#11) Reno July 95 r13 JG v Pakorn Nemitrmansuk 91 - 86 ----------------------------- |= ' = ' =| | - " " - | | - ' ' T - | |' - ' I - '| | - D - | | " " Y E " | | ' ' ' U ' | |= ' A I T C H =| | W O R M E R S A I ' | | " " " I D " | | - N E | |' - E X O N E R A T E| | - ' ' - | | - " " - | |= ' = ' =| ----------------------------- My rack: AEENOTX EXONERATE 11h for 75 points. Nice play Jim! Show me the next one. #10) Orange County r1, April 95 JG v Ruth Hamilton 243 - 168 ----------------------------- |= ' = ' =| | - " " - | | - ' ' - | |' - ' - '| | - - | | B " " " | | I ' Q A G O ' | |W O E ' U Y O M ' =| | T H E A T E R S ' | | O N " " " | | P A T - | |' E X I ' - '| | - E L ' ' - | | U N D E R L I E " - | |= ' I N F A M Y =| ----------------------------- My rack: BEINOPT BIOTOPE b6 for 30 points. Well done, Jimbo! Show me the next one. #9) Reno July 95, r28 JG v Tim Adamson 89 - 115 ----------------------------- |= ' B E L I E ' H A O| | - I " H O G T I E | | - G ' ' - | |' B R O O D I E s T - '| | T I - | | " V " " | | ' V ' Q ' ' | |= ' Y A U D ' =| | ' ' A ' ' | | " " Y " " | | F U Z E S - | |' - ' - '| | - ' ' - | | - " " - | |= ' = ' =| ----------------------------- My rack: BEIORT? BROODIE(S)T 4b 74 points. Not bad at all. Show me the next one. #8) Reno July 95, r16 JG v Darrell Day 287 - 230 ----------------------------- |= ' O U T ' =| | - A H " J | | - E M ' ' M O | |' - C ' B Y E '| | I T - R Y E| | G V A W " A " y| | A D O I ' ' I ' E| |= T A X R E L I N E D C| | R P ' F O H ' U| | G E L D S " " P| | F - - S| |' Q U I N O L ' - '| |B A L O ' ' - | |I T Z " - | |N ' R E A D E R ' =| ----------------------------- My rack: CEEPSU? E(Y)ECUPS o5 for 85 points. I see! Show me the next one. #7) Phoenix Scrabble Club Aug 30, 1995 JG v Sarah King 236 - 238 ----------------------------- |= ' A ' =| | - " N " - | | - ' T ' - | |' - I - '| | - N - | | " " O " " | | ' ' D ' ' C| |= ' B A G ' H| | ' P O L O ' A| | " V E T B O P " N| | Q A T H O R A L G| |' - R ' W O E| | T R Y ' t W I S T E R S| | - Z O A " A X E | |= ' J I V E ' =| ----------------------------- My rack: ADINNOT ANTINODAL h1 for 83 points. Wow, an amazing score on a seemingly closed board. Show me the next one. #6) Superstars Showdown JG v Mark Nyman 0 - 12 ----------------------------- |= ' = ' =| | - " " - | | - ' ' - | |' - ' - '| | - H | | " " " E " | | ' ' ' R ' | |= ' C I A O ' =| | ' ' ' I ' | | " " " S " | | - E | |' - ' - '| | - ' ' - | | - " " - | |= ' = ' =| ----------------------------- My rack: EEGHIRS HEROISE 5k for 40 points. Wait a minute! HEROISE isn't in the Official Scrabble Player's Dictionary. Only HEROIZE. No, but it is in The Chambers' Dictionary, word authority for Great Britain at the time this game was played, and one Mark Nyman is from Britain. Mark is aware of the variant US & UK spelling but must've considered HEROISE common enough to merit crossover duplicate spellings. This may sound like dirty pool, but we were playing for a substantial amount of money ($50k first prize) and Mark said he would've done the exact same thing to me had the roles been reversed. Also, at the time, Mark was the reigning World Scrabble Champion, so one shouldn't feel too guilty about playing hardball. You sneaky shit. Let's move on. #5) San Jose r14, Feb 95 JG v Lester Schonbrun 378 - 320 ----------------------------- |= ' R E C L A I M =| | B R I D G E " O E | | - ' ' R Y A| |' - ' T - T E N| | - O E N E| | " " B o " C| | ' ' ' I S W D| |= ' V O E I M A G O| | F ' P H O N W T| | " U " " T F A| | S - E I | |' E S Q U I R e S - N '| |H A Y ' O U T D I D | |I T K O R U N A - | |P ' A X E L R I V A L| ----------------------------- My rack: JGBRIDE BRIDGE 2b for 30 points. Gee, what's the big deal there? Well... With an unseen tile pool of AEEGLNOZ, Lester