Phonies are probably my favourite part of top level scrabble-they're a nearly immutable source of humanity in the game, especially with creative (and sometimes diabolical) ideas like this one. Today's scrabble engines would never.
Scrabble engines absolutely can't yet, but eventually (in not too too long probably) silicon computers will be able to do anything you can, meat computer.
I remember this game being highly debated on the Yahoo! Scrabble forum (does that still exist?). Nathan walked me though one of my endgames at a tournament a million years ago. Absolute gentleman of the game. This move was NOT devious, it was absolute brilliance. Team Nathan here. 🤟
@@wanderer15 Between you, Josh and Mack uploading great content so frequently, my love for the game has been reinvigorated heavily. Just glad that I beat my beloved Conrad and Dr. Bing in tournament play in my life. :) I still suck, but I can go to the grave with that.
To be honest I think this is perfectly within the spirit of the game, and exactly what makes Scrabble so much fun to watch. Nathan used his knowledge of the moves available to him and his opponent to create the best scoring opportunities possible, and played for the only out that he had.
The ability to bluff, and to come up with ploys and gambits like this, is one of the joys of competitive Scrabble. It also showcases the human element of the game - no engine is coming up with that sequence. This was a totally legal, brilliant move.
@@quinnbartlett7233yes, for sure. On macondo: > load cgp 15/C14/R11ALT/E2D6YAM2/S1BIMBO3OXO2/T2D1YUP2U1L1J/I2A2T3R1E1A/NIECE1GIRONS2K/G2T2A4UT1E/5AI2FARADS/1VIOLIN4V3/6SH3E3/2POW2I3i3/WAUR1O1N1HELOT1/ENsERFED NQ/EEGIZ 421/322 0 lex TWL98; > endgame Shows Pass as the top move.
@@quinnbartlett7233but even if engine pass, send the messege to the opponent, I am waiting you. Just the error looks like natural is the brilliant trap idea. So yes, here is opponent just pass, very possible he just pass too. Is just phycology. The pass and this error have the exactly same board, but really is phycology the deference.
Imagine how crushing it would be if the opponent did see the phoney word but had time enough to realize the plan and just had left the phoney word on the board.
@@terracottapie That would have been a less cool response though. And realistically, the less letters your opponent has the more likely they are not gonna pull any stunts. I'm not a good scrabble player by any means but if I'm 80 points ahead and someone plays a phoney with their last 5 tiles I'm probably not gonna challenge.
@@Silvergrooves42 I don't understand why it's "less cool" to challenge, then pass and hold the N, which prevents your opponent from bingoing? It's cool to lose the game?
@@terracottapie Because holding on to a tile might show just paranoia, while playing the N after NOT challenging is a very confident way of displaying that you figured everything out. Obviously, game-wise, both methods win. But a cocky move that leaves you with no other options will always have more style (coolness) than the wary option that leaves you defensive resources and doesn't display mastery of the situation. And even more obviously, I wasn't talking about the strategies that lose the game instead which would undoubtedly be even less cool.
What would have been the pinnacle of "Evil meets Evil" is if Stefan recognized Nathan's plan, and then just didn't challenge EB*. He could add a little Hollywooding and pass his turn back to Nathan, and say "oops, I meant to challenge!". Imagine that...
I love the best move "PASS" so much. So many players are not aware that passing could be a good move Dutch players must know, Q stick happens so frequently
It's also amazing since it differs from chess. In chess endgames there are a LOT of positions where not moving would be the best option (zugzwang) so not moving being actually legal in Scrabble while also still having states where it's the best move to do feels amazing
@@misalignedmisanthropistinteresting to compare for sure. In Weiqi/Go, you can pass at any point, and both players passing is how the game ends, but there are no situations where passing is beneficial until all of the scoring points have been made.
Brilliant move by Nathan. What people aren’t talking about is how crucial it is to not get into time trouble. Stefan had to make rushed moves at the end. I watch tons of expert games online and my biggest general critique is they commonly spend 6-8 minutes on turns early in the game. Loved the video! Keep them coming.
