutive unplayable CSW bingo - but the disappointing thing is that in this particular case, I might've been more apt to find NOESIS since I already had ANOESIS# in my mind. #visionlarge #strategylarge
Matt Canik vs. Will Anderson (Game 33560)
Knowledge Medium
15J BIR(L) +7
J13 BUR is probably fine, i just have to be great at iterating through the bingos to make sure i'm not missing anything. i saw lysines/linseys so i definitely have to block. -6 #knowledgemedium
Nigel Peltier vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 32701)
Strategy Small
2J WEI(R)D +34
WEEDIER only plays in Collins! :( WEIRD might just give up too many points. JEWED or WIDEN sim better partially for that reason -- i also bingo slightly more often after JEWED. -2 #strategysmall
Trip Payne vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 35446)
Finding Large
E9 FAU(G)H +24
wow, this is a plain bad play. i don't think i even looked that long, FAUGH seemed obvious to me. but surely 13L AHOY for 34 is great, and E10 FUGIO looks good too. -10 #findinglarge
Alec Sjoholm vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 32680)
Strategy Small
K2 ID(E)AL +26
Quackle despises this, but I think it's fine - GOO isn't a good leave but the PLAYMATES spot is quite dangerous and IDEAL does as good a job of blocking it as I can while scoring a lot in the process. I saw GEOIDAL but it leaves lots of stuff like ZEES there and also puts an A in a dangerous spot at K8. Maybe a #strategysmall, but I still think my play is ideal.
Mack Meller vs. Matt Graham (Game 34732)
Tactics Small
2J KEPI +36
i didn't see PINKOEs here, but it might not be worth bingoing. my first choice KOP is best. i want to give myself the best bingo chances next turn. -2 #tacticssmall
Cesar Del Solar vs. Jonathan Kent (Game 32940)
Strategy Small
C3 HO +24
i like this move, but quackle thinks just dropping the H is fine. apparently i bingo close to 89% of the time when i do that! definitely sounds a bit high, since i don't hit bingos with the B or R, and he's going to block some percentage of the time. so i'm not sure. anyway, i didn't see that many possible bingos, and wanted to keep the F for scoring at O4. #strategysmall ?
Cesar Del Solar vs. Seth Lipkin (Game 33831)
Tactics Small
A12 (P)OND +21
POND has the high valuation, but N5 ADORNS wins more often, because it blocks the lanes on columns L and N without opening an easy lane on column O. #tacticssmall
Alec Sjoholm vs. Betty Cornelison (Game 33768)
Knowledge Medium
J5 OPES +28
jeez, sigh, totally missed the anagram of OPES -- PESO. even 6H OP is pretty decent. OPES is just like "here be my guest and score some points / bingo". -7 #knowledgemedium
Cesar Del Solar vs. Jay Levin (Game 33682)
Strategy Large
14K JI(B)E +26
I was paranoid about Z plays on row 15, but 6J JO(I)NE(R) looks best here (and also 15M SAZ still plays, sad!). I can probably only lose to a bingo after 6J JO(I)NE(R) and it blocks a bunch of them. #strategylarge
Terry Kang vs. Joshua Castellano (Game 37520)
Strategy Large
14F FLARERS +0 (Lost challenge)
yeah really bad decision here. I usually don't like phonying with stuff where you know what the definition would be, but the doubt is on whether it is included. I feel like people are usually more likely to challenge cause they don't give you as much blind trust as if you plop down some crazy shit. If I didn't have (A)RF available then this decision would be more okay, but I had already talked myself into playing FLARERS and playing it quickly, so when TOO came down I still just went with my decision, but it's so much better to just play ARF. #strategylarge
Jackson Smylie vs. Tom Bond (Game 33106)
Tactics Small
H7 DEFT +16
shiiiiiit I missed FREMD. #findinglarge I was also close to exchanging here, and I think it is fine, especially cause DEFT doesn't take an S so overlaps may not leave me with much. ERST sims best, followed by EMRST then DERST then DEFT quite a bit below #tacticssmall as well for the DOUBLE FAIL!!1
