This reminded me of a move covered sometime ago on this channel, which cleverly set up LA?Y either side of a triple letter score for an enormous Z play overlapping LAZY.
I really like this format, just showcasing individual positions instead of an entire game. Providing the a for tats so qat could be played was my favourite. Great video Will, your'e sort of the Nikola Tesla of stockbroking.
Making inferences of your opponents rack is a very valuable tool. In my own games, whenever someone plays a couple tiles for low points, I often try to make setup plays, figuring that this is a good time to do it, since they are either going to bingo elsewhere, or score low points again to block. It adds variance, but I feel like it wins in the long run. Nigel is much better at this than anyone, and is in my opinion his biggest edge over the field. Unless someone bingo's, you can often infer what some of the remaining tiles on your opponents rack are.
I'd be interested to see what Quackle thinks of these moves. This seems to be the part of Scrabble that engines find hardest, particularly because they can't really do inference and therefore aren't that good at judging whether the opponent will block the setup or not.
Quackle almost always likes Nigel's plays, but that's in part because Quackle doesn't respond to them the way a human being would. The best example of this from this video is LIVE, setting up that big JEFF follow-up. In that position, Quackle often responds with overlapping plays on top of DANT, especially with vowel heavy racks (ODEA forming ODOR, DAME, EN, and AT, or OGEE forming ODOR, GAME, EN, and ET, etc. etc.) - but a human being is going to prioritize blocking the newly opened triple in the bottom right whenever possible. That being said, in these examples, Quackle actually liked almost everything Nigel played (all of ABS, LIVE, ORA, and BAC), though it slightly prefers him using the Q instead of setting it up with AME - however, this is probably because Quackle inadvertently blocks the setup more often than a human being would. ENATE is such a unique move/situation that I don't even know whether to trust the engine!
@@wanderer15 This brings up the question of whether Quackle is right to just play equity or whether the reactive/defensive approach played by humans is optimal. But I suppose that even if blocking setup plays is not always the best choice, if it's something humans always do regardless then that significantly devalues setups in actual over-the-board Scrabble. There was a brief period in the noughties when something called "advance chess" gained some traction - essentially, chess played between two human-computer teams. The computer could provide raw calculation that no grandmaster could match, but the ability of grandmasters to appreciate positional nuances still meant that there was some value to having them there rather than following the top engine move every time. It seems that Scrabble is currently in that spot - obviously a computer can instantly see every candidate play, it can do that more infallibly even than Nigel, but picking the best option from the candidate moves is something where maybe the best humans still have an edge.
I love Marty Gabriel. Great guy. My first official tournament was at his house. As the youngest guy there, he was so welcoming to a first-timer. I would love to see a video about his 24 hr World Record games with Scott Garner for 216,439 points.
I'd like to use these plays as some kind of tutorial, but the Scrabble games I play are rarely one on one. Setups rarely make it back around to me, not like they're anything like these gems. They are quite entertaining to see so I appreciate the quality of the presentation on this channel :) When a setup does actually work out like I planned, it is quite a thrill of course!
Thanks to you, I've learned the importance of setting up! I played AD to set up a 60+ point Z-hook; my opponent didn't block it because they could play BOY in a different part of the board for a very good number of points. They should've sacked points and blocked it with ADO, but alas, that's what happens when we're all casual players.
Hey will, i lost terribly at a chess competition today and seeing a new video from you made me slightly happier. Hey who knows i might try out scrabble tournaments 😊
Will, I’ve always been interested in knowing what the highest scoring word actually played before is. I know you’ve done the Wellington and the Toh videos, but I’d love an entire video dedicated to it like your longest words video
Another great video. I've one question. I know you've done a video where someone won where both people tile swapped at the beginning but I was wondering what is the lowest score win where one player has used all their tiles?
Good question - I could dig this up, but perhaps it would be better to find the lowest score win between two grandmaster players - this wouldn't be the lowest score win of all time, but I'd rather not shame lower-level players who may just be starting out or playing more "for fun".
I find it interesting that one of the greatest setups failed, proving that despite solid reasoning some of those setups are still somewhat unsafe gambles.
That was Panupol blocking the Z setup while using just one tile to retain some possibility of drawing a bingo himself. ENATE got him to essentially waste a turn there.
Hey Will, can you mark blue players score blue? I never played scrabble Irl but I love your videos and it would be easier for me to follow and likely for other viewers as well.
Quackle prefers LIVE, but only because it answers that move with many overlapping plays on top of DANT, especially when holding an O (ODEA forming ODOR, DAME, EN, ET, OGEE in the same spot, etc.) - practically, it doesn't feel best against a human being, but it does do very well when Puttapong has a bingo!
I don’t want to add to your workload, but I feel that including a little box with the wordlist (North American v.s. International) and version of dictionary would be helpful for those of us who like to play along with the matches
Random question I'm curious about (and I don't play Scrabble myself but still watch these videos lol) When people order the letters of a 7-letter word alphabetically, and given the strings that result, is it known which words end up being alphabetically first and last after ordering in this way? (For example, BANANAS could be a really good contender for first going to AAABNNS)
0:38 I just watched a GothamChess video so when I heard "Nigel sacrifices" I had the words "The rook!" in my head but I stopped the video because that wasnt a chess game and I was confused for a second.
