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NSC 2009 Commentary: Round 11

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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 11

Chris Cree (Dallas, TX) is happy. As he prepares to settle down to his last game before lunch, he's at table 13. He sighs and says, "I finally made a prime number table, one that does not have four divisors!" Chris ended up winning this game against Stan Miranda (Albuquerque, NM), but it was one that Chris could have lost had he not blocked the board just right in the endgame.

Vince Castellano (Fairfax, VA) finds me far from division 1 and brings me over to see five bingos played in a row, by his opponent, Ian Weinstein (Coral Springs, FL). Vince played SPEEDER for 94 and QUIRTED for 72, but midway in the game Ian's pants caught on fire an h eplayed five consecutive bingos: StANZAED for 86, ORALISM for 74, AROINTS for 74, SMElTING for 89, and OPALINE for 83. It was, not surprisingly, Ian's win, 541-388.

I see an empty board and glance over paperwork. Ross Brown (Kanata ON) defeated Christopher Sykes (Cambridge ON), 486-294. I see Ross' TRINDLE for 68 and sPAVINE for 79.

After losing the last three games, Panupol Sujjayakorn (THA) was happy to earn a win this round against David Pearl (Long Beach, CA). I see Panupol's AMPOULE through the P and LAWINE through the A that created RAN/TI/IN/FE. David got down ELECTEES. David and I asked Panupol how to say "you are welcome" for the gift of the win. He pondered for a bit because in Thai there isn't a response to thank you or an equivalent to "you're welcome." Ravee Joradol (THA) walked by and we brought him into the discussion. He suggested: "Duai kwaam yin dee." So, if that means "soaked cabbage socks," you have Ravee to thank!

The play of the event thus far was an extention to EAUX made by Marlon Hill (Baltimore, MD) in his game with Andy Bohnsack (Madison, WI). It was a mere 69 points, but it was style galore. Marlon front-hooked to create GASPEREAUX!!!! Lots of other stuff happened, too, but the crowd around the finished game was large and Marlon was holding court wtih aplomb! His win, 490-429.

David Whitley (Monrovia, CA) and Chris Lipe (Rome, NY) call me over to their game. This game ended closer than one would have thought because at one point, it was a 245-111 lead for David. Chris managed to play ORDINATE and then picked a rack that contained QXZ?S. His ensuing plays were XI for 45, QAT for 24, and SOYUZEs for 117 on a triple lane. David fought back and slapped down BArIUMS to keep a lead, but after the flurry, Chris was only down by 10 points. David's win despite Chris' best efforts, 458-439.

The six hundred club has a new game: John Viloria (New York, NY) vs. Chris Bonin (Toronto ON). Chris got down EMERSIoN from the first E for 80 and then John happened: GLACEED for 74, LIFeLONG to the G for 74, SNOOTIER through the I for 70, SPRITZ for 37, a 94-point double-double UNBRAIDS through the R, and ANTIHERO through the E for 62. I might add that some of Chris' other plays were pure creations of lemonade out of lemons: AALII, VAV, and OUPH. John's win, 614-290.

Rachel Knapp (Tustin, CA) asks me to come see her game wtih Pakorn Nemitrmansuk (THA). A crowd has gathered around their game. She points out Pakorn's REIGNITeD from the first R through the G for 80 and his UPHEAVED through the A for 77. Rachel played WHIRLERS from the W for 80, OPERATE as a nonbingo double-double for 36, and the utterly gorgeous NASCENCE as a 167 point triple-triple. Her win, 457-428.

Joey Mallick (Cape Elizabeth, ME) finds me and suggests I check out the Robin Pollock Daniel (Toronto ON) vs. Steve Polatnick (Miami, FL) board. He said, "it contains your kind of word!" I saunter over and find SHERRIES on the board!

Sam Kantimathi (Sacramento, CA) tells me that earlier today he played REITERATED to the TED. woo hoo!

A beaming Pat Hardwick (Akron, OH) asks me to see her 583-370 winning board. Her opponent, Maliha Mahmood (Tustin, CA), fourd QUERIES and Pat played NEEDING and AVENGeS. However the play of the game was Pat's terrific triple-triple EQUALISE through the Q (hooking to create ET/UP) for 234 points! Great play!

Adam Logan (New York, NY) continues to be undefeated in division 1 with a 573-302 win against Rafi Stern (Seattle, WA). Check out Adam's four bingos and Canadian spelling in the annotated game section!