One of my favorite things about this channel is how respectful you are to every single person you mention. Even when someone makes a mistake or doesn't see something, you talk about it in the most positive, respectful, and deferential way. It's wholesome and it's a good example of how to treat people. Thanks for all the great Scrabble content, and, more importantly, thanks for how much you build other people up.
reminds me of a fork in chess. opponent must respond, but you've set yourself up to have 2 successful moves, so whatever they do, you got 1 banked. similar concept.
@@dakineprotossIt reminds me more of a very quiet king move in the late game, where it doesn't appear to give any direct threats at first glance compared to an aggressive queen move or a strong rook move in the late game for example... But the single king move is surprisingly the most crucial one towards securing the game.
"Who'd have thought it was the 9-pointer we'd be talking about?" "That's Scrabble!" ...And that's why I love your videos so much; insights into a game with a fascinatingly deep and unique meta.
Just as a reminder to Will (or whoever edits these videos): the word definitions in the bottom corners are such a helpful touch. Highly appreciated. I adore this channel!
Figuring out what to keep between OE vs EE is just impossible. I always get it wrong. My new trick for those positions is to play the one I think is worse.
"Whenever you have to make a rook move, and both rooks are available for said move, you should evaluate which rook to move and, once you have made up your mind, move the other one." -Savielly Tartakower
You've done a really good job with this channel. The more 'clickbait' titled content drew me in, but you've managed to steadily increase my game understanding to the point where I can enjoy and appreciate steadfast content like this. Nice to see you analysing your own play too, you're a great champion for the game.
Wow...Scrabble is definitely not all about word power but strategy and of course - Luck! Dennis did all things right by taking out the AD hook but who would have thought you would pick both As for AGATIZED. I look forward see you play and even more exciting watching you anchor in the coming weeks
I'm curious now that I think about it if blocking the Z setup was the right play from a theoretical standpoint. REARMOST scores 63 and Z bombs score 64 for basically the same score, giving Dennis first dibs on the TWS at the right side of the board that he has opened with REARMOST, while also being up 9 points and on turn. I get you drew AGATIZED but if you manage to draw that then it doesn't matter what Dennis does on the turn before because in no scenario is he blocking AGATIZED.
definitely check it out! (but know that watching scrabble tournaments live is rather boring -- just chat with the folks between games and make some new friends!)
Amazing video as always and awesome recognition to set up the Z. You may have noticed this in your analysis, but RUDI# may be a more accurate version of your play. You can play the same DU tiles with DUE for 8 more points without setting up the Z spot, so to an alert opponent like Dennis, RUD# screams of a Z-setup. RUDI# is still suspicious, as you could play the same tiles with DUCI for one fewer point, but it is plausible you are overloaded with Is and Us, rather than definitely having the Z. The diversion idea is interesting but you have to get pretty lucky to hit elsewhere, as after RUD# there is only a 10% chance of drawing the N and a 3% chance of drawing AA (assuming a random post-ULVA leave for Dennis)*. These chances are worse after RUDI#, but are nonzero as there are two Is you can redraw. Macondo suggests one more great play: DUCT, because you have the last E to hook EDUCT and use the TWS! This is an obvious setup, but is also not the easiest to block. * Chance of not drawing the N is (19/20) * (18/19) = 90%. Chance of drawing AA is (4/20) * (3/19) = 3.2%.
I'm sure you and Dennis were coenamoured of this outstanding game. You know Will, I don't say this lightly, but you are kind of the Mack Meller of tennis
Possible video idea: Why does no one play Super Scrabble? 21x21 board, 441 squares, 200 tiles, QUADRUPLE Word Scores in the corners. Though it's probably just because it's been out of print for years.
Well, it's never really taken off as a tournament variant, however you can play it online at the popular Woogles website. You have to enable it in the settings under "secret features" menu, along with the somewhat less popular variant known as Clabbers, wherein you can play the tiles in any order as long as they anagram to a valid word. I.E. if you wanted to play GLAZE on the first turn, you could play it as ZGALE to maximize scoring potential. Me and my buddy routinely play Super-Clabbers on the 21x21 board where game winning scores are often around 1400 or 1500 points. Probably the reason it's not as popular as the regular game is exactly the reason you listed: it's double the action, and thus twice as long. Many Scrabble clocks don't offer more than a 30 minute time per person as well, so that would also be problematic for some who especially refuse to play with say a digital clock on a phone or tablet. I think a video on why there aren't as many people playing the Clabbers variant might be a good idea though. I think it takes much of the luck element out of the game by removing the likelihood that you can't play a bingo or score as well as you might have otherwise, so you would think this would actually be more popular than it is. Will should also do a video detailing the history of tournament Scrabble as a whole. I think this would be illuminating to many.
