Ethel Sherard Tourney Report

Ethel Sherard Celebrity Scrabble Tournament
Fountain Valley, California
January 30, 2005
7 Games

I won the bottom division of this tournament last year. I was rated 1064 going into the tournament; every player I faced had a lower rating and I won all 7 of my games.

Nevertheless, this year I was glad to be playing in the intermediate division (Division 3 of 4). I was rated 1105 going into the tournament and hadn’t studied as much in January as I had planned to. I was in the bottom third of my division.

Game 1 vs. Barbara Ring: AGAINSt was my only Bingo. She played NOONERS and EmOTING, but screwed-up the end game by playing the phony LEIN*, losing her turn, and allowing me to play out. By my analysis, the game would have been tied if she didn’t play the phony, but since I didn’t record racks I really don’t know. My best play was CAMPY for 53 from her C to the TWS. I saw, but wasn’t brave enough to play UNTUnES (ENSTUU?). 370-355, 1-0.

Game 2 vs. Bruce Gram: a natural DINEROS to start. I would like to sim this on Maven to find out what it recommends as the best word and placement. The way I did it left an E and an O next to DLSes, but I didn’t want to examine my options too closely because I wanted to save time for the endgame. SQUEAL for 48 from the S to the TWS was a good play, but I’m ashamed of the phony LOOGIE that I got away with. 407-339, 2-0.

Game 3 vs. Susie Page: just a blah game for me. I knew DELANERS* to an S was probably not good when I played it and she challenged it off the board. Even though LEARNED wouldn’t have played anywhere, I’m still upset I didn’t see it. 296-480, 2-1.

Game 4 vs. Jay Hillis: poor plays in the pre-endgame by me. Didn’t see the 2 Bingos in ACEIRRT, but they wouldn’t have played anyway. 315-367, 2-2.

Game 5 vs. Renee Kahn: finally was able to play ENATION, a high-probability Bingo I’ve studied. I got away with DENTILe* when I should have remembered DENTILs which is SILENT + D. 404-345, 3-2.

Game 6 vs. Gwen Bishop: couldn’t put anything together. I was playing small words and not drawing enough. I got away with the phony STENTER*, which I was 100% sure was bad. I saw NETTERS and TENTERS, but they didn’t fit anywhere. 390-312, 3-3.

Game 7 v. Renee Kahn: I was looking forward to this re-match because Renee was the highest-rated player I played all day and I had enjoyed the competition in Game 5. I was so happy I saw QUiNCES because it’s a word I haven’t studied for a while and have never played before. I saw CiNQUES, but wasn’t sure of it, so played QUiNCES for 110. I thought I had the game wrapped-up and then I failed to block a Bingo lane and Renee Bingoed out with DOUbLING and took 28 points off my rack. I was tracking, but didn’t know her exact rack because I emptied the bag, not her. I’ve heard the experts say that it is generally a mistake to empty the bag and now I agree. The problem is, if I would have thought about my play, I would have blocked the other 2 Bingo lanes (a T and an E) and still lost! But, I did consider playing DITZ and taking the D lane out, but opted for the 36 pts. of IZAR instead. A huge mistake. 366-339, 3-4.

Lessons:

Record racks
Consolidate leads by closing the board
Be happy with good achievements even if in losing endeavors
As a general rule, do not empty the bag first
I need to learn some 8s

My Bingos:

AGAINSt
DINEROS
LINTERS
ENATION
DENTILE*
STENTER*
QUiNCES

Opp. Bingos:

NOONERS*
EmOTING
AGENCIES
ENABLERS
OUTdOOR
STApLES
IMPEDERS
MISTIEST
DOUbLING