2018 Scrabble Championship 10/10

[@aoweixu]

Fine youtube I guess I will watch this...

[@Patralgan]

Same and I'm glad I did :D

[@soIatido]

same lol..

[@TheDaftySage]

Yeah, why did youtube give me this?

[@MythicSelkie]

@@TheDaftySage I'm wondering the same thing, but I'm actually not complaining about this showing up in my recommended

[@ollazilla]

i love how this video has probably sucked in so many people like this

[@peterbedford449]

Tetris for Jeff.

[@Rachel-kx1qb]

Boom

[@reynaldocoloma5615]

Man, Jeff memes are everywhere. CTWC 2016 really made a boom.

[@dannymusic]

And BOOM! Bingo for Nigel! They're neck and neck!

[@Croisis]

Tetris for Jonas.

[@jewski6852]

boom

[@Robertlavigne1]

Never once in the history of the world has any looked at the game of Scrabble and thought to themselves, "That is a game just for the 20 yr olds and 30 yr olds!"

[@jeffw1267]

Maybe, but young people are supposed to have a mental advantage. It's like chess in that respect. You don't see many great chess players over 50 (I mean at the absolute top level: even Anand is not 50 yet), but in Scrabble there are a few great older players.

[@ethanbradberry5050]

Lol this is exactly what I was thinking when the video started

[@descendency]

@@jeffw1267 Very few make it over 40.

[@Friek555]

There's still Kramnik and Ivanchuk, but the absolute top is all

[@cwjalexx]

@@Friek555 i thought kramnik retired?

[@MikeySellsIt]

Nigel is the bad ass of scrabble, “he doesn’t do interviews” he must have so many scrabble groupies.

[@Albimar17]

Boom! Bingo for Nigel!

[@AIEmporium700]

Mike's Cool Stuff badass? Since when do badasses have pathetic forearms 33:59 lmfaooo does he even lift?

[@L1ama]

@@AIEmporium700 before his first national chamionship, he cycled 14 hours overnight to get there, won, and then biked 14 hours home again

[@MJB1027]

Tetris for Nigel

[@OMGKITTENMEWMEW1]

He only communicates through Scrabble tiles.

[@guccilibrarian4728]

I don't know why KZbin recommended this to me... I don't know why I watched it until the end. But, I am glad it did, and I am glad I did.

[@LiTHiUMFrede]

Did the same :D

[@bobjuh]

Same

[@stonemove4207]

same :D😇

[@grendelum]

Was anyone else _really_ impressed with how good the commentators are?

[@Bigjuice117]

orion khan love these commentators, they give no fucks about what they say

[@arbitrage2141]

Wow... The commentators were really good. I never thought someone could make a game of scrabble interesting

[@codetaku]

That's what happens when you have commentators that are also semi-retired pros, they may not be the best players in the world but they know almost all of what the best players in the world know

[@JohnSmith-ds7oi]

The woman is awful. All that cackling.

[@mcmarto]

@@JohnSmith-ds7oi the woman is BRUTAL

[@Frippatronics]

"Joel's gonna play Queer...for sure."

[@JackieFuckingChan]

oh my god

[@JackieFuckingChan]

"He can't draw on the ROOKY and QUEER intersection"

[@MuMu-fu7qe]

Lololol I thought that was hilarious. Sick burn.

[@ToasterAttack22]

when you cant decide between felsite and lefties so you put liefest

[@sr-kt9ml]

Literally every day

[@guccilibrarian4728]

#Relatable

[@grendelum]

The speed with which the commentators tossed out options was *_impressive._*

[@OMGKITTENMEWMEW1]

Haven't we all been faced with this problem at one point in our lives though?

[@kevinlawson6188]

I totally knew that was coming. We were all ready for that, but I was the liefest.

[@TheGoondas87]

I didnt know scrabble commentary could be this in depth and intense lol

[@64MilestotheGallon]

Never realized how similar Scrabble was to chess. I get the exact same feeling listening to this commentary as I did at the recent WCC, and barely even know the strategy for this game lol

[@Tornnnado]

yeah fr this has way more of a chess vibe than I ever would have guessed

[@jackhandma1011]

WCC-World Crokinole Championship?

[@64MilestotheGallon]

@@jackhandma1011 chess lol

[@stefanosbousdekis]

This has a percentage of luck, chess does not. The competitive scenes of a lot of games are similar but the games are totally different.

