Daily Puzzle : 25 September 2014

Today Scrabble Talk is going to discuss one particular moment in a game. The game can be from real one or online with friends or computer.

So when playing against computer on Scrabble app, we got this rack of QVECXEZ. A bit awkward combination but still playable for high points, now take a look of the board condition.

The board is still very open, with many 'hot spots' are still available. The obvious one is the Triple Letter box next to I from mOINEAU. You can play EX/EON/XI for an easy 53 pts but it's very tempting to play somewhere else as you already held the Q for QI/QI/IN (64 pts).

A more speculative one, there's a Double Letter box on the triple lane above the A from MARRIERS and wait to put the Z there and hit the Triple Word box.

One thing to look is the leave here, QVC combination is not a pretty one.

What will be your move and why?

Here are a few thoughts from @alexieishere : 

.@scrabbletalk instead of the obvious play EX/EON/XI for 53, I choose CEZVE/EMO for 41, get rid of awkward tile and high chance of drawing I
— Alexander Gozali (@alexieishere) September 25, 2014

.@scrabbletalk just realized that EXEC/TE/WEX/ODE for 45 is safer, but QVZ is really awkward, still think CEZVE is better though
— Alexander Gozali (@alexieishere) September 25, 2014

We opted to play safe and fishing for the I, EXEC/TE/WEX/ODE for 45pts. Successfully to draw I in the next turn, so QI/QI/IN was obvious. Had a dreadful EVHYVZL after playing QI, but lucky we could make (B)EVVY.

Here is the final board :

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How to Organize Scrabble Tournament

Have you ever thought to organize a Scrabble tournament by your own or with your club but you don't know how or what to do? Or maybe you don't know about the rules, resources, format and where to find all of these.

Well here, Scrabble Talk is going to give you some useful tips that you can apply in organizing a tournament. The tips here are based on the writer experience in joining and organizing tournaments for years.
Here are some tips (and also tricks) to organize a Scrabble tournament.

BEFORE TOURNAMENT

Check tournament/academic calendar
First, you need to check and synchronize national calendar and academic calendar (if any). This action is to prevent clashing with another event/tournament. There are some tournaments that have already been established, like Asian English Olympics in mid February, E.COM in September and else. Set the date a long way before.

Form a committee
Actually in a Scrabble tournament, you don't need too much core committee members. Project officer, tournament, registration and support are enough for the core team. You can cover each other's works as well. Find a team that you can cooperate and work with well, be effective. During tournament, you might need more people to assist the committee and the participants, just ask for help.
In the end, it's all up to you what kind of team and how big is the team that you want to form :).

Tournament format
Nowadays, most competitions use one-on-one tournament format. There's no elimination and all players play the same amount of rounds. You need to be aware of these things if you want your tournament to be rated (Rating explanation below). Usually, you can make two or three-day-long tournament and it can fit 12-20 rounds. To attract more participants, you can divide the tournament into two or more divisions. The divisions are usually based on ratings (1200 pts mark). One of the three-day tournament with divisions example is Indonesia Scrabble Challenge 2014.

Indonesia Scrabble Challenge 2014 Format (via indonesianscrabble.org)

Apply for rating
Rating is a point to measure player's skill in Scrabble. Tournaments in Indonesia can be rated by Indonesian Scrabble Federation (ISF). There are some criteria for a tournament in order to be rated, the number of games, the number of participants and tournament format (see above). If you have follow the format, submit your rating application form to ISF.
It's better to submit your application way before your tournament starts, the latest time to submit is one month before the tournament starts.
Note : You will be advised not to publish your tournament as a rated tournament by ISF before you get the approval.

Publication
Do a good publication long before the tournament starts. You don't want your tournament lacks of participants right? If your tournament is accepted to be rated, your tournament info will be posted on ISF website so Scrabble players from all around Indonesia will know. Post your tournament info also on ISC Facebook group, most Indonesian Scrabble players are there.
Make sure you include all important info, like is it rated or not, total rounds that are going to be played, is there any division and is it open for public or not. Make it clear and not confusing.
Also be responsive to inquires about your tournament.

Funding
You need some money to fund your tournament. Find a subsidy from your institution or sponsors. Make a financial planning from best to the worst one. This will help you to deal with various cases.