Excellent point. 25 minutes to play a full game can feel woefully inadequate to solve the difficult challenges at hand - especially way outside the box ones like this.
As a non-Scrabble player, that move is not evil at all. It's a very creative way to hide a pass and I'd encourage you Will and all other Scrabble players to take opportunities like that when you get them.
it is a delightfully devilish move. it is in fact a slightly evil move, but it’s totally something I would do. I would also encourage plays like this, but let’s not pretend it isn’t slightly evil. I’m also a non-Scrabble player btw
I'm surprised there is debate as to whether or not something with this is considered "moral" (for lack of a better term). Even if it's a friendly game, the point is still to win. Competition isn't inherently toxic. So what's he supposed to do if he sees a strategy that could win him the game? Just lose? That seems lame, and it wouldn't have given us the chance to see this amazing strategy if he had. I'm glad he chose to be that devious!
I agree! I'm mostly imagining more casual Scrabble players stumbling across this video who might not be as familiar with competitive play and the shift in thinking involved from "let's play cool words" to "let's maximize our winning chances in this war game played with words as playing pieces" - this group might be taken aback by strategies of this type, and I wanted to acknowledge that briefly. As I say in the video, I fully endorse this strategy from Nathan and think it's one of the coolest endgames I've ever seen played.
(3:41) I paused the video here to think about it and do some mental math, and correctly figured out the IT and GEEZ+ZIT plays that would let Nathan win by exactly 1 point. Also, the intentional phony EB+ED play hoping to get it challenged off was just pure and utter genius.
Sometimes you need to accept phoney to win a game. I did that at WSC 1999. I allowed my opponent to play EENS* as I figured out he was bluffing for me to make an opening for his last ditch bingo. But I foiled it because I did not challenge off his move hahaha.
The phoney being intentional just deepens the genius and ensures that no amount of computer calculation can successfully dominate the game of Scrabble.
That was incredible! For people who don't realize this: this is literally an instance where Nathan played _better_ than Nigel, because Nigel (for what reason, I don't know) doesn't resort to any tactics that stray away from playing the theoretically optimal move. Also, to me there's nothing unfair about the play. Stefan had a way of punishing it, Nathan is not taking advantage of any unfair advantage. That this is really hard to find under time pressure doesn't make the move unethical to me.
I'm sorry but _better_ is very subjective here. You can debate that the ability to play phonies is wrong and that Scrabble Go is possibly the right variant... (And before you argue that "best" is whatever leads to victory in practical terms, that's only one way of putting it, and from what we know about Nigel, it's not _his_ way. For him it seems, scrabble is much more art than a game.)
Mack Meller made a video a few months ago called "Scrabble but ANY FAKE WORD wins on the spot???" which covers a time when a player actually had an opportunity to try a similar gambit. First thing I thought of, although in that game the relevant player sadly doesn't spot the opportunity to strategically phoney.
It's a mental game! both tactically and strategically. He played to his out and landed on the money, we seem the same thing happen in the game with no tiles when Marlon Hill pulled the same tactic, and that was with plenty of time on each player's clock. Beautiful little sequence!
What an incredible play! This reminds me as well of a video by Mack Meller covering a game of Steve Grob against Will Scott, in which Steve had the chance to play a phony to bait Will to challenge and open a spot to slam down a triple-triple bingo. That opportunity wasn't taken, but it's so cool to see it realized here!
nice! this reminds me of mike barons play that i showcased in ES many years ago. its #15 in the chapter on BEST PLAYS of Everything SCRABBLE. If you wanted to use it to make a video i give you my permission to do so. its still my favorite play that involves a plsy thats so UNEXPECTED.
The play looks good to me. At their expert level, both players are tracking. Stefan knew what was on Nathan's rack, especially after his "ALT" play. He already sensed something ominous and knew Nathan had a "Z" that was playable.
