NZ Scrabble Masters 2010 - My Record

Game #11 - Ian (355) vs. Blue (591!)

Expected: 5.7 wins, Actual: 6 wins. Rating change: 1550 to 1559.


SUMMARY:

Opponent	(my)	#	W/L	My Score	Opp. Score	Diff.	My Bonuses	His/Her Bonuses
Shirley V	s	1	W	426	379	+47	EROTISE UNAIMED	SECRETE
Denise	??ss	2	L	429	432	-3	RECOINED BOATLIFT	LAUNDER VERSING
Andrew	?	3	L	376	470	-94	CREATIN	RELATION WARIEST ALLEGES
Steven	?ss	4	L	308	497	-189	MISGRADE RESONANT	RECLUSE
Shirley H	?sss	5	W	438	361	+77	LODGINGS	RESTATED
Marianne	?sss	6	W	414	373	+41	MIRAGES BEATINGS	TRIKING*bogus!!
Anderina	s	7	L	247	489	-242	-	VALLEYS REFINERY
Rosemary	:-(	8	L	269	377	-108	-	SEXTONS
John	??s	9	L	313	391	-78	STANDEN	WOOLIEST
Mike	?ss	10	L	382	429	-47	BROMATE STOURIE	INCENTRE
Blue	??s	11	L	355	591	-236	NEUTRAL SWAGGER	LIGNITE POLENTAS SWEATED NOMADIES
Liz	ss	12	L	371	419	-48	DELETES	SPARING
Jeff	sss	13	L	307	413	-106	-	POETISE BARONET
Lawson	?sss	14	L	390	522	-132	DIRIGES FEASIBLY	COTISED TELLING
Howard	?s	15	L	323	607	-184	GAMBLES	LINEATE THIOUREA UNDROSSY
Lynn	??sss	16	W	446	346	+100	MATRICS ERASURE EPINAOI	SETTLING
Murray	?sss	17	L	400	436	-36	LEAFIEST OPERATES	MARINERS
Joanne	sss	18	L	291	495	-204	REALIST	DUOTONES PINERIES
Glenda	??ss	19	W	413	343	+70	LITHEST*bogus!! EXPECTS	SURLOIN
Peter	?ss	20	L	309	487	-178	PATROLS	DEICING SITUATE
Paul	?ss	21	L	384	419	-35	-	GAROTES
Glennis	?sss	22	W	422	406	+16	CREATES SEDATED ABALONE	TERSION
Joan	?sss	23	L	444	454	-10	ATRESIA LOOTINGS	PREENING BLOTTER

.
Game 1 - Shirley van Essen (Christchurch)
Neck and neck till I got a playable UNAIMED out of nowhere near the end, then raced to a win.
Nice way to start.  Shirley was seeded #18, but she actually turned out the tournament surprise, finishing up at SIXTH place!

Game 2 - Denise Gordon (Wanganui)
(See previous blog post)

Game 3 - Andrew Bradley (Auckland)
I missed my chance at turn 4 - DEINPR? and I missed at least 2 sevensin there that I should have known. Was never in the game after that.

Game 4 - Steven Brown (Wellington)
He scored 5 non-bonus turns over 40. Again on turn 4 I had a playable 7, considered it briefly, but didn't know or like it so chickened out. AINNSTU - (makes only the one word).

Game 5 - Shirley Hol (Christchurch)
Three times I had to remove (alleged!?) bonuses! First SOUDAIN* which I really thought was ok, but that makes no 7 (though DINOSAU(R) and SUDA(T)ION were both available.
Then SEDGING* which again I felt an inkling I knew (EDGINGS wouldn't fit). SEDGES, even SEDGED, but NOT what I had. Again there WAS an 8 there: NIGGA(R)DS for 140!! Shame.
Then later FUSTION*, which in fact makes nothing.
I also let her away with KAG* - yet - my tiles were so good I still won easily!