Nigeria has so many awesome players these days! Are there any UA-cam or other social media accounts that would be good to follow to keep up with the Nigerian Scrabble scene? Is there a "Will Anderson" of Nigerian Scrabble content yet?
What a game! I think this might be semi-related to this game: what do you think about the -IZE suffix? Is it overrated, underrated, or alright as it is?
Scrabble seems unexpectedly international and diverse, even more diverse than chess which is much more popular. Even more surprising considering this is an English language game. Since when do Chess have winning competitors from Nigeria or South East Asia?
What dictionary is being used in a game taking place in America that allows EE? I love every single video you make, but I REALLY wish you put the dictionary next to the event name above the board.
Great video again, Will. Did you analyze whether REARMOST is the (clear?) winner, had he played it? Unrelated: I really appreciate that you have taken the time to learn the pronunciation of all the words you mention; I wouldn't have known how to pronounce YAGE and probably would have just said it as "Y-A-G-E".
When you use expected value to determine whether one play is better than another (e.g. drive vs. dirke in this vid), do you also/ever use variance (or standard deviation)?
Yes. It’s a nice way to identify plays that really limit your opponent’s options (low average points scored *and* low standard deviation is an ideal defensive play).
Computer analysis suggests that blocking was a significant blunder compared to bingoing with REARMOST. Dennis sacrificed a whopping 53 points. The thing is, even when Will's ADZ setup is blocked, Will can still use his Z for a good score -- he is very likely to have ZE#/BE or ZA/BA for 35 at the very least, or even something big like ZINGEL# as discussed. The computer says that after REARMOST, Will's EGITZ leave averages him 67 points next turn, but he still averages 42 points after OR. So the defensive value only makes up 25 of the 53 points. SMART is a good leave, but it is not worth 28 points -- the engine estimates SMART is worth 19 points on an average board. Furthermore, after REARMOST and an ADZ play, Dennis gets the first shot at using the triple word score he opened up with REARMOST. All in all, the computer simulation I ran gave REARMOST an 86% win probability, compared to 49% for Dennis' play of OR. These simulations are not perfect for a few reasons, but I agree that OR was a big mistake. Another benefit of setup plays like RUD# is that it forces opponents into tough decisions.
@@SamRosin1 Computer analysis can't do inference though. It assumes that your opponent's rack is random, when in practice nobody would ever play RUD in that position unless they held the Z in reserve. So I wouldn't trust computer analysis in this situation.
@@alexpotts6520the numbers I cited are from a simulation that assumes Will kept EGITZ, so the next-turn average scores should be generally accurate. (Of course, Dennis can't infer the full EGITZ, but a simulation assuming Will kept the Z and 4 random other tiles shows similar results.)
@@alexpotts6520 Simply put it seems asinine to me to block in this situation when you're up 10 points with a 63 point bingo on your rack. If Dennis was up maybe 40 points the block might be well worth it, because limiting Will to a mid 30 point play (assuming he doesn't hit ZINGEL) might actually help him, but even then I just don't see how sacrificing that many points combined with reducing the turnover into the bag actually benefits him in this scenario. It would have been more interesting to see what would have happened had he played REARMOST *AND* Will drew AGATIZED, because this might have created a more difficult situation for Will, since I believe back-to-back bingos here would empty the bag. Even though it scores very well, Dennis would get first crack at an out in two sequence which could allow for him to win the game, but I'm just spitballing ideas here as I haven't done any computer analysis on the what ifs. Nevertheless, blocking definitely does not look correct to my trained eye, but I suck so what do I know? 🤣
Sure it's a great move, but anyone could beat this punk Ikekregor. Or maybe just me, because I'm perfectly familiar with "agatized." I grew up with it. Childhood word. I remember in elementary school reading "The Lion, The Witch, and the Agatized Wardrobe" and "Charlotte's Agatized Web." As such I was anticipating your play of this common word, which, as everyone but Ikekregor knows, means “the variety of translucent chalcedony called “agate,” which has very small crystals (micro- or cryptocrystalline), and is characterized by banding and rich coloration, properties that are common to agates worldwide." Child's play. Never heard of rud or ou tho. I woulda challenged that junk right offa tha board.
You said I got lucky so I imagined there was a bingo available on the first turn and I saw dormancy in the couple seconds before you revealed it. How come a noob like me spots it so quick but a pro misses it?