Will, your videos are so enjoyable. You always have a fascinating story to tell, and you always tell it well. I think my scrabble game is improving too, incidentally. Thanks!
An interesting scrabble variant would be to keep almost all the rules the same but have a single random tile be removed from play at the very beginning of the game with neither player seeing what it was until after the game was over. That would change the endgame from a game of perfect information to something with a lot more skullduggery.
This might be the most creative series of moves I've ever seen in one of these videos. Absolutely incredible. Earlier tonight I hit BEDAMNED through an A to hit both triple word scores and my highest ever scoring word of 203 pts! :)
How clever! Personally, if it’s in the rules and not too obscure, then both players are on a “level playing field” and can equally expect the other to employ the tactic. So in this case then, I say it’s not unsportsmanlike. Bluffing is part of the game’s rules, even if it’s a small part (and it’s not as if the rule is a footnote unknown to the wider playerbase; if that were so, and he were banking on *that*, I’d question.)
I am not that into scrabble. I don’t play it basically ever and I don’t follow it either. But even still I love binging your content and learning about this gay. The way you talk about it makes it truly beautiful.
Wow that's amazing. I think if Scrabble becomes more like chess in popularity, with more prize money at stake, you're going to see more of questionable tactics like this at the top level.
It seems like poker, where you must also deceive your opponent. I don't see an issue with his strategy, in fact it's awesome! It's thinking outside the box.
Did you know what orientation of the board I'm always playing? I always play in the upside down orientation most of time as we always play tournaments or just a friendly games with my friends. It does really set a challenging situations but as I played it usually most of the times I think I got to hang of it.
Not a professional Scrabble guy by any means, but challenge baiting seems legit to me. I can also see how people would bristle, though. Curious to see what the professional community thinks of it.
Another pro player here. It doesn’t bother me at all unless you coffeehouse, which means you say something which makes your opponent believe you made a mistake. For instance, if Nathan had said “shoot” before Stefan hit his clock to challenge, that would be a big no no and would be extremely unethical (and probably considered cheating and grounds for being kicked out of a tournament if I’m not mistaken)
@@evanyurko3640 I looked through the tournament rules and say a general "During your opponent’s turn, do not speak unnecessarily" rule, but nothing that would call this kind of speech out as /cheating/ or DQ-worthy. Which is good, because that would be completely ridiculous - how are you supposed to know whether the player making the disappointed sound has seen the crazy setup, or has just actually made a mistake? DQing someone over this would be /really/ bad policy.
I did think of zit and geez but actually being able to do it by intentionally phonying is genius. I would have gave up and accepted my loss in that situation
I think it would've risen to the level of angling if Nathan facepalmed or slapped his head in mock agony. It was 20 years ago now, so I'm not exactly sure if there was any "acting" involved.
Hello Will, I have for you similar, but little different story from Czech scrabble. In 1st move I had letters ŠPEHÝRK. That doesn't mean anything. But if my opponent (quite good player) played A (5 tiles in bag), E (other 4 tiles in bag), O (6 tiles), U (3 tiles) or Y (2 tiles), I would have bingo (for 66 points in at least, and for 104 points in the best case). In Czech scrabble aren´t bingos so frequent like in English (each player plays on average 1 bingo per match), so it was really interesting situation. It wasn´t certainty, because in Czech are also "long" vowels (Á,É,Ě,Í,Ó,Ú,Ů,Ý) which didn´t work (short "I" didn´t work too), but my chances was still good. "OK. If I pass, she would play very carefully and defensively. So I have to play invalid word." I was choosing for some while, because I wanted to choose word, which she certainly challenge. I chose very good one: HÝŠEK. It was 1) complete nonsense 2) for 28 points (it´s not great, but very good in Czech scrabble) and 3) I played the worst tiles from my hand - H and Ý... ...but... ...she accepted 🤣 This word is really total nonsense and it´s not similar with any other valid word, so I asked her why she didn´t challenged (incorrect challenge doesn´t mean losing the move in Czech scrabble): "You have better word knowledge than me and you shouldn´t play total nonsense like that, if it wouldn´t valid." 🤣
I have a friend who does not play games to win; he plays to mess with your mind. He reads the rule books closely, looking for ways to "cheat" within the rules.