DURING TOURNAMENT

Venue
Find a hall or a big room to be used as a venue. One spacious room is better than some small rooms since it'll be easier for you to navigate in bigger room. Prepare the room setting with director tables at the front and playing tables for two or four players each. Give some space between the tables to make you and players moving around easily.

Tabulation
You need to tabulate all the scores from each round. Pairings from each round use the result from the previous round.
There's a tournament software called AuPair to tabulate the scores and do pairings. AuPair program will generate .TOU file that consists of tournament scores. You need a laptop/computer to do the tabulation.

AuPair

Pairings
Pairings is a match-up for players in each round. There are usually two types of pairings that used in tournament,  Australian draw and King of The Hill.
Australian draw is a pairing which two players can't meet each other more than once in a period of time which has been set (no repeat). This pairing is also known as Swiss Pairing.
Meanwhile, King of The Hill (KOTH) means two players can meet each other repeatedly without any condition. King of The Hill is usually used in latter rounds of a tournament.

Australian Draw example

There's also a special case where the top player can't be caught anymore in the remaining number of rounds so the top player will be Gibsonized (Gibson rule). Gibson rule means the top player won't face players that still competing for a place in prize pool. He/she will take a player that can't make it to prize pool in remaining rounds. This will preserve a fairer competition for players in contention for prize pool.

Boards, tiles, timer, word judge
Make sure you have enough amount of board set and timer. Do spare two or three in case of additional participants or unexpected broken timer/board.
For tiles, make sure each set has a complete 100 tiles with correct distribution.
You can use apps in smartphone instead of Scrabble/chess timer. Use Zyzzyva as the word judge in laptop.
See the Resource page to find more useful tools.

Scrabble timer (pic credit : SamTimer.com)

Zyzzyva for iOS

Zarf timer for iOS

Score sheet, result slip
Players need score sheet to track their and opponents score so do prepare it for the players. Result slip is optional but highly suggested to have, the use is to record the final result, other important data and as an agreement between two players where they have to sign on it.
Again, see the Resource page to find the sheet. You can make your own result slip format that contains winner & loser names, winner & loser scores, winner & loser signs and high word (optional). Write down the round (and division if any) on the result slip to help you process the results.

AFTER TOURNAMENT

Tournament report
After the tournament is finished, publicize the result and make a report document of tournament if your tournament is rated by ISF.

.TOU file
You need to save the .TOU file of the full tournament result and submit the file to ISF to be processed. The file is very important to calculate tournament rating and to publish the result on ISF website. Do create a backup of it.

Rules : WESPA Rules V2

We hope with this post, it can help you to organize more Scrabble tournament in Indonesia.
If you have any question, please comment below.

Top Ten

After competing in a tournament last week, I wondered how the performance from the top ten rated players in Indonesia is. There are many ups and downs (particularly me) in the top ten. After almost three years since the first release, the top ten has stretched its bounds. Currently the maximum point is almost reaching 1950 points and the minimum point is ranging from 1400 to 1450.

The first ever top ten in Indonesia looks like this (Indonesia Scrabble Challenge 2011) :
1. Albert Martono (1612)
2. Hyendi Gumilang (1549)
3. Fadlan Satria (1522)
4. Robby Swandanu (1488)
5. Christian Oktavius (1468)
6. Hendy Yohanes (1418)
7. Adelina Harry Santi (1372)
8. Eko Tama Putra (1369)
9. Vincentius Salim (1343)
10. Jimmy (1313)

After Indonesia Scrabble Challenge 2012, we added a new condition where the players have to reach a minimum 50 rated games to be included in top ten rated players.

Top ten rated players in 2012 :
1. Christian Oktavius (1759)
2. Fadlan Satria (1667)
3. Albert Martono (1624)
4. Hyendi Gumilang (1615)
5. Julius Wilson (1598)
6. Jimmy (1461)
7. Eko Tama Putra (1446)
8. Adelina Harry Santi (1400)
9. Steven Surya (1389)
10. Hendy Yohanes (1367)

Top ten rated players in 2013 :
1. Christian Oktavius (1788)
2. Fadlan Satria (1736)
3. Julius Wilson (1669)
4. Albert Martono (1606)
5. Robby Swandanu (1574)
6. Hyendi Gumilang (1556)
7. Jimmy (1459)
8. Eko Tama Putra (1448)
9. Hartanto Wibisono (1440)
10. Adelina Harry Santi (1400)