Game 6 - Marianne Bentley (Tauranga)
I made many poor plays (the worst being not challenging her TRIKING*!) but good tiles pulled me thru.
Now 3 wins outa 6 - great! (Little knowing I was to lose my next NINE!! )

Game 7 - Anderina McLean (Auckland)
A shellacking (and my lowest score of the tournament). Turn 3 I played H(A)RPIST for 32, leaving O. I SHOULD have played HOI for 23, leaving PRST. Very sad, as I DO like my S's, but even sadder, I never saw another S or a blank! Boo hoo.

Game 8 - Rosemary Cleary (Wanganui)
The only game of the weekend where I got ZERO esses or blanks.Horrified to see her SeXTOnS early on - that's 4 of the 6 'goodies' gone already.My highest turn for the game was PLUG for 37 - 'nuff said. :-(

Game 9 - John Foster (Auckland)
Probably my worst game - missed playable 7s (which I 'knew") from AADEINS and then next turn from ADEGINS. Also missed EU(T)AXIAS and also IRRI(T)ANTS.
John's UNCOER ("more strange") was worthy of mention!

Game 10 - Mike Sigley (Wanganui)
My first rack: AAEORRT - I blew it! (swapped AOR). But I DID get lucky straight away as BROMATE arrived.From there on a steady game, but Mike was steadier than me throughout.

Game 11 - Blue Thorogood (Christchurch)
After 6 turns I was 225, not too bad!? Oh dear, but I was ALSO 122 behind - Blue doesn't muck around! A fun game to be in, though. :-)

Game 12 - Liz Fagerlund (Auckland)
An early bonus each, then a long slow grind. I reckon I lost it on a slightly deperate gamble, playing PERMA for a large 33. After her extra turn then she never looked back.

Game 13 - Jeff Grant (Hastings)
Quackle tells me I played the first 6 or 7 turns well, but then his 2nd bonus crushed me and I fell to bits.

Game 14 - Lawson Sue (Auckland)
I began with DIRIGES then FEAsI(B)LY, and was over 100 ahead after 6 turns. THAT's when I got DGINNOS. Neither DONINGS nor ONDINGS would go down (lol, I'd never heard of either anyway) but I thought (P)ONDINGS might be worth a shot. Hmmm, it wasn't. Nor was my D(R)ONINGS the next turn, so I settled for a "real" turn after that. Meanwhile he had COTiSED for 82 then OXI(D)E for 63 - I had AINOSSU and forgot that it made a 7, so I was 60 behind near the end.
But I had bonus possibilities, till Lawson stuck an AE in a prime spot to block many lines. Then his next turn HE fluked his own, TELLING (or GILLNET) which DID go down, and left me sitting with EARNIES*, no more bonus space, and no more tiles.
Another real fun game - but whatever happened to "winning" ?

Game 15 - Howard (Auckland)
Arguably NZ's best player, he had me beat before we started, I think. I missed a FERRET(E)D, then later back to back 7s that I USED to know - AAEGNRT then AAEEINT. Meanwhile he was throwing down stuff like THIO(U)REA, WIFIE, MM, (U)NDrOSSY en route to 500.

Game 16 - Lynn (Wellington)
I got ??SSS throughout - my luckiest game in that department. So bonuses kept me ahead, then I continued and tried to close bonus spots. But one still remained, and bingo! - my last rack was EIINOP? which makes 5 words, one of which I knew, to finish with a flourish.
Thank goodness - otherwise I'd have been winless for the whole day.

Game 17 - Murray Rogers (Nelson)
I played a weak turn 2, then played OPERATES when PROTEASE would have scored better, but apart from that my plays were good, until late in the game I challenged his TRIG. Well, I'm sure it USED to be bogus. Tough way to learn! I then 'forgot' NOX for myself, so rather threw the end away.

Game 18 - Joanne Craig (Sydney, Australia - but a kiwi!)
Dumb, dumb, dumb! Early on I played CORNS - seemed a good turn, scored 29, left S on my rack - but I completely forgot the obvious front hooks. It was vertical and of COURSE it allowed easy access along the top (TWS) row with A or S, but only when SHE put WAGON there for 39 did the penny drop. DOH!
I also missed AEIILST (man, I musta played that word dozens of times, back "then") - and Joanne threw down back-to-back 8's near the end to complete the trounce.