Stuff like this is just part of the strategy and I don't consider it immoral since it's completely within the rules of the game. Where I draw the line is stuff outside the mechanics of the game like "oops I accidentally hit my clock guess it's your turn" instead of saying pass.
A mystery I have no good answer to. UK players call them "bonuses" which makes much more sense. Sadly, "bingo" is so ingrained that I have no clue how I would ever switch.
I played a 50 Point word.. But snuck in the NON-WORD "AP". My opponent was so upset with my score because he was down by so many points. He did not even notice it. His emotions got the better of him, and he just did not look at it closely
Phonies are probably my favourite part of top level scrabble-they're a nearly immutable source of humanity in the game, especially with creative (and sometimes diabolical) ideas like this one. Today's scrabble engines would never.
Indeed. If the computer says you have a 100% chance to lose and you win, that’s called a good move!
Scrabble engines absolutely can't yet, but eventually (in not too too long probably) silicon computers will be able to do anything you can, meat computer.
@@terdragontra8900at this point it's doable with ai, it'll just get easier.
I remember this game being highly debated on the Yahoo! Scrabble forum (does that still exist?). Nathan walked me though one of my endgames at a tournament a million years ago. Absolute gentleman of the game. This move was NOT devious, it was absolute brilliance. Team Nathan here. 🤟
Nathan is a good guy and a really creative and top-notch player!
@@wanderer15 Between you, Josh and Mack uploading great content so frequently, my love for the game has been reinvigorated heavily. Just glad that I beat my beloved Conrad and Dr. Bing in tournament play in my life. :) I still suck, but I can go to the grave with that.
To be honest I think this is perfectly within the spirit of the game, and exactly what makes Scrabble so much fun to watch. Nathan used his knowledge of the moves available to him and his opponent to create the best scoring opportunities possible, and played for the only out that he had.
The ability to bluff, and to come up with ploys and gambits like this, is one of the joys of competitive Scrabble. It also showcases the human element of the game - no engine is coming up with that sequence. This was a totally legal, brilliant move.
For sure a bot wouldnt come up with nathan's move, but could they figure out his opponent's pass as best move?
@@quinnbartlett7233yes, for sure. On macondo:
> load cgp 15/C14/R11ALT/E2D6YAM2/S1BIMBO3OXO2/T2D1YUP2U1L1J/I2A2T3R1E1A/NIECE1GIRONS2K/G2T2A4UT1E/5AI2FARADS/1VIOLIN4V3/6SH3E3/2POW2I3i3/WAUR1O1N1HELOT1/ENsERFED NQ/EEGIZ 421/322 0 lex TWL98;
> endgame
Shows Pass as the top move.
@@quinnbartlett7233but even if engine pass, send the messege to the opponent, I am waiting you. Just the error looks like natural is the brilliant trap idea. So yes, here is opponent just pass, very possible he just pass too. Is just phycology. The pass and this error have the exactly same board, but really is phycology the deference.
Imagine how crushing it would be if the opponent did see the phoney word but had time enough to realize the plan and just had left the phoney word on the board.
Or, if they challenged it off, but then passed, holding the N to block JEEZ
@@terracottapie That would have been a less cool response though. And realistically, the less letters your opponent has the more likely they are not gonna pull any stunts.
I'm not a good scrabble player by any means but if I'm 80 points ahead and someone plays a phoney with their last 5 tiles I'm probably not gonna challenge.
There are examples of this elsewhere in TH-cam
@@Silvergrooves42 I don't understand why it's "less cool" to challenge, then pass and hold the N, which prevents your opponent from bingoing? It's cool to lose the game?