Jackson Smylie vs. Doris Bourbonnais (Game 35371)
Strategy Small
1A O(B)ELIA +27
once again OI is a pretty nice play to set up a lane, now especially it's pretty justified. Also missed A(B)OIL here. I focused on the B too much and was too intent on keeping the scoring pressure on - don't always need to lower variance!!! hard to expect how much she'll open, so ABOIL seems fine as well. #strategysmall
Jackson Smylie vs. Julia Bogle (Game 33121)
Knowledge Medium
E7 D(E)NTINAL +68
i did see NONTIDAL but i wasn't totally sure about it. i figured i would take the bingo i'm sure of. I think i would have tried nontidal if dentinal didn't exist. no excuse for not learning my high prob bingos better, though. better hit the books again... -4 #knowledgemedium
Lisa Odom vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 33680)
Strategy Medium
12G WOKEST +33
i saw the only bingo here, 10E NETWOrKS. the main reason i didn't want to play it is that i might be down if he bingoes to DIGHTS afterwards, with an uglyish board. i thought i could take points, keep the blank, and draw some more of the good stuff in the bag? tough choice, but WOKEST does sim just above NETWORKS by win %! 12L WOKS though is the top play, which takes out that lane as well but keeps a better leave for bingoing next turn. oops. -6 #strategymedium
Cesar Del Solar vs. David Pearl (Game 35443)
Knowledge Medium
14I SNEAPEd +82
once again being safe, though I missed SPElEAN in the same spot which I would be sure of as opposed to SPEANEd, which I was not, given I always confused SNEAPED SPEANED with SNEAKED SKEANED*. #knowledgemedium #findingmedium
I suppose he could have S(E)RAGLIO, the only playable 7 on row 14, and nothing else. I should therefore play deP(L)ANES A2 or fish with E(ME).
Will Anderson vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 32878)
Strategy Small
9H TALLY +23
TALLY isn't really a dramatic enough fork to do over just I6 LAZY; a play to the triple after TALLY leaves a horrendous board for scoring if I don't hit a bingo, and hitting one isn't very likely. That being said, LAZY can get me fenced in pretty much immediately as well. Tough spot. I think LAZY is better. #strategysmall
Kenji Matsumoto vs. Will Anderson (Game 32882)
Tactics Large
15C WINgB(A)TS +63
Absolutely and horribly inexcusable. This is invalid and I held for a while, unable to remember if BATWING or WINGBAT* is valid. I remembered that Reid had a history of knowing a lot of words and I know that I don't know anything at all and eventually accept and make the spread-cutting move but WINGBATS* ISN'T A WORD ASDAFSD
Literally when the only way to lose is to accept a word that looks funny to you, you should probably challenge that word. Guhhhhhh. This is one of many, many times where I show absolutely no faith in my word knoweldge this tournament.
#knowledgesaddest #tacticssaddest (idk if I can tag two things but I'll try)
Reid Hattaway vs. Matt Canik (Game 32971)
Tactics Small
8A EX +36
Quackle prefers KEX, blocking JUPONS with four S's unseen. I chose EX because I wanted scoring potential with the K, though it is not all that helpful on this board. #tacticssmall
Alec Sjoholm vs. Noah Walton (Game 33574)
Strategy Small
E2 CONE +27
HONE is better because it just bingos more and scores more. CONE also takes an S hook and I didn't see it. ONE also might be the play because it doesn't create the S hook #strategysmall
Keith Savage vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 37662)
Endgame Medium
12F (G)IGATON +22
Ben looks like he wants to cry and I'm convinced lunch is after three games so I just played this fast so I could eat. Unfortunately lunch is after 4 games #endgamesadder #lunch
Matt Canik vs. Ben Schoenbrun (Game 32972)
Knowledge Large
D2 VEX(E)D +32
UNFRESH* #knowledgesaddest
After this game I think I looked up all the FRESH words and that allowed me to win a turn on FRESHING against Jason Li some months later in Ottawa.