Game 19 - Glenda Foster (Wellington)
Level after 5 turns, I had THISTLE but didn't see it. What I DID see was LITHEST*, which seemed a fairly obvious word to me, so down it went. IF she'd challenged it then I may or may not have found THISTLE - but as it was I grabbed 7 fresh tiles: EEPSTX?. Next turn was EXPEcTS - but indeed Glenda's right saying later she wondered why I hadn't settled for an EX for 56, leaving a delicious EPST?
So, I deserved to lose, but didn't! (Makes up for a few times I reckon I "deserve to win", but don't! ROTFL)

Game 20 - Peter (Dunedin)
Hung in well till midgame he began to pull away. Time for a gamble: FANED* scored 47 - till it came off. Next turn (F)ANFED* for 42 suffered the same fate, as did (I)NFADE* next, also for 42.I'm sure Peter was wondering what my OTHER 2 tiles were! Well, for the record: JA.
Another game down the tubes then.

Game 21 - Paul (Christchurch)
He played ROGATES*, challenged off. I couldn't block the spot, so next turn GAROTES stayed on. Later I played SALUTIS* - I was sure that was ok, but blow me down, THAT came off too. (Sadly, unlike with Paul's one, I DIDN'T know an anagram [it's TISSUAL!]) so I fell badly behind.
But on a deadly clogged board I managed to catch up, but then a brain explosion played ARC, ignoring N-ARC, and he capitalised bigtime.
My only consolation is that Paul's V(A)GINaL at the end for 33 might have been more fun as R(A)VINGLy for 158 or R(A)VeLING 149.

Game 22 - Glennis (Auckland)
We traded blows till near the end... I played WIMP for a respectable 22 on a very closed board. I then found I had AABELNO, obviously making a word that could end under that W. But YIKES - Glennis then happened to block that (only) spot, quite accidentally I'm sure, with OF/F(AERY)/O(CREATES)* for an even more respectable 28.
If my bonus had gone elsewhere I'd have accepted that, but it wouldn't - I HAD to challenge, and it turned out OCREATE is ok, but not with an S. Poor Glennis - she'd been looking for that "O" for quite some time, she says.

Game 23 - Joan Thomas (Hastings)
I'd just reached my 'expected' wins of 6, but gosh, I wouldn't mind an extra one! At this point I was 2nd bottom, and Joan was the one below me! When she got (P)REENInG early on I commented that while I don't like opponents getting ANY good scores, at least it's nice to see a "squeaky clean" bonus, so one doesn't have to worry about challenging.
So - 3 turns later she played BLOTTER. Grrrrrrr.
I'm now trailing by 49-224, but ATRESIAS for 86 gets me back within 100. Later I'm still down 309-382 and try (L)OoTINGS. It survives the challenge, but she then grabs 41 for a simple QUA, and though I finish on 444 I still lose by 10 - and remarkably the highest combined score - 998 - of my whole tournament, between clearly the two BOTTOM players!
A nice way to end the day.

And - another tournament of all those ups and downs, twists and turns, yet it all finishes (for me) on basically exactly my EXPECTED number of wins. I often wonder why we all bother.
The "system" KNOWS how many you're going to win, so why then waste all that effort just to prove it right !? 

CHALLENGES and BOGUSes

Upper case = valid words, lower case = crookies

MY words challenged: UNAIMED  BOATLIFT  DOURA  DIF  EPINAOI - dier reclused soudain sedging fustion paronoid (lol, it was just a "try on", Anderina) powed perma choi vegs pondings dronings cofts faned fanfed infade alah flah salutis

OPPONENTS' words challenged by me: MYC  ZONER  UNCOER  RESH  POLENTAS  FEDEX  NOMADIES  COTISED  GAR  UNDROSSY  HAN  TRIG OHOS  VEXER  NENE  NARC - rejuiced soo rogates ocreates

MY boguses NOT challenged: lithest

OPPONENTS' boguses NOT challenged: kag triking daun whan




      C O M P L E T E   R E S UL T S    (courtesy Glenda Foster)