[@tundcwe123]

@@jackhandma1011 Western Collectioners Club

[@alydar21]

Wow, what a finish! This was so enjoyable. Commentators gave wonderful analysis. Wish there was a TV channel dedicated to tournaments, such as SCRABBLE, Bridge, Monopoly, Crosswords etc...

[@NASPAScrabble]

Our Scrabble community is dedicated to putting more Scrabble-related video content out on this channel on a regular basis - you should check out some of our other tournament videos or even our talk show about Scrabble. Thx!

[@stumbling]

You're watching it.

[@johnwilder4789]

Agree. Amazing game, and the video commentary was excellent. I've been watching Conrad/Robin do these for years and it's been great every time. Annotated games can be "watched" (rerun) on crosstables to learn from the pros, but those don't have the video commentary. This format provides anyone looking to learn from top players insights into their thinking, move by move.

[@JustaDudeTryinToLearnPiano]

That would be the most boring channel of all time

[@Bigfuzz22]

You’re looking for Espn 8

[@abdurrahman363]

This is the moment when I realize that my english vocabulary is nowhere near good enough.

[@NASPAScrabble]

'Vocabulary', or more specifically 'Word Knowledge' is only one of the tools Scrabble players bring to the board at competitions. Other important skills include rack management (playing for points while grooming your rack for future success), board vision (know where your hotspots are), and understanding the probability of a specific tile being drawn, when to open up the board (allowing more open play) or closing it down (making it harder for a trailing opponent to catch up). You need all of these skills to play. On top of that, at NASPA tournaments and clubs, we have play available for all levels. Nigel and Joel (seen in the video) are at the very top of this game, while we have thousands of other hopefuls waiting to play you across the board!

[@Patralgan]

Same, I had to Google so many words here. Then again, English is not my native language. I wonder if the discussions between pro scrabble players are so high level English that few can understand what they're talking about? :D

[@ballag1166]

Patralgan, no they aren't. My math teacher in h.s. was a top-tier Scrabble player, most of it comes down to memorizing how a word is spelled. Its possible to win in Scrabble in languages outside of your own simply through memorization.

[@byte01010101me]

I think that knowing all those 2-letter words is very important

[@grendelum]

NASPA Scrabble - I was _super_ impressed by the speed of your commentators... really great video !!

[@raynmanshorts9275]

1 AM KZbin: "Hey, want to watch people spell out words competitively?" Me: "Yeah, I guess."

[@zacharysnyder2520]

Didn't think I'd enjoy watching Scrabble. Ok KZbin you win this one

[@matheus5439]

Boom!! Tetris for Jonas!

I laughed at this comment a long time

[@Suburban-United]

He's playing comfortably with a 2 tetris lead right now...

[@leoholton4860]

Hahaha why have I watched both of these??

[@zarahemla4973]

Man I was thinking the same thing omg 😃😂🤣

[@elliotjakupcak4352]

I think Tetris champion watchers are being recommended this and now we’re all just here

[@burton124]

Start at 33:19 and play at 0.25 speed you will not be disappointed

[@SilentAssassin01234]

Amazing

[@whyisaac]

ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh

[@pharmztko]

2x speed is better

[@zykovii1868]

@@whyisaac yeahhhhh

[@PaulMFDouglas]

Omg. Thank you for this suggestion. I'm gonna start watching everything at 0.25

[@jonathanbush6197]

"This is why they put us in the basement" then bursts out laughing. That was good.

[@makikomi]

Scrabble: one of the few times that a guy can sit opposite a girl and say "What a great rack!" and NOT get slapped.

[@Friek555]

I can do that whenever I meet my girlfriend ;P

[@leehiro4840]

mir flattert der Kompost um die Ohren

[@carteryott7710]

That’s when the girl says “thanks, you should see my tiles!”

[@GoodSupply]

An absolute thriller! What a barn burner! Edge of your seat excitement! The crowd is just absolutely going crazy!!

[@alexhutcheson8467]

I don't know why youtube recommended this to me, but I'm so glad it did. Never played a game of Scrabble in my life, but that ending was amazing

[@dzikripratama3776]

Im Indonesian and whenever i had an English course the teacher always play this game once per month!

[@essengeebee]

8:21 "I don't think either of them are queer lefties but I can certainly think of one." WTF was he talking about himself?

[@getsomebud]

I was dying at that part

[@snwboardn21]

Political correctness has apparently evaded the scrabble scene

[@snwboardn21]

@mike A sorry I am going to have to challenge that, it is actually spelled "puerile"

[@Ronbo710]

@@snwboardn21 too bad it has permeated crosswords.

