TLW 87 - Nomads Results
TLW 87 - Nomads Results TLW 87 - Nomads Results
Stewart 1: EEIKNPT (-12)Stewart: “This seemed as good as anything else...”This is one of those situations where you can spend minutes looking for the right move,only to find that there isn’t one - or more accurately, there are lots. KINE or KITE at f6afor 20, KITTEN at j6d... They’re all much of a muchness. The thing to do is to playquickly and get on with the game.KINE F9a 20 20Terry 2: FANNY B10a 44 56Stewart 2: EPT IOOW (-36)Stewart: “Wasn’t happy about the volatility of this play but options seemed limited andthe rack leave was promising.”Slightly better than Stewart’s move is WOOPIE at k6d or k7d for 29. I didn’t knowWOOPIE at last year’s ABSP Masters, and tried WOOPSIE against Di Dennis, which wasdisallowed. So if ever you have a WOOPSIE on your rack, just remember to playWOOPIES instead!WOO C11a 23 43Terry 3: VEG B12a 28 84Stewart 3: EIPT GSX (-41)Stewart: “Went straight for the points here, perhaps sacrificing a potentially strong keep.”Other possibilities include EXIT at i10a for 30, keeping back the S but with the ratherclunky GP. The best rack-balancing move is probably PIG at i10a for 13, leaving ESTX,but 22 points is a lot to sacrifice.PIXES K4d 35 78Terry 4: VIM B12d 16 100Stewart 4: G T EGINT (-22)Stewart: “I’m annoyed with myself for not having been confident enough of NOGG toplay the bonus. GET seemed like a poor alternative.”Yep, it’s an expensive miss. A leave such as TING could go horribly wrong with a 3-consonant pickup. That said, GET is the best of the non-bonus plays.GET A13d 19 97Terry 5: ETAErIOS F5a 57 157Stewart 5: GINT ADE (-60)Stewart: “A lucky pickup given the GINT leave, but since it makes no 7’s I was stilldependent on Terry giving me a place to play an 8. Ah, there we go!”SEDATING plays in the same spot, but is slightly inferior in that it leaves vowels next toboth triple-letter squares.STEADING M5d 63 160Terry 6: REFUSED B6a 74 231Stewart 6: ABDLLOR (-71)Stewart: “When I picked this out of the bag I sighed that this lovely natural bonuswouldn’t go down and when Terry played REFUSED I was disappointed that he’d beeneven luckier than I had, but then I spotted the beautiful overlap. I was so excited Iunderscored it by one point... (should be 86 not 85).”BOLLARD C4a 85 245Terry 7: CURIO L1d 28 259Stewart 7: EEENOY? (-14)Stewart: “After not seeing a bonus to complete the hat-trick I was quite confident this wasthe best play.”I agree, but with a different scoreline (i.e a substantial deficit) plays such as YOGEE atk12a for 20 or YGOE at l12a for 18 would be the best choice, providing two nine-timeropportunities with a blank on the rack.OYE C3a 27 272Terry 8: JIZ L10a 39 298Stewart 8: EEN? AOR (-26)Stewart: “I was well off for time at this point and so spent about seven minutes workingvery hard trying to find a bonus here... if there wasn’t a nine-timer then so be it, but surelysomething was available? The two sevens (ARENOSE and PERAEON) both came to mindand were instantly discarded due to lack of space but I was disappointed not to be able tofind anything around the C of CURIO or the G of STEADING. This is a lesson that if youhave studied all the high-probability bonuses and still can’t find anything then maybethere really isn’t anything there, no matter how promising it looks. As it turns out later,however, ARENOsE (h13) was playable but only if I was prepared to play STEADINGS,which I wasn’t. JEAN was a healthy second best in terms of both score and rack leave.”Interesting to compare this play with move 4. Here, despite scoring 84 points, the missedbonus cost Stewart something like 14 points of equity (the average points gained over thenext couple of moves, as compared with playing ARENOSE/STEADINGS), whereasmissing GETTING on move 4 cost around 40 points. As a general rule, you lose far lessby missing a bonus when you have a blank on your rack, because it usually won’t belong before you do get your bonus down.JEAN L10d 30 02Terry 9: CLAW L1a 27 325Stewart 9: ORE? ARV (-23)Stewart: “It was nice to be confident of this WD bonus after having studied some randomblocks of 7’s with Lexpert. Had absolutely no idea about the wonderful WRApOVER, though.”sAVORER D13a 65 367Terry 10: CRIT H12d 27 352Stewart 10: ABHIIMU (+15)Stewart: “I was attracted by the good score at this tight stage of the game and hoped for abalancing pickup to compensate for my poor leave.”2021
