Day 3 of the US Open

Day 3 of the US Open. Surprisingly, I slept pretty well last night, and was quite refreshed. Guess it must be my workout at the gym plus a good soak in the hot tub.

I met GI Joel in elevator going down, and saw his funny T-shirt. The back of the T-shirt reads 'I HAVE BEATEN NIGEL RICHARDS BEFORE'. I guess Nigel's fame spread far and wide.

Game 1 - Opponent: Cheryl Francis, rated 909, seeded 27th

Met this interesting lady, who turns out to be of a native american origin. Tough fight too, on the Scrabble board, that is. I bingoed early with 'FIShIER' and later screwed up playing a A hook to NULLED, thinking ANNULLED was spelt with a single 'N'. Of course, she challenged it off. Later I lost another turn because I challenged 'OYES', which turned out to be good while 'OYE' is not! Man, TWL2 ticks me off. It was neck-to-neck till the end, and on my last move, it was me 328, she leading with 339. I had IRON? on my rack, but could not go out. Spent a couple of minutes looking around, and saw an opening! Using ?N, I hooked to the front of 'ZIP' to play 'uN(ZIP)' and ? hook to 'N' for 'Nu' for a 31 points to lead 359-339. She ended the game with another 6 points, take my 'IRO' for 6 points. I won a very close game, 359-351. +8 point spread! Whew.....


Game 16 - Opponent: Chris Nelson, rated 810, seeded 63th

This was a heartbreaking game. I was leading for a long time, through half the game and playing a very closed board that my oppponent cannot play (due to lack of vowels), but made the mistake of opening up the board later. I was leading 223-160, so I opened up the board because I fished out one of the blank tile. But he caught up almost soon and bingoed with a simple 'SEALING' with the S hook. And instead of playing 'Jo(I)N' from the I in SEALING to hit the triple-word from H12 on the board, worth 54 points, I just played J(I)N for 30 points. And he hooked ODD to 'D(JIN)' for more points too!!! Lost badly, 310-405 for a -95 spread. Stupid mistakes!

Game 17 - Opponent: Edmond Wilson, rated 888, seeded 38th

Another sad game. I bingoed on my second turn with 'DILATeD'. He responded later with 'DOmAINS'. We were neck-to-neck, at one point late in the game, 301-308. Then, I made one mistake, playing WORE, hooking my E to THE for 'E(THE)'#, another British-only word!! Lost 323-351, probably due to my stupid ETHE. Stupid TWL2!!!!

Game 18 - Opponent: Khim Clarke, rated 684, seeded 92nd

Found out the Khim is Malaysian, from KL too! She has married locally, I am guessing, having adopted Clarke as her last name. She has settled in the US for about 13 years now, and have just started playing Scrabble in local clubs. We played a ladder-step board, ending up with a very closed-up board. At one point, we were playing 1 tile at a time. I bingoed early with 'SUNDIAL' and later on with 'SEATErS'. Won 412-323.

Game 19 - Opponent: Carol Jones, rated 955, seeded 7th

I ran away with this one. I had most of the power tiles, including the 2 blanks. Playing QI for 44 points, bingoed with 'AnIMATE' for 90 points, MAXES for 42 points, another bingo of 'ENLARgE, ZOO for 41 on the triple word at A1, and finished off with my end-rack bingo, 'REPOSED' for 74. She did get a bingo of '(S)TARTING' but did not hit 300 points. I won 520-295, with a +241 spread.

Game 20 - Opponent: Joyce Stock, rated 782, seeded 69th

Joyce won our earlier game in round 6, day 1. This game, the luck remained with me. Plus, she was really tired too. Played QAT for 42 points. I tried a bingo of 'LeNDORS', which she challenged off. (Yes, I do not know RONDELS works!!) # moves later, I bingoed with 'UNRUST(E)d', which I was pretty proud off, bingoing with 2 'U's. Later on, I played 'Z'AI(R)e' at J14 down, which she challenged unsuccessfully. Phew, I thought I played another British-only word! She, on the other hand, must really have bad racks. I won 387-219 for a +168 spread.

Game 21 - Opponent: Neva Slater, rated 857, seeded 51st.

This old lady had a neck brace on. But Joyce, who played her earlier, said she is a sneaky one! She tends to overdraw, and just drops off the extra tile back into the back. She also draw tiles with the bag below the table. I had to spend time watching her while she draws. Once, I caught her with overdrawing too. Man, old lady!!

Anyhow, it was a tough game. She is a pretty good player. She bingoed with 'RUNTIEr', leading me 146-183. I closed the gap, playing another very closed-up board. Later, I played 'ZAIRe' again for 42 points at O-8. In the end game, I vaulted in front slightly, winning 348-326. Hard fought.

Surprisingly, after today's games, I feel pretty good. Went to the gym again, had a session in the hot-tub and lazed in the pool for a while.... this is the life, playing Scrabble in a top-rate hotel.... (well, I DO have to pay for it....so might as well enjoy the facilities).

Found out after dinner that I am ranked 7th after 21 games!!! In top 10 again! Tomorrow, I am slated to play in tables 3 and 4 in the first 4 games, so it's gonna be a tough fight. I am meeting Robert Collins and Ben Lam again, whom I had lost to both by -11 points earlier. I have a shot in this!! Hope I don't screw it up....

OM SATINE OM RETINA OM SATIRE OM blank OM blank OM
OM SATINE OM RETINA OM SATIRE OM blank OM blank OM
OM SATINE OM RETINA OM SATIRE OM blank OM blank OM
OM SATINE OM RETINA OM SATIRE OM blank OM blank OM
OM SATINE OM RETINA OM SATIRE OM blank OM blank OM

p/s: See the my standing here