Day 1 of US Open

Day 1 of the US Open!! Something interesting happened in the morning. I was getting my coffee, and saw G.I. Joel in front of me. While getting sugar and cream for the coffee, he turned to me and actually called me by my name!! I was stunned. How did he know me? I am in Division 6! (Later, he told me he checks out all tournament results. He actually recognizes my face!)

I am player #121, due to my last name. And incidently, we have 114 players in Division 6, as some got bumped up into Division 5 and some no-shows.

Game 1 - Opponent: Edna Perry, rated 470.

Edna is a sweet old lady, who just recently started in the tournament scene. Brave soul, to take part in the US Open. I won 466-123, a whopping +343 spread! This puts me in #1 position after round 1! I feel sorry for her though. I started off with a bingo 'WAGERED'. Turn 6, I bingoed with 'sUI(C)IDES'. I challenged off her bingo, 'EnVIOUS' because she hooked off the U to a B, making BU. So sorry....

Game 2 - Opponent: Dan Doerrfeld, rated 500.

Dan is a young teenage kid, playing in the tournament because his grand-dad is playing too and had wanted him to take part. Again, a real rookie in tournaments, this being his second ever tournament. I bingoed 'LAzIEST' early, and scored another 75 points playing QAId at L1 down, hooking I to VIED at N2. I won 396-319, with a spread of +77. With a cumulative spread of +420, I still stand at #1. Pole position!

Game 3 - Opponent: Paul Rickhoff, rated 644.

Man, my luck turned for the worse. I started, and drew this lousy rack, BDHIUUV. I traded BDOUUV, and got back ADGUW!!! Damn it, got a third U, and the D!!! Throughout the game, I kept getting the I's. Loss 316-411. Lose my pole position.... ah well.

Game 4 - Opponent: Cecille Betts, rated 665.

Tough game! Cecille is legally blind, and was entitled to an additional 5 minutes. And she is a tough one too! Was pretty close through the game. She bingoed with double blanks, REsIGNs. However, I was able to pull through at the end game, and won 326-295, without any bingoes to reply. Phew....

After game 4, I dropped to 17th position.

Game 5 - Opponent: Ruth Brower, rated 771.

No bingoes again, but I won 388-295. Ruth managed to bingo with '(C)ENSURES'.

Game 6 - Opponent: Joyce Stock, rated 795.

Sigh... my second loss here. 306-367. She managed to block 3 of my bingoes by playing exactly where I needed. She blocked 'W(I)TCHIER', UNWRITE#(OSW only), and OUtRI(D)ER. My last rack was 'BEARING', with no place to go... Sigh... She even bingoed on her first move, 'DECLiN(E)D'.

Game 7 - Opponent: Don Ball, rated 868.

Don hails from Toronto, Canada. I played well on this one. Don was fishing for a bingo early on, so I tried to score as much as possible. He tried '(R)AIdABLE', which I challenged off, and he tried again with '(R)AIsABLE' which I challenged but it was good. I lost a turn and he led for the first time 227-229. However, I caught up and bingoed later with 'HALTERS' to pull ahead and win 476-317.

I ended the first day with a 5 wins - 2 losses, and a healthy 547 spread, the highest amongst the 5-2s. This placed me in the 13th spot. Tomorrow, I will be playing against opponents closer to my rating. It'll be tough, but I hope to keep to the top 15, if possible.