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WPC 2010 Commentary: Round 10

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Go to: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Round 6, Round 7, Round 8, Round 9, Round 10, Round 12, Round 13, Round 14, 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 10

So, Eric Kinderman (USA) is slated to play Nigel Richards (MYS) this round. I decide to warm up Eric's chair and chat it up with Nigel. He asks me if I think Eric is a kinder man. Not being the sharpest tool in the toolbox, I say, "yes, he is, but he is also....." And then I realize that he is soooo playing with me. And I'm very embarrassed. Eric walks up and we share the jollies and I compliment him on his smashingly cool glasses and he gushes profuse thanks for being able to use them, to see, etc. Then, uncharacteristically for Nigel, he says something interesting. Not only that, it is show and tell interesting. In response to Eric's description of the eye doctors not being able to see the hole a screw might go into (these glasses are from Dubai, for all we know, they use a super laser gun to put in something tinier than a molecule, they can do these things there!) to repair his glasses, Nigel nods and says, I've had the exact same problem, so we took to sewing mine. No kidding, he takes his glasses off and on the temple, one side is SEWN at the hinge. It is white thread on metal glasses, so it is not at all visible, but if you know to look for it, it is there. I ask if they are from Malaysia, but he says they are quite old and from New Zealand. Anyway, that is my Nigel story for today, perhaps for the whole event.

Much later, I walk by and discover that Nigel won, 526-333 and I see the world RIfFOLA on the board. I point at the blank and ask Nigel what it is. He says, "that is a blank." He even said it slowly. I could have killed him.

From the too cool for school department, Sam Kantimathi (USA) has taken to wearing reflective sunglasses in the playing room. It is actually a bit underlit in here, so I don't think the glare is bothering him. He grabs my hand and apologizes sincerely for stepping on my foot earlier. Our main aisle gets narrow in this room and in missing one person, he landed squarely atop another, me! I'm okay, no small bones broken.

Jim Kramer (USA) vs. Chris May (AUS). This is a pretty board. They spent the game waiting for the blanks. Chris played CRINKLE for 82, UNEROTIC for 72, maybe PRUDENT as well. Jim played EMULATED for 83, LANDSLID for 70, TRAGICAL for 65, and then with 7 tiles left in the bag, he put down RETINAE for 72. And in the last 7 tiles? Both blanks. One of his plays down the triple was UNWISe, Chris points out that it could have been UNWISt, too. Jim's win, 528-418.

Ebikeme Adowei (NGA) had a strong win this round vs. Steve Polatnick (USA), 477-407. I see Steve's GREINED and Ebikeme's LAIRISE, ERUDITE, and LOANERs.

Brian Bowman (USA) showed Puneet Sharma (USA) who was in charge this round. I see OUtFIRE, CHORDATE, BACULINE, and MANaGER on their board.