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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in meezerman's LiveJournal:

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    Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
    9:22 am
    Solution
    Solution to the last puzzle in white below:

    I played VINO 5A, threatening to go out with VARY. If Frank had simply ignored this threat and played CIG 5K, he wins by 5. If he makes the correct block with PIC B4, he wins by 9. But he made the "natural" blocking play of PING B4, undoubling the N and the G, allowing me to go out with RAY 3A and a 3 point win!
    Sunday, June 15th, 2008
    8:05 pm
    Neat endgame play
    This was from a recent only game against [info]ftangredi, who called my play "f***ing brilliant." I'm not sure it was that good, but I was pretty happy with it. This is technically an unwinnable endgame, but I managed to steal it by luring Frank into making a mistake. Hint in white:

    Against a bad opponent, like the computers on ISC which don't have any endgame strategy, this wouldn't work. Against a near-perfect opponent, like Quackle, this wouldn't work either. But against a good human opponent who sees the threat I create and makes the "natural" blocking play, it does.
    Sunday, June 8th, 2008
    10:23 pm
    I am such an idiot!
    My losses this weekend:

    Game 7 against Carl Johnson: I try the phony APTERIAL, when a few more seconds of thought would have made me realize that PARIETAL was the legit bingo in those letters. Ugh.
    Game 8 against Chris Cree: I try the phony MORPHIUM* for 69 as an intentional phony, when I should have just played MORPH for 38.
    Game 9: Against Brian Cappelletto. Okay, I lost my score sheet for this game, which must be an omen of some sort, because this is some of the worst Scrabble I've ever played. On turn 2, I play RAJAH for 38 instead of JARRAH for 48 and better position. Then, the very next turn, I miss TROcHOID on the 3x3 for 149!!! On turn 6, I apparently missed TERATOID into a D from a rack of AEIORTT. I say apparently, because I'm doing the racks from this game from memory, but I'm pretty sure this was my rack, since I remember thinking I needed a V for ROTATIVE.
    Game 12 against Joey Mallick: I play ZOO for 51 leaving DIIU, instead of ZOOID for 64 in the same spot! Then I blow the endgame when I miss his best play.
    Game 14 against Mike Baron: Well, this wasn't really too bad. My only major error was challenging HEALaBLE. He played it through the L at 12O, while I'm sitting with AEGNTZ?. If I challenge and it comes off, I get TEAZLiNG for 203! Some quick calculations show that I should challenge if there's even a 14% chance it's not good. Nonetheless, I lose by 7, and that lost turn was probably key.
    Game 15 against Lisa Odom: This is about as dumb as it gets. Short on time in the endgame, I screw up the math and forget to count my 10 point play. So my 330-320 loss is actually a 330-330 tie!!! Sound familiar? Oh, and I blew the endgame too, so I really should have won.

    In short, my 11-6, 4th place performance could have easily been a 14-3 1st place performance, or maybe even a 16-1. (I'm pretty sure my game against Carl was unwinnable).

    Time to get off my ass and study and practice so I don't embarrass myself too badly at Can-Am.

    Current Mood: pissed off
    Thursday, May 29th, 2008
    4:17 pm
    Variance
    Last year, I won the Arden Cup with a 14.5-5.5 record. I missed five bingos all tournament. This year, I went a disappointing 8-12. Again, I missed five bingos all tournament (albeit with a bit of an asterisk this time--I'm counting three unplayed easy bingos as a single miss, because I didn't know the necessary hook to make them playable. So I actually missed either 4 or 7, depending on how you want to count it).

    Missed bingos aren't everything, but they track quality of play pretty closely. I definitely didn't play as well as last year, but it was close. Certainly not a 8-12 caliber performance. During the first 12 games, where I went an atrocious 3-9, I played remarkably well. I missed only two bingos, one in a game I won anyone, and another late in a lost game. I blew no end games and made no other major mistakes. I imagine that even with perfect play, 3-9, or maybe 4-8 was the best I could have done in those games.

    From round 13 on, I got a bit sloppy due to frustration, playing noticeably worse, but putting up better results (5-3). I probably blew two of those losses. I drew nothing against Bob Linn, but challenging a valid play and letting him get two phonies by me didn't help. And against Mike Weepie, I chickened out on BIRDINGS and then missed the aforementioned 3 baby bingos by not knowing that FIRMER took an S back hook.

    The bad news is that I dropped below 1800 for the first time in a decade. The good news is that I get a chance to get them all back in Albuquerque in two weeks. Let's hope I draw a bit better.
    Friday, May 23rd, 2008
    10:37 am
    Back from vacation
    Got back from Panama on Tuesday. After a month away from home, I'd have to be crazy to leave again in a couple of days, right? Yeah, exactly. Obligatory semi-Scrabble content. Is this un ai, or unai?