I feel like pressure plays a huge role in this as it is significantly harder to think and focus on a stage in front of a live audience where stakes are definitely present. Will also mentioned that Dennis played rather quickly so that might also be a factor
QUONK is my new favorite word
Sadly Quonk does not have an S hook at the beginning, as the mythical being the Squonk is a proper noun
One of the many wonderful words only found in CSW.
And it Hooks an S on both sides!!!
SQUONK!!!
@@sgrey9181 do you Know SQUONK from Shinsekai Yori??
One of my favorite things about this channel is how respectful you are to every single person you mention. Even when someone makes a mistake or doesn't see something, you talk about it in the most positive, respectful, and deferential way. It's wholesome and it's a good example of how to treat people. Thanks for all the great Scrabble content, and, more importantly, thanks for how much you build other people up.
This is really nice to read, thank you! This is a point of emphasis for me so it means a lot to see it’s coming across.
RUD seems like one of those Nigel Richards moves - combining a setup play and a fish in one turn is extremely creative.
reminds me of a fork in chess. opponent must respond, but you've set yourself up to have 2 successful moves, so whatever they do, you got 1 banked. similar concept.
And a diversion for your opponent: It's often not only making them change their plans, but also sacrifice a lot of points and often also a good rack!
@@dakineprotossIt reminds me more of a very quiet king move in the late game, where it doesn't appear to give any direct threats at first glance compared to an aggressive queen move or a strong rook move in the late game for example...
But the single king move is surprisingly the most crucial one towards securing the game.
we don’t get to see Will document his own games often so ya know it’s gonna be epic when he does
Yeah, you can tell Will just loves the game so much, showcasing all of his peers more than himself.
Creating a bona fide threat that's actually a diversion is some sneaky genius. I love it. Incredible move.
Quonk has gotta be one of the silliest words I've seen so far, especially with that definition.
"Who'd have thought it was the 9-pointer we'd be talking about?" "That's Scrabble!"
...And that's why I love your videos so much; insights into a game with a fascinatingly deep and unique meta.
Just as a reminder to Will (or whoever edits these videos): the word definitions in the bottom corners are such a helpful touch. Highly appreciated.
I adore this channel!
Yeah I love them too! Sad whenever he forgets :)
I really appreciate that (and I’m very flattered re: the editor comment - it’s all me!)
Figuring out what to keep between OE vs EE is just impossible. I always get it wrong. My new trick for those positions is to play the one I think is worse.
"Whenever you have to make a rook move, and both rooks are available for said move, you should evaluate which rook to move and, once you have made up your mind, move the other one." -Savielly Tartakower
Have you ever had an opportune moment to play “will” in a tournament?
I just played “WANDERER” (my longtime online handle) today!
You've done a really good job with this channel. The more 'clickbait' titled content drew me in, but you've managed to steadily increase my game understanding to the point where I can enjoy and appreciate steadfast content like this. Nice to see you analysing your own play too, you're a great champion for the game.
I'm glad Will was able to overcome his innate humility in order to share this story with us. Sounds like a very good game!
Right after AGATIZED, Dennis could have replied with ASSHOALER. If it was a valid word, that is. It's probably not, but I can't unsee it.
These game analysis vids are so entertaining
I think "smarting" is a hilarious (though unintentional) followup to a play like that, given how self-descriptive it is XD
Thank you bro for posting I can’t wait for more content 👍
Good luck in the SPC! I look forward to the videos!
Thanks for sharing, Will. Good stuff.
Will is building the Scrabble community by going to tournaments and flexing his skills , Will is the Scrabble Content GOAT AND PLAYER !!
Ikekeregor is such a cool name
Today I learned that QUONK is a word. And what a crazy meaning!
also "betitled" betitled is something that I would see in my tiles but decide not to play because it doesnt seem like a real word..but it is
Wow...Scrabble is definitely not all about word power but strategy and of course - Luck! Dennis did all things right by taking out the AD hook but who would have thought you would pick both As for AGATIZED. I look forward see you play and even more exciting watching you anchor in the coming weeks
Amazing word knowledge 👏👏👏👏
Very cool game. Good luck next week! Let's hope we get other great games of you there to show here on YT.
I'm curious now that I think about it if blocking the Z setup was the right play from a theoretical standpoint. REARMOST scores 63 and Z bombs score 64 for basically the same score, giving Dennis first dibs on the TWS at the right side of the board that he has opened with REARMOST, while also being up 9 points and on turn.
I get you drew AGATIZED but if you manage to draw that then it doesn't matter what Dennis does on the turn before because in no scenario is he blocking AGATIZED.
I already saw this game but was very excited for this video too!
