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PC 2007 Commentary: Round 8

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Go to: Before the Tournament, Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Round 6, Round 7, Round 8, Round 9, Round 10, Round 11, Round 12, Round 13, Round 14, Round 15, Round 16, 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 30, Round 31, After the Tournament, Award Ceremony.

This round's annotated game featured: Nathan Benedict vs. Brian Cappelletto.

Round 8

A new day, but an overcast one. At least the heat has broken a bit. We'll take that!

Uncharacteristic of us, John and I went out to dinner last night with a player. Not just a player, but a player, her husband, and their three kids: Katya Lezin (Charlotte, NC), David Lieberman, Noah Lieberman (Charlotte, NC), Hannah Lieberman, and Eliza Lieberman. John was kinda missing his two, so this was great for us all. Between courses of Thai food and desserts at a nearby eatery, we played Bananagrams, this awesome fun, SCRABBLE-like crossword game played with tiles. We could handicap it by age/skill, so that the 5-year-old stood as good a chance of winning as John did (she had 4 tiles, he had 20). A lot of fun! We know them because Katya and Noah played at the Dallas Open last March and Katya coached Noah and Hannah and their SCRABBLE^® teammates as they competed in this past Spring's National School SCRABBLE^® Championship.

As I entered the playing room today, I spotted a big binder on the floor with a paper inserted that SCRABBLE^®, sort of a how-to. It was at the feet of Jeff Martin (Albuquerque, NM). I'm going to find him before this event is through and figure out the secret to SCRABBLE^®.

Sam Rosin (Bernardsville, NJ) is having a very good game against Mary Capalbi (Deerfield Beach, FL) this round. I see three bingos, all his: jAROSITE, DENOTIVE, and RELATES. I later learn he won that game, 438-303.

Glenn Dunlop (Brantford ON) and Terry Kang Rau (Newington, CT) call for Division 2 Leader, Judy Newhouse, who walks over with the rulebook. I overheard something about designating a blank that Terry had specified as a T, but I didn't linger to hear exactly what the complication was. Ahhhh, the glamorous duties of a director.

Angelina Scroggins (Minneapolis, MN) is a sweet person, always so positive, radiating a smile everywhere she goes. Yesterday, during a particularly busy moment, Angelina came over to the Internet tables and asked John D Williams (Greenport, NY) to sign the bottom of a special round board of hers. As I was walking away, she asked me to sign it, saying she wanted all the signatures of the "famous" people. I'm sure someone will set her straight at some point! :)

So, fearing we were going to starve or something, Jeremy Cahnmann (Chicago, IL) brought us some breakfast today. Not just a little either. He brought us 3 dozen Crispy Creme donuts, three containers of different coffees, bags of coffee add-ons, etc. I would write more, but I'm currently suffering from a sugar coma. Man those delicious donuts are sweet!

Dee Seegrest chased me down way across the room to bring me back to the annotated board in div 1. She was almost breathless about how exciting the game was. She said, "Six bingos! Can you believe it!" Once we got to the table she said, "I lied, seven bingos!" Nathan Benedict (Tucson, AZ) opened with AUXEtIC for 96, and Brian Cappelletto (Chicago, IL) replied with sITTING for 74. A small play from Nathan and then Brian put down EVERTING through the N for 76. The board remained tightish, with them playing most of the midgame on the bottom half. Perhaps trying to shut it down, Brian played NAH above Nathan's opening play, but it backfired and fed into a bingo-bango-bongo for his opponent! Nathan slammed down ORIENTATE through the AT for 62! (John Chew adds that Brian said that his opponent would have had eight-letter bingoes even had Brian not played NAH.) Since the O was in the upper triple lane, Brian put down PROFS for 39. Nathan's move was SEMIOVAL through the I for 80. No slouch, Brian then slapped down BINDERY for 90 (if you lost count, we are up to six bingos now). Then Nathan bingoed out with the lovely ECHIDNAS, through the N for 78. It was a 532-433 win for Nathan.

Tony Leah (Ajax ON) and Nawapadol Sayavesa (Thailand) were in an animated endgame chat. I see Nav's BEARINGS for 72, SOUNDING for 70, and AMESACES for 74. Tony played KHANATe for 74 and bROWNIE for 75. It was Nav's win, 431-364. They had tiles spread out all over, talking about possibilities when the Thai pointed out the bingo that Tony had missed that would have won him the game: ETIOLATE. Tony exclaimed loudly (for him) in horror, pushed back from the table, leaned back into his chair, tossed his head back, and grabbed onto his skull from either side. I could almost hear his brain screaming, "How did I EVER miss that?" Note, I would have easily missed it myself, so no discredit to Tony intended! Several of the Thai players crowded around to see the board. Understandably, they always talk to one another in Thai, which most of us don't understand at all. I wonder, sometimes, what they are saying.....

Doug Brockmeier (Yorba Linda, CA), sporting a "There's Something About Mary" hairdo today, just eked out a 2-point win against Dave Wiegand (Portland, OR), 405-402. Doug did this despite playing only one bingo, ORNATES* for 61. I see that Dave got down two: TEmPTING for 80 and LIMBERER for 80. My favorite play? Dave's WEENIER, a nonbingo.

Su Edwards walks over and tells me that the board has already been picked up, but someone in Division 4 had a nearly 550 win. I stand with her until she retrieves the name. Oh yes: Sid Lashley (Mississauga ON)! Way to go, Sid!