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WSC 2011 Commentary: Round 32

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Go to: Before the Tournament, Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Round 6, Round 7, Round 8, Round 9, Round 10, Round 11, Round 12, Round 13, Round 14, Round 15, Round 16, Round 17, Round 18, Round 19, Round 20, Round 21, Round 22, Round 23, Round 24, Round 25, Round 26, Round 27, Round 28, Round 29, Round 30, Round 31, Round 32, Round 33, Round 34.

Nigel Richards (Wru) beats Pakorn Nemitrmansuk (Wsc) yet again, 449-340, at Board 1. Andrew Fisher (AUS) faces Mark Nyman (Eng) for the first time and prevails 565-424 thanks to a double-double on his first move and a triple-triple on his second. Dave Wiegand (USA) beats Ming Hui Hubert Wee (SGP) 469-384.

As Nigel now has a three-game lead over third-place Pakorn, with only two games to go, he is Gibsonized: paired with the highest-ranked player who is out of contention. In this case, that's Nathan Benedict (USA). That leaves Andrew on 22-10 to compete with Pakorn, Dave and Chris May (AUS) on 21-11 for the privilege of playing Nigel tomorrow in the best-of-five finals. (Craig Beevers (Eng) is also on 21-11, but hasn't accumulated enough spread.)

It's coffee break time, but hand-checking the pairings takes me a minute past the end of the alloted break, and the efficient Hilton staff deny me a cup. Thankfully, it's Wilma Vialle to the rescue, miraculously producing a cup of coffee before I even finish complaining.

Words challenged: NONAGONS EUPHROE HAYINGS LOS WATAPE SPIEGEL CONACRED DEERWAN KYUS GROOF ADOS HENCH. Two phonies, four words that are not acceptable in North America.