|
Charlotte Scrabble Club
NASPA Club #668 |
Charlotte :: Myrtle Beach :: Gatlinburg :: The Park Carolina Cup :: State :: Alpharetta |
Day 2, and I'm already tired, having little sleep the night before. But I press on, as does our field, getting started at 9 AM sharp after the shortest announcement session ever (read: one: have fun).
Right off, it looks like Spazzble has bled over into tournament competition as laughter erupts from table 2. Phil Wertheimer has inadvertently played PID* (don't ask how), and Conrad, holding, calls for a director's ruling on whether the auto-pass rule is in effect. Conrad says he'll challenge off the play anyway after the laughter subsides, and play his bingo. Unbeknownst to Phil, it is the phony, ANGUSES*.
I get another call over at table 8 where after bingoing, Rebecca Lambert has pulled 8 tiles, 6 on her rack before she realizes what's happened. One of them happens to be the blank, but upon mixing them, Hannah Lieberman turns it back over and into the back it goes.
Joey K's looks could kill as it seems Winter has laid down MATELOTE on him. I think I captured the Kodak moment and hope to dig it up later.
At table 1 I see DEPICTED, CODEINES, UTILISED, and FINANCED. Dan Pratt's win, though James was in it until the end.
Crazy phony time in a game between Katya Lezin and Matthew Hopkins. CARD(SHOP)* stayed on the board, as Katya deduced she could still win by a few if she let it stay. She eked out a 5-point win.
--
Round 10, I see 9s on two different boards. It looks as if Chris Woodard has played a 9, RE(PE)ATING. And on a Lieberman board Katya and Noah square off, and Noah has played the 9, O(UT)SEeING!
--
11
At Ann Vyce's and Marilyn Pomeroy's board, I see the infamous phony RETONING*, which is really just NITROGEN.
Matt Hopkins and Chris Woodard have an interesting board where ANTHATE begat the 2x2 (H)OMAGERS for 110.
Chad Harris, master of vowel-heavy words, slapped down RILIEVI versus Conrad Bassett-Bouchard.
With DEEEIU? on her rack, Hannah beckons me over. I smile with sympathy, but regretfully offer no help.
And at table 1, I see TANDEMS, PICRATE, and RISOTTOS, on a game between 1st-place Dan Pratt and Barry Keith.
--
Fynl round -- that's F-Y-N-L -- says Fred Flyntstone. and after Woodard leads off in the 2nd versus Pratt with ELATION, after a visit to the challenge table for another play I missed, I see Pratt play HYENINE through the first N for 51. Later he played SPONDaI(C). Earlier yesterday he dropped down SNOWDROP, a play I forgot to mention. It's no wonder he's 10-1.
Table 2's action has Conrad and Barry Keith going at it. I walk over and see Barry giddy to have played D(I)CKHEAD for 98, which will likely hold up for this round's high play. Conrad hook LOSE to it for a 30+ score, and then proceeded to do just that. Also of note on the board are LIMBIER and ROILIEST.
--
So at lunch, Pratt leads the way at 11-1. Werth is a game and 400+ spread points back, and James, Hersom, and Bassett-Bouchard are all at 8 wins. But with 9 to go, it's still anyone's tourney.
At lunch we had pizza and anagrams, and I scored FOWLPOX, MAJAGUA, BIFOCAL, and SYMPATHY. Keith had KNIGHTHOOD. Harris had UNQUESTIONABLY (SEQUOIA -> EQUATIONS), and Hersom had most of the rest, too many to name. I got shots of what I could before it was all destroyed, which will be posted later.
--
The afternoon's been a bit uneventful, though Pratt's been on quite the streak. He has now won 11 in a row, but both Phil Wertheimer and Nathan James came incredibly close to offing him, losing by 3 and 5 respectively. Conrad Bassett-Bouchard takes Pratt on next in the penultimate round of the day, with Pratt leading the field now by 3 games. Conrad and Wertheimer both have 10 wins, and Harris and Hersom have 9.
--
Current action in round 15: right after I bestow on Randy Hersom his Mr. Lincoln for his high game of 522 last round, he lays down BRULZ(I)E/E(X) versus Chad Harris as a 2x2 for 90, possibly in the running for another high play skin.
