Go to: Commentary Games Players Photos tsh Reports Standings

Back to NSC 2011 Live Coverage

NSC 2011 Commentary: Round 14

[ ]

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 14

Our last game of the day! As expected, the Hoang brothers: Andy Hoang (Cary, NC) and Kenny Hoang (Cary, NC) finished their game very quickly. It was a 428-378 win for Andy. Kenny played CRETINS for 91 and ENSNARES and Andy got down tRIENEs. The key to winning for Andy was careful tracking and knowing he had to catch Kenny with tiles. So, Andy blocked up the board a lot and caught his brother with JOTRQ! Andy ends today 9-5 and Kenny is 8-6. The two played over lunch, too, in a casual game, and that one was won by Kenny. A bit about these boys — they come from a North Carolina-based family of four children, three boys and one baby sister. Andy, the oldest, is 13 and is one half of the 2009 School SCRABBLE Championship team (along with Erik Salgado). He's participated in three National School SCRABBLE Championships and has one more year of eligibility, next spring. Kenny, is 12, has been to two NSSCs and is happy to report that he has two more years of eligibility.

We have one more School SCABBLE champion in Dallas this year. One half of the 2010 Championship team, Bradley Robbins (Windham, NH) (whose partner is Evan McCarthy), is playing in division 2. Former and current NSSC participants in Dallas this year: Joey Krafchick (Roswell, GA), Matt Canik (Austin, TX), Stephen Sneed (Fort Worth, TX), Hannah Lieberman (Charlotte, NC), Noah Lieberman (Charlotte, NC), Morris Greenberg (Brookline, MA), Richard Spence (Tucson, AZ), Jack Titzman (Magnolia, TX), Suhas Rao (Apex, NC) (Kenny's partner), and Sam Rosin (Bernardsville, NJ).

Division 3's Mike Lean (Washington, DC) played Margaret Bee (Houston, TX) this round and their board 1 game winds up just as I approach. I see VIGOURs, TZARIST, NoVENAE, and OMELETs. Mike tried DATURO*, but they only realized it was unacceptable after the game. It was Mike's win. He ends today in 1st place with a 13-1 +1676 record. Orry Swift (Houston, TX) played Ross Brown (Ottawa ON) this round. I see Ross' STANDUP and AUGURERS and Orry got away with RESIGnEE*. Of this play, Ross commented that it scored less where it was played than the "acceptable word in those tiles," which played elsewhere, so he took it. In the endgame, Orry fished for ALGAROBA and he did get the tiles in his last draw, but Ross sensed something coming in "that" area of the board, so he blocked with AZO. Ross admitted that he didn't know that word, but blocking seemed prudent. Ross' win, 452-357. David Koenig (Silver Spring, MD) lost all three this afternoon. This round, against Geoff Thevenot (Austin, TX), David opened iwth HORDEOLA and got down WRONGEST and GRIEVERS, but Geoff played HEAPInG, EBONITES, HAIRLIKE, and TEETOTAl. Geoff's win. Will Anderson (Croton, NY) was dismayed. He'd played four bingos in his game with Bradley Whitmarsh (Attleboro, MA) and still lost, 373-490. DARTLED for 79, FEsTIVAL for 67, MOORAGES for 76, and SUITERS for 73 were Will's bingos. Bradley played CHILlER for 80 and VOCATIVE for 80. Per usual in such cases, Bradley made a lot of high-scoring smaller plays such as JEEZ on the triple line which front-hooked QUIP to create EQUIP. So, essentially he played the J, Z, and Q in one move; something he'd never done before! Ben Schoenbrun (Ardsley, NY) played a 9 through disconnected letters this round in a game with Sam Dick-Onuoha (Dallas, TX): REINVADES through the V and second E for a 94-point double-double. The other fun Ben creation was QuIZ on the triple for 96 which he later extended to QUIZzING, also to the triple for 78. Sam Dick stayed in the game, getting down UNPARTED, but it was Ben's win, 487-425. Like he was offering me candy, Randall Thomas (Calgary AB) said, "What a little color?" In a game earlier today against Jason Keller (Highland Park, NJ), a US state was played. To the word ADO, Randall played COLOR for COLORADO! Also, the word COLLEENS was played and challenged: it's good. Jason won that game. From the front desk of the rare 600-point club comes a fantastic game that took place between Jim Kramer (Roseville, MN) and Nigel Peltier (Seattle, WA). Since the game was pretty much a soliloquy for Nigel, let's just start with his first move and keep going: MADRONA for 76, STERNAL for 75, PrIZES (a nonbingo) for 80, the gorgeous dump of GARIGUE for 18, OMITTED for 88, FaLX for 72, TACRINE for 86, POOD for 44, and COHO for 40. And then he rested. Jim did manage IGNITORS for 63 (there were tiles left for Jim to play?). And just to prove that he is human, Nigel tried PELL# (a word good in the World SCRABBLE dictionary) and Jim called it off. A terrific win for Nigel, 610-333, and he ends today with an 11-3 +1203 record. Ever thoughtful, a wistful Joe Edley (Port Jefferson, NY) tells me that he was 6-3 at one point in the event and is now 7-7. The tile gods have not been balanced and he's had a total of 4 blanks in 14 games. For those not sure what this means, 14 games means 28 blanks. He's seen 4. Wow. Morris Greenberg (Brookline, MA) went 6-1 today, he is very happy. In the midst of all these stories, it is well worth mentioning that Joel Sherman (Bronx, NY) is the only undefeated person left in this event and he's doing this in division 1, mostly at the annotated top table. If you have never checked out the annotated game section, you really should. His run is impressive and his fans elated: Go Joel!

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.