	Player	Club	Wins	Spread	Average	New             Rating	Rating             Change
1	Howard  Warner	MTA	17	1775	447	1987	-8
2	Andrew Bradley	MTA	17	702	420	1938	50
3	Joanne Craig	CHC	16	1456	452	1985	-40
4	Mike Sigley	WAN	15	1021	424	1915	-21
5	Steven Brown	KAP	15	717	422	1914	-21
6	Shirley Van Essen	CHC	15	168	402	1834	185
7	Peter Sinton	DUN	14.5	1356	429	1914	-41
8	Jeff Grant	IND	14	684	425	1982	-93
9	Blue Thorogood	CHC	13	593	426	1914	-92
10	Denise Gordon	WAN	13	287	413	1797	68
11	Lawson Sue	MTA	12	-31	408	1763	67
12	Murray Rogers	NEL	12	-307	388	1780	20
13	John Foster	IND	11	-256	394	1798	-76
14	Liz Fagerlund	MTA	11	-398	385	1720	102
15	Glenda Foster	WEL	10.5	-375	386	1727	21
16	Paul Lister	CHC	10	-708	377	1703	40
17	Anderina McLean	MTA	9	-157	397	1673	23
18	Glennis Hale	IND	9	-314	391	1744	-112
19	Rosemary Cleary	WAN	8.5	-425	369	1675	-31
20	Lynn Wood	WEL	8	-809	371	1657	-32
21	Marianne Bentley	TGA	7.5	-821	390	1629	-12
22	Shirley Hol	CHC	7	-1279	375	1565	79
23	Ian Patterson	DUN	6	-1579	368	1559	9
24	Joan Thomas	HAS	5	-1300	368	1455	73

NZ Scrabble Masters - Dunedin 2010

The Masters !

Hopefully the top 24 players in the country, but as Dunedin is 'isolated' many don't attend, so those like me (ranked only about #38 when selections were made) can sneak in!

Full round robin - 23 games spread over Easter Sat/Sun/Mon (8/8/7).

As the 22nd seed my expectation is only 5.7 wins out of 23, and after the first day I have 3 already, so confidently expect exceeding every electronic expectation easily! LOL
We played from 9am-6pm, then from 6pm-11pm I've been checking/transposing my games into Quackle (which I highly recommend, despite a few glitches and quirks!) for analysis and checking.

Let's focus on just one particularly interesting game today - Round 2, vs Denise Gordon from Wanganui (North Island). Last time she and I met/played was exactly 16 years ago - the 1994 Masters in New Plymouth!
The moves and board are shown below, and above (courtesy Quackle.)

In the first 3 turns we each got "cheap" bonuses, i.e. no blanks or S's, but neither very good scoring.
But her LAUNDER for 62 SHOULD have been either RUNDALE or LURDANE, each scoring 77 with big overlaps.
And after my RECOINE(D) I drew AAIINUX! Hard to resist the easy 36 spot for that X, but left a lousy lousy rack! (Quackle tells me a better move was (E)AUX to the 3pm TWS, for 37, but quitting 2 more revolting vowels. Shame on me for not seeing that.)
By turn 6 that LAUNDER-S spot was still untaken (that E-AUX woulda stopped it - grrr) so I slightly frantically swapped 6 to increase my chances. Arghh, too late, Denise had the S, AND the bonus. Oddly we recorded her score as 89, but it should have been 98. And further, I'm puzzled she didn't choose SERVING instead, for 104!?

Now over 100 behind perhaps I overpanicked - deliberately playing UH one off the edge, hoping she mightn't have a P. Good grief, BAP went down before I could even blink!
When she played (R)OIL - to go 150 ahead! - my eyes lit up. I had  AEGJNST, and still FIVE I's unseen. Quackle seems to despise J's, and EVERY option it gave included playing the J THAT turn, but I'm happy choosing NEAT, for 19, leaving JGS and fair chance of an I and/or a blank.
   Hindsight suggests *MAYBE* NEAT was better at 3C for 12, but I needed to drag focus away from the -IN spot, and/or also have someplace good for ME if she DID go up top.

  Of course SHE had eyes on that spot too, for her Z, but she too was I-less!
Anyway, she sure plundered the "decoy" bigtime - but I'd drawn AI?O, so was content with my 95 - now a mere 100 behind!!

