10-11 May 2012
Round 8 : Me vs Steven Surya
Right at the midpoint of the tournament, I faced Steven Surya. It always be a tricky game to play against him. And yes, this time maybe it's the trickiest one. I'll give a story about the whole game here :D
Steven started with AEIOUS? on his rack. That combination only forms one bingo and he didn't miss it, SEqUOIA for 64 pts. I got not too good rack at that time, so I could only play MEND for 22 pts.
Instead of extending his lead, Steven got challenged by me for a quite silly mistake. Then, I exchanged my tiles.
With the same rack like the previous turn, Steven could only play POI for 9 pts and the O opened triple letter score spot for my TAW/PA/OW (31 pts). But, he countered with FEW/TE/PAW with 5 points bigger than mine.
Next I played MAP to throw away all the medium tiles in the search for bingo since I already kept one blank. Steven then played QADI. Current score 133-79 for Steven.
I placed down a bingo to do a lead takeover, LAITIeS/TEL/PAWA for 79 pts. But soon Steven restored the lead with FORGE (47 pts). I played EINE/RE/GI/EN on the triple word spot to lead again by 1 point. Steven then took the other triple word spot he opened before with VEINS/IFS for 30 pts.
Still trying to chase Steven, I played NYE/TELE for 17 pts but still 3 points shy of 200. Luckily, Steven also couldn't score big with only played OU for 9 pts. I got myself into the lead again with SEZ (36 pts). 229-219 for me.
Steven used the Z I've played before to make CAZ and below the C was triple word score square and I quickly noticed that both H haven't been played yet. So to minimize the chance of Steven to use that triple word score square, I played AR for only 2 pts! I was right, right after I played AR, he threw away his H to open the board a bit. Instantly, I closed the board again with COURT. Steven still in the lead with 246-245.
Next he played VAU and it looked to be impossible for another bingo. My turn, INORB for 22 pts. Then, we started to score low. DIT (18 pts) for Steven, BARE (17 pts) for me, DE (13 pts) for Steven, HARE (14 pts) for me. The current score was 298-292 for me.
With a tight board, Steven still managed to use the bonus square wisely, he played YO/NY/YO for 25 pts. With probably the last high scoring spot, I took it for KAT to score 25 pts too. And that move left us both with seven tiles on each rack and no tiles remaining in the bag.
With this condition, Steven should win the game (Steven to play) :
I had J and X still on my rack and only with one vowel!
It would be a thrilling endgame.
Steven first played HUNG for 10 pts. It took him to lead by 4 pts (327-323) with LERS left on his rack. I think he could do much better to kill the game as soon as possible. That allowed me to played JO/ONY for 23 pts with GLLTX left on my rack. 346-327 for me.
Then Steven threw away his R for FORGER/RE to score 12 pts. I was still leading 346-339. I played GUMP (9 pts) leaving LLTX on the rack. Steven played COURTS/TINS for 12 pts.
My rack : LLTX
Steven's rack : EL
The score : 355-351 for me.
I was leading but Steven had the edge because of my X. All of the Ls were unplayable. My turn now and I played IT for 2 pts and still kept the X. Steven used the spot I created from IT to play TE/TE and to go level with my score. It seemed to be a win for Steven, but quickly I spotted the last place to play the X. I extended ONY into ONYX and scored 14 pts. Then, we had to pass because we couldn't make another move. Final score 369-356 and it was a win for me! Phew!
After the game, I revealed why I kept the X until the end. It was all because the triple word score square beside my X if I played it earlier. If Steven had A/E/O then he would easily score 27 pts with only one letter and surely would win the game. I waited until his E came out. It was a gamble but I had to try to win, and it worked! When Steven was about to play the last E, his best move was to pass. Yes, right. Pass!
This was surely an unforgettable endgame!
Full game : http://www.cross-tables.com/annotated.php?u=11121#0
This game wasn't fully annotated, several racks may not consist the right tile combination.
Addition, plus clearer explanation...
ReplyDeleteSteven real miss was in turn he play HUNG, he could give so much better moves, that would end Albert's hope to win the game. LUNGES/SNYE for 31 leave only R was the best I can see, gave finishing blow to Albert. Even LEU/NYE/YOU for 21 leave GNRS was a sure win for him and only use 3 letters vocabulary...
After that Steven simply didn't see any spot to dump X, which noticed by Albert, but was suicidal move for him knowing Steven still hold his E, giving him EX to triple for 27 points, compared to Albert's ONYX for only 14 points. It was -13 valuated move for Albert that will surely kill him...
The best move for Steven after he missed LUNGES is undoubtely PASS. Why?
Since no spot to play L, the only playable letter was E and X. However this way his turn to make a move, but the main problem:
Steven really need to keep his E, the only letter that playable in his rack, that give him 27 points once Albert dump his X, for only 14 points, and the only playable letter in Albert was X.
However his move TE for 6 points, dumped his E, made Albert relaxed to play ONYX for 14 points, gain 8 extra margin instead of -13.
It was a sure win to Steven once he declared pass instead piling 6 points with his E. If Albert passed too, then the game will over after 4 consecutive pass or 6 consecutive 0 scoring moves, then the X will kill Albert by give him a total -10 points penalty (LLX) compared with -2 points penalty for Steven (EL). That would made final score 349-347 for Steven, or 377-369 if Albert desperately play his X after that... An example how a pass can considered as best move in very very rare condition
In fact, I and Steven both missed LUNGERS/SNYE! That surely would kill the game immediately. Steven also missed ISLE when he played the S. I was really lucky there.
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