@@terracottapie Because holding on to a tile might show just paranoia, while playing the N after NOT challenging is a very confident way of displaying that you figured everything out.
Obviously, game-wise, both methods win. But a cocky move that leaves you with no other options will always have more style (coolness) than the wary option that leaves you defensive resources and doesn't display mastery of the situation.
And even more obviously, I wasn't talking about the strategies that lose the game instead which would undoubtedly be even less cool.
Haha! I was wondering, "Don't they play on turntables? How could he have made that mistake?" Turns out, he didn't. What a play.
The fact that these kinds of tricks exist within the rules of scrabble makes it a much more interesting game! Incredible idea from Nathan!
“You’re outmanned, you’re outgunned, you’re out-equipped. What else have you got?”
“Guile!”
What would have been the pinnacle of "Evil meets Evil" is if Stefan recognized Nathan's plan, and then just didn't challenge EB*. He could add a little Hollywooding and pass his turn back to Nathan, and say "oops, I meant to challenge!". Imagine that...
Then Nathan play ZCRESTING/ZIGE...
Leaving it and playing NEB also wins!
I love the best move "PASS" so much. So many players are not aware that passing could be a good move
Dutch players must know, Q stick happens so frequently
It's also amazing since it differs from chess. In chess endgames there are a LOT of positions where not moving would be the best option (zugzwang) so not moving being actually legal in Scrabble while also still having states where it's the best move to do feels amazing
@@misalignedmisanthropistinteresting to compare for sure. In Weiqi/Go, you can pass at any point, and both players passing is how the game ends, but there are no situations where passing is beneficial until all of the scoring points have been made.
@@TheGuyCalledXwhat do you mean? Players not keep live score on paper?
ive only recently watched any competitive scrabble and this is one of the coolest things i've seen
I think deliberate feints like this are a huge part of what makes this kind of "memorization-only" Scrabble interesting.
Brilliant move by Nathan. What people aren’t talking about is how crucial it is to not get into time trouble. Stefan had to make rushed moves at the end. I watch tons of expert games online and my biggest general critique is they commonly spend 6-8 minutes on turns early in the game. Loved the video! Keep them coming.
Excellent point. 25 minutes to play a full game can feel woefully inadequate to solve the difficult challenges at hand - especially way outside the box ones like this.
As a non-Scrabble player, that move is not evil at all. It's a very creative way to hide a pass and I'd encourage you Will and all other Scrabble players to take opportunities like that when you get them.
it is a delightfully devilish move. it is in fact a slightly evil move, but it’s totally something I would do. I would also encourage plays like this, but let’s not pretend it isn’t slightly evil. I’m also a non-Scrabble player btw
I'm surprised there is debate as to whether or not something with this is considered "moral" (for lack of a better term). Even if it's a friendly game, the point is still to win. Competition isn't inherently toxic. So what's he supposed to do if he sees a strategy that could win him the game? Just lose? That seems lame, and it wouldn't have given us the chance to see this amazing strategy if he had. I'm glad he chose to be that devious!
I agree! I'm mostly imagining more casual Scrabble players stumbling across this video who might not be as familiar with competitive play and the shift in thinking involved from "let's play cool words" to "let's maximize our winning chances in this war game played with words as playing pieces" - this group might be taken aback by strategies of this type, and I wanted to acknowledge that briefly. As I say in the video, I fully endorse this strategy from Nathan and think it's one of the coolest endgames I've ever seen played.
(3:41) I paused the video here to think about it and do some mental math, and correctly figured out the IT and GEEZ+ZIT plays that would let Nathan win by exactly 1 point.
Also, the intentional phony EB+ED play hoping to get it challenged off was just pure and utter genius.
Sometimes you need to accept phoney to win a game. I did that at WSC 1999. I allowed my opponent to play EENS* as I figured out he was bluffing for me to make an opening for his last ditch bingo. But I foiled it because I did not challenge off his move hahaha.
The phoney being intentional just deepens the genius and ensures that no amount of computer calculation can successfully dominate the game of Scrabble.
