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NSC 2009 Commentary: Round 30

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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 30

Max Karten (Barrington, RI), having won division 4 already, received a bye this round and offered to help me. I gave him a pad of paper, told him to not bug anyone even a tiny bit (I already bug them enough) and take some notes. And he did! The next few bits are from his notes that he typed into my laptop while I was away. Thanks Max.

On table 29 in division 3 Dallas Johnson (Stow, OH) and Susan Hoehn (St. Paul, MN) have five 8-letter words on the board with CODGIEST, FlOURING, FUMARIES, PATIENcE, and AWAITING. Susan's win 448-368.

On table 24 in division 3 TEASLES* by William Snoddy (Asheville, NC) is left on the board by Evelyn R Davis (Anaheim Hills, CA). Stephanie Steele (St. Paul, MN) tried the same misspelling of TEASELS the day before against Matt Canik (Austin, TX) and he challenged it off. William's win, 512-363.

On table 14 in division 3 Mike Stafford (Columbus, OH) and Anne Hay (Raleigh, NC) have quite a board going with bLUEINGS, then from the I INFLATED, and then a beauty from Mike wrapping RE(DUCT)ASE for a double double, then playing the natural ROSELIKE to the E! Three 8-letter words and a 9-letter word all touching, Mike's win 423-357.

On table 1 in division 5 Ohio native Doug Szymkowiak (North Ridgeville, OH) wraps up one for the home state beating Andy Murphy (Greensboro, NC) for his 9th straight win and Gibsonization following a 3-game losing streak! Doug's win 397-274 with natural RELOANED and LiNEATE.

On table 9 in division 5 there is a 10-letter word on the board but thats not the whole story. Tina Totten King (Charleston, WV) gets away with RERATING* on Jon Canik (Austin, TX) only to let Jon get away with PRERATING* and then PRERATINGS*! Tina's win in a squeaker 349-347.

Thanks so much, Max!

Former World SCRABBLE Champs, Joel Wapnick (Montreal QC) and Adam Logan (New York, NY) played this round. Adam had secretly been looking forward to this matchup as he'd been able to play both Panupol Sujjayakorn (THA) and Nigel Richards (MYS) and defeat them both. But this was not to be a game that Adam won. It was all Joel: 536-383. I see Adam's ENDEARS and RATIONS. Joel played three in a row: LINGOeS, HOOTIER, and OUTLEAPT and the got down two more later on: SEPALINE and ARTIFICE.

Jason Idalski (Lansing, MI) played David Pearl (Long Beach, CA) and it was a very close, very exciting game. David started strong, playing PENLITES for 70, VITTLES for 64, QI for 64, and FOX for 40, jumping out to a 327-107 lead. Jason started the hard climb back wtih INTERIMS to through the M for 62, ACETATE for 76, RANCHED for 78, and EUsOCIAL through the C for 60. It was a 449-438 win for David. Great come from behind work by Jason to keep it close.

Thomas Reinke (Middleton, WI) and Matt Robin (Sterling Heights, MI) had played each other twice before this round, each getting a win. The third time gives Thomas a 2-1 lead in their battle, with a 397-372 win for Thomas. I see OVICIDE on their board. This gives Thomas the last win he needed to sew up division 2. He will be gibsonized for the last game. Congratulations Thomas!

In division 3, Matthew Collins (Cincinnati, OH) and Mark Garrod (East Lansing, MI) had a 6-bingo game. TEMPERS, HARDIEST, and EMBROIL for Matthew and consecutive ATTENDS and ATTENDEd bingos for Mark. I also see RETIEING. This was a 514-373 win for Matthew who had no blanks.

Hubert Van Tol (Rochester, NY) had a fun game with Sue Gable (New York, NY). He opened with PROBlEM for 80, then Sue played ROSEATE for 72. More tit for tat with his HOWDY for 48 and her MARGINAl to the L for 64. He then played FROTTAGE through the O for 64, she replied wtih KEXES for 45. It was his two final plays that put him ahead for the win: JUMBLE for 60 and RELATION for 60. Hubert's win, 441-379.

Doug Szymkowiak (North Ridgeville, OH) has won division 5 and he will be gibsonized in the final round. He had a 9-game winning streak that earned him the division title. This round he defeated Andy Murphy (Greensboro, NC), 397-284.

Dave Leonard (Buffalo, NY) defeated Joe South (Piqua, OH) this round, 393-333 to sew up division 3's win. He, too, will be gibsonized in the final round. He and Joe agree that FINNIEST, which drew a challenge, probably won him the game.

So, Thomas Reinke (Middleton, WI) wins div 2, Dave Leonard (Buffalo, NY) wins div 3, Max Karten (Barrington, RI) wins div 4, and Doug Szymkowiak (North Ridgeville, OH) wins div 5. That means we have only one division to be determined in the final round: div 1. So, all eyes will be on the annotated board 1 game between Nigel Richards (MYS) and Dave Wiegand (Portland, OR).