Top ten rated players in 2014 (so far) :
1. Christian Oktavius (1946)
2. Fadlan Satria (1725)
3. Julius Wilson (1723)
4. Albert Martono (1655)
5. Robby Swandanu (1612)
6. Hyendi Gumilang (1611)
7. Jimmy (1509)
8. Alexander Gozali (1452)
9. Eko Tama Putra (1448)
10. Ario Ananda (1435)

There are as many as 19 players that have ever reached the top ten. The latest is Ario Ananda, who leapfrogged Hartanto Wibisono to the tenth place.
Here are the 19 players :
Albert Martono, Hyendi Gumilang, Fadlan Satria, Robby Swandanu, Christian Oktavius, Hendy Yohanes, Adelina Harry Santi, Eko Tama Putra, Vincentius Salim, Jimmy, Julius Wilson, Haris Prihartono, Fangky Adetia,  Harryadi Hermanto, Steven Surya, Hartanto Wibisono, Alexander Gozali, Rizko Alfitrian and Ario Ananda.

3 - The number of players that ever placed first (Albert, Christian, Hyendi).

5 - The number of players that have reached 1700 rating points mark (Christian, Hyendi, Fadlan, Albert, Julius).

221 - Currently the margin between the first place, Christian and the second place, Fadlan. A record high.

478 - Christian's rating has improved 478 points. The highest in top ten.

1060 - Both Hartanto and Ario started from the same rating points and made it to the top ten.

ESo National Scrabble Competition 2014 (Part 1)

Hi all! Finally I went to Lampung for the first time in almost two years to join this competition held by English Society of Lampung University. ESo National Srabble Competition (ENSC) 2014 was held on July 5th-6th, 2014. 24 participants from Jakarta,Tangerang, Palembang and Lampung were there to compete in 15-round tournament. So here is my tournament report :).

Round 1 against Septian Moufti. My opening game was a one-sided game as I took command during the whole game. Septian was caught making invalid move 6 times as I could stretch the lead. CORONAS and NODDERS were my bingos. I won 569-194. Result after round 1 : 1-0 +375.

Round 2 against Julius Wilson. We were in the top 2 after the first round. Julius started strongly with two straight bingos, WINDERs and INFAMOUs. I managed to cut his lead with ZEIN and LIONETS but his ADJOINED later did the blow. I got no E after bingoing LIONETS in my fifth turn. I lost the game by 378-515. Result after round 2 : 1-1 +238.

Round 3 against Ginanjar Agung. Got some tricky tile combinations here. First, IIORTT? and then AISTUV?, I didn't know InTROIT and I found VAcUIST but he blocked my spot. Ginanjar was the first to get a bingo with sPINNER but illegally created AMENEs*, again I didn't know AMENE doesn't take S. Later, I replied with HAGRIDEs, which he challenged. Had to exchange twice to get rid off dreadful tile combinations. I won 457-326. Result after round 3 : 2-1 +369.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4 against Rastra Teguh. It was a tight match as we kept exchanging the lead during the game. I played FIRMA* and escaped the challenge. His ReADILY was directly replied by my rEJONES to keep my 40-point lead. Shortly, he made another bingo ASTONING through the I of my FIRMA*. His ZOA for 41 pts stretched his lead until I reduced it with AZALEA for 48 pts. Then we reached a tense ending where he was leading 397-370. My final rack was GHOORST and his was CFIINOU, I played AGO for 11 pts leaving HORST (missed ORTHOS/EDS). Rastra then shockingly played KUFI for 13 pts instead of FOCI or FUCI /ETIC. I played with SHORT/KUFIS for 28 pts and won the game by additional points from unplayed tiles. Final score 421-410. Later, Rastra said that he knew neither FOCI nor FUCI. Result after round 4 : 3-1 +380.
Round 5 against Muhammad Ihsan. Another close match. I got not so great tiles in this game and the board condition was also against me. He played a bingo first with ANATASe and took the lead but he then made a crucial mistake by playing JAB/AP*. I capitalized it to catch him by playing LOURIES. Right after the bingo, I got AEILMRT on my rack and I had seen two spots for another bingo through O and N but Ihsan amazingly blocked the spots at once with BORTZ. In the end of the game, he again made a huge blunder by playing NEC(K)LERs* having already taken the lead and only need to score to keep the lead. I managed to pip him 380-377 and it was back-to-back 'gifted' win. Result after round 5 : 4-1 +383.
Round 6 against Christian Oktavius. This match was inevitable. I started the game somehow in an outstanding fashion. SMARTEN (74), KEX (51), RICH (39), DELETION (61) and ZA (65) were my first five moves. I made VETeRANS to extend my rare lead over him. I even missed YEELINS and just realized it after I pressed the clock to finish my move, doh! I added another bingo, ALINERs and blocked Christian's chance to play PRESONG. I won comfortably by 548-340. Result after round 6 : 5-1 +591.

