Pre-Christmas Scrabble [2011-12-22]

I had a rare chance to visit the club and decided to drop in. Turn-out was great and it was wonderful to see so many familiar faces.

Game #1 vs. Mark Edelson

Was not expecting much in this game as Mark is an excellent player. Mark played three bingos early (in four turns) to build a big lead. I had many of the power tiles but they just didn’t have much synergy for me to make big scoring plays. I had either too many vowels or too many consonants. Given that I haven’t thought about Scrabble since the Nationals in August, I wanted to focus on making good plays. Having forgotten about the score for several turns, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that I was down by less than 100 points (i.e., within a bingo). I was making scores as best as I could while Mark was shutting down bingo lanes. In the end, I just didn’t have enough. Still, it was an enjoyable game.

FINAL SCORE: 426-395 (loss)
BINGOS: Me – hOA(R)IEST; Mark – RINGLET, STERNAL, INNUe(N)DO (great find!)

Game #2 vs. Sophia Ozorio

This game was close (as they always seem to be when I play Sophia) until a two play sequence at turn #10. I got fortunate with a Z play on a TLS combo for 65 points. Then I found REMER(G)ES which got challenged.

FINAL SCORE: 465-380 (win)
BINGOS: Me – RETINAs, AnIMA(T)ES, REMER(G)ES; Sophia – OVE(R)PAYS (good find)

Game #3 vs. Yvonne Lobo

After opening with a bingo, my tiles got very tough – I had way too many Is. There’s only so much you can do to play off multiple Is until you either have to trade or find yourself falling behind. Given my tough tiles, I was forced to keep the board open. Then Yvonne pounced on an open F in row 1 for her triple-triple (149 points!). Good find.

FINAL SCORE: 496-274 (loss)
BINGOS: Me – CABOOSE; Yvonne – ArOUSED, STU(F)fING

It was fun to be back playing Scrabble, but I could tell I was rusty. Hopefully I’ll have more chances in the new year.

Happy holidays. See you in 2012.

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