Scrabble Tournament in Ardmore, Oklahoma at Lake Murray 4/2002

It was the first tournament in a new location: Ardmore, OK,
at Lake Murray. It was also my first visit to the state of 
Oklahoma. That seemed to set the stage for several other firsts 
during the tournament.

It was also my first tournament coming from the Dallas metroplex.
Since I'm temporarily living in a small town just south of Denton,
an hour away, I decided to commute. Commuter fee: zilch.

I was very unprepared for this tournament. Studying the past couple
months has been limited due to moving, working, buying, selling, 
taxes, and of course, the start of baseball season. I haven't played
online in a while. Other than attending club once or sometimes twice 
a week, not much Scrabble activity going on.

On the drive up I listened to a George Carlin CD.

Going in I was the 9th seed of 14. Ratings ranged from 1516 to 1856:
1800s - 2
1700s - 4
1600s - 3 (incl. me at 1616)
1500s - 5

No easing into the tournament though; I start against the second
highest rated player: Darrell Day.

I tried something new this tournament with rack recording. Instead
of writing the rack on the scoresheet (in cipher) I simply recorded
the racks in plain text on the sheet underneath my scoresheet. I had
just come up with the idea and didn't have a good system, so I used 
backs of other scoresheets, sometimes two games per sheet. Having
done this, I doubt I'll ever go back to using cipher.

Anyway, I went first with AEBFLNV. FABLE for 28, then HERBAL e4 24.
Darrell had played FARROW off the F and then opened up a triple-
triple with LINE at d1. But I hold AODKNVV. I play VODKA hooking
FABLE for 31. Darrell follows with EASE at b14 hookin FARROW for 
21. I wonder what his leave was. Now the board is quite open, but I 
have OOCNNSV and play COVEN at b11 for 10, leaving SON, drawing 
DIET. TOE-SIN: "is to march with plain boot wax." However, Darrell
just stuck an I in a double-double column with AZIDE 10i for 35. 
After dwelling on the triple-triple row, I settle for the double-
double column for 86 [1]. Darrell then closes the triple-triple off
with DULLY for 27. My next rack is ?EEINXY. I remember spending a
lot of time on this scenario. So many close calls, but nothing 
worked, especially in the 15-row. I didn't know the 8, but it 
wouldn't have fit anyway [2]. I finally play EYEN at c3 for
27, leaving ?IX. Darrell fits PATIO at j2 for 25. My rack is now 
FUGE?IX. Again I'm frustrated because nothing seems to work on the
15-row without burning the blank. I finally play FID at L8 for 22. 
Darrell follows with a harmless QAT 3i for 22. My next puzzle is 
?AEUGMX. Frustration again. I opt for CAREX 11b 28. I pick up 
?IN. Ha! Darrell plays CEP m9 18. My rack is ??MUGIN. I looked
briefly at hooking AZIDE, but then took the simple DUMPING at 15e.
Score is now 331-212. Darrell plays GENTS 12i 20. I'm figuring he
has the final S in his rack. My rack? AAOMRRN. I tried to block
the N column, saw nothing, time was running low, and I played AR 10f
15 to take a 346-212 lead. Darrell sets up HE 5b 5, presumably with
an S in his leave. From a bag of 10 tiles, two T's unseen, I draw
TI. I'm assuming Darrell had the other T in his rack too. After 
playing TRIM a5 24 (370-217) Darrell comments about my "of course
having the T". I didn't know it, but TOMAN might have been a better
play, especially with two O's unseen. I draw JOWA. Still nothing
for Darrell in the N column as he plays DIG a1 5. I play JO 12a 17
(387-222). Darrell's last rack is STOURIE. Non-go; he does TUI B7
9. My last rack is UAAOOWN. I botch my next play a bit, playing VAW
13b 22, leaving UAOOWN. Darrell outs with ROSE L1 23, gets 18 from
my rack, and I lose -10 for time. Final 399-272. My first win
against Darrell Day.

My next game was against Nancy Scott (1500s). As I arrived at her 
board, her previous game was showcased. I saw zarif* on the board.
I did a quick sanity check and then remarked, I /thought/ that wasn't
good. She sighed something about not challenging it. I go first
with AIOOBNX. I hadn't reviewed the X's lately. I reviewed the J's
and Z's the night before, but not the X's. Somehow inbox* looked
good. With zarif* in mind, I went for it. No challenge. It turned
out to be a close game through 12 turns. I'm up 289-265, but my rack
is now ?EEHPRS. The previous turn Nancy had blocked two different 
S-ending hooks, but I'm able to hook AM and TO to bingo at 14i [3].
Nancy has DICIEST in her rack, but it doesn't play. She ends up
playing DICIEST through the S in my last play. I pick up ?EEIURR,
but miss the bingo-out under time pressure [4]. I go over -10, but
still win 384-308.

The rest (I'll go thru more details in some of these games later):

3. Richard Johnson. Win (first time we played in tournament). I 
was scheduled to play Steve Oliger in round 3, but the tourney 
computer program f*cked up and somehow I ended up playing Richard
instead. Too bad.

4. Pat Barrett. Win (a tournament first)

5. Glenda Short. Win (I'm 6-0 against her now)

6. Sam Dick-Onuoha. Loss (a tournament first)

7. Paul Holser. Loss (a tournament first).

8. Mike Early. Win (a tournament first). 911 points combined.

9. Steve Glass. Win (a tournament first). I got a triple-triple
(a tournament first) for 203 points. I also get away with a phony in
the rack TODIES+M. The two valid anagrams are weirder than what I
played. 

10. Travis Chaney. Loss (a tournament first).  The lowest seed, he 
might reach 1600 from this tournament.

11. Pat Barrett. Loss. A win would have clinched second place for 
me. Instead Pat gets second. She double-blanked me, and nailed the
game with 96-point ?AILPSQ [5]. 

Personal records set this tournament:

1. Highest turn in which I lose the game: 95 against Paul Holser.
The play, ironically enough, was SETBACK. Previous high: 94.

2. Highest combined total: 911 with Mike Early (461-450). 
Previous high: 899 (with William Pizer)

3. Highest turn: FLAVINES 203 against Steve Glass.
Previous high: 116 (SECTION).

4. Highest rating of opponent in game I win: 1856, Pat Barrett.
Previous: 1828 (Iffy Onyeonwu)

5. Highest opponent score: 533 by Paul Holser.
Previous high: 520.

6. Highest placing in division one: 5 (previous 8)

7. Highest winning percentage in division one: 7/11 (previous: 6/11)

8. Highest average ppg by opponents: 401.82 (previous: 387.36, 
Lampasas 1/2002)

9. Highest new rating: 1675

Observation: I had at least one blank in the 7 games I won. In the
four games I lost, I had no blanks. I only had both blanks in 2
games. I bingoed in each game, a total of 18 times. I need to
figure out how to win without a blank.

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Answers:

[1] SEDITION
[2] EXIGENCY (needed an open C or G, but I didn't know it anway)
[3] HELPERS (AMP, TOE)
[4] REQUIRE would have played in the 15-row, dammit
[5] PASQUIL (I had no chance to win if it is good, so I challenged; 
it's good. But I had EULPRTZ in my rack, so I lose about 87 spread
points in the process.)