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Pairings for round 7

Round 7 against Alexander Gozali. Started steadily but it was Alex who got the bingo first (SPORTED). He then made FRIA* and was challenged off immediately. I capitalized to make a bingo STATIVE and took the lead. He then cut the margin with ALIENERS but I regained the margin by playing another bingo sHATTER shortly. I won 487-383. Result after round 7 : 6-1 +695.
Round 8 against Rizko Alfitrian. Last game for day 1. We exchanged bingo in the opening moves, MAROONeD by him and AZOTISED by me. Just two turns later, I got STORIES, which he countered with EXED. QI (44), another bingo CADgIEST (88) and UNCLE (38) strengthened my lead, although he had a lifeline after making TOOLERS. Steady scoring took me to reach 500-point mark and won the game 500-403. Result after round 8 : 7-1 +792.

Round 7

Round 8

TO BE CONTINUED...

The Second BSO : Decisive Move

Hi all! In this post I'm going to breakdown one or several moves per game at The Second BSO that are crucial or pivotal in the game.
Here are my selections :
Round 2 against Steven Surya, won 480-415
After turning the game around by playing DIOPTRES for 91 pts, I decided to play a bit more cautious since the game was reaching the end and I need to secure the win.

With this board condition and only had less than 40-point lead, I played KOPS down the triple word line to prevent a bingo by Steven which would win him. I was right, he held VOIDING on his rack and about to play VOIDINGS. Quackle suggests to play PLONK using the L from SCROLL, I did consider it but wasn't sure. PLONK also would open another floater (N) for bingo although the chance was lesser.

Round 5 against Amelia Ekawaty, won 434-379

Trailing for most part of the game. Had a lifeline by playing QAT (45 pts) and successfully challenged off TROWErS* and took advantage to play BIRK (34 pts). I was having a slight lead at that time.

The one who can get a bingo first at this stage will probably win the game. Amelia played WROTE right after her unsuccessful play, leaving S? and looked to get the bingo first. I took a gamble by playing LO and hoping to find a bingo next turn and I did. With Amelia was still fishing, played only one letter A, YUGA/AMI, I already had GREISEN on my rack. I chose to play GREISEN at 10A, could score better with RESE(W)ING at B8 or GREISEN/TIS/ENE/aN at 14A. I decided to play at 10A because the play blocked the easiest spot for bingo also the floaters made by WROTE. RESEWING would open another floaters. I left row 14 open because it had to make 3 parallel words in minimum to make a bingo and column N, the bingo should start with either I or U, or must start with SI or SU to do parallel move with WEX. All I and U have been played, only possible to do it with blank, made it more unlikely there.

Round 7 against Julius Wilson, won 447-408
We both know the game could go either way. Yes, it was neck and neck until Julius opened a 50-point gap with SEROSAE (84). I decided to play KAT to open another spot for bingo, having missed one in the previous move. That play was intentional from me to call his attention to that spot, since I already had two blanks on my rack, hunting for triple-triple across the V of VADE. He instantly played PIVOT/KATI and bagged 38 points.

My plan worked. Played one of the easiest triple-triple, STRIVeRs for 131 pts and went back to the lead by 50 points. That was enough to hold Julius off until the game end.

Round 15 against Christian Oktavius, won 461-458

This was the only loss that Christian conceded during the whole tournament and he conceded it in a dramatic fashion.