I then had FOLIATe, so (being a diligent tiletracker, unlike me) she blocked that spot with IWI. (ROTFL, those 2 I's had come too late!!)

So I had to look for 8's up top. I'm not interested in "spread", so I figured to try something even if just for a giggle. I had a couple of 'possible' ones lined up onto the H, but they didn't score nearly enough - it HAD to be a triple. So with constant shuffling I settled for the stupid-sounding BOATLIFT - she took one look and we were heading to challenge table. I really don't know who was more aghast at the result there! (Though I DID once key EVERY 8-letter word into a database, maybe these things stick in the subconscious? And an onlooker was NOT too surprised - he said there's a boatlift just a couple of km away down at the harbour!)
Hmmm, so with tiles on her rack I lost by only 3 - at least it kinda made a "game" out of it, although for me, alas, too late.

Dunedin Lion Open - March 2010

Name	Club	Rating	Grade	Win Expectancy
Peter Sinton	DUN	1991	A	13.7
Tim Anglin	Canada	1775	A	10.5
Ian Patterson	DUN	1555	A	6.0
Karyn MacDougall	DUN	1544	A	5.8
Peter Johnstone	CHC	1542	A	5.7
Herb Ramsay	CHC	1413	A	3.3

That was the (A-Grade) field for the Dunedin Lion Open, 27-28 March 2010.
Triple round robin, so seeded in the middle my expectation was 6 wins from the 15 games.

NOTATION: Brackets show letters already on board.
Question mark shows a blank in hand.
Lower case denotes a blank played.
* shows a "word" that's actually NOT VALID.

Game #1 - v. Herb   (refer picture, above) (click it to enlarge)
Hah! Bottom seed! He should be easy! LOL.
My VIFDA for 32 was a pleasant start that gave nothing away! But by turn 4 he played ANNATES to draw level. My turn 6 offered EMPORST which looked promising. Oddly I never juggled STOMPER* out of it, but I did find TROMPES that rang some vague bell from 15 years ago. Down it went, challenged, and stayed on! (If I HAD dared STOMPER*, for 95, it WOULDN'T have survived challenge, actually!)
But 3 turns later his TEEnIER brought him level again. (I challenged it, unsuccessfully, as I knew either teenier or teenies was crook - oh well, 'tis teenies is crook, makes nothing).
However, I responded immediately with ITERANT, though the I offered a triple-triple. I then drew AEERST?, so Em(I)RATES looked promising for 122 till he blocked that spot, so settled for 66 for STEAmER, and an easy/lucky run to the win.
Later analysis shows STEAMER for 66 (and leaving heaps on) was somewhat inferior. MUCH better were 12A TESsERA(E) for 91, or the simple A1 (V)ETERAnS for 83, or - if I'd known NAGA - N2 SAkERET for 80!

Game #2 v. Karyn
My turn 2 (A)SSORTEd (LOL, that's MY "share" of the 6 "goodies" all used up!) was answered by TH(R)ONgED, then pulled ahead later with a nice find of (D)ILATION, again answered quickly by SPORTI(N)G.
Eventually it was neck and neck to the end, where I lost by just 4 points (409-413).

Game #3 v. Peter J
Always a delight to play Peter J, and usually fireworks! I was surprised he challenged my (ok) ALB early on. I thought *I* was the only one around still weak on 3's.
Turn 5 I had AEKNUW?, and tossed up between the almost equally unlikely UNaWAKE or UNWAKEd. He later said he'd have challenged either one, but turns out both are ok, and that rack makes nothing else. (Always pleasing to find EVERY combo a rack makes :-))
Coupla turns later he grabbed PLA(U)dITS, to draw level. I had AADEGOR so tried a ROADAGE for 75, which (sadly?) exposed a triple-triple. Well DURN it, after some thought he allowed my word, and slapped down ST(r)AINER for 131, and a 308-246 lead.
In hindsight we think he still SHOULD have challenged (ROADAGE is/makes zilch), then he still could have got his "RETINAS" tiles down somewhere for around 70 for something like a 250-170 lead.
Anyway he followed this with QI for 44, then (D)IGESTED, and I was toast. Trounced. Shellacked!