Wow, what a devious tactic. I definitely wouldn’t have spotted that!
I’m just happy getting my tiles down. The level of play at the peak is just insane.
That was incredible! For people who don't realize this: this is literally an instance where Nathan played _better_ than Nigel, because Nigel (for what reason, I don't know) doesn't resort to any tactics that stray away from playing the theoretically optimal move.
Also, to me there's nothing unfair about the play. Stefan had a way of punishing it, Nathan is not taking advantage of any unfair advantage. That this is really hard to find under time pressure doesn't make the move unethical to me.
Agreed! That is in part the point of time control.
I'm sorry but _better_ is very subjective here. You can debate that the ability to play phonies is wrong and that Scrabble Go is possibly the right variant...
(And before you argue that "best" is whatever leads to victory in practical terms, that's only one way of putting it, and from what we know about Nigel, it's not _his_ way. For him it seems, scrabble is much more art than a game.)
In a recent over-the-board scrabble game, I was facing the board upside-down and accidentally played WA
Scrabble endgames eb and flo, and this one was great!
oof!!!
What a play, genius and exceptionally laudable. Gambits like this are some of the coolest things games can produce imo.
I love this so, so much, as well as the fact that bluffing (and double-bluffing) is an element in the game.
This might be my favorite gameplay yet. The twist was so unexpected!!
This guy is the gothamchess of scrabble
Nah levy is way bigger on the emotional factor and poking fun at the players/stockfish, while Will is way more educational and documentary-like
no I meant like he is bringing this game to a larger audience through TH-cam and streaming
You've combined two things I thought only I knew about, and I'm both upset and devastated at this comment and I love it.
Gothamchess is literally ass cancer.
I’d say more Agadmator or Jerry from ChessNetwork, but I get what you’re going for.
Mack Meller made a video a few months ago called "Scrabble but ANY FAKE WORD wins on the spot???" which covers a time when a player actually had an opportunity to try a similar gambit. First thing I thought of, although in that game the relevant player sadly doesn't spot the opportunity to strategically phoney.
This is what genius described in the perfect way looks like. Love your videos!!!!
It's a mental game! both tactically and strategically. He played to his out and landed on the money, we seem the same thing happen in the game with no tiles when Marlon Hill pulled the same tactic, and that was with plenty of time on each player's clock. Beautiful little sequence!
What an incredible play! This reminds me as well of a video by Mack Meller covering a game of Steve Grob against Will Scott, in which Steve had the chance to play a phony to bait Will to challenge and open a spot to slam down a triple-triple bingo. That opportunity wasn't taken, but it's so cool to see it realized here!
nice! this reminds me of mike barons play that i showcased in ES many years ago. its #15 in the chapter on BEST PLAYS of Everything SCRABBLE. If you wanted to use it to make a video i give you my permission to do so. its still my favorite play that involves a plsy thats so UNEXPECTED.
The play looks good to me. At their expert level, both players are tracking. Stefan knew what was on Nathan's rack, especially after his "ALT" play. He already sensed something ominous and knew Nathan had a "Z" that was playable.
What a sick play! Props to Nathan 👏
My world is already upside down... And sideways... And occasionally right side up.
oh yeah another video of scrabble, another good day
Will, your videos are so enjoyable. You always have a fascinating story to tell, and you always tell it well. I think my scrabble game is improving too, incidentally. Thanks!
I find it fascinating that bluffing and tactics are part of scrabble.
it’s definitely angle shooting, but it’s fantastic
An interesting scrabble variant would be to keep almost all the rules the same but have a single random tile be removed from play at the very beginning of the game with neither player seeing what it was until after the game was over. That would change the endgame from a game of perfect information to something with a lot more skullduggery.
For those who relish the information-incompleteness part of Scrabble, that would be a great change!
Brilliant video. I have no issue with this play. Incredible. Thanks for the great content Will.
never played a scabble game in my life but I love all your videos.
