I was there, it was the most exciting thing I've ever witnessed in Scrabble, but at the same time terribly sad for Craig. And you're wrong to say he wasn't haunted by this. Yes, logically speaking he had plenty of time to check his arithmetic etc but you've got to factor in the high stress of a situation where you're playing for your tournament life. I think that as the minutes ticked by, he became less and less able to be rational, culminating in desperation.
I think you’re overthinking it a bit, I think he’s just English. He’s had a shocker under pressure and he knows it. It happens to the best of us. I think us brits are far more incline to frame issues as inherent or inevitable, as opposed as temporary setbacks on our way to crafting a perfect self. I think that’s probably more of a social communication difference, than a real reflection of how hard people train, but I do think some of it is a true underlying fatalistic mindset.
I agree completely. Craig's response in the interview just summed up British personality. Sometimes you bottle it and just have to accept it like it was always going to happen.
My thoughts on the growth/champion mindset… One’s shortcomings are learning opportunities, for sure, but it’s important to reflect on where your motivation is coming from. It’s one thing to analyze the rational reasons for your mistakes (“I missed a top 1000 8, so I will study my 8s before the next tournament”) and another to base your emotions and passion for the game on those mistakes. Drawing on those for motivation can make you feel frustrated, angry and isolated. Soon you start basing your self-worth on how many mistakes you make, and whether your playing matches the image you have for yourself. To keep from getting in this “life-tilt” state (which happens to me sometimes), I focus on keeping the things that matter in the forefront of my mind: the pleasure of the game and the people I play it with.
Your editing is getting better lol, and yeah I think you were the correct amount of harsh seeing as he literally half his time left. Definitely worse than just a math slipup
I recall playing Craig online in an incredibly fun word game called Cascade, probably 25 years or so ago. He was always upper echelon. My goal was to beat him which was rare but occasionally happened. Learned my 5s through this game and rapid repetition. Oh AOL…
Even though Josh's commentary is good and thorough, it is very hard for a casual player like me to grasp the "choke". "Obviously anyone would see GRRL on JOWL and ZARI" lol. It seems like a true mega-choke would be something worse, something even a casual non-champ would overlook, like a "Botez Gambit" in chess (used with respect and admiration for Alexandra for owning a pattern of blunders so famously!). I also think I understand the champion mindset, how a blunder stings to the core, and the champion-climber mindset in which your mental control dismisses emotional setbacks in order to focus on learning from errors regardless of the gravitas... But there's another more subtle thing I understand from personal experience that most people may not. It has to do with something Craig may allude to in those puzzling remarks. I could probably explain it but it would be painfully long to read so I'll just touch on it. Someone commented on a possible brain tumor, tongue-in-cheek I think. But there are "normal" but "abnormal" physical "propensities" that some people have that are physiological but not exactly illness or unnatural. ...sorry to sound coy but it's too involved. Before I understood it, I thought I just have some mental weakness, or extreme occasional nervousness or mental/physical "yips" that would come and go. But it's much simpler and at least in my case coexists with a usually focused stable high level performance. A related but more easily understandable analogy is how reasoning breaks down under stress pressure or lack of sleep, but imagine if such pressures manifest something a little bit more in some people, unpredictably, but physiologically due to a common condition that is not rare, generally manageable, but still not within the grasp of those not living with it, and not something a lot of people subject to it even know about. I can recognize it in others sometimes and this could be a case, but maybe not... or something similar?? But in my case, when i'm competing at a a highish level at a different activity I don't want to explain or telegraph a vulnerability that just occasionally comes into effect, looks like a "choke", but really is something else that I just have to deal with stoically and ignore while others think it's a big mysterious deal. I'd love to be able to discuss it with people like Craig or Josh but it could also be wrong and a waste of time. The broader point I'm making is that normal high level players can experience episodes like described for reasons most people don't understand. And when you think about it, very high level achievers usually have "some" kind of freaky savantish anomaly that drives their obsession, so it's not too much of a stretch to conceive of something unusual like that in this case. Boy am I curious about Josh's choke.
