Sometimes it’s better to be lucky… Club night Thurs. May 10, 2007 May 11, 2007
Posted by Hans in Club Results.add a comment
I must say that sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. For some strange reason, I had great tiles for most of the night – why couldn’t I get some of this luck at either Ottawa or at Buffalo? Oh well, can’t worry about bad tiles.
Game #1 vs. John D (view full game)
For some reason, I’ve always had trouble playing against John. He plays a good game but seems to get the majority of the good tiles. Today, the tiles were a bit more balanced and I managed to make some good plays. John started out great and had a sizeable lead until I played the first of my two bingos, ARSINES, to take a small lead. A few turns later, I pulled in front for good with SNORTER, which seemed to demoralise John. John made the game close with his only bingo of LACToSE, but I made several mid-20 point plays and shut the board down. John just couldn’t keep up, especially with his clock winding down.
FINAL SCORE: 396 – 337 (WIN)
Game #2 vs. Percy F (view full game)
I opened this game with AUDITeD and that sort of set the tone for the game. A few turns later, I played ORSINES – I saw SENIORS and SONSIER, but made a mistake of thinking that ORSINES was good – I was thinking of ORDINES/SORDINE (DINEROS, INDORSE, and ROSINED being the other acceptable anagrams of SENIOR+D). Fortunately for me, Percy was already behind and wasn’t sure if that was good or not. He let the play go. Percy did a good job of trying to keep up but I just made a few more plays. His bingo of TRIBUtE(S) closed the gap to about 65 points. From there, I just shut the board down and took my points to close out the win.
FINAL SCORE: 426 – 353 (WIN)
Game #3 vs. Paul W (view full game)
In all fairness, I think I should have lost this game. Paul had a big lead on me (90+ points) nad was getting most of the good tiles. If he didn’t get so greedy and started to shut the board down, even just a bit, then this game could have been over very quickly. Instead, I was able to play DEVISEE for 93 points plus the challenge to catch-up. Then, on his very last play, Paul played RaNTING for 68 points to jump to a 375–319 lead. I had been trying to bingo for a few turns and had managed to balance my rack to a very friendly AEELRS?. Luckily for me, Paul’s bingo left me a wide open bingo lane along column A and the TWS. I played hEALERS for 81 and the win. Lucky for me, Paul played a phoney, aBI, as part of his bingo that allowed me to play out with my bingo. If he had looked around a bit, he could have played (E)NTeRING for 77 points, virtually guaranteeing his win, as I wouldn’t have had that juicy bingo lane to get out. The sad thing is that I didn’t really notice the phoney until after I played – I was so focused on the bingo lane. Could have been costly if that was in a tournament.
FINAL SCORE: 404 – 375 (WIN)
**********
Now that I’ve had some tournaments under my belt, I think I’m going to focus on studying as I still have huge gaps in my word knowledge. I need to finish going over the J, Q, Z, and X 2–8 letter words. Then I’ll probably start working on the high-probability 8s or 4–5 letter words. I’m at the point where I can be dangerous, given the right tiles. After last night’s performance at the club, I think I’m hovering around the 1270 mark at the club. Unfortunately, my NSA rating is still down in the dregs at 866. I really think I need to stay relaxed during tournaments to play better.
I’m still debating on attending the 2007 Arden Cup/Chicago Scrabble tournament. If I can get my accommodations settled for a reasonable price, I think I might attend. I’m also debating on whether I should “play-up” a division for possible rating points or stay in the lower division and play for the cash. Last year’s Division E/5 winner, Faye Edwards, went 20–0 (+1826) to win the trophy and $400 prize. She’s staying in the bottom division, presumably to win again.
If not the Chicago tournament, I’ll probably lay low and study for the summer until the 2007 Michael Wise/Toronto Scrabble tournament in September.
