CNSC 2011 Commentary: Round 17

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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, Award Ceremony, Final Round 1, Final Round 2, Final Round 3.

John Chew writes: Chances of making it to the finals, based on tsh meta-simulation:
79% Joel
60% Tony
22% Adam
19% Robin
13% Jesse
7% Evan

The excitement in this room is so thick, you can cut it with a knife. A polite, Canadian thick, however. No one is in any danger!

Jesse Matthews (Kelowna BC) squared off against Adam Logan (Ottawa ON) at table 2 and some pretty stuff went down. I see Jesse's MARTeNS for 74 (I had to bend down and peer closely at the blank slip: was it an E or an I?) and Adam's DRABBLES for 76. After the game was over, which Adam won, 419-328, I heard Jesse say, "Oh yeah, and gYOZAS for a bunch of points, too!" Adam played that on the triple lane. Fun other words: RODDED, UNEARTH, PREXY, OYEZ, and KANJI. Of this last place, Jesse quipped, "How dare he misspell Kenji's name like that?" Mad came up and asked for the result slip, saying, "Are you good?" Jesse looked at her and deadpanned, "He's good, for sure. Me? Not so good."

Robin Pollock Daniel (Toronto ON) vs. Evan Berofsky (Thornhill ON): a lot on the line here. Both players concentrating fiercely at table 3. I see INSPIRES and ADULATE. FRENUM, TINEA, AIOLI, ZOOTY, and GENRO are on their board. They radiate a "do not disturb" aura. When the dust settles, Evan wins by 21. I find him out in the lobby standing with a man I don't know. It's his brother! They are both gazing at the result screen.

David Jones (Ottawa ON) vs. Will Nediger (London ON) at table 4. Nice to see David at a top table. However, this game wasn't his to win. I see his fun SIGANID for 71 (he plopped it down right in front of me), but that may have been it. I also see ACEROSE for 70, STOOLED for 71, EgESTION for 74, and pRENAMED* for 76. Will was quick to point out after the game that RENAMED is good, but not with the front hook. Other fun words: RUTIN, AECIAL, and PLAT. 511-331, Will's win.

Andy Saunders (Guelph ON) vs. Lou Cornelis (Stoney Creek ON): REGELATE for 63 for Lou and STARNOSe for 64, CARTONED for 63, and SOlVING for 70 for Andy. At the game's end, they shake hands and Lou pulls out his briefcase and looks up some plays. Lou has that look of a professional!

Juraj Pivovarov (Calgary AB) vs. Jim Nanavati (Burlington ON): READYING and ScORIAE.

Jeremy Hildebrand (Ottawa ON) vs. Sam Hollington (St. Catharines ON): DEPAInTS, PLEDGERS, and AUROrAE.

Geoffrey Newman (Brampton ON) brings me over to his game with Allan Simon (Calgary AB). All he wants to show me is his great triple-triple for 185: bAlKINE. Geoff got it down and though he is sad that it isn't today's highest play, he's super proud, since he couldn't use an open triple and opened a second lane (that he got to use so very well!).

They foyer is afire with anticipation. Everyone is crowding around the screen and some are kicking back with tea, coffee, or more snacks. When the dust settles, it is a four-man race for the finals: Tony Leah (Ajax ON), Joel Wapnick (Montreal QC), Adam Logan (Ottawa ON), and Evan Berofsky (Thornhill ON).

Chris writes:

Shan Abbasi (Mississauga ON) is a dancing fool, because he's just played ANOTHER disco nine. I've lost count of how many nine-letter bingoes he's played this tournament — it's at least three or four, and this is at least the second one through disconnected letters. This time it's Jeff Parsons (Logy Bay NL) watching him lay down RESTORING for 74 natural through the second R and the N.

Chris Bonin (Toronto ON) is playing Jackson Smylie (Toronto ON) and they've split the blanks so far... Chris with AZALeAS and Jackson with RERIDiNG*.

Geoffrey Newman (Brampton ON) has played one of the highest scoring double blank bingoes I've ever seen... Against Allan Simon (Calgary AB) he's put down bAlKLINE (balkline) slotting the K in a 185 point triple triple. As I leave the table he's putting down RINGERS for 72... this could be a huge scoring game. Like Harold Hill says, "But just as I say, it takes judgement, brains, and maturity to score in a balkline game, I say that any boob kin take and shove a ball in a pocket." The game ended up at 504-377 for Geoffrey. Allan had played WOOFERS for 96 to take an early lead, and Geoffrey, holding two blanks with one 3x3 lane open, and no playable 3x3s, opened up a second line dangling the L that ended up supporting his huge play.

Max Panitch (Toronto ON) just had a HUGE game Jason Ubeika (Mississauga ON) — seven bingoes! FILIAtE, RUGWORT*, LANDLER, ASCENTS, FRITTING, REAGENT, and InDICES... Max's win 662-305.

Matthew Tunnicliffe (Ottawa ON) lost a tough one to Zev Kaufman (Toronto ON). Matthew had RICHENED and INTARSIA as bingoes early, but Zev caught up with a triple triple OSTIOLAR (L as the blank) through the I in INTARSIA. Late in the game, with the second blank, Zev emptied the bag fishing a W holding AIRSV?... there were two Us unseen, and Zev drew one and bingoed out with SAVIoUR to win 456-338.

Looks like Chris Bonin and Jackson Smilie are in a recount. Jackson had a one-point lead after the game — he'd bingoed late with ALIENOR — but in the recount, AZALEAS was found to have been underscored by five points. A tough tough loss for the kid 437-433, but he's still been doing quite well this weekend!

Before Dielle Saldanha (Richmond BC) and Marilyn Wilkins (Richmond BC) started, Marilyn told Dielle, "Just pretend you're at my house," since, both living in the Vancouver area, they get together to play quite a bit. "She beats me all the time," Marilyn told me. It looks like it might have worked — Marilyn had QUANTILE for 106, but the rest of the big plays were Dielle's — RESURGES, ENCORINg*, and ZOEAE for 53. Dielle's win 440-377.

Over in the far corner of the room, Dielle got some vindication from her game with Robin. Dielle had played OVERSUNG* in that game and gotten in challenged off, but I see in the game between Craig Rowland (Mississauga ON) and Shaun Goatcher (Amherstburg ON), one of them has gotten away with OVERSANG*. Jeez, they may as well just add it to the dictionary, you know?

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