has a 1/8 chance of bingoing out with LOZENGE at either 2a or b3. So one must find a way to simultaneously block both spots. But it's not that simple. Before making that play, it is necessary to verify that it doesn't create alternative losing chances. The catch is that there is also a 1/8 chance of the Z being the remaining tile in the bag, in which case, opponent might try a comeback by one-tiling against an unplayable J and Z. If the Z were in the bag, best play for Lester would be EBON 6i for 5 (else we are able to play the J off, the alternative one-tile block of ABO uses up the A which is valuable in a different spot), followed by AE a2 (making ABRIDGE) 13, GAE a1 12, and OIL 11m 15 (making ANECDOTAL) + (2xJZ=36) for a total stick value of 81 points. However the 30 points from BRIDGE push the lead to 88, enough to hold on. (He did in fact have LOZENGE.) Wow! You thought of all that over the board? Why yes I did. Next. #4) Phoenix r6, Feb 95 JG v Lewis Saul 388 - 378 ----------------------------- |= J ' = ' =| |G A N G " A W E F - | | Y O N ' D E I L | |' H U G E R ' V D E Y '| | - L E E X | | " K I F n E R I T I C| | ' A S ' T T I | |= ' O U Z O S ' M O O| | ' P ' ' A B | | W I C H " " N R " | | O O N E | |' Q A T ' D E L '| | U E B ' R E V S | | - A M I " I - | |= P I N T A D O s ' =| ----------------------------- My rack: ACEIRRT Unseen: AELNRSU NERITIC 6i for 18 points. Lewis is threatening to bingo out and win with ALEURONS/NEUROSAL on the far right column. This is a strong blocking play which maximizes the net difference in score. Exquisite. Show me the next one. #3) San Jose r3, Feb 95 JG v Mike Baker 227 - 271 ----------------------------- |= ' G R E E K =| | - " " E Z | | - ' ' V A L U E | |' - ' P O '| | N - L | | " I " A X E I | | ' R ' W A U R ' T | |= ' V O L E ' Y E T| | P A ' B O R A N E S | | F I T N e S S " F E H " | | T I C E T E | |M I M I C ' D U A D| | A ' ' - | | - N " " - | |= ' = ' =| ----------------------------- My rack: ADIINRT NIRVANIC 5e for 52 points. Blissful. Show me the penultimate one. #2) Phoenix Scrabble Club Dec 20, 1995 JG v Sharon Stanley 394 - 332 ----------------------------- |= Q ' K E N ' =| | G U A N O A S - | | a A S E M I A R I D | |' Z I P E T - '| | E - I - | | h " N O R M A L C Y| | O ' ' ' E ' | |= U ' F O B S H A L O| | N ' E ' P E W | | D V E G J O W L " | | O B I R A T E | |' H U T A I R D O G '| | - D A ' I F X I S| | - E N " T I| |= ' Y ' N| ----------------------------- My rack: DENOU?? G(A)ZE(H)OUND 2b 73 points. You dog you. Show me the grand finale. #1) Euless, TX June 1995 JG v Darrell Day 256 - 346 ----------------------------- |= ' F ' F| | - Z O " - U| | - I ' U ' A M O G S| |Q A T - T I N G L I E R S| | T O R I I D D - | | " " O " | | ' A ' L ' | |= ' J A M S ' =| | ' E ' ' | | C D U V E T " A H " | | U - O I l S E E D | |' P I C O L i N E R N| | - ' ' B A B Y O| | - " E Y A W N| |= ' = ' P E A| ----------------------------- My rack: BEEIORW BE 13j for 17 points. That's it? That's your most brilliant play? Well... Given the unseen letters, there is a 1/68 chance that I will exactly pick the letters A & T. Which I did. So with a rack of AEIORTW on the following turn I played this. ----------------------------- |= ' F ' F| |W A T E R Z O O I " - U| | - I ' U ' A M O G S| |Q A T - T I N G L I E R S| | T O R I I D D - | | " " O " | | ' A ' L ' | |= ' J A M S ' =| | ' E ' ' | | C D U V E T " A H " | | U - O I l S E E D | |' P I C O L i N E R N| | - ' ' B A B Y O| | - " E Y A W N| |= ' = ' P E A| ----------------------------- WATERZOOI 2a for 92 points. Darrell challenged the impossible looking word, and after losing his turn, I summarily won after playing my two remaining letters to go out. Truly remarkable! Let me tell you what I think.
Last Modified 3/23/00