Sue Gable vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 38420)
Finding Large
G7 pAYOUTs +66
I spent over 7 minutes on this turn and couldn't find any double-doubles. Two blanks are too hard for a feeble mind like mine. There were four 2x2s. Gah this was horrible #findingsaddest #knowledgesaddest
Charles Reinke vs. Matt Canik (Game 33041)
Strategy Small
E10 (L)A(W)INE +18
this time my play was terrible. i don't care. this is the worst draw ever to EIN?. i was trying to make it slightly harder for him to hit the triple but i may have also made it slightly easier. what a disaster of a draw this was, it nearly seals the game, but i deserve it for the bad play earlier on. -AIII sims best; i almost did that. -3 #strategysmall
Jonathan Kent vs. Cesar Del Solar (Game 32937)
Finding Small
14A INLY +19
in huge trouble, need to bank on a 3x3 now. Really stupid to not play LINY instead, but his idea of playing ENTOIL might translate into not blocking the L next turn either? No, this was clearly a miss. #findingsmall
Kenneth Rubin vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 34822)
Endgame Large
M8 OVUM +16
I dunno. Championship Player says it's alright, but the only play that has a nonzero win % is M8 UM, which sets up the massive N8 VAQUERO which should always be blocked. Probably worth a shot I guess. #endgamelarge
Sam Kantimathi vs. Joshua Castellano (Game 32558)
Strategy Large
H1 COM(A) +24
I was trying to block row 1 bings, but with both blanks unseen I think I just have to try to go for my own bingo. 13E SITCOM and 14B (TE)LOMIC both look good here to dig for a blank. It's likely he has one, but I think turnover could be important here with so few tiles left to dig for the other. #strategylarge
Joshua Castellano vs. Cedric Lewis (Game 38280)
Finding Small
N14 P(I) +8
Only four possible racks from the unseen tiles yield bingos: EEINRSS, EEIORSS, EENORSS, and EINORSS. PI blocks EEINRSS and EINORSS at N7, but I had not seen that Carl could play 9H ROSERIES or 10H SORENESS. N7 PADRI, RAPT, or RIANT or 9H RITARD blocks all possible bingos. #findingsmall
Carl Johnson vs. Alec Sjoholm (Game 34513)
Strategy Medium
F1 (N)Y +30
The Duck says there is a 1/8 chance of winning after this play but I'm pretty sure it's lying to me because I went through every endgame and it never has me winning. So, since I'm pretty sure there is no win, I have to hope he screws up. This play fishes for 15D DISU(N)ITE but he's probably going to see that and block. I need to play something like O11 Y(OWIE) to hit the M because he is probably less likely to see 2G D(I)MITIES. If Quackle is actually correct about the 1/8 please let me know, but for now #strategymedium
Nick Ball vs. Joshua Castellano (Game 32761)
Endgame Large
6A AQUA(S) +41
quite a few plays with with blank draws, but it's highly unlikely I'll draw the blank after he played bemix. I didn't see any legit wins over the board so I went with AQUAS which put enough scoring pressure on to make his endgame fuckupable. I missed a win with the S though - QUANT wins with the S cause he can't play TiME cause I get STIME/BATS for the win! #endgamelarge
Jackson Smylie vs. Maxim Panitch (Game 35243)
Strategy Medium
G5 YURTA +15
interesting position, depending how I view his odd placement of BLITE. it could be something weird like a scoring rack where he wants too make two spots, or a K. most likely is probably an X. not really sure. it's hard to justify blocking the X bomb cause my plays there are pretty bad and leave the G column. I could also counter-setup with ZA/BA, which mmight actually be fine anyways. this play was a sort of counter-setup, keeping 12a possibilities and h1 possibilities. Q thinks it's way too big a sacrifice, that I should just play YA. i'll call this a #strategymedium
Jackson Smylie vs. Matt Graham (Game 34536)
Finding Large
4L UNAI +20
I got very fixated on the N column lane now, but I think I can do better by just outrunning. I missed the 7I Z spot, AZ(I)NE is good there. I also have ZEIN(S)/MOWN, which is probably best to take out that marginal high scoring lane as well. UNAI has a bit of defensive merit and can still outrun if I find the BIZ spot, but I think ZEINS is wholly better cause I can outrun next turn. #findinglarge
Anna Miransky vs. Jackson Smylie (Game 35363)
Finding Large
K11 Q(I) +22
I probably missed the spot for QUIRTED here. Actually I think I chickened out? Though UUUU? is out, still probably worth it? It's hard for him to fish for a big QU play, especially if I could just draw a U. #findinglarge
Joshua Sokol vs. Jackson Smylie (Game 31305)
Vision Large
K3 REXIN(E) +26