I thought I'd watched all of the broadcasts from that tournament, but somehow I must have missed the most interesting one! I'd say that even though he knew in the back of his head that he'd made calculation mistakes before, sometimes it just doesn't occur to you to recheck and instead use all the time and energy to see if there's any other way you can win, especially with the blank
Actually, playing Scrabble with OCD and some other setback from around 2013, I obsessively watched the clock count down as soon as it hit 9:59, believing that I had significantly less time than what I would if it was even a second above 10:00. Other 'parameters' contributed to me occasionally going over time. If anyone actually gives a.... about my insight as a former top 20 player at national level, I'd be more than ok to go into more detail. It is sometimes extremely easy to be intimidated by tiny factors such as this, and scoring errors. I have observed various top players recalculate the scores for each turn to check for inaccuracies. Usually it's done in a couple of minutes. I can calculate relatively fast. But not as quick as some others like Mack Meller for example. I didn't reserve enough time for the end game. A currently anonymous rival player didn't do wonders for my performance either. I could do a novella on emotional insecurities and lack of self confidence in Scrabble, and competitive mind sports. But I won't for now. Mack reminds that the game is still alive and well, and keeps the brain awake as well. Sometimes not giving a rats about rough seas is one of the best forms of therapy.
"Words instead of Drows" You're dropping a D in a line with a triple word score. There are tons of Es left in the pool. That means you've got was for your opponent to hypothetically dunk you with, say, EXAMINED. Good luck doing that anywhere near as easily with a W there.
You're right that this is a risk. Still, you should not sacrifice 6 points to not create that risk, unless the D is the only spot your opponent can score big with and you're winning by a large amount. This type of strategy is called "danger levels", and understanding why DROWS is a better play than WORDS is what separates top players from the rest.
I still don't understand the play of GERL. If we grant Craig his mathematical mistakes, and he is lost in any case, then does GERL give him better spread if Chris doesn't challenge it?
He was fired from Scrabble's world governing board for racist remarks (allegedly - I haven't seen the remarks in question), so yeah, brain injury seems plausible
I was there, it was the most exciting thing I've ever witnessed in Scrabble, but at the same time terribly sad for Craig. And you're wrong to say he wasn't haunted by this.
Yes, logically speaking he had plenty of time to check his arithmetic etc but you've got to factor in the high stress of a situation where you're playing for your tournament life. I think that as the minutes ticked by, he became less and less able to be rational, culminating in desperation.
Sometimes I have moments where I triple check my mental math, but just end up making the same mistake all three times.
I think you’re overthinking it a bit, I think he’s just English. He’s had a shocker under pressure and he knows it. It happens to the best of us.
I think us brits are far more incline to frame issues as inherent or inevitable, as opposed as temporary setbacks on our way to crafting a perfect self.
I think that’s probably more of a social communication difference, than a real reflection of how hard people train, but I do think some of it is a true underlying fatalistic mindset.
I agree completely. Craig's response in the interview just summed up British personality.
Sometimes you bottle it and just have to accept it like it was always going to happen.
My thoughts on the growth/champion mindset… One’s shortcomings are learning opportunities, for sure, but it’s important to reflect on where your motivation is coming from.
It’s one thing to analyze the rational reasons for your mistakes (“I missed a top 1000 8, so I will study my 8s before the next tournament”) and another to base your emotions and passion for the game on those mistakes. Drawing on those for motivation can make you feel frustrated, angry and isolated. Soon you start basing your self-worth on how many mistakes you make, and whether your playing matches the image you have for yourself.
To keep from getting in this “life-tilt” state (which happens to me sometimes), I focus on keeping the things that matter in the forefront of my mind: the pleasure of the game and the people I play it with.
your analysis is spot on, you have the proper competitive mindset, always question yourself and seek to find areas where you can get better
Your editing is getting better lol, and yeah I think you were the correct amount of harsh seeing as he literally half his time left. Definitely worse than just a math slipup
I recall playing Craig online in an incredibly fun word game called Cascade, probably 25 years or so ago. He was always upper echelon. My goal was to beat him which was rare but occasionally happened. Learned my 5s through this game and rapid repetition. Oh AOL…
The editing was amazing 😍
Loved the video ❤
Even though Josh's commentary is good and thorough, it is very hard for a casual player like me to grasp the "choke". "Obviously anyone would see GRRL on JOWL and ZARI" lol.
It seems like a true mega-choke would be something worse, something even a casual non-champ would overlook, like a "Botez Gambit" in chess (used with respect and admiration for Alexandra for owning a pattern of blunders so famously!).
I also think I understand the champion mindset, how a blunder stings to the core, and the champion-climber mindset in which your mental control dismisses emotional setbacks in order to focus on learning from errors regardless of the gravitas...
