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WPC 2010 Commentary: Round 22

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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 22

Bradley Robbins (USA) bounded up to me after his game this round. The kid plays like his pants are on fire, so he is usually one player in the first completed game every round. He played Chris May (AUS) this time and lost by 189. He says his favorite of Chris' play was WRIGGLE, a non-bingo, because Chris played it through the R and L, which were pretty far apart, according to Bradley. Chris told Bradley that he started playing competitively when he was 14 (he is now 25ish, I think). Bradley one-upped him by saying he was 10 when he started. I think I may have directed Bradley's first tournament and he was so little, he could barely sit in his chair and see the board! He's a foot taller now! IDEALIsE for 60 was Bradley's best play in their game.

Nathan Benedict (USA) and Travis Chaney (USA) wrap up their game seconds before I reach their annotated table 1 (okay, I'm a stalker). I hear Nathan ask Travis if METHO takes an S. Travis nods. Nathan wishes he'd taken a chance on another play in the endgame. I see Nathan's DERAIGNS, NAUSEATE, and NEgATORY. Travis played VIBRATO and EELIEST. ARRaCK was played across a triple lane and it catches my eye. Nathan's win, 452-438. Let me add that Travis is in a much better mood at the end of this board 1 game: at least he was IN this game!

Nick Ball (CAN) vs. Geoff Thevenot (USA) and it was a two-bingo per player kind of game. Nick played ChAYOTTE and BEDeMAN. Geoff played NEROLIS and LINNETS and got the win, 437-396.

"I had VAMPIRES but it didn't play," says Nigel Richards (MYS) to Jim Kramer (USA). Nigel opened with AMBRIES, Jim played ENIGMATA in reply, and then Nigel tossed down IMPRoVES. Jim played small and Nigel then played SELENIAN. Later in the game, while JIm played TOTTeRS, Nigel played OLEATES. I could six bingos! Nigel's win, 489-387.

I might add that this event has used very little paper (which is bumming out Pakorn Nemitrmansuk (THA) who scours our wastebaskets like a starving kid, looking for paper we've only used on one side. As he walks away with his recycled prizes, he sometimes reads them over to see what we're doing behind these here desks, nosy guy....) and so the "watering hole" as it were, is John's large flat-screen display. We've put it on a higher table and the players delight in watching the standings change as result slips come in. The player photo boxes actually shuffle around dramatically.

Mr. Mattel, Philip Nelkon (Eng) played Robert Linn (USA) this round. I see Philip's RAVeNOUS and OTARIES. Bob played ANTHERID. This was Philp's win, 420-372.

So, this guy from Dubai who used to play in the middle of my TWL tournaments is kicking up some dust here in Texas. Eric Kinderman (USA) slayed Sam Kantimathi (USA) this round, 429-397. I see Eric's VIZY play (which I'm told is Collins, for that reason alone, we really need to switch: get rid of a V, Y, AND Z!). In this game, it looked like Sam has ANALYSE and TAURINEs. Eric played PuLIEST, LAUWINE, and PRIMI, which hooked to make ANALYSER. Go Eric!

Wilma Vialle hooks her arm though mine and says, "You need to come see this board. Marty played four bingos.... IN A ROW." Color me excited. She says, "Marty, let me fill in some of the result slip while you tell her about this game." Wilma is serious nice, squared. Pakorn, he says, had an 81-point lead, based mostly on REENAcT (and that he's no slouch, but that is me editorializing). Marty then began his run of what Chris refers to as "expert tile drawing!" He started with FAVORITE for 80, then TOUSTIE which hooked to make HOSTYS for 82, ANTECEDE through the first E for a 149-point triple-triple, and then SILICONE for 92. It will come as no surprise that this was a monster win for Marty, 621-374. (I bet that one felt just great!)

From the department of "put the fortune back into the cookie and ask for a less obvious one, please," John Chew got this fortune in his cookie at lunch earlier this week: You would do well in the field of computer technology! He has it taped to the front of his flat-screen monitor.

So, Sam Kantimathi (USA) is sporting a new rack these days. It isn't one of his. But so that you don't miss a chance to hear about his website, he's affixed samtimer.com in black marker to this orange rack! He tells me he likes how quiet the softer plastic racks make the moving of tiles. I have to admit they are quieter and these plastic racks are slightly less profile, which I like!

John Chew chuckles. He says I can't go 10 minutes without breaking into song (I really go way more than 15 minutes, he exaggerates) and Wilma can't go any time at all without breaking into dance when she hears music. In the case of Wilma, music is running through her head a lot and thus, well, she dances! I found a sheet of paper with some "love lyrics" on John's table. He said it was a song going through her head and he had to find the lyrics for her! We have fun behind the scenes. :)