Game #4 - v. Peter S (by far the best player there - he's been to World Champs 3 times!)
Well, I've just lost to seeds #4 and #5 - what chance against "The King" ? :-( ;-)
I swap 4, he plays CAZ for 28, and I whip down (A)BSTRUsE for 80, plus another 5 for his challenge!
He then stretches from MY TWS square along to the next one, with (E)RODIuMS, which seems to allow my INTEGER(S) an easy spot, from HIS TWS up to the NEXT (3 o'clock) one!
He was then LIP for 18, I got QI for 31, then after a loooong thought about all the chances on a quite open board he came up with UNPLA(T)ED to draw back to level at 200 each. :-(
HOW DUMB I AM! I glanced at it, figured "you can't challenge THAT", so carried on with no more thought of it - till after the game he told me it was CROOK! ROTFL. GRRR!
Ian - remember the "rule" you tell everyone: losing only 5 for a wrong challenge, you may as well challenge ANY turn over 50 or 60 that you're not 100% sure of.

Anyway, I then got JATO (44) then he got (J)INX (54) then the good scores dried up as we both killed the board and slowed everything right down. At one stage I noticed my EENVSTY made a bonus, but the only available spot had to finish with something like ...ON so I ignored it and focused on other angles... until... he played a GIRO for 11 which limited that "ON" ending to instead maybe a "TY" ending. WHOOPEE!! I GOT LUCKY!!!
He DID then draw the last S, but was unable to open any spots for himself (while I was blocking everywhere, of course!) so I eventually finished 80 ahead - Peter'' first loss.

LATER ANALYSIS shows his (E)RODIuMS for 83 (TWS) was 'ok', but better was the DWS/DWS MOR(T)ISeD for 90, and leaving nothing on!

Game #5 v. Tim
I answered his opening PEONAGE with SOOTIER (a nice 6-way overlap), but his qUINCES on turn 4 virtually sealed his win - despite my W(R)ITABLE (yes, the E in middle IS optional) on #6, then STRoLL(E)R on #7.
Perhaps if I'd remembered LIN took a letter in front I MIGHT have done better, as he got a gift 45 there, but his solid finished demolished me.

Game 6 v. Herb
This one was a whitewash in MY favour. My 3 bonuses beat his 1, and he really never got a look in..

Game #7 v. Karyn
Her opening MOULIES* worried me! I know what a MOULI* is, but just didn't know (for sure) the plural, so I challenged. Phew - a brand name, apparently!   I took an early lead with RINDIeR, but she responded with SCULLeD, then later her RESITED got a good lead. Despite my getting away with pluralising ZONAL (which I knew u can't!) for a juicy 57 I never got close.
2-0 to Karyn for the day - and she's my arch-rival, from the local club, and a mere 10 rating points below me. Oh dear, dear!

Game #8 v. Peter J
On turn #6 he offered a triple-triple, with R as penultimate letter. With BEHIORT (makes nothing) I could grab HE(R)O for 33, but preferred BROTHE(R) for 48. But as I pushed my clock I glanced at my rack and thought Arghhhh - why not BROTHIE(R)*  for 101? Turns out (A) he'd have challenged that, and (B) it would have come off. Lucky!?!
He played ONY for 20 at one stage. I challenged, wrongly, so maybe NOW I have learned that durn word. (I first saw/challenged it at a tournament last year I think, THEN saw it again - and DIDN'T challenge! - just a few games later.) It just has a hard job truly entering my skull!
Sadly turn #9 saw my IVORIES stuck onto an AUE (only spot) - and AUES* failed the challenge. But as the board was now very bonus-hostile I settled next for a 43 using my S, and managed to keep my nose in front ... until.... another ARGHHH moment:
The ONLY bonus spot had to end with a vowel then a front-hook onto AZO. (I'd toyed with HORNING/GAZO* earlier, but thought better of it. Frankly I had no idea what, if anything, front-hooks that). Down goes CORDIAL/L(AZO) (with AL of cordial Both Blanks!!). Seems HE knew L-AZO, AND had been building toward it for some time.
Another game down the gurgler, and ended day 1 on 3-5, not good for a 3rd seed.