Nah, Nathan was genius to play the false phony. Great ingenuity to make that win.
This might be the most creative series of moves I've ever seen in one of these videos. Absolutely incredible.
Earlier tonight I hit BEDAMNED through an A to hit both triple word scores and my highest ever scoring word of 203 pts! :)
great play!
It appears no one has said it yet:
E
“Challenge!”
“You’ve triggered my trap card!”
I have no issues with someone playing a wrod they know is incorrect in top level scrabble seems like it adds an interesting new element.
How clever! Personally, if it’s in the rules and not too obscure, then both players are on a “level playing field” and can equally expect the other to employ the tactic. So in this case then, I say it’s not unsportsmanlike. Bluffing is part of the game’s rules, even if it’s a small part (and it’s not as if the rule is a footnote unknown to the wider playerbase; if that were so, and he were banking on *that*, I’d question.)
wow! amazing showcase of a truely unique game! (loved the get smart reference at the end)
I am not that into scrabble. I don’t play it basically ever and I don’t follow it either. But even still I love binging your content and learning about this gay. The way you talk about it makes it truly beautiful.
I have no problem with Nathan's plan here. If he's clever enough to think all that out and Stefan doesn't see it, Nathan deserves full credit.
Every will anderson video is a must watch
Wonderful video, found myself actually yelling on the reveal
imagine if stefan under time pressure didn't realize the phoney lol
Good god, this is insanely brilliant.
I'd say that play is completely fine. It just passing but with extra steps.
If it's within the rules, it's fair game
Loved the play!
I wouldn't even be mad if that happened to me. He definitely isn't evil for it.
Wow that's amazing. I think if Scrabble becomes more like chess in popularity, with more prize money at stake, you're going to see more of questionable tactics like this at the top level.
Straight up diabolical! I love it!
perfect word to describe!
It's the equivalent of the latch-ditch "oh no my queen" in chess.
Great video as usual, and I love this play. But I’m curious, how did Stefan Rau react at the time or now, in retrospect?
I know Stefan pretty well, so I should've just asked him! My guess - he metaphorically tipped his cap and saluted Nathan's ingenuity.
Excited for more 1% videos
The eb and flow of this game was wild.
Blocking a move with "alt" is just great.
I think Phonies are a great part of the game, especially if they allow for creative moves like this
3:12 Things would be interesting if words were allowed to be read bottom to top as well.
Either way, what an insane power move by Nathan Benedict.
It seems like poker, where you must also deceive your opponent. I don't see an issue with his strategy, in fact it's awesome! It's thinking outside the box.
Holy crap, what a play! That was such a fun watch. 🙂
Woow! This is incredibly ingenious
Did you know what orientation of the board I'm always playing? I always play in the upside down orientation most of time as we always play tournaments or just a friendly games with my friends. It does really set a challenging situations but as I played it usually most of the times I think I got to hang of it.
Not a professional Scrabble guy by any means, but challenge baiting seems legit to me. I can also see how people would bristle, though. Curious to see what the professional community thinks of it.
Another pro player here. It doesn’t bother me at all unless you coffeehouse, which means you say something which makes your opponent believe you made a mistake. For instance, if Nathan had said “shoot” before Stefan hit his clock to challenge, that would be a big no no and would be extremely unethical (and probably considered cheating and grounds for being kicked out of a tournament if I’m not mistaken)
I remember at least one video where challenge baiting was the only way back for the player. I mean, I'd never heard of "waterzooi" before the video.
@@evanyurko3640great point on the coffeehousing, I think that’s the right line to draw.
@@evanyurko3640 I looked through the tournament rules and say a general "During your opponent’s turn, do not speak unnecessarily" rule, but nothing that would call this kind of speech out as /cheating/ or DQ-worthy. Which is good, because that would be completely ridiculous - how are you supposed to know whether the player making the disappointed sound has seen the crazy setup, or has just actually made a mistake? DQing someone over this would be /really/ bad policy.