QUONK is an issue I have on my channel all the time. Need to figure out how to stop all the QUONKS
Cameo from the blue hooded guy from Adagmator's chess videos
I live in South Bend... I'll have to check out the gameplay.
definitely check it out! (but know that watching scrabble tournaments live is rather boring -- just chat with the folks between games and make some new friends!)
Such cool analysis! Great video!
Amazing video as always and awesome recognition to set up the Z.
You may have noticed this in your analysis, but RUDI# may be a more accurate version of your play. You can play the same DU tiles with DUE for 8 more points without setting up the Z spot, so to an alert opponent like Dennis, RUD# screams of a Z-setup. RUDI# is still suspicious, as you could play the same tiles with DUCI for one fewer point, but it is plausible you are overloaded with Is and Us, rather than definitely having the Z.
The diversion idea is interesting but you have to get pretty lucky to hit elsewhere, as after RUD# there is only a 10% chance of drawing the N and a 3% chance of drawing AA (assuming a random post-ULVA leave for Dennis)*. These chances are worse after RUDI#, but are nonzero as there are two Is you can redraw.
Macondo suggests one more great play: DUCT, because you have the last E to hook EDUCT and use the TWS! This is an obvious setup, but is also not the easiest to block.
* Chance of not drawing the N is (19/20) * (18/19) = 90%. Chance of drawing AA is (4/20) * (3/19) = 3.2%.
Rudi blocks za though
@@hawkinnslxZE#
Wigel Richardson in the house!
Or is Nigel... Nill Richerson?
I can't wait for a video about HUDDEN
I'll get a Word Cup livestream as a birthday present, awesome :)
I'm sure you and Dennis were coenamoured of this outstanding game. You know Will, I don't say this lightly, but you are kind of the Mack Meller of tennis
5:27 ZIG MENTIONED
0:14 ayo? the word will plays instead of coenamor here? 🤨
My favorite word
im going to begrime you with coaldust
Will confirmed for coomer (one who plays COOM, obviously)
3:58
Good luck in south bend!!!
Great game hoping for more at SPC
Possible video idea: Why does no one play Super Scrabble?
21x21 board, 441 squares, 200 tiles, QUADRUPLE Word Scores in the corners.
Though it's probably just because it's been out of print for years.
Well, it's never really taken off as a tournament variant, however you can play it online at the popular Woogles website. You have to enable it in the settings under "secret features" menu, along with the somewhat less popular variant known as Clabbers, wherein you can play the tiles in any order as long as they anagram to a valid word. I.E. if you wanted to play GLAZE on the first turn, you could play it as ZGALE to maximize scoring potential. Me and my buddy routinely play Super-Clabbers on the 21x21 board where game winning scores are often around 1400 or 1500 points. Probably the reason it's not as popular as the regular game is exactly the reason you listed: it's double the action, and thus twice as long. Many Scrabble clocks don't offer more than a 30 minute time per person as well, so that would also be problematic for some who especially refuse to play with say a digital clock on a phone or tablet.
I think a video on why there aren't as many people playing the Clabbers variant might be a good idea though. I think it takes much of the luck element out of the game by removing the likelihood that you can't play a bingo or score as well as you might have otherwise, so you would think this would actually be more popular than it is.
Will should also do a video detailing the history of tournament Scrabble as a whole. I think this would be illuminating to many.
Nigeria has so many awesome players these days! Are there any UA-cam or other social media accounts that would be good to follow to keep up with the Nigerian Scrabble scene? Is there a "Will Anderson" of Nigerian Scrabble content yet?
I have heard that most of it lives on WhatsApp but don't know much more
Great content. Keep it up.
amazing game to watch
Sad that we didn’t get a double boink game
If my opponent played AGATIZED I'd be smarting too.
What a game!
I think this might be semi-related to this game: what do you think about the -IZE suffix? Is it overrated, underrated, or alright as it is?
Scrabble seems unexpectedly international and diverse, even more diverse than chess which is much more popular. Even more surprising considering this is an English language game. Since when do Chess have winning competitors from Nigeria or South East Asia?
interesting that STANDIN* has no bingoes on this board
Yo Will 40k subs let's gooooooooo
What dictionary is being used in a game taking place in America that allows EE?
I love every single video you make, but I REALLY wish you put the dictionary next to the event name above the board.
CSW21
Great video again, Will. Did you analyze whether REARMOST is the (clear?) winner, had he played it?
Unrelated: I really appreciate that you have taken the time to learn the pronunciation of all the words you mention; I wouldn't have known how to pronounce YAGE and probably would have just said it as "Y-A-G-E".