[@genesisbustamante-durian]

@Paul Lammers Oh dude, just shut up. You're annoying.

[@DanielDugovic]

Oh my goodness. Imagine seeing AWN on the board, and having kept count of the tiles, knowing exactly what is coming next.

[@Dfcameron13]

Great end to an awesome tournament with wonderful insights from Conrad and Robin - 2 world class players

[@joalberici258]

Wow, that's so ironic too. In a game where it's essential to have an extensive vocabulary, Joel comes back right at the end to take the 10,000 with "strings"

[@toniwilson8212]

After falling & hitting my head on the floor , scrabble became a life saver for me , its a big help for people that suffer from dyslexia , over the months I have had off & on spelling & remember how to spell words of all kinds problems , Scrabble is such an awesome game indeed

[@TintinaLily]

I had no idea what tactics they're talking about or how to score, but I watched this all the way through and loved it.

[@zacharysnyder2520]

These commentators are so damn likeable

[@Max-Everest]

What fucking planet do you come from? Where weak dick dudes have lisps and round ass chins and effeminate voices and the ladies interrupt everyone all the time? This duo was a creepfest. If you weren't actively skeeved out everyone they started talking then take a long honest look in the mirror. That oxo word is totally bogus, btw.

[@TanTan-ni4mg]

Nah... The lady is annoying. Its like this is the only attention she gets.

[@TanTan-ni4mg]

@@Max-Everest yeup. They were wanting joel to win so they cheated it in. Too stupid.

[@Fopenplop]

@@Max-Everest ha ha ha ha ha holy shit dude. by any chance have you lost a game of scrabble recently?

[@Bonsoni03]

Dylan Caprotti oxo, what’s this?

[@jamesflames6987]

I love the way Joel tries to psychologically undermine his opponent by flinging slurs at him.

[@herzwatithink9289]

He is a druid, the tiles are his runes, and words are his weapons of war.

[@azakive]

and it worked!

[@euclideszoto997]

This has to be the greatest US match ever. To win 3 games in a row against Nigel Richards!

[@duncandixon6203]

Rumour has it they are still waiting for an interview

[@KeyboardMoment]

Nigel is basically the Magnus Carlsen of Scrabble

[@Seth-lt7st]

I watched someone talk about competitive Hangman and he talked about how Scrabble is competitive. I’ve now ended up here and it’s a lot more enjoyable then I thought

[@colonelbreadsticks]

I didn’t think I’d enjoy this as much as I did, so glad Joel won, throughout the video I was hoping he would.

[@hippy8255]

First Tetris, now Scrabble, since when did an elderly lady take over my KZbin suggestions

[@Friek555]

Since when do elderly ladies play or watch Tetris? All top players are male, and I suspect most of the viewers are too

[@elliotjakupcak4352]

Oh my god I came fro, Tetris too tf

[@treyebillups8602]

Boom, Tetris for Jeff.

[@MrRyonnsan]

If you wonder what OLEO is, it is no-longer-crunchy Oreo

[@MisterAssasine]

asian OREO they cant spell the R

[@Nomoadobojoe]

Zhonyas hourglass

[@johnflo8047]

Corny

[@willianWAG]

it is OIL in portuguese

[@G6GamingSociety]

Apparently it's another word for margarine

[@JonathanDavis7]

Nigel plays all tiles for 50 bonus points, Joel immediately plays 'recut', adding 't' to 'gi'. a subtle show of the mind. edit, he then also later plays 'nob'. less subtle, but still, effort points awarded

[@DavenH]

Nice format and presentation here, good commentary. Great players. A lot to like!

[@confusedcaptain350]

This cured my insomnia lmao

[@kingkoppe]

How did i end up watching AND enjoying this?

[@christooss]

Clicking on this video screwed your KZbin related for at least 6 months!

[@brakokarasu9961]

So thank you youtube algorythm for that. Trivia : Nigel Richards won a French Scrabble Championship without actually speaking French. End of trivia.

[@raynmanshorts9275]

Not end of trivia. He memorized the French dictionary in 9 weeks. The championship was in 2015.

[@genesisbustamante-durian]

@Raynman Gaming Are you fucking kidding me right now?

[@mattcanik]

@@raynmanshorts9275 let's add more trivia; Nigel won the Spanish world championship last week

[@musicalneptunian]

It's my lifelong ambition as a connoisseur of the consonants to see "syzygy" appear on the board.

[@snoojie]

One day I want to play zzz.