But there's another more subtle thing I understand from personal experience that most people may not. It has to do with something Craig may allude to in those puzzling remarks. I could probably explain it but it would be painfully long to read so I'll just touch on it.
Someone commented on a possible brain tumor, tongue-in-cheek I think. But there are "normal" but "abnormal" physical "propensities" that some people have that are physiological but not exactly illness or unnatural. ...sorry to sound coy but it's too involved.
Before I understood it, I thought I just have some mental weakness, or extreme occasional nervousness or mental/physical "yips" that would come and go. But it's much simpler and at least in my case coexists with a usually focused stable high level performance.
A related but more easily understandable analogy is how reasoning breaks down under stress pressure or lack of sleep, but imagine if such pressures manifest something a little bit more in some people, unpredictably, but physiologically due to a common condition that is not rare, generally manageable, but still not within the grasp of those not living with it, and not something a lot of people subject to it even know about.
I can recognize it in others sometimes and this could be a case, but maybe not... or something similar?? But in my case, when i'm competing at a a highish level at a different activity I don't want to explain or telegraph a vulnerability that just occasionally comes into effect, looks like a "choke", but really is something else that I just have to deal with stoically and ignore while others think it's a big mysterious deal.
I'd love to be able to discuss it with people like Craig or Josh but it could also be wrong and a waste of time. The broader point I'm making is that normal high level players can experience episodes like described for reasons most people don't understand. And when you think about it, very high level achievers usually have "some" kind of freaky savantish anomaly that drives their obsession, so it's not too much of a stretch to conceive of something unusual like that in this case.
Boy am I curious about Josh's choke.
I thought I'd watched all of the broadcasts from that tournament, but somehow I must have missed the most interesting one! I'd say that even though he knew in the back of his head that he'd made calculation mistakes before, sometimes it just doesn't occur to you to recheck and instead use all the time and energy to see if there's any other way you can win, especially with the blank
Actually, playing Scrabble with OCD and some other setback from around 2013, I obsessively watched the clock count down as soon as it hit 9:59, believing that I had significantly less time than what I would if it was even a second above 10:00. Other 'parameters' contributed to me occasionally going over time. If anyone actually gives a.... about my insight as a former top 20 player at national level, I'd be more than ok to go into more detail. It is sometimes extremely easy to be intimidated by tiny factors such as this, and scoring errors. I have observed various top players recalculate the scores for each turn to check for inaccuracies. Usually it's done in a couple of minutes. I can calculate relatively fast. But not as quick as some others like Mack Meller for example. I didn't reserve enough time for the end game. A currently anonymous rival player didn't do wonders for my performance either. I could do a novella on emotional insecurities and lack of self confidence in Scrabble, and competitive mind sports. But I won't for now. Mack reminds that the game is still alive and well, and keeps the brain awake as well. Sometimes not giving a rats about rough seas is one of the best forms of therapy.
That was a crazy sequence of events lol
"Words instead of Drows"
You're dropping a D in a line with a triple word score.
There are tons of Es left in the pool.
That means you've got was for your opponent to hypothetically dunk you with, say, EXAMINED.
Good luck doing that anywhere near as easily with a W there.
You're right that this is a risk. Still, you should not sacrifice 6 points to not create that risk, unless the D is the only spot your opponent can score big with and you're winning by a large amount. This type of strategy is called "danger levels", and understanding why DROWS is a better play than WORDS is what separates top players from the rest.
here's a handy video that sort of covers this type of situation: ruclips.net/video/FbbNeHKujZQ/видео.html
I have seen brain freezes like this in chess
Safe to say that Craig Lost His Game Basicly On Porpous
I still don't understand the play of GERL. If we grant Craig his mathematical mistakes, and he is lost in any case, then does GERL give him better spread if Chris doesn't challenge it?
It was an attempt to steal the game. If Chris tries to block JOWS after GERL* he could lose
Zero explanation or justification for playing a phony 4.
Yeah, I'm with you on this. If that happened to me, I'd change my name, get plastic surgery and move to Alaska
OH MY JEEZ
I watched it live - hilarious
Yeah, watching a world class player fumble a game is absolutely hysterical…
Show me the game N0W
Confirmation Bias!
I'm concerned that this guy has a brain injury or cancer. Very strange
He was fired from Scrabble's world governing board for racist remarks (allegedly - I haven't seen the remarks in question), so yeah, brain injury seems plausible