Game #9 v. Peter S
Turn #2 he played an ISO for 25. Ulp for me, and, sure enough NEXT turn was bonusville: DESIGNS. Oh well, still 1 S and 2 blanks for me - maybe?! I had a QU, and was pleased to string it thru MA(R)QUE(E) for 38, especially as he then challenged to give me another 5.
My next turn was ReADOUT (also makes OUTDARE, OUTREAD) and I wondered if another win might be coming. My small lead was lost when I punted on a (VIBE)D* for 38, but then he got the last S for a healthy 34, then later got the other blank to put me away at the end. I reckon if I'd got that last blank I may well have prevailed (but hey, I'm not "complaining" - ever!).

Game #10 v. Tim
Second crack at the "foreigner"! Opened with UNHEAP*, scored 24, left nothing on, turned over tiles, and left me a handy E. All good, till he challenged it off! :-( He then opened with ZED for 26, so quick as a flash I had UNHEAPE(D) for 69!
Well.... until IT came off too! Not an auspicious start!
Tim then swapped 5 then followed with bATISTE, and despite my later DARTLES and STOURIE I was never in the hunt.

Game #11 - v. Herb
This game turned out very even. His LEARING (challenged) and STERILE were matched by my BOONIES (challenged) and ORATION, then near the end now IF my (STERILE)R* had been valid I'd have probably won. Or even if I'd had the courage to add a D to VIOL I'd have probably won.
As it was - lost by just 2 points. (Bottom seed Herb lost his first 7 games yesterday, but SINCE then he's now WON his next 4! A slow starter??)

And me ? - hey, that's my FIFTH loss in a row! . . Buck up there, Otarine Pants!

Game #12 v. Karyn
Well, can't complain about my first 7 tiles. After a moment's thought down went ANESTRI, one off the TWS. (Well, *I* knew it doesn't take S, but SHE might not.)
Soon after I played REDA(T)E for just 14, mainly just to get turnover, and also to mess up a few spots for 8s and/or other things. Sadly she had a blank, AND she had a 7, so done went WhIRLED/(REDATE)D for 79. But - it gave me (I)NKIER for 45.
I later played JAE* for 26, challenged off. That's another "bogey" word for me - just as I can NEVER learn that ONY IS a word, seems I can also never remember that JAE* isn't.
My BOX (53) and ZOEA (33) got me a bonus ahead and in full control midgame. (AND it earned me 5 points later when I added an E to it!)
Time to close down!? Really, there was only 1 bonus spot, had to be an 8 thru an I, with not much leeway space-wise. I let it stay (as I was getting close to my own bonus anyway). But she whacked down VE(I)LINGS/(ABET)S, and we were even again. :-(
Well, no more bonus spots, so I cashed in my S for 30, then SHE cashed in the last blank for a big (on that board) 27 with (F)EINTs to a TWS corner. She led by 17 - I had AAEGOTU, she had just 2 tiles (and I don't tile-track except S, ?, QZJX so I had no idea what they were. I figured I was dead, probably. Played AGATE to be 1 behind, then she DIDN'T go out, but played C(HAP) for a lead of 12. The very best I could see for my OU was 9, so if she had a 1 left she'd win. :-( No choice, so I played the 9, then she revealed her W!! Hooray, a very very last gasp escape from a 3-0 whitewash.
Later analysis showed her (F)EINTs (27) should have been (F)ECkIN (39) - but since neither her nor I had even heard of it it's not even a valid "if only".

Game #13 v. Peter J
Peter didn't like this game - I loved it. And no, NOT because of who won, but because the tiles fell really badly for both of us throughout. (Any time we have a game with only ONE bonus there's obviously something afoot).
His Turn #1: swap 7. Turn #7: swap 5. Turn #12: swap 6.
Not to be outdone:
My turn #2: swap 7. Turn #4: swap 7.  Turn #7: swap 7. Turn #11: swap 2 !!
But in midst of that I managed a well-placed ZOEAL (73) on turn #9, and 3 turns later squandered(?! LOL) a blank on QAIDs (72). He then ditched his S for a CHI(V)ES (32) then watched my shutting up shop. But I couldn't quite block one possible bonus spot, until almost at the end it was *I* who got RApIERS on it, and left poor Peter lucky to scrape over 300.