The unseen tiles at this point are DHILOOQRSTU. The biggest threat for Stewart at this pointis the Q - either through getting stuck with it, or seeing Terry score heavily with it. I’d betempted to play HUIA at k2a for 20. It blocks plays such as QUID for 36, retains reasonablevowel-consonant balance, and still guarantees a Q move should Stewart pick it up.HM K11d 3 399Terry 11: HO G3a 25 377Stewart 11: ABIIU DI (+22)St ewart:Terry:Score: Stewart 399 Terry 377Stewart: “Terry fatally picks the last tilesfrom the bag and I can deduce his rack.That his Q will be difficult becomesevident and I imagine that I have Terry’srack and search for where I’d be lookingto play it off. The two potential SUQplays in the bottom right hand cornerare the only options and they will bothscore heavily and leave Terry wellpoised to win the game. Both must beblocked at all costs. ID is an evil littlemove which achieves that perfectly.”Excellent play!ID N12d 10 409Terry 12: TO N2a 13 390Stewart 12: ABIIU (+19)Stewart: “A fairly weak play here but time was running short and it left BIZ (n8) or FIB(d6) as out plays.”At this stage it doesn’t really matter. The game is safe...AITU F15a 4 413Terry 13: SUQ H2a X 390Stewart 13: B I (+23)Stewart: “Terry’s disallowed play (SORAD) lets me take my first choice to go out.”BIZ N8d 21 434Final score: Stewart 448 Terry 376Creating a winning chanceThe following two board positions illustrate the importance of strategic thinking towardsthe end of the game. One ended in success, the other didn’t - but the important thing isthat both provided the possibility of a win in a game that looked lost.My thanks to Elie Dangoor for sending me the following board position. Elie was playingHelen Gipson on the Internet Scrabble Club (ISC). Towards the end of the game, Elie wastrailing 298-356, and although he was holding a highly promising rack, the board lookeddistinctly unhelpful However, with a bonus essential to give himself a chance, Elie founda superb play. Before reading the solution on page xx, take a few minutes to see if youcan spot Elie’s move...Elie:Score:Elie298Helen356Unseen tiles: A EIU BDLMNRTZHelen’s last move:EYE at m15a for 18.The second board position comes from a game at the BMSC, in which Allan Simmonswas playing Helen Grayson. Holding a lousy rack, facing a 65-point deficit, and with justsix tiles left in the bag, Allan needed something dramatic to happen. What can he do themaximise his chances? See page 24 to see Allan’s choice.Allan:Score:Allan 313Helen378Unseen tiles: A AEIO DFLPRTW?Helen’s last move:HI at n15a for 22.2223
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The unseen tiles at this point are DHILOOQRSTU. The biggest threat for Stewart at this pointis the Q - either through getting stuck with it, or seeing Terry score heavily with it. I’d betempted to play HUIA at k2a for 20. It blocks plays such as QUID for 36, retains reasonablevowel-consonant balance, and still guarantees a Q move should Stewart pick it up.HM K11d 3 399Terry 11: HO G3a 25 377Stewart 11: ABIIU DI (+22)St ewart:Terry:Score: Stewart 399 Terry 377Stewart: “Terry fatally picks the last tilesfrom the bag and I can deduce his rack.That his Q will be difficult becomesevident and I imagine that I have Terry’srack and search for where I’d be lookingto play it off. The two potential SUQplays in the bottom right hand cornerare the only options and they will bothscore heavily and leave Terry wellpoised to win the game. Both must beblocked at all costs. ID is an evil littlemove which achieves that perfectly.”Excellent play!ID N12d 10 409Terry 12: TO N2a 13 390Stewart 12: ABIIU (+19)Stewart: “A fairly weak play here but time was running short and it left BIZ (n8) or FIB(d6) as out plays.”At this stage it doesn’t really matter. The game is safe...AITU F15a 4 413Terry 13: SUQ H2a X 390Stewart 13: B I (+23)Stewart: “Terry’s disallowed play (SORAD) lets me take my first choice to go out.”BIZ N8d 21 434Final score: Stewart 448 Terry 376Creating a winning chanceThe following two board positions illustrate the importance of strategic thinking towardsthe end of the game. One ended in success, the other didn’t - but the important thing isthat both provided the possibility of a win in a game that looked lost.My thanks to Elie Dangoor for sending me the following board position. Elie was playingHelen Gipson on the Internet Scrabble Club (ISC). Towards the end of the game, Elie wastrailing 298-356, and although he was holding a highly promising rack, the board lookeddistinctly unhelpful However, with a bonus essential to give himself a chance, Elie founda superb play. Before reading the solution on page xx, take a few minutes to see if youcan spot Elie’s move...Elie:Score:Elie298Helen356Unseen tiles: A EIU BDLMNRTZHelen’s last move:EYE at m15a for 18.The second board position comes from a game at the BMSC, in which Allan Simmonswas playing Helen Grayson. Holding a lousy rack, facing a 65-point deficit, and with justsix tiles left in the bag, Allan needed something dramatic to happen. What can he do themaximise his chances? See page 24 to see Allan’s choice.Allan:Score:Allan 313Helen378Unseen tiles: A AEIO DFLPRTW?Helen’s last move:HI at n15a for 22.2223
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