@@PersonmanGaming as a general rule, I would not speak at all during an opponents turn unless asked a question
-How the tables have turned- How the turntables
I did think of zit and geez but actually being able to do it by intentionally phonying is genius. I would have gave up and accepted my loss in that situation
so this will make me Australian? awesome!
Shouldnt he have played gcrestingeeziwe to force his opponent to challenge him off or would that have alerted him to his plan
I dream of having a brainblast in anything big enough to be talked about 20 years later
This is such an interesting aspect of scrabble I never thought about! in poker this would be the equivalent of angling :D
I think it would've risen to the level of angling if Nathan facepalmed or slapped his head in mock agony. It was 20 years ago now, so I'm not exactly sure if there was any "acting" involved.
Don't hate the player, hate the game. Well, played!
I see another Will video I click ✌️
Hello Will, I have for you similar, but little different story from Czech scrabble. In 1st move I had letters ŠPEHÝRK. That doesn't mean anything. But if my opponent (quite good player) played A (5 tiles in bag), E (other 4 tiles in bag), O (6 tiles), U (3 tiles) or Y (2 tiles), I would have bingo (for 66 points in at least, and for 104 points in the best case). In Czech scrabble aren´t bingos so frequent like in English (each player plays on average 1 bingo per match), so it was really interesting situation. It wasn´t certainty, because in Czech are also "long" vowels (Á,É,Ě,Í,Ó,Ú,Ů,Ý) which didn´t work (short "I" didn´t work too), but my chances was still good. "OK. If I pass, she would play very carefully and defensively. So I have to play invalid word." I was choosing for some while, because I wanted to choose word, which she certainly challenge. I chose very good one: HÝŠEK. It was 1) complete nonsense 2) for 28 points (it´s not great, but very good in Czech scrabble) and 3) I played the worst tiles from my hand - H and Ý... ...but... ...she accepted 🤣 This word is really total nonsense and it´s not similar with any other valid word, so I asked her why she didn´t challenged (incorrect challenge doesn´t mean losing the move in Czech scrabble): "You have better word knowledge than me and you shouldn´t play total nonsense like that, if it wouldn´t valid." 🤣
brilliant and diabolical, i love it
I have a friend who does not play games to win; he plays to mess with your mind. He reads the rule books closely, looking for ways to "cheat" within the rules.
Stuff like this is just part of the strategy and I don't consider it immoral since it's completely within the rules of the game. Where I draw the line is stuff outside the mechanics of the game like "oops I accidentally hit my clock guess it's your turn" instead of saying pass.
I don't know what it means for ethics or the health of the game, but I do know this win was sick. All I can say really
I'm still waiting for that 176-point world championship comeback video, hehe 😅
IMO, if anyone has a problem with Nathan's phony, hey, the Yahtzee tournament is right over there.
All is fair in love and scrabble
Brilliant plan !
Why is it called “bingo” instead of scrabble when you use all your letters?
A mystery I have no good answer to. UK players call them "bonuses" which makes much more sense. Sadly, "bingo" is so ingrained that I have no clue how I would ever switch.
If that really was all pre planned that's genius
nothing evil about, pure genius, and even on low time the winning player (by 100!) could have sensed something was awry, and passed just in case
Gigachad move tbh
I played a 50 Point word.. But snuck in the NON-WORD "AP". My opponent was so upset with my score because he was down by so many points. He did not even notice it. His emotions got the better of him, and he just did not look at it closely
Kinda devious love the play
My mind is blown, this game is so beautiful :'(
I wonder whether this was actually calculated by Nathan or just looks devious clever in hindsight...
It's a fair question, but I believe his previous moves show that he had the plan in mind several turns in advance.
He stuck to the rules and it was his only out. Can't hate on him for that!
Fun fact maybe if he just accept the wrong move, he can win more easy...
He have tone of lead and just need a bit to protect the score.
2:31 hey that's me 😊
gotta respect the hussle