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NSC 2009 Commentary: Round 10

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Go to: Before the Tournament, Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Round 6, Round 7, Round 8, Round 9, Round 10, Round 11, Round 12, Round 13, Round 14, Round 15, Round 16, Round 17, Round 18, Round 19, Round 20, Round 21, Round 22, Round 23, Round 24, Round 25, Round 26, Round 27, Round 28, Round 29, Round 30, Round 31, After the Tournament.

Round 10

Two of the players from the 7th place team at the 2009 National School SCRABBLE Championships squared off this round. It was a Tristan Vanech (Venice, CA) vs. Ruben Radlauer (Los Angeles, CA) match. Their game in progress, I see Ruben's kETAMINE for 76 and Tristan's STRAINED for 71, BEaTIER for 92, and one more before I left: SLITTED for 76. As he put it down, he flashed a million-dollar grin and said, "I got another one!" I find out later that it was a 502-312 win for Tristan.

On an Andy Murphy (Greensboro, NC) vs. David Meredith (Bowling Green, KY) board, I see David's GROSSInG for 80.

Two members of the same club are squaring off right now in division 5: Tina Totten King (Charleston, WV) vs. Lisa Green (Charleston, WV). I caught them while they were at the challenge machine and see REUNITE on the biggest play made so far.

Vivienne Muhling (Toronto ON) has a legitimate gripe about the chair's being too low. She is not quite 5 feet tall! Easily solved by stacking two chairs atop one another for a bit easier view and reach.

In progress game between Aaron Daly (Sioux Falls, SD) and Russell Stewart (Atlanta, GA). Two bingos for each: Russell's BOARDINg for 86 and sLEEKING for 84 and Aaron's NEUTRINO for 92 and GREASES for 69. I see a used challenge slip on the board for NEUTRINO.

Gail Opperman (Marion, WI) vs. Christopher Walleck (Lakewood, OH): SNIVEL was played by Christopher and then he added ED to make SNIVELED. I also see CArBINEs.

Stephen DeBacco (Weirton, WV) vs. Mike Stafford (Columbus, OH). Mike opened with COMPETE. Stephen then played ARANeID to hook and make COMPETED. He also played SINUATE and STOOPED.

Bruce Adams (Rochdale, MA) wanders over to my desk. In response to my "how are you doing?" I get a "Pat Sajak, I would like to buy a vowel." He lost to Jason Hlady (Saskatoon SK) this round and this is his third loss in a row. Bruce finished with more than 18 minutes on his clock, which leads me to believe that him trying to force his opponents into time trouble may just be backfiring!

Monster win for Ian Weinstein (Coral Springs, FL) this round over Nathan Benedict (Tucson, AZ): 534-475. Pretty playas: INTERSEX, READINGS, and OILSEED for Nathan, and BARONNe, HASHING, BEERIER, TRIPTAnE, and the 66-point, nonbingo triple play of OUTJUTS to the S.

Panupol Sujjayakorn (THA) vs. Dave Wiegand (Portland, OR). All Dave, which caused Chris Wiegand, who was jetting by very quickly, to give a thumbs up as she ran, 499-318. The play that caught my eye was Panupol's ERYNGO to the triple. He also got down SELENIC for 72 to Dave's VeRVETS for 81, INTERLAY for 61, and ENSIFORM for 101. Bless Dave. He kept saying quietly to the not very careful transcriber, "Not ENISFORM*, Sherrie. Not ENISFORM, it is ENSIFORM." He is so quiet and even that his words just sailed by me. About 20 seconds too late, I realize that he is speaking to me and, sure enough, in all caps I've got ENISFORM* written on my sheet.

I comment in general. Everyone enjoys playing Panupol Sujjayakorn (THA). I hear it from nearly every person he plays. He is respected for his skill and his unfailing gentle politeness wins him fans.

Adam Logan (New York, NY) vs. Jim Kramer (Roseville, MN). Jim played BOSQUE for 40 and then put GIT/BOSQUET down for a bunch of points later, but Adam's APPEASER for 74 and VIROIDS for 77 and MUtINEs pretty much put the kybosh on Jim's celebration of cleverness. Adam's win, 481-311. Worth noting is this gorgeous late-game play by Adam. Through an open R, Adam played ADRIFT, creating AGA/DOXY as side words for a tiny 41 points.

Rafi Stern (Seattle, WA) vs. Nigel Richards (MYS) at table 1: I see Rafi's ACYLOIN, EUSTASY, and ROUTEMAN. NIgel played BOLSTER and CARDIOId. I think he also added ING to INDEX to reach the triple. Nigel's win, 490-463. This is Rafi's first loss of the tournament (not a bad winning streak at all) and leaves Adam Logan (New York, NY) as the sole undefeated player in division 1.

Joev Dubach (Somerville, MA) played Paul Hagelstein (Waco, TX) this round. Thanks to Paul for finding me half a football field away to view the board. On Joev's last play, he put down vENISON, which overlapped to make ERE/DEN/TI/IS/NO/AL for 76 points. His second to last play was RETINAL for 71. He went from being down by 96 to winning by 31, 399-368.

I find a note buried on my table. It points out two facts. As of round 8, division 2 had no more undefeated players and every player had at least one win. In addition, they had their first tie in round 8 and there were two!