I agree with this. Even the best grandmaster commentators have the advantage of knowing both racks; they can see that Adam has a monster play that GULL blocks. If your read was correct, LONGLINE would be hailed as a magnificent play. LONGLINE is only a mistake if Adam would not reasonably fret about getting Q stuck in that position. With two Us unseen from his perspective, he probably wouldn’t.
It's always easier from the announcer's seat, but my thinking was that IF Adam has both Q and X, then even without a second I in hand, the XI-as-Q-setup is so potent that Adam MUST make the move. Even the 80% of the time that Adam doesn't draw an I, he forces Will into a subpar blocking play, and Adam has nothing to fear because he has the Q and the J and Z are played. Hence, there's no reason he would've agonized over this move for 8 minutes. I love the 4-D chess suggestion elsewhere in the comments about thinking for 8 minutes to make your opponent panic, but in practice you might need that time later.
@@jesseday7925 Thanks for the perspective! This video made me really curious about how good scrabble announcers were at analyzing objectively since it's obviously a hard thing to do perfectly. J and Z being out of the bag makes a lot of sense for factoring in to the situation of being stuck with the Q after being blocked.
I think in retrospect I definitely agree with Jesse and Austin's take on the situation, but it's such a rare case that I didn't have much experience to draw on when evaluating it.
Will, you've really got the true competitor's attitude--making a whole video related to your mistake just because you found the situation and your opponent's play interesting. That's a true love of the game, an example of how to truly get the most out of a game, not just by winning.
I was just thinking that I was surprised you were into scrabble considering how big your channel is. Then I remembered that you got me into scrabble in one of your videos! Thanks it’s been fun
Hi Will! Your loyal fan here. Nowadays it requires big balls to admit mistakes and show own weaknesses. Huge respect for that. Amazing play anyway! All the best for 2024! :D
I have played approximately 30 games of scrabble ever, and do not really care for the game. However, if you stopped making these videos I would be utterly devastated. Happy New Year and thanks for the great content!
There exists the possibility that he was taking that long to put you in position to guess wrong about his motives. Since he moves fast, he really doesn’t lose much with a bluff like that, and it paid off:
That would definitely be some galaxy brain stuff. Time is precious in Scrabble, though - you have no way of knowing what complex positions might be coming your way later in the game, so spending it in this way would be a huge risk.
Hey Will I’ve watched every video you’ve put out the last year. I can tell you put a lot of effort into writing your scripts and planning your videos. I appreciate it a lot, and I hope scrabble gets more and more recognition. Keep it up!
Wow, a super duper interesting video. It was fascinating to hear your reasoning and then the commentator;s reasoning and then your reaction to the commentator's reasoning.
Unfortunately that was a staff member mishearing "Princeton." I was formerly a Pennsylvania resident prior to that, but in Lancaster - still super far away from Pittsburgh...PA is long!
Inferences is what makes scrabble more fun to watch than chess imo. with chess, your opponents moves are right in front of you, though you have to find them yourself. here, you have no idea whether your opponent is setting something up, or struggling to figure out what you might have
It's definitely a really interesting wrinkle in Scrabble...it's more pronounced in higher-level play, when you can be more sure that your opponents aren't missing much.
1:29 - English person here. Doesn't 'Dognapper' have two P's? It doesn't get a red underline as I'm writing this... let's try 'Dognaper' ... oops... I think that says it all. Red lines don't appear on posted comments, however anyone else can try the same thing, and should get the same result.
It appears to be a secondary variation, with the primary one being two Ps as you suggest, but it must be just enough in usage to have made it into the dictionary.
What a crazy move, Scrabble Champion Will Anderson! Truly a game for the ages, together with that game in which I beat Scrabble Champion Will Anderson!
Do you think the possibility of the X setup with Livid was relevant too? Also you probably passed this up for time but I thought the placement of Thunder was another cool instance of inference. Such a fascinating game! 😄
I've now seen enough Collins that I actually almost played OB in a TWL game. Maybe you can make a video explaining how you're able to play in both Collins and NWL because very few people can do it, and how you do it blows my mind.
I don't really have any great advice there... it's just something I'm able to do (not perfectly, mind you - I make a lexicon mistake about once in every 12-15 games of NWL)
Hello Will. Has there ever been a game where one player played all top engines moves for the whole game? If so could you maybe make a video on it (if you haven’t yet)? If I’d didn’t happen maybe it would be interesting to make a video about a game that had the highest accuracy so far. 😊
I think in Scrabble the goal of playing a "perfect game" is much more attainable than it might be in chess or other games, so this wouldn't represent quite as amazing of an accomplishment as it might in those games. However, I could still do better at emphasizing when players attain these extreme levels of accuracy!