Game #14 v. Peter S
What's to say ? He got both blanks and 3 S's, for 2 bonuses and a good score. MY one S came far too late - I lost.
Interesting was his very first play: BLING. As I've just learned B-LIN, may as well now extend that knowledge to BLIN-G. It's one thing to "see" such things in lists, but when they're actually played in a real game situation they sink in a lot better - for me anyway. ;-)

Game #15 v. Tim
3 wins out of 8 yesterday, and today so far just 2 out of 6 - I think I'm underperforming a tad. Can I beat Tim THIS time, so I can then say I beat everyone at least once ?
Well, I actually (almost!) felt sorry for my opponent this game. My Turn #1: ZO(A) for 32. Turn #2: DIL(A)TION for 60. Turn #3: HADRONE* challenged off (phew, makes nothing, so at least I didn't miss anything), Turn #4 HONDA for 46, Turn #5: DEGREES.
After 5 turns, despite his BROW(N)IER along the way, I led 218-164, then my Turn #8: SIDEMAN (79) followed by JO (54) surely sealed it.
Poor Tim got no blanks and only 1 S this game - and that S he played as EES* for 21 on a tight board, only to have it taken off again. But understandable as he plays American dictionary at home in Toronto, so has a relatively scant knowledge of "our" words. I'm amazed he can compete as well as he does. This was the only (tiny) blemish that I noticed in our 3 games.


SUMMARY:

Opponent		(Round)	W/L	My Score	His/Her Score	Spread	My Bonuses	His/Her Bonuses
H E R B		1	W	495	409	+86	TROMPES ITERANT STEAMER	ANNATES TEENIER
K A R Y N		1	....L	409	413	-4	ASSORTED DILATION	THRONGED SPORTING
P E T E R  J.		1	....L	389	539	-150	UNWAKED ROADAGE*bogus!!	PLAUDITS STRAINER DIGESTED
P E T E R  S.		1	W	503	423	+80	ABSTRUSE INTEGERS SEVENTY	ERODIUMS UNPLATED*bogus!!
T  I  M		1	....L	364	527	-163	SOOTIER WRITABLE STROLLER	PEONAGE QUINCES
Herb		2	W	466	346	+120	DEMONISE ASTRIDE BELATING	RAIDERS
Karyn		2	....L	387	455	-68	RINDIER	SCULLED RESITED
Peter J.		2	....L	371	402	-31	-	DILUTES CORDIAL
Peter S.		2	....L	383	446	-63	READOUT	DESIGNS OLEINES
Tim		2	....L	337	444	-107	DARTLES STOURIE	BATISTE
Herb		3	....L	415	417	-2	BOONIES ORATION	LEARING STERILE
Karyn		3	W	411	406	+5	ANESTRI	WHIRLED VEILINGS
Peter J.		3	W	443	409	+34	RAPIERS	-
Peter S.		3	....L	345	441	-96	-	DECRIES LASTING
Tim		3	W	514	344	+170	DILATION DEGREES SIDEMAN	BROWNIER

Seeding#	N A M E	NZ Rating Before_After	EXPECTED Wins	ACTUAL Wins	Spread	Bonuses	Ave Score
1	Peter_S.	1991__1955	13.7	12	+1551	28	439
2	T i m	1775__1731	10.5	10	+273	26	419
3	I a n	1555__1550	6.0	6	-189	27	415
4	Karyn	1544__1546	5.8	6	-265	21	394
5	Peter_J.	1542__15?????	5.7	6	-99 ??	24	395
6	Herb	1413__1555	3.3	5	-855	22	383

 So, at least I recovered a bit in Round 3, to finish "level" - so looking forward to next (Easter) weekend and the NZ Masters - top 24 players in the country battle a round robin over 3 days.

THIS weekend has been a great dress rehearsal and settler - I'm "expected" to win just 5.7 out of 23 at the Masters - I aim for 10 (but would even settle for 12!?)