Yes, I think even with the Z inference, REARMOST works out better. Also thanks re: pronunciation but I get many, many words wrong!
Rud rud rud rud.
When you use expected value to determine whether one play is better than another (e.g. drive vs. dirke in this vid), do you also/ever use variance (or standard deviation)?
Yes. It’s a nice way to identify plays that really limit your opponent’s options (low average points scored *and* low standard deviation is an ideal defensive play).
What did the computer say was his best response to Rud? Was he correct to block or was taking the points for Rearmost a better play?
Correct to block. Will just got lucky with the fish.
Computer analysis suggests that blocking was a significant blunder compared to bingoing with REARMOST.
Dennis sacrificed a whopping 53 points. The thing is, even when Will's ADZ setup is blocked, Will can still use his Z for a good score -- he is very likely to have ZE#/BE or ZA/BA for 35 at the very least, or even something big like ZINGEL# as discussed. The computer says that after REARMOST, Will's EGITZ leave averages him 67 points next turn, but he still averages 42 points after OR. So the defensive value only makes up 25 of the 53 points. SMART is a good leave, but it is not worth 28 points -- the engine estimates SMART is worth 19 points on an average board. Furthermore, after REARMOST and an ADZ play, Dennis gets the first shot at using the triple word score he opened up with REARMOST.
All in all, the computer simulation I ran gave REARMOST an 86% win probability, compared to 49% for Dennis' play of OR. These simulations are not perfect for a few reasons, but I agree that OR was a big mistake. Another benefit of setup plays like RUD# is that it forces opponents into tough decisions.
@@SamRosin1 Computer analysis can't do inference though. It assumes that your opponent's rack is random, when in practice nobody would ever play RUD in that position unless they held the Z in reserve. So I wouldn't trust computer analysis in this situation.
@@alexpotts6520the numbers I cited are from a simulation that assumes Will kept EGITZ, so the next-turn average scores should be generally accurate. (Of course, Dennis can't infer the full EGITZ, but a simulation assuming Will kept the Z and 4 random other tiles shows similar results.)
@@alexpotts6520 Simply put it seems asinine to me to block in this situation when you're up 10 points with a 63 point bingo on your rack. If Dennis was up maybe 40 points the block might be well worth it, because limiting Will to a mid 30 point play (assuming he doesn't hit ZINGEL) might actually help him, but even then I just don't see how sacrificing that many points combined with reducing the turnover into the bag actually benefits him in this scenario.
It would have been more interesting to see what would have happened had he played REARMOST *AND* Will drew AGATIZED, because this might have created a more difficult situation for Will, since I believe back-to-back bingos here would empty the bag. Even though it scores very well, Dennis would get first crack at an out in two sequence which could allow for him to win the game, but I'm just spitballing ideas here as I haven't done any computer analysis on the what ifs. Nevertheless, blocking definitely does not look correct to my trained eye, but I suck so what do I know? 🤣
Why do you and Wellington have 8 tiles on your racks near the start?
That was just to make sure the camera was set up correctly to allow us to move tiles around on our full rack.
2:04 *both* spots? Where's the other spot?
J9, and J9 with the i's in reversed positions
14c
hooking DANTS
0:15 no way "coom" is an allowed word lmao
The coloring on the probability feels like it should be reversed
Sure it's a great move, but anyone could beat this punk Ikekregor. Or maybe just me, because I'm perfectly familiar with "agatized." I grew up with it. Childhood word. I remember in elementary school reading "The Lion, The Witch, and the Agatized Wardrobe" and "Charlotte's Agatized Web." As such I was anticipating your play of this common word, which, as everyone but Ikekregor knows, means “the variety of translucent chalcedony called “agate,” which has very small crystals (micro- or cryptocrystalline), and is characterized by banding and rich coloration, properties that are common to agates worldwide." Child's play.
Never heard of rud or ou tho. I woulda challenged that junk right offa tha board.
not even 20 sec in and will is playing coom. twitch chat has thought you well
I Think it‘d be cool if you talked about some ai games
nice
And why he weepy
That’s how you pronounce jighere ?!?
You said I got lucky so I imagined there was a bingo available on the first turn and I saw dormancy in the couple seconds before you revealed it. How come a noob like me spots it so quick but a pro misses it?
I feel like pressure plays a huge role in this as it is significantly harder to think and focus on a stage in front of a live audience where stakes are definitely present. Will also mentioned that Dennis played rather quickly so that might also be a factor
0 views in 1 second bro fell off
Bro got views on a video without Nigel Richards. He's flourishing
@@cyruswang9354i know
100 views bro fell off fr