Overall, I am disappointed with my games. Studying the threes definitely helped and I didn't miss any of those or play the wrong words there. What I was lacking was the knowledge of bingos, especially, I wasn't sure if the word was in SOWPODS or OSPD. I failed to take my chances with bingos and challenges and lost my games.
There was not much to write about this weekend. Two of my games were against beginners, two against Kar-Mun where I seemed to be drawing the bag.
Game2 - Steve I have played Steve before and somehow it stuck with me that he is a beginner too. Well, I had a 3-1 record before this game, my last game being a loss against him. I remembered that I lost to him but I did not remember my victories. So I wasn't too confident about my opponent. It was a close game until I played CANY# and lost the triple word to him. I missed GODETIA early on in the game which would have given me a handy lead. The first time I played Steve, his rating was ~500 -- now he is touching 1000. That is some progress by him, and some stagnancy by me!
Game3 - Reena Played her before, and lost. So, she had that psychological advantage. I also played stupidly. I played INLAW* and lost the turn. On her turn, she played SORRIES* which I did not challenge. I played LAWIN* on my next turn which was luckily not challenged off the board. To think that I let SORRIES stay on board and play two phonies when I had a much better and simple play of WAIL, it was a sorry start. She got OXO next to SORRIES* and I was playing catch up after that.
Game4 - Kyle W. He was a beginner, and it showed in the game. I was amazed that Reena had beat him by > 400 points. After a few plays, I thought I could better that. I felt sorry for him a little but couldn't afford that to affect my game. It was probably my biggest spread in tournament scrabble - +454.
Game5 - Karmun My game with Kar-Mun started in a similar fashion. I put both blanks on the board, and then it was slow. He caught up with me mid-way with a bingo. Soon after, I missed NITRITE and NITTIER. I was going to play NITTIER, but it just slipped my mind when it was my turn! Eventually, it did not end up costing me as HADJI and QADI were challenged by Kar-Mun, and it was game over. WICE# was probably the important challenge for me.
Game6 - Karmun I was playing Kar-Mun again, both of us were 3-3 and fighting for 3rd spot. Luck didn't even out with him and he couldn't draw the blanks. Only in the 12th turn was the first blank played, and I later drew the second blank as well. Still, it was a close game. Kar-mun was left with no vowels towards the end and was a little too far to eke out a win.