9K REX would have been fine, it's more defensive and doesn't offer her big Column J scoring opportunities. I didn't like the C being in the position it's in, which kinda prompted me to play this. 9K REX is still the play. #visionlarge
Judy Rosenthal vs. Samuel Kaplan (Game 37150)
Finding Medium
M7 V(A)URIEN +30
Didn't generate M8 AVOURE as a choice, which is better defensively and bingos a solid amount more than VAURIEN (33% to 21%). I had it down to BOUVIER vs. VAURIEN which is indeed more of a coin flip. #findingmedium
Ben Schoenbrun vs. Will Anderson (Game 34618)
Strategy Large
M6 SLOWED +26
Quackle hates this play, and I agree that it is unsound. My idea was to generate turnover for the blank while setting up a marginal lane on column N that is difficult for Noah to close (without opening another lane or sacrificing points) or to hit, because I have the last E. I considered 12H DOWSE, but Noah usually has one or more of DRRRS and can close the board easily by playing on column M. I did not consider any fishing plays. L8 WE is best by far, setting up OKES on column M and tempting a play at 8L that opens lanes for 8s. #strategylarge
Alec Sjoholm vs. Noah Walton (Game 33574)
Knowledge Medium
6H ENGINES +67
Maybe gunshy about -INGS after CASTLINGS, but I realized in-game that PEENINGS was definitely good a turn or two later. #knowledgemedium
Chris Lipe vs. Will Anderson (Game 34978)
Tactics Small
2N AT +28
or ZA. I only hit 11/46 on the O column but another 6/46 on the 6 row, 4 more on column E, and also OVERTASK on row 15. Looks like a small improvement over AT #tacticssmall
Chris Cree vs. Jackson Smylie (Game 33112)
Tactics Small
N10 TALON +26
This has the best equity, but now that I win 100% (more than 99.995% anyway, but it appears as 100% due to rounding error), I should give myself a chance to pad my spread with 8L LINO--which makes a bingo lane on column O and prevents Michael from using the hotspot at 8L-8O. #tacticssmall
Alec Sjoholm vs. Michael Baker (Game 33631)
Strategy Medium
E9 (C)OZIED +36
i need to consider defense more. the problem with COZIED is that it gives back a lot more points than ZOOID, which has an atrocious leave but scores 39 pts. i didn't really consider OUZO; i think that's an in-between play that i would have made if i'd thought of it more. J7 DOOZIE is also decent. -6 #strategymedium
Cesar Del Solar vs. Frank Tangredi (Game 33679)
Tactics Small
H8 (G)URU +5
7I OUR is also cool, the U isn't super parallelable so it's kind of a board fork. GURU doesn't give much back, and I chose this one for 1 less point because it doens't allow h11 plays. h11 plays aren't so bad for me cause they give more lanes, but they still score better than most other plays on the board. I also like leaving a bit more distance from the E column in case a LEGGY play comes down, partially inhibiting my lanes. although EORS > ERSU, the better board position makes OUR bingo almost as much as GURU. #tacticssmall
Darin True vs. Jackson Smylie (Game 33104)
Endgame Small
C1 KLAP +35
Felt clever mathing this out and feeling like I had gotten this endgame right - but Quackle humbles me with 2L NAN, setting up NANE/KELP in a way which can only be blocked if Lynda plays something like US/NANS for 10, eating both the J and V when I respond with 15K KELPY. KLAP is second best and 4 points off of that sequence. #endgamesmall 7:10
Will Anderson vs. Lynda Woods Cleary (Game 33405)
Strategy Small
2C CROZE +38
Case S is extremely strong here with LUVS and a very bingo-friendly pool, so I played CROZE to at least partially block some stuff through the K and completely take out the the row 2 bingo line; 1I MOCKERS was very tempting as well. Obviously, I'll feel pretty stupid any time Joey triple-triples through the K after CROZE, whereas pretty much no bingo after MOCKERS will score enough to threaten me, especially with me holding the Z. I think I got a little greedy here and should've played MOCKERS just to secure the win. #strategysmall
Will Anderson vs. Joey Mallick (Game 32724)
Finding Large
F2 G(R)OW +12
a really nice X-setup with 5E TOW(A)GE but I chose to play it safe and not even look for that. Seems way to prudent. #findinglarge
Judy Horn vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 35860)
Finding Small
11D ENvIERS +79
this was probably the most idiotic thing I did at Nationals. I saw that I could probably find a 2x2, but thought that I could just hook AY and score just as much, since the 2x2 was just 6 more points, equivalent to hooking AY! So I just went for the first thing I saw. Unfortunately, math does not work like that. #sad #findingsmall
Darrell Day vs. Joshua Sokol (Game 33130)