Buffalo Scrabble Tournament – A weekend that wasn’t… May 7, 2007
Posted by Hans in Tournament Results.1 comment so far
After a pretty bad weekend in Ottawa, I hoped to have a good showing at the Buffalo Scrabble tournament. Unfortunately for me, I played (in my opinion) some great Scrabble with bad tiles and some marginal Scrabble with good tiles. The result was a 7–7 record (+321). Not sure what my new NSA rating will be, but I expect it to go down a bit (the official results are not yet posted by the NSA). Here are the quick recaps of the games:
Game #1 vs. Eric Peters (view full game)
I had some very ugly tiles but managed to keep the game close. I played DONATER* (phoney) and DIVIDES while Eric played URINATES.
FINAL SCORE: 369 – 413 (LOSS)
RECORD: 0 – 1 (-44)
Game #2 vs. Ida Scaglione (view full game)
I had the lead for most of the game because of an early bingo, PALACES, and a later play of BENDIER. Ida closed the gap with two great turns of RELISTS and QUA (67 points) to make the game close.
FINAL SCORE: 420 – 392 (WIN)
RECORD: 1 – 1 (-16)
Game #3 vs. Josephine Lamatia (view full game)
A close game with several lead changes. I played TACTILE and DANKIER* while Josephine played RUSTIER.
FINAL SCORE: 391 – 377 (WIN)
RECORD: 2 – 1 (-2)
Game #4 vs. Sam Scheiten (view full game)
A weird game that I didn’t play particularly well. Sam traded almost every other turn. I had OUTLINE as my only bingo while Sam played YEARLING and RINSINGS (didn’t know this one was good).
FINAL SCORE: 357 – 341 (WIN)
RECORD: 3 – 1 (+14)
**** Lunch Break ****
Game #5 vs. Linda Wancel (view full game)
I got beat because I got frustrated with a closed board and got punished when I tried to open up the game. I had an early bingo FaNCYiNG, using up both the blanks. Linda played RETINAS and then just made good plays with slightly better tiles.
FINAL SCORE: 288 – 401 (LOSS – ouch!)
RECORD: 3 – 2 (-99)
Game #6 vs. Janet Elliot (view full game)
Just a game when I lost my brain. We had three consecutive plays of challenges. I burned both blanks playing miTOSIS. Some dumb play by me at the end lead to my loss. I missed a phoney play of QUAS that lost the game – dumb of me.
FINAL SCORE: 328 – 337 (LOSS)
RECORD: 3 – 3 (-108)
Game #7 vs. Alyssa Michalsky (view full game)
A game that I think I could have won. I started well with CANASTA on turn #2. Alyssa came back a few turns later with PEONIES and then hurt me with ZINGED for 74 points. The worst part was that I had RETINA+E on my rack and I remembered only two of the three anagrams – TRAINEE and ARENITE. I completely forgot RETINAE! I could have played it too! I just couldn’t recover.
FINAL SCORE: 389 – 333 (LOSS)
RECORD: 3 – 4 (-164)
Game #8 vs. Peggy Tartaro (view full game)
I played the only bingo of this game – (DE)DIcAtEE – burning both blanks. There was an open R sitting in the top left corner and I chickened out on a bingo – REALTIES. For some reason I just didn’t think it was good.
FINAL SCORE: 305 – 410 (LOSS)
RECORD: 3 – 5 (-269)
**** End of Day 1 ****
After a good start of 3–1 before lunch, I finished the day with four consecutive losses. I wish I could blame my losses on the lunch, but I can’t. The most frustrating thing was that I knew I could have played better but I didn’t. FYI – we went to eat at the world famous Anchor Bar, home of the original Buffalo Wings.
Game #9 vs. Olivia Durant (view full game)
Just a poorly played game by me. Olivia played very well with the tiles she got. I got behind and then tried to bingo my way to a win. That strategy didn’t work. No bingos this game.