That was a staff member mishearing "Princeton," though I did live in Lancaster PA before that (of course, that's still crazy far away from Pittsburgh cuz PA is so long)
Hi Will, anyone ever take a bit of extra time to bait the opponent into making incorrect assumptions about their rack? Like balancing your range in poker.
This would be some serious galaxy-brain stuff - it's a huge risk, because some late-game Scrabble positions can be extremely time-consuming and complicated, and using time as a bluff early on might end up coming back to bite you. But if you were fast and confident enough, it could be an incredible strategy!
Are you talking about 4:45? That's not a mistake, Will is showing the play Adam was probably considering instead of "xi" as a hypothetical to what was actually played.
Did you ever have the chance to ask Adam what he was thinking about those minutes?
commenting so if he replies I get notified -
Probably was thinking about that scene in Fast and Furious where the car does a wheelie
Also had the same question!
Commenting so if he replies I get notified as well
I want to know this too!
I think the announcers analysis actually matched your analysis exactly, only arriving at a different conclusion because they could see both racks.
I agree with this. Even the best grandmaster commentators have the advantage of knowing both racks; they can see that Adam has a monster play that GULL blocks. If your read was correct, LONGLINE would be hailed as a magnificent play.
LONGLINE is only a mistake if Adam would not reasonably fret about getting Q stuck in that position. With two Us unseen from his perspective, he probably wouldn’t.
It didn't. They see the racks but still try to analyze it from Will's pov.
It's always easier from the announcer's seat, but my thinking was that IF Adam has both Q and X, then even without a second I in hand, the XI-as-Q-setup is so potent that Adam MUST make the move. Even the 80% of the time that Adam doesn't draw an I, he forces Will into a subpar blocking play, and Adam has nothing to fear because he has the Q and the J and Z are played. Hence, there's no reason he would've agonized over this move for 8 minutes.
I love the 4-D chess suggestion elsewhere in the comments about thinking for 8 minutes to make your opponent panic, but in practice you might need that time later.
@@jesseday7925 Thanks for the perspective! This video made me really curious about how good scrabble announcers were at analyzing objectively since it's obviously a hard thing to do perfectly. J and Z being out of the bag makes a lot of sense for factoring in to the situation of being stuck with the Q after being blocked.
I think in retrospect I definitely agree with Jesse and Austin's take on the situation, but it's such a rare case that I didn't have much experience to draw on when evaluating it.
Will, you've really got the true competitor's attitude--making a whole video related to your mistake just because you found the situation and your opponent's play interesting. That's a true love of the game, an example of how to truly get the most out of a game, not just by winning.
Thank you, I really appreciate that!
This makes me think you can use your clock strategically to trick players into thinking they've missed something. New meta
It will only hurt you if you deliberately waste time.
I was just thinking that I was surprised you were into scrabble considering how big your channel is. Then I remembered that you got me into scrabble in one of your videos! Thanks it’s been fun
I don't know how you make these videos so consistently compelling, but please don't stop.
Your videos has gotten be into Scrabble and I love how you analyse every move and use your personal experiences in tour videos.
Hi Will! Your loyal fan here. Nowadays it requires big balls to admit mistakes and show own weaknesses. Huge respect for that. Amazing play anyway!
All the best for 2024! :D
im waiting for the time someone spends 8 min on a move just so their opponent thinks they have something that they don't
This would be 500 IQ and I would love to see it
IQ isn't a valid word, challenge
You’ve got a good thing going here with your channel, man.
Keep it up and happy new year!
What a game! Thank you for the fantastic analysis of the crucial moment.
I have played approximately 30 games of scrabble ever, and do not really care for the game. However, if you stopped making these videos I would be utterly devastated. Happy New Year and thanks for the great content!
Thank you very much! HNY to you as well!
There exists the possibility that he was taking that long to put you in position to guess wrong about his motives. Since he moves fast, he really doesn’t lose much with a bluff like that, and it paid off:
That would definitely be some galaxy brain stuff. Time is precious in Scrabble, though - you have no way of knowing what complex positions might be coming your way later in the game, so spending it in this way would be a huge risk.
I've gotten into Scrabble because of your vids! Keep it up!
Great to hear, and thanks!
this is the first game on the channel that's been talked about that i managed to watch live! so excited :)
Hey Will I’ve watched every video you’ve put out the last year. I can tell you put a lot of effort into writing your scripts and planning your videos. I appreciate it a lot, and I hope scrabble gets more and more recognition. Keep it up!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate it.
Thank you for giving such a detailed analysis of how Scrabble grandmasters think! Keep such videos coming.