This picture above shows the endgame situation, I led 429-405 at that time and Christian to play. He got EGOP on his rack after playing ZOA (36), setting up himself to play OP/ZO/WOP on the Triple Word. That was his obvious chance to overturn the game. My rack (JMRT) wasn't too good to block it, actually I could do it by playing (WO)T but the score was too low and I couldn't go out in only two moves. The J wasn't too flexible with that board condition so I had to get rid of it first, also I had to maximize my last moves or I'd be caught up. After screening the board, I spotted the maximum play for the J and could go out in two moves. I played JET/JO/TE for 21 pts and it brought me to 450 pts. Then, without any doubt Christian played OP for 53 pts and was very hopeful to win with 458 pts. I went out by playing R(I)M for 5 pts, I still lose by 3 pts (455-458) but I got additional points from his unplayed tiles (6pts - EG) and won 461-458! 

Final board : 

The Second BNEC Scrabble Open : Full Results

Report From The Second BNEC Scrabble Open

The Second BNEC Scrabble Open is the first big tournament in this year national Scrabble calendar. From January 10th to 12th, 2014, we had 20 rounds of Scrabble game at BINUS University. No division separation in this tournament so it's an open one.
Here is my report (my opponents in the bracket):

Round 1 (Ivan Tri Hernando)
Started with AHPRST? on my rack and bingoed HARPiST. Later I got SNOOZER through the TW for 109 pts and sLANTED. I won comfortably 550-148.
After round 1 : #1 1-0, +402

Round 2 (Steven Surya)
Started with another bingo - AFEARED. Steven holds but then accepts it. SQUAREs (88) put me ahead but Steven's ZA (64), NAILSEt (69), JO (52) made me trailing. I hit back with DIOPTRES (91) and correctly block his VOIDINGS with KOPS using the S from DIOPTRES, could play PLONK for a better score and still block his bingo but I wasn't sure enough. I won 480-415.
After round 2 : #2 2-0, +467

Round 3 (Jonathan Kevin)
Again another bonus start as I played ROSEOLA in my first move. Jonathan did a great job to play ATTITuDE from a rack of ADITTT?. HABANERO (76) through the N from his TRANQ and JArGONS (108) are some of my favorite play in this tournament. Very pleased to play them both. I win 536-350.
After round 3 : #1 3-0, +653

Round 4 (Jimmy)
We both got one bingo apiece, EARRiNG (77) for me and EARSHOT (101) for Jimmy. The board, in the end became very closed. We both couldn't play out. The worst thing, my score was cut by 10 points for overtime and resulting I lost by 4 points! 378-382.
After round 4 : #3 3-1, +649

Round 5 (Amelia Ekawaty)
Started well with a double-double FACTION (48) but then she replied with ZAP (67). My JAAP (52) took me close but again she replied with INaNEST (72) straightaway. Luckily, I challenged off her phoney, TROWErS* and got myself a bingo, GREISEN (70) to fightback and win 434-379.
After round 5 : #2 4-1, +704

Round 6 (Christian Oktavius)
Against the current leader. It's one-sided match I can say. He got TARANDS (86), FILIATe (77), PINNATE (77) and LORISES (89) for bingos meanwhile only one for me, ENFORcE (73). Couldn't do much. Lost 372-564.
After round 6 : #4 4-2, +512

Round 7 (Julius Wilson)
Last game for the first day. I was the first to got the bingo with GIRASOLE (72) but after some steady moves, Julius took the lead with SEROSAE (84). But his lead didn't stand long as I got triple-triple STRIVeRs for 131 pts and I won 447-408.
After round 7 : #3 5-2, +551

Round 8 (Jimmy)
Day 2, Australian Draw with reset so I'm paired with Jimmy in this round. I got ReCITALS (77) then he replied with SOILIER (74) several moves later. Near the end of the game, I missed FRANCIZE from ACINRZ? but could play the Z with ZA (42) and played CItRANGE (83) right after it. A 500-316 win for me.
After round 8 : #2 6-2, +735

Round 9 (Christian Oktavius)
Again this game is also one-sided. He got five bingos to none. CONTRAST (70), REgALIA (70), WREAKING (67), RETAiLS (78) and ISOBARE (80) won him 533-331.
After round 9 : #4 6-3, +533

Round 10 (Hyendi Gumilang)
We had a slow start, 168-119 after 8 turns. But the latter half of the game was a free-scoring half for me, LAITIES (67), JUNTO (35), POXY (48), MEALiER (64), COLDS (37), ZAS (66) and DITS (28) made me reached 500 mark. I won 513-229.
After round 10 : #2 7-3, +817