FINAL SCORE: 306 – 354 (LOSS)
RECORD: 3 – 6 (-317)
Game #10 vs. Dorothy Hackney (view full game)
I needed a laugher like this one. Dorothy is a sweet lady and I had a fun time playing against her. I actually felt bad to win by such a large margin. I played MEWLING and ANESTRI. She thought about challenging both of those bingos, but decided against it. I noticed that she was hoarding the S-es. On her final rack, she had something like SSS? and a few other tiles.
FINAL SCORE: 429 – 259 (WIN – finally!)
RECORD: 4 – 6 (-147)
Game #11 vs. Peter Holowka (view full game)
I opened this game with FAIREST and I just didn’t let up. I later played INOSITE as the only other bingo in this game. Peter tried to play GLARINg but made a mistake of trying a front hook to LO to make ALO. I challenged that off and noticed that he could have played (D)ARLINGs or several other bingos through a free E. I was up by over 150 points and had the game locked up so I left those bingo lanes to see if Peter could find a bingo. This was his first tournament and he seemed very frustrated. Unfortunately, I blew his great tiles with a play of GRAN(D) for only 9 points. I managed to finish with a personal best of 493.
FINAL SCORE: 493 – 256 (WIN)
RECORD: 5 – 6 (+90)
**** Lunch Break ****
Game #12 vs. Dolly Burkhard (view full game)
I was pretty tense this game as Dolly opened with CARavAN burning both blanks. I made some good plays toward the end (WAGER 49 points; JESS 67 points) to get a lead and then hold on for the win. Surprisingly no bingos this game.
FINAL SCORE: 359 – 339 (WIN)
RECORD: 6 – 6 (+110)
Game #13 vs. Diane Brown (view full game)
Another game that I think I could have won had I not gotten frustrated with a closed board. There was one bingo lane available, but I had to play through ON. I almost had RENDITI(ON) but wasn’t able to make that play. I eventually made pRODDIN(G) to catch-up but missed LANGU(A)GE to win the game. Even without that last bingo, Diane made a great play of OUTSTART that I challenged (it’s good). She then had slightly better tiles at the end and eked out a win.
FINAL SCORE: 345 – 364 (LOSS)
RECORD: 6 – 7 (+91)
Game #14 vs. Linda Iannetti (view full game)
I have to admit that I pretty much got all of the good tiles. With some good tiles, I finally made great use of them. At one point, I had SNORKER on my rack and hoped for an L. Linda plays LINTS. I play SNORKLER* (apparently it’s a phoney). Three turns later, I had BEEIWY?. I didn’t see anything promising on that rack, but Linda was taking some time so I just started shuffling tiles. If I had an L, I could play BIWEEkLY. Guess what? I got an L when Linda played DOLT. She challenged the word and lost. Later, I played EXTRUDES and then just played off my tiles to close out the game. I had a new personal best score and broke 500 for the first time ever.
FINAL SCORE: 518 – 288 (WIN)
RECORD: 7 – 7 (+321)
*********
I finished the tournament with 19 bingos played versus 11 for my opponents. I think I should have won two or three more games if I didn’t play so poorly. Oh well, you live and learn. I think the most important thing for me is to relax and not get so caught-up on the winning/losing. I seem to get frustrated and just mentally lose it.
On a more positive note, I did hit two personal bests at 493 and 518 points scored. I broke 500 for the first time and I hope to do so again some time. I did find some really nice bingos, some which are very low-prob: BIWEEKLY, DEDICATEE, and FANCYING come to mind. Unfortunately, I missed a very hi-prob bingo that I really should have had (RETINAE).
Joseph Bowman made an interesting comment to me at the tournament. He said that he *knows* I’m a better player than my current NSA rating of 860–ish but wonders why I’m not winning. Mr. KT made a similar observation (I beat him twice on Saturday night during some friendly games). I would probably agree with them. I think I play at around the 1100 level. At this tournament, I had a bit of bad luck combined with some bone-headed play that resulted in my less than stellar showing. I think I just need to stay relaxed and hopefully the wins will come.