Wow great vid! Always look forward to them
This was such a wonderful pastime when I was a kid playing with my Grandpa decades ago. It's fun to see that it is so big in tournaments worldwide.
Hi Will, so glad I discovered your channel! I've been watching your videos and really enjoy them.
Wow, a super duper interesting video. It was fascinating to hear your reasoning and then the commentator;s reasoning and then your reaction to the commentator's reasoning.
Dear Will, I have a fantastic video idea! Do an eye tracker of a scrabble champion, I am curious how they move around the board to find words.
0:33, Will, you’re from Pittsburgh? I am too!
Steeeeelers
Unfortunately that was a staff member mishearing "Princeton." I was formerly a Pennsylvania resident prior to that, but in Lancaster - still super far away from Pittsburgh...PA is long!
Inferences is what makes scrabble more fun to watch than chess imo. with chess, your opponents moves are right in front of you, though you have to find them yourself. here, you have no idea whether your opponent is setting something up, or struggling to figure out what you might have
It's definitely a really interesting wrinkle in Scrabble...it's more pronounced in higher-level play, when you can be more sure that your opponents aren't missing much.
Don't know how this ended up on my feed, never played Scrabble, barely know it, but this video was super interesting!
Thanks for giving it a try!
Love it! ❤
1:29 - English person here. Doesn't 'Dognapper' have two P's? It doesn't get a red underline as I'm writing this... let's try 'Dognaper' ... oops... I think that says it all. Red lines don't appear on posted comments, however anyone else can try the same thing, and should get the same result.
It appears to be a secondary variation, with the primary one being two Ps as you suggest, but it must be just enough in usage to have made it into the dictionary.
What a crazy move, Scrabble Champion Will Anderson! Truly a game for the ages, together with that game in which I beat Scrabble Champion Will Anderson!
lol... nice one :)
the game was still close! showing just how good Will is
Huh TIL I've been wrong for years. I thought that XI was an alternative spelling of "chi" as well
I know it's a request rather out of the left field, but would you consider doing a video of you trying Verbal Memory on the Human Benchmark site?
I somehow doubt I'd be particularly good at it, but maybe I could try doing it on Twitch sometime!
Happy new year!
Do you think the possibility of the X setup with Livid was relevant too? Also you probably passed this up for time but I thought the placement of Thunder was another cool instance of inference. Such a fascinating game! 😄
Possibly! It's not the strongest setup, but having it available as a solid option was surely something Adam thought about.
He was bluffing the Q
I've now seen enough Collins that I actually almost played OB in a TWL game. Maybe you can make a video explaining how you're able to play in both Collins and NWL because very few people can do it, and how you do it blows my mind.
Step 1 : be Nigel Richards
Step 2 : Now that you can make the difference between the 2 dictionaries go learn the french one for fun.
I don't really have any great advice there... it's just something I'm able to do (not perfectly, mind you - I make a lexicon mistake about once in every 12-15 games of NWL)
this is cool and quite complicated :0
Hello Will. Has there ever been a game where one player played all top engines moves for the whole game? If so could you maybe make a video on it (if you haven’t yet)? If I’d didn’t happen maybe it would be interesting to make a video about a game that had the highest accuracy so far. 😊
I think in Scrabble the goal of playing a "perfect game" is much more attainable than it might be in chess or other games, so this wouldn't represent quite as amazing of an accomplishment as it might in those games. However, I could still do better at emphasizing when players attain these extreme levels of accuracy!
Wait will the players take a break for the actualy new year's celebration?
Adam was just rebooting and had a large system update.
1:30 how is this a word 😂
i need more videos
Hi will can you talk about draws in scrabble and also happy new year
Do you mean draws like in chess? (i.e. ties?) Happy New Year to you too!
"Qi" part of gameplay. Heh heh.
Do you live in Pittsburgh now?
That was a staff member mishearing "Princeton," though I did live in Lancaster PA before that (of course, that's still crazy far away from Pittsburgh cuz PA is so long)
Hi Will, anyone ever take a bit of extra time to bait the opponent into making incorrect assumptions about their rack? Like balancing your range in poker.
This would be some serious galaxy-brain stuff - it's a huge risk, because some late-game Scrabble positions can be extremely time-consuming and complicated, and using time as a bluff early on might end up coming back to bite you. But if you were fast and confident enough, it could be an incredible strategy!
Dang.
2:20 speechless
Hamburger
Bint
Comment
i found a mistake: adam has an x when a x is already placed
where are the two X's?
Are you talking about 4:45? That's not a mistake, Will is showing the play Adam was probably considering instead of "xi" as a hypothetical to what was actually played.
@@AnarchistEagle okay
2nd comment
1st comment