Round 11 (Jeffry)
Got the easiest bingo ASTERIA (76) then Jeffry pulled one back with DONAtES (77). I regained the lead shortly after that with SPORTeD (73) then set up myself for Triple Word play with SKY which I hooked with R to make ZORI (53). I won exactly by a hundred points (446-346).
After round 11 : #2 8-3, +917

Round 12 (Julius Wilson)
Found myself behind after conceding a bingo EVIrATED (74) but still could equal his score after several moves. Played RONNElS (64) to go in front but his HAJI (43) made a tense finale. Julius was forced to think hard with his final rack DINRLVT, he threw D and R to gain 20 pts. But then he made VOIL* for 21 pts, it was his only chance to win. I challenged t off and played out to get his remaining tiles and ensured another win, 403-378. I only had less than 10 seconds on the clock when I played out.
After round 12 : #2 9-3, +942

Round 13 (Michael Diptana)

Close game until the midway. Had ELECTION earlier but was blocked. He then got a slight lead thanks to ZITE (54). Then he played AKIRA*, which I've never heard before but I let it go to play pSEUDOS/AKIRAS* (74). Michael himself thought that AKIRA was good. Had BDEIRS? tile combination but missed CaRBIDES (wasn't sure), REBUIlDS (the easiest, didn't see it) and ImBURSED. I decided to play DEBIT to open the triple lane. He blocked directly with PROUD. Got EGIRSU? right after and tried PREUSInG* through the Triple Word but it was challenged off. Luckily, he played LOUP and opened a spot for me to make a 7-letter bingo, REUSInG/LOUPS. Should take my time more before playing PREUSInG*, I missed PIRoGUES and PERSUInG. I won 420-328.

After round 13 : #2 10-3 +1034

Round 14 (Daniel Wijono)

Last game for the second day. Had BIORSST on my rack and already seen a floating N to make RIBSTONS but completely blocked, decided to throw away BORTS leaving IS and guess what, I drew ATEN? to complete SATINE? rack. I splashed out NIdATES for 83+5 pts. Two turns later, I put down another bingo, this time it's dIGONAL for 71+5 pts.  Again, two turns after I played the second bingo, I got an almost-bingo rack AEENORT and superbly spotted RENO(V)ATE(d) for 63 pts. It was more special because it's a nine-letter bingo from separated floaters. Daniel did catch up with LANCERS (89) instantly but it was me who had the final word. I won 513-346.

After round 14 : #2 11-3 +1201

Round 15 (Christian Oktavius)

Third day also the last day! King of The Hill all day la! I faced the one who is still unbeaten so far, Christian Oktavius. He started with HOOVE and confidently I played MOUTHIEr through the H of HOOVE. Christian directly stopped the clock and requested a challenge. The result was good so 74+5 pts for me. EVIRATED (65) gave me a quite good lead over him. After exchanging tiles, Christian directly back in the game with SCALENI (76). I tried to stretch my lead with WATER (40) but he kept on tight by playing RAX (35). His RAX was also blocked my bingo (AABLRU?) tABULAR/tA/AL/BE/UN/LI right above his SCALENI. No place for other bingo I guess. AABLRU? forms FABULAR, LABARUM, PABULAR, SUBALAR and TABULAR. Only found the last two. Christian again went close with QUAY (38). Then I recorded another nine-letter bingo, (DE)RAILINg for 72 pts, could play (DE)lIRIANT at the same spot also. I made a sloppy move as I tried to block the G from DERAILING on the triple word line, CLING for only 7 points was countered by NYS/IN/NY/CLINGS for 46 pts. Got WAXING (38) to block some spots but again was countered by PISSED for 48 pts. At the end of the game, Christian who was trailing by 60 points, played ZOA/WO/AA (36) leaving EGOP and setting up a killer move which almost successful for next turn. Right beside Z was the triple word square and he was still holding the O - the last one. Me myself ran out of vowels with JMRT left on the rack. I decided not to block it and went for JET (21). Christian then obviously played OP/ZO/WOP for a thumping 53 pts and took the lead 458-450. I played out with RIM (5) and got the remaining tiles for 6 points. That was enough to condemn the first defeat in the tournament for Christian. I won 461-458.