Ottawa Scrabble tournament: A tough weekend May 2, 2007
Posted by Hans in Tournament Results.1 comment so far
I had a tough weekend at the Ottawa Scrabble tournament. I finished with four wins, eight losses (-245). My rating dropped to 862 (unofficial results).
I didn’t have a good feeling coming into this tournament as I was … distracted leading up to this weekend. My grandmother passed away last week and I was mentally out of it for about 10 days. We had family visit from overseas and they didn’t leave until Wednesday, so I didn’t have any time to prepare with all the funeral arrangements and family being over. Thursday night at the club had me playsome brutal Scrabble. To top things off, I didn’t get much sleep this weekend because I was staying with some friends who I hadn’t seen in a while. They recently moved to Ottawa (well, technically Manotick – about 30 km south of Ottawa) and so we were up late catching-up, just hanging out, or playing on their new Nintendo Wii. I think the earliest I got to bed this weekend was around 1:30am. Put all of these factors together and it doesn’t put me in the best position to perform well.
Here are some quick recaps of all the games:
Game #1 vs. Gerda de Vries (view full game)
I started off well and made use of some decent tiles. Gerda made a series of solid plays and came back to make this game close. Toward the end of the game, I kept drawing consonent heavy racks, making scoring difficult.
I played two bingos: ACTIONS (to open the game) and (E)RASIONS. I got away with VIGGS (phoney) as I confused it with VUGGS. Later, I let a phoney go when I let TE go because I got focused on correcting the score. Just a bad mental mistake.
FINAL SCORE: 383 – 347 (WIN)
RECORD: 1 – 0 (+36)
Game #2 vs. Denise Dixon (view full game)
Not much to say about this one. Denise opened with FOGHATS (phoney) that I should’ve challenged, but chickened out on. Quackle pointed out that I missed BOGEYED on my first turn after Denise played FOGHATS. I had some decent tiles and made a pretty good comeback but fell short. I had REGENTS as my final play, but nowhere to put it and played SERGENT as a desperation move (challenged off). My only bingo was ALPINES.
FINAL SCORE: 322 – 385 (LOSS)
RECORD: 1 – 1 (-27)
Game #3 vs. Aldona Archer (view full game)
This was a frustrating game as I got the short end of the tile bag. I got mostly vowels the entire game. To make matters worse, I realized that we didn’t use a correct tile set – I only realized this as I was reviewing the game on Quackle. During the game, I just thought that I had mis-tracked. In all fairness, Aldona played a solid game, taking her points when she had them and focusing on making 3–4 letter words. I can’t remember if we counted before the game, but I noticed that there was an extra F and D, while we missed an A and T (I think).
FINAL SCORE: 294 – 393 (LOSS)
RECORD: 1 – 2 (-126)
Game #4 vs. Dan Beausoleil (view full game)
I played a good game against Dan, but got a bit unlucky at the end. I got stuck with only consonents at the end and couldn’t play off enough tiles to keep my lead. I played ELUSIVE and ISATINE, while Dan played LARGEST. I had AEIINNS and totally missed ASININE.
FINAL SCORE: 373 – 429 (LOSS)
RECORD: 1 – 3 (-182)
Game #5 vs. Maggie Poulter (view full game)
I don’t want to get into this game, but I won by 2 points. Maggie asked for a re-count and found a discrepancy and found 3 points and won the game. For some reason, I didn’t catch this error (during the recount). When I finished typing this in on Quackle, I noticed that our original count was correct. Just goes to show that I wasn’t right (mentally) this weekend. Even if the new count was right, I should have asked for a recount because the score changed – my fault for not recounting. Dumb! Dumb! Dumb! The worst part is that I had a better out play that would have given me 2 more points! I could have won regardless of this addition error – arghh!!!! I will not make this mistake again.