Actually that's a really good point. Although, BAS scores 7 points and GHAZI afterwards scores 88, and ABS scores 11 and GHAZI afterwards scores 86. So ABS-->GHAZI actually gets more. However, BAS might better protect the triple word score in the top right, since Nigel is probably reading Puttapong to have excess consonants. ABS allows 5-letter words ending in a consonant, whereas BAS does not.
TIL a man fwom new zeawand memowized evewy fwench wowd in the f-fwench scwabble dictionawy and w-won the f-fwench scwabble championship. he s-still doesn't speak any fwench
2:13 The MASSIVE JEFF really threw me off 😭😭
I immediately scrolled down, I'm glad people are talking about The Massive Jeff.
You always need to be on the lookout for the MASSIVE JEFF
BOOM! Triple Word Score for Jeff!
@@PokerJoker811 rare tetris fan spotted
The ame distraction to play qat is brilliant, I love your Nigel focused videos, really shows how insane of a player he is
This reminded me of a move covered sometime ago on this channel, which cleverly set up LA?Y either side of a triple letter score for an enormous Z play overlapping LAZY.
It's really elevated after watching the non-Nigel videos
My mind is blown by the ame distraction. Wowza! Brilliant play by Nigel.
I really like this format, just showcasing individual positions instead of an entire game. Providing the a for tats so qat could be played was my favourite. Great video Will, your'e sort of the Nikola Tesla of stockbroking.
I swear, your channel and Epicchess have such a great style of narrating. It makes these cerebral games feel more exciting than say a basketball game
So happy to see EpicChess mentioned. I don't watch his videos, but I do know the guy IRL!
@@alexpotts6520 oh that’s wild. :)
Making inferences of your opponents rack is a very valuable tool.
In my own games, whenever someone plays a couple tiles for low points, I often try to make setup plays, figuring that this is a good time to do it, since they are either going to bingo elsewhere, or score low points again to block. It adds variance, but I feel like it wins in the long run. Nigel is much better at this than anyone, and is in my opinion his biggest edge over the field. Unless someone bingo's, you can often infer what some of the remaining tiles on your opponents rack are.
Great video, small error at 5:02 where Nigel has 2 Q's on his rack
That's the advanced version. :-)
anarchy scrabble mode
Oops, good catch
I'd be interested to see what Quackle thinks of these moves. This seems to be the part of Scrabble that engines find hardest, particularly because they can't really do inference and therefore aren't that good at judging whether the opponent will block the setup or not.
Quackle almost always likes Nigel's plays, but that's in part because Quackle doesn't respond to them the way a human being would. The best example of this from this video is LIVE, setting up that big JEFF follow-up. In that position, Quackle often responds with overlapping plays on top of DANT, especially with vowel heavy racks (ODEA forming ODOR, DAME, EN, and AT, or OGEE forming ODOR, GAME, EN, and ET, etc. etc.) - but a human being is going to prioritize blocking the newly opened triple in the bottom right whenever possible.
That being said, in these examples, Quackle actually liked almost everything Nigel played (all of ABS, LIVE, ORA, and BAC), though it slightly prefers him using the Q instead of setting it up with AME - however, this is probably because Quackle inadvertently blocks the setup more often than a human being would. ENATE is such a unique move/situation that I don't even know whether to trust the engine!
@@wanderer15 This brings up the question of whether Quackle is right to just play equity or whether the reactive/defensive approach played by humans is optimal. But I suppose that even if blocking setup plays is not always the best choice, if it's something humans always do regardless then that significantly devalues setups in actual over-the-board Scrabble.
There was a brief period in the noughties when something called "advance chess" gained some traction - essentially, chess played between two human-computer teams. The computer could provide raw calculation that no grandmaster could match, but the ability of grandmasters to appreciate positional nuances still meant that there was some value to having them there rather than following the top engine move every time. It seems that Scrabble is currently in that spot - obviously a computer can instantly see every candidate play, it can do that more infallibly even than Nigel, but picking the best option from the candidate moves is something where maybe the best humans still have an edge.
I love Marty Gabriel. Great guy. My first official tournament was at his house. As the youngest guy there, he was so welcoming to a first-timer.
I would love to see a video about his 24 hr World Record games with Scott Garner for 216,439 points.
I see that effort on the thumbnails man keep it up🔥 Nice video this guy always surprise me🙌🏻
I'd like to use these plays as some kind of tutorial, but the Scrabble games I play are rarely one on one. Setups rarely make it back around to me, not like they're anything like these gems. They are quite entertaining to see so I appreciate the quality of the presentation on this channel :)
When a setup does actually work out like I planned, it is quite a thrill of course!
Yes, these types of plays would be really tough to pull off in 3/4 player games.
