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NSC 2012 Commentary: Round 1

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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 1

Will Scott (Versailles, KY) stops by. He is staying off-site and biking to the venue each day. He is from Kentucky, so he's used to hot weather, but the humidity here is even getting to a true Southern man!

At table 1 in division 3, Michael Bassett (Port Clinton, GA) is playing Gene Rawlins (Scarborough ON). I am sensing a theme. They are both in red T-shirts and are playing with red tiles. Gene's last play? PRETTIER. How fitting!

Jesse Matthews (Kelowna BC) vs. Lou Cornelis (Stoney Creek ON): SEEPER went down for Lou and AnARCHY and SOLOIST for Jesse. The real news: it is a Jesse vs. Jesse showdown in round 2. Jesse Day (Berkeley, CA) vies for the best Jesse award!

CJ, the division 2 assistant tells me that NARGILES and RESPLITS have been played in her division.

His is the first NSC that Mary Rhoades has EVER played in. She has been running these things since they began! And to honor her years of commitment and service, Sue Grogan-Johnson presented her with a beautiful bouquet of flowers in a glass vase. We will know how to find Mary today!

Longtime player, Paul Avrin, has regretfully had to withdraw from this year's NSC. He's been feeling not well and despite being here on site (he flew in from New York yesterday), he can't focus on all these games when he isn't at his best. We all hope this passes quickly and that Paul is feeling like his ol' self soon!

Lawren Freebody (Hawthorne, CA) started the day sizzling hot. Sadly, her opponent, Orry Swift (Houston, TX) was just a bit hotter, winning their game, 480-457. A six-bingo slugfest, I see Orry's VENTAGE for 68, SIDEmAN for 80, and OUTDARE for 68. She got down LACTONES for 64, SWInGER for 81, and DOLERITE for 80. Nice start you two!

Dave Leifer (Alpharetta, GA) had his chance under the big lights at division 1's annotated board 1 against Nigel Richards (Malaysia) this round. I ask him how it went and he said, "At one point, I was ahead, 174-76. I got the game's only two bingos!" However, Nigel's QUA/UDON and ZORIL plays for a billion each helped him sew up the win. First-time annotator, Pete Zeigler, got to annotate Nigel for this game. He looks like he's holding up well. Until you get your sea legs under you, annotating can be a stressful business!

Welcome to Orlando, Cedric Lewis (State College, PA)! He just defeated Geoff Thevenot (Austin, TX), 442-429. Both say it was a good game. Cedric got down NOWITER# and Geoff played VIBEX# and JARP#.

The game of the tournament, so far, just took place in division 2. Paula Catanese (Mountain View, CA) defeated Kevin Leeds (Austin, TX), 601-496! A six-bingo dance, I see TRISOMe, NEOLITH, REsTIVE, NITERIE, ALLERGEN, and the oh so lovely, 212-point triple-triple STICKLED! Way to go Paula!

We are blessed to have the lovely Kate Fukawa-Connelly here for the weekend to help out in division 1. At a new job, she couldn't' get quite enough time off to swing playing the whole event, so she flew down for the weekend! We are delighted to have her here and she is tweeting out news as quickly as she finds it!

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.