Coming back from the challenge machine, I see Phil take HOLLIER* off the board in his game versus Winter.
Two plays on Noah Lieberman's and Ann Vyce's board I see: PHASING, then through the G, TIN(G)LERS as a 3x3. Looks like someone's beaten Randy's BRULZIE.
Katya's come up to me, just ecstatic, having felled Joey Krafchick by a mere 7 points. The key play was her playing QUA one short of the triple, holding two As, allowing her to bingo with HOARDED soon after. She is disappointed to hear that her monster 100+ play was bested by her son's 3x3, though!
Chad Harris has rallied, from Hersom's BRULZIE, having just played INSNARE(D) for 80, after a visit from a previous turn to the challenge machine, verdict unknown, and their scoresheets telling no tales. Other words are SPAVIET, OUTLEAP, and GENTRICE. Later on I learn that HERSOM, having just studied new 3s but missing the naughty ones, challenged HOS, losing a turn, and missing his chance to put down CROWDI(E)S when Chad played his INSNARED. A tough loss, that.
A very close game between Noah and Ann ends. After the earlier two bingos were RETRIAL and REIRONED*. Unsure who played which, but that along with AZURE was enough for Ann to eke out a victory despite Noah's 3x3.
Finally, with Chad Harris besting Randy Hersom, and Conrad BB finally felling Dan Pratt, it's become a much different tournament. Harris will get a crack at Pratt now, and Werthmeier and CBB will go at it at table 2, setting the stage for a very exciting final day.
--
Final round of the day, CBB is playing Phil Wertheimer. The first notable event is CBB's rack of EHLPRTW. Conrad chuckles, waves me over, and quickly rearranges his rack to PWERTH + L, his opponent's ISC handle. :)
Table 4, I see Nathan James challenge off Randy Hersom's attempt of FIDEIST/TRADINGS*. Those -INGS endings are obnoxiously tricky.
The first game in is a quick one, Chris Woodard besting Katya Lezin by 92, the highlight being his (S)PUNkIER for 80 to the TWS.
The rest of a round is a whirlwind of a blur, as I get caught up in observing exciting games. What's left of my memories can be spelled out in pictures. Ultimately, Hersom defeats James; Conrad BB defeats Wertheimer, ending an unforunate afternoon for Phil; and Chad Harris does everyone else a huge favor by winning his four afternoon games AND handing Dan Pratt his 3rd loss. This puts Conrad BB one game back of Pratt, and Harris himself is in 3rd, only 2 games back, a veritable darkhorse!
--
The nitty gritty!
Round 16 Ratings Rnk Won-Lost Spread OldR NewR +-R Player 1 13.0-3.0 +908 1843 1845 +2 PRATT, DAN (#2) 2 12.0-4.0 +587 1868 1857 -11 BASSETT-BOUCHARD, CONRAD (#1) 3 11.0-5.0 +903 1490 1576 +86 HARRIS, CHAD (#9) 4 10.0-6.0 +1152 1737 1708 -29 ZXQKJ, WINTER (#3) 5 10.0-6.0 +330 1703 1680 -23 HERSOM, RANDY (#5) 6 10.0-6.0 +124 1463 1567 +104 WERTHEIMER, PHIL (#10) 7 9.0-7.0 +757 1412 1483 +71 JAMES, NATHAN (#11) 8 9.0-7.0 +561 1750 1670 -80 KEITH, BARRY (#4) 9 9.0-7.0 +407 1557 1527 -30 KRAFCHICK, JOEY (#8) 10 9.0-7.0 +161 1616 1561 -55 GREENSIDE, GERRY (#6) 11 9.0-7.0 -364 1178 1239 +61 SHUMAN, BRUCE (#14) 12 8.0-8.0 +620 1578 1515 -63 LAMBERT, REBECCA (#7) 13 8.0-8.0 +250 1124 1148 +24 WOODARD, CHRISTOPHER (#17) 14 8.0-8.0 -184 1209 1215 +6 GOTTLIN, LIZ (#13) 15 8.0-8.0 -440 1157 1190 +33 VOVAKES, DON (#15) 16 8.0-8.0 -607 1154 1185 +31 LEZIN, KATYA (#16) 17 7.0-9.0 -189 1123 1121 -2 HOPKINS, MATTHEW (#18) 18 7.0-9.0 -287 903 992 +89 BLANCHARD, SUSAN (#23) 19 6.0-10.0 -681 1032 1071 +39 ABADI, MARK (#20) 20 6.0-10.0 -806 1084 1048 -36 POMEROY, MARILYN (#19) 21 5.0-11.0 -202 908 913 +5 VYCE, ANN (#22) 22 5.0-11.0 -654 1228 1148 -80 CLARK, JAMES (#12) 23 4.0-12.0 -1122 917 893 -24 LIEBERMAN, NOAH (#21) 24 1.0-15.0 -1224 641 639 -2 LIEBERMAN, HANNAH (#24)
--
Oh, yeah, the Nite Bird
One story really sticks out: Ann Vyce and Katya Lezin square off in the penultimate round, I think, and Ann plays JALOPS to the triple for a good score. Katya challenges, having not seen the variation. It comes back good, of course, so Katya starts Ann's clock. Ann sits there for a good 9 or 10 minutes before realizing it's her turn, each of the women thinking the other was planning some kind of brilliant endgame play. Guess you kinda had to be there, but the silliness had them rolling.