Anither amazing video Will! Thank you for your commitment to the channel 🖤
Thanks to you, I've learned the importance of setting up! I played AD to set up a 60+ point Z-hook; my opponent didn't block it because they could play BOY in a different part of the board for a very good number of points. They should've sacked points and blocked it with ADO, but alas, that's what happens when we're all casual players.
Hey will, i lost terribly at a chess competition today and seeing a new video from you made me slightly happier. Hey who knows i might try out scrabble tournaments 😊
Sorry to hear about the competition & glad I could help out!
new nigel videos lets go
Wow, interesting. The ENATE move was superb
I do enjoy this series, Will. If 3 volumes is all you can manage, I understand - but I'd love to see it continue beyond that!
3:21 +1000 ora
awesome and looking forward to vol 3!
lets go! i was so excited to see this series!
Will, I’ve always been interested in knowing what the highest scoring word actually played before is. I know you’ve done the Wellington and the Toh videos, but I’d love an entire video dedicated to it like your longest words video
Definitely on my to-do list!
I have never played Scarbble, I'm not planning to, and I don't even know all the rules - but I really enjoy your videos.
Sick video! This was next level. More please!
5:50 nice!
Another great video.
I've one question. I know you've done a video where someone won where both people tile swapped at the beginning but I was wondering what is the lowest score win where one player has used all their tiles?
Good question - I could dig this up, but perhaps it would be better to find the lowest score win between two grandmaster players - this wouldn't be the lowest score win of all time, but I'd rather not shame lower-level players who may just be starting out or playing more "for fun".
@@wanderer15 That'd be perfect. I'd be really curious about GM low score wins, including the goat himself.
I find it interesting that one of the greatest setups failed, proving that despite solid reasoning some of those setups are still somewhat unsafe gambles.
Love the thumbnail!
8:23 wtf is that AA. Another Nigel setup?
That was Panupol blocking the Z setup while using just one tile to retain some possibility of drawing a bingo himself. ENATE got him to essentially waste a turn there.
that duetzia tho
I love the thumbnail on this video lol
Incredible thumbnail
2:17 the massive jeff strikes again
Video image goes hard
awesome!
Puttapong sounds like a scrabble word. what a name
Hey Will, can you mark blue players score blue? I never played scrabble Irl but I love your videos and it would be easier for me to follow and likely for other viewers as well.
I'm guessing that TIFF wins more often. What does analysis suggest?
Quackle prefers LIVE, but only because it answers that move with many overlapping plays on top of DANT, especially when holding an O (ODEA forming ODOR, DAME, EN, ET, OGEE in the same spot, etc.) - practically, it doesn't feel best against a human being, but it does do very well when Puttapong has a bingo!
Qadi qadi qadi ey ey ey.
I don’t want to add to your workload, but I feel that including a little box with the wordlist (North American v.s. International) and version of dictionary would be helpful for those of us who like to play along with the matches
Yes, I always mean to do this but often forget. I should do better with including that info.
THE MASSIVE JEFF FOR 75
Will
Please do a vid on Helen Gipson, winner of the UK Open, during Nigels' ludicrous 10/12 year streak.
Thank you.
Random question I'm curious about (and I don't play Scrabble myself but still watch these videos lol)
When people order the letters of a 7-letter word alphabetically, and given the strings that result, is it known which words end up being alphabetically first and last after ordering in this way?
(For example, BANANAS could be a really good contender for first going to AAABNNS)
Looks like it might be AAAALTY for ATALAYA (a watchtower)!
@@wanderer15 That's cool! New "bragging rights" word learnt.
APADANA# and ARAWANA, I guess?
E(NATE) is fascinating.
0:38
I just watched a GothamChess video so when I heard "Nigel sacrifices" I had the words "The rook!" in my head but I stopped the video because that wasnt a chess game and I was confused for a second.
1000+ ora play
JAKE FOR 81 > JEFF FOR 75
IT DOESNT EVEN MATTER HOW MASSIVE JEFF IS
when i was 13 i connected THEATRE into five words and got like 60 points
i also got incorrectly challenged for hooking FOLLY to GOAT(Y)
Hamburger
Fun fact: using the letters in Nigel Richards, you cannot spell the word 'Superabound'.
Proof?
Why abs but not bas bi, ghazi get some extra points
Actually that's a really good point. Although, BAS scores 7 points and GHAZI afterwards scores 88, and ABS scores 11 and GHAZI afterwards scores 86. So ABS-->GHAZI actually gets more. However, BAS might better protect the triple word score in the top right, since Nigel is probably reading Puttapong to have excess consonants. ABS allows 5-letter words ending in a consonant, whereas BAS does not.
Hwy im early 😊
💤
First
Third
TIL a man fwom new zeawand memowized evewy fwench wowd in the f-fwench scwabble dictionawy and w-won the f-fwench scwabble championship. he s-still doesn't speak any fwench
edit: wow, did not expect this to blow up the way it did
edit 2: thanks for the gold kind stranger!