After round 15 : #2 12-3 +1204

Round 16 (Christian Oktavius)

Another game with Christian. His REMANIE (77) and DAILIeS (73) put him in front by 80 pts. I went almost level with him through STANGeD (82). He threw away his only vowel to play QIS (49) to secure the lead. A close end game involving Z happened again here, this time it was me who got the Z. Already found my best move for 42 pts but took an awful decision to choose the wrong letter. Instead of playing TOZE, I played OOZE. The first O opened up the triple word square for Christian to take. With AGILNPTV unseen, I chose to leave GOT rather than GOO on the rack. I clearly forgot the P could score him much if he played it on the triple word square. Later I drew G, couldn't finish the game in one move and he played the P exactly at the place where I was scared of. Should I play TOZE, I wouldn't let him score bigger and could go out in one move with GOGO or GOOG, and could possibly win the game. Sloppy. I lost 419-432.

After round 16 : #2 12-4 +1191

Round 17 (Christian Oktavius)

It's now or never for me as if Christian win this round, he will win the tournament. Not a good sign at the beginning, he started with SIEnITE (64). I did reply with PEATIER (72) but he got bUILDERS (62) and ACUITIES (72) to had a strong lead. I couldn't do much after that, his QADI (52) and WOOS (47) cancelled out my FROZE (55) and CENT (42). My rack didn't get any better and had to let go the first place to Christian. I lost 378-486.

After round 17 : #2 12-5 +1083

Round 18 (Jimmy)

With Christian had already secured the pole position, the battle for second place emerged. I, at the second place, was paired with Jimmy, third place. I started with INDEX (42) then OORAlIS (61). Jimmy kept up with SENDABLE (72+5). Two consecutive bingos, TaNGLERS (74) and CLEANING (61) made me led by 100 points. Jimmy tried his luck with BERAVING* but I challenged it off. I also tried my luck to play STROOMED* but it was invalid and challenged off. I didn't know DOOMSTER which was valid to play. Thanks to my strong opening moves, I won the game 463-367.

After round 18 : #2 13-5 +1179

Round 19 (Jimmy)

Had to dig in to get a bingo after throwing away EE and got the same letters. Played ANEROID (65) but  soon turned down by Jimmy's INERTIAS (62). Tried so hard to take the lead but it was Jimmy who got another bingo LIONIsE (67). I had to make a bingo to win the game, after he played HUIC (39), I saw no more unseen vowels. So I embraced myself to play OB to open a way for seven-letter bingo with a leave rack ADIN?, I drew GY. He couldn't block my setup and had to dump away his Z. Took my time for a while before playing DrAYING, it was challenged and it was good so 81+5 pts for me to make a comeback win 424-370. Could play YEADING, YARDING and GWYNIAD also.

After round 19 : #2 14-5 +1233

Round 20 (Hyendi Gumilang)

I almost secured the second place, 1 VP ahead and had more superior margin than Hyendi. But still had to finish this final round. Got NOTATING (63) just after my second move. Power tile trio, JQZ helped me to equal his ROARING (68) and TOEIEsT (64) with JIVER (30), QUEP (58) and ZO (64). We both got no bingo afterwards, I was steadier with the points and cemented the second place on my own with a 469-362 win.

After round 20 : #2 15-5 +1340

Bingos
1. HARPIST (80)    SNOOZER (109)    SLANTED (65)
2. AFEARED (86)    SQUARES (88)     DIOPTRES (91)
3. ROSEOLA (74)    HABANERO (76)   JARGONS (108)
4. EARRING (77)
5. GREISEN (70)
6. ENFORCE (73)
7. GIRASOLE (72)    STRIVERS (131)
8. RECITALS (77)    CITRANGE (83)
9.
10. LAITIES (67)     MEALIER (64)
11. ASTERIA (76)    SPORTED (73)
12. RONNELS (64)
13. PSEUDOS (74)   REUSING (83)
14. NIDATES (88)    DIGONAL (76)     RENOVATED (63)
15. MOUTHIER (79)  EVIRATED (65)   DERAILING (72)
16. STANGED (82)
17. PEATIER (72)
18. OORALIS (61)    TANGLERS (74)   CLEANING (61)
19. ANEROID (65)    DRAYING (86)
20. NOTATING (63)

Result : Live Scrabble - The Second BNEC Scrabble Open
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