    Friday, April 18th, 2008
    10:56 pm
    Vacation!
    Haven't posted here in ages. I will soon be going on vacation. I definitely need it. Last month has been majorly stressful. I'll be going to central America for a month--flying into Guatemala and out of Panama. Here is the trip I'm taking for those interested.

    I've got a travel blog set up at travelpod. I'll probably be posting some updates from the road along the way. Wish me fun!
    Sunday, March 23rd, 2008
    9:22 am
    Find the gorgeous bingo
    Monday, March 10th, 2008
    10:40 pm
    ISC douchebags
    So apparently it's against the rules to "name names" on ISC. Although I've done so in my sig* line for months now, support has just messaged me that I must remove it or be censored. Here's my compromise. I'm changing lines 8 and 9 from:

    8) Don't even hint that I'm cheating or I'll abort, noplay you, and list you here.
    9) ISC douchebags: overkill; WONTlose2u; Kalloy; AnasHn; Katheee; opalzara; winemaker; Curwhibble

    to

    8) Don't even hint that I'm cheating or I'll abort, noplay you, and list you here.
    9) ISC douchebags: http://meezerman.livejournal.com/17134.html
    Monday, February 18th, 2008
    8:15 pm
    Phoenix highlights
    I seem to be making a habit of these perfect final days to come from behind and win tourneys. Grand Canyon in 03, Las Vegas in 05, Chicago in 07, and now Phoenix.

    I didn't really have any close games until the final day, when I had 3 and 2 point wins. My best play of the tournament came in the Early Bird against John Karris:


    (Yeah, I know, PARODIZE*. I thought it was good for some reason, while at the same time talking myself out of the higher-scoring DROPhEAD 15A).

    Best bingos of the tourney:

    1) EEGMRSTU
    2) EESTTY? (ending in E)
    3) AEEHLMPT
    4) ADKMOS?

    Thanks as always to Larry and Barbara for a well-run tournament. Looking forward to defending my title next year at the 25th anniversary tourney back at the Grace Inn.
    1:02 pm
    Phoenix final results
    And I take it! A 4-0, +96 final day nets me first as the only 14-6. Patrick Hodges takes second with 13.5, Lloyd wins third by 23 spread points over Nigel Peltier.

    Another Tucsonan, Ed Saunders, wins division 2. Go Tucson!

    --
    Nathan Benedict
    Sunday, February 17th, 2008
    2:13 pm
    Phoenix after 12
    It's locals all the way, as Jim, Laurie, and Patrick round out the top 3. I'm 2 games back at 7-5.
    Saturday, February 16th, 2008
    6:11 pm
    Phoenix after 8
    Only 3 players went into round 7 6-1: Patrick Hodger, Mike Baron, and Jon Shreve. Patrick lost, and Mike and Jon are playing now. Looks like Jon will pull it out, making him the only 7-1. I'm 4-4 after surviving a 512-464 barnburner over Lloyd Mills. 
    5:19 pm
    Phoenix after six
    At five wins, in descending spread order:

    Maddy Kamen, Mike Baron, Patrick Hodges, Jon Shreve, Laurie Cohen, Nigel Peltier.

    I am not in contention so far, but the tournament is young!
    Friday, February 15th, 2008
    3:08 pm
    Phoenix live blogging
    Early bird, at lunch:
    Nigel Peltier, Louis Muller, Lloyd Mills and me all 3-1. I'm in 4th with a negative spread. Geary is 2-2, +300 something.
    Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
    10:29 pm
    For those of you that don't read CGP...


    An honest-to-goodness 5 to make 10 to make 15 letter extension, taught to me years ago by Mark Milan. Never thought I'd see it get played.
    Sunday, January 20th, 2008
    7:08 pm
    Quick Reno standings
    4 at 13-3: Wiegand, Me, Carl Johnson, Schonbrun. Lisa Odom at 12, Sherman tops the 11 win contingent with the largest spread of anyone in the tourney.
    Saturday, January 19th, 2008
    6:52 pm
    Reno after day 1
    8-0, + 1080, first place.
    12:57 pm
    After 3
    I'm 3-0, + 600. Another good start.
    8:50 am
    Reno live blogging again
    Internet connection is spotty, but decent enough for this. EB results:

    1st: Joe Dackman, 5-3 + 500
    2nd: Me, 5-3 + 400
    3rd: Sam Kantimathi, 5-3 -something

    Main event starting in 10-15 minutes or so.
    Saturday, November 24th, 2007
    5:19 pm
    Another great endgame
    From an on-line game. I did not find the winning sequence in the 5 minutes I had. Very complicated position. Correct play involves analyzing at least 3 distinct lines, two of which are quite complex. 
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