FINAL SCORE: 378 – 379 (LOSS)
RECORD: 1 – 4 (-183)
Game #6 vs. Pamela Hunter (view full game)
Basically, Pamela got great tiles while I only got good tiles. She played three bingos (DEFLEAS, NATTERY, and UNITERS). I ended up challenging the wrong phoney bingo (DEFLEAS when I should have challenged NATTERY). I played ANCHORED and made some decent plays, but couldn’t catch-up.
FINAL SCORE: 403 – 441 (LOSS)
RECORD: 1 – 5 (-221)
Game #7 vs. Helen Norman (view full game)
I finished off the first day with a good game (having some good tiles helps). I played UNABATED and ANESTRI as my two bingos.
FINAL SCORE: 442 – 300 (WIN)
RECORD: 2 – 5 (-79)
Game #8 vs. Sheila Masterson (view full game)
A close game that I lost because she got slightly better tiles than me, especially towards the end of the game. In the beginning, I only had consonants and then I got stuck with almost all vowels at the end of the game. Sheila played the K, J, Q, and X on the final turns to pull away for the win. I played OUTLIER and Sheila played SOAPIER and EVASION.
FINAL SCORE: 357 – 373 (LOSS)
RECORD: 2 – 6 (-95)
Game #9 vs. Rod Carleton (view full game)
A tight game at the end. I played HEROINE as my only bingo, but Rod countered with ZEKS for 74 points. He then played BARLIES, which I didn’t challenge.
At one point in the game, Rod just stood up and said “I’m going to the bathroom”. My only problem with this was that he did this after drawing his tiles, shuffled them on his rack, and looked at them for about a minute before leaving. When I called the Director, she said that the other person is allowed to go to the washroom. I tried to explain the situation, but I think the Director mis-understood. After lunch, I explained the situation to the Director again, and she said that she mis-understood me at the time. I’m starting to get a bit annoyed at people not knowing the rules.
FINAL SCORE: 368 – 345 (WIN)
RECORD: 3 – 6 (-72)
Game #10 vs. Cathy Alexander (view full game)
My game against Cathy was interesting. The board got closed up and it felt like every time I tried to open up the board, I either had crappy tiles (mostly consonants all game) or Cathy would pounce with a high scoring play like COZY (36), FARE (33), ore ORE (19). After playing a late bingo (IRONIES), she started to close the board, which was a good strategic move as I seemed to have the better tiles at the end. Unfortunately, there really wasn’t anywhere to play. Quackle pointed out that I missed a bingo on my second last turn (TONETTES – playing through a T on the board), but there was no chance I was going to find that word. After reviewing this game, I realize that I made quite a few sub-optimal plays. I think I was just unsure of what to do because I had so many consonants this game. In all, Cathy played a solid game and scored well. Hopefully I’ll have better luck against her in the future.
FINAL SCORE: 338 – 383 (LOSS)
RECORD: 3 – 7 (-117)
Game #11 vs. Patrick Niesink (view full game)
I really don’t want to review this game as I got mostly vowels all game and Patrick got seemingly everything else. The game got so bad that I told Patrick that his bingo was a phoney and that I was going to let it go because I was already down by over 100 points with one turn to go. I had AEEIORY and there was no way I could catch-up and I just wanted this game to end. The most incredible thing is that Patrick tried to convince me that his play (STRICTS) was good. Nice try there.
FINAL SCORE: 270 – 436 (LOSS)
RECORD: 3 – 8 (-283)
Game #12 vs. Rod Carleton (view full game)
Not sure what to say about this last game. I was down by about 130 points at one poine, but managed to play my way back. I got lucky as I played a phoney bingo (SEAWING) to let me back in the game.
FINAL SCORE: 368 – 330 (WIN)
RECORD: 4 – 8 (-245)
**********
My next tournament is this coming weekend (May 5–6, 2007) in Buffalo. Hopefully my brain will be a bit more focused and allow me to play better.