The round before that, I think, Ann tied with Joan Randolph, creating an interesting situation and a very confused TSH program. I plowed through, though, helping the tourney to its exciting conclusion in which Noah Lieberman bested Joan Randolph to win his first tournament. On the board of note is (R)EDAMAGE, which Noah played. Conrad and I both questioned its validity, as did Joan, so all credit to Noah when it came back good. Joan ended up finishing 2nd (not too shabby for a Gibson's coming out party), and Katya Lezin, Noah's mother, finished 3rd, making it the second time the two have cashed in the same event.
In Division A, Winter ended up being Gibsonized. Phil Wertheimer and Nathan James fought it out over 3rd, but Nathan wasn't too lucky (save a double-blank phony, FINCHED*), and Phil eked out a 2nd place cash finish.
--
Division A Rnk Won-Lost Spread OldR NewR +-R Player Last 1 7.0-1.0 +307 1737 1765 +28 WINTER ZXQKJ (A2) 1W:457-423:A4 2 5.0-3.0 +18 1463 1521 +58 PHIL WERTHEIMER (A5) 2W:470-435:A6 3 4.0-4.0 +201 1412 1453 +41 NATHAN JAMES (A6) 1L:435-470:A5 4 3.0-5.0 -61 1616 1592 -24 GERRY GREENSIDE (A3) 1W:471-310:A1 5 3.0-5.0 -62 1750 1697 -53 BARRY KEITH (A1) 2L:310-471:A3 6 2.0-6.0 -403 1578 1542 -36 REBECCA LAMBERT (A4) 2L:423-457:A2 -- Division C Rnk Won-Lost Spread OldR NewR +-R Player Last 1 6.0-2.0 +463 927 963 +36 NOAH LIEBERMAN (C3) 1W:452-293:C10 2 5.5-2.5 +12 0 1038 JOAN RANDOLPH (C10) 2L:293-452:C3 3 5.0-3.0 +357 1162 1139 -23 KATYA LEZIN (C1) 2W:429-305:C4 4 5.0-3.0 +157 1123 1095 -28 MATTHEW HOPKINS (C2) 1W:453-423:C5 5 4.5-3.5 +181 908 927 +19 ANN VYCE (C4) 1L:305-429:C1 6 4.0-4.0 +83 0 728 JIM HAWKINS (C7) 2W:349-300:C9 7 4.0-4.0 -17 903 918 +15 SUSAN BLANCHARD (C5) 2L:423-453:C2 8 2.0-6.0 -332 0 556 JORDAN LIPTON (C9) 1L:300-349:C7 9 2.0-6.0 -444 641 630 -11 HANNAH LIEBERMAN (C6) 2L:334-359:C8 10 2.0-6.0 -460 0 558 LESLIE HAWKINS (C8) 1W:359-334:C6
--
Okay, five more games to go. Great fun, but oh-so-exhausting. Games to watch: Winter takes on Dan Pratt, Conrad BB takes on Chad Harris, Keith plays Hersom, and Wertheimer and James get a rematch from their Nite Bird shenanigans. Until then! Zzzzz...