[@DS-xh9fd]

Only 2 Y tiles

[@musicalneptunian]

@@DS-xh9fd Noooooooooo! It can't be!

[@azuarc]

But there's two blanks.

[@TheNameOfJesus]

@@azuarc Well, nobody can play PIZZAZZ even with two blanks.

[@aleckermit]

Player 1: Calls opponent a rookie. Player 2: Queer!

[@RaptorX7777]

Now I know why youtube recommended I watch this

[@nobodyinparticular8370]

Oooh... Them counter roasts though 😂

[@MrDubs]

29:37 These two have been back and forth, but I think this topped it.

[@baconcat2458]

Queer is the word I would play no matter what. 😂

[@OMGKITTENMEWMEW1]

But then the video would be demonetized :P

[@solfeinberg437]

I'd like to hear more discussion of the definition / pronunciation / etymology / usage of these words. Because wtf is gi or qi, for instance?

[@Mrlassit]

a Gi is like the karate uniform. Qi is that chinese internal body energy.

[@maxzhu6754]

Those words are so common that anyone with any interest in Scrabble would know them. Average viewers can look them up if they want.

[@almightyhydra]

"Zep"

[@luzif0r]

To be honest, I find that post a little arrogant - at least if the goal of creating a youtube channel dedicated to the game is to open scrabble up to a broader audience (something this beautiful match would be very much suited to do). I personally did in fact know both Gi and Qi, however some of the words (e.g. rooky, liefest and especially lurdans) are tough to find even when using a dictionary.

[@solfeinberg437]

luzif0r, you didn't find my post arrogant, you found Max Zhu's reply arrogant, right? I did too, Max.

[@mick7346]

for some reason this popped up in my recommendations and i just decided to watch it and i got so invested dndbshdsh i’m also rlly happy Joel won!!

[@user-gz4dq3dt9k]

10:33 was nigel giving joel a staredown right there? damn this is some intense scrabble

[@dd376ers]

The funny thing is, I voluntarily typed the words "world championship Scrabble" into KZbin. Can't even blame the damn recommended algorithm for what I'm watching right now 😂

[@jannisopel]

I am thankful for this comment section to make me laugh. The commentator Robin really made the other pale before her skills. She was great. Now I just need to find out what NAS SPA means.

[@Theme1412]

North American Seals for People's Amusement

[@sanghamitramitra2629]

@@Theme1412 Ok

[@nekakagiggle]

Idk how I got here but Im crying rn

[@gredangeo]

This cameraman needs to speed up their game. The board spends too long upside down at times.

[@laxxius]

This has always been a problem for these guys. It used to be worse. I think it's actually the editor who does the flipping.

[@succbox8344]

right there with ya buddy!

[@succbox8344]

(:

[@hillkillr]

I'd prefer they just not rotate the camera at all. It messed with my head every time they flipped the camera. Upside down reading is an essential skill for Scrabble.

[@Lightly_Saltyago]

This is infinitely better than football. I’m so glad I found this.

[@ArmyVeteran25U]

KZbin knows what I want to watch more than I know what I want to watch.

[@beng4151]

There just isn't enough televised Scrabble.

[@mattcanik]

We are fixing that!

[@RacingCommentator]

I downloaded the scrabble app, a day later this come up on my recommendations... I have never searched for scrabble on KZbin. Ps. Joel, bring your rack closer to the camera.

[@Christoph1990]

21:00 finally, I know that word!

[@tomivalkonen1343]

First game of scrabble ive ever watched. What an ending. 😱

[@maxfortin3563]

It's 1:06 am. I work at 8:00, and I'm watching a goddamn Scrabble Championship....

[@exoplanet11]

Wow. Amazing game. So glad I found this. I can't believe G.I. Joel is still playing scrabble. I read about him in "Word Freak" years ago. His remarkable (and unremarkable) life is one most of us would not wish to emulate. A very well commented game also. By the way, on the crucial play at 25:16, G.I. Joel can play a 9 letter word beginning with Q: QUEERNESS. Clearly what he did instead was better.

[@henrylo3893]

These youtube comments were all so great. I could scroll through them while watching this vid and there were no major spoilers

[@robertdaly5568]

Sherman,sherman!!!!I love offline scrabble, sick of being accused of cheating online, top 1% player, but fell out of love with it.

[@WesYarber]

New to the scene here. At 31:50, Joel seems to be counting the remaining tiles by sticking his hand in the bag and feeling around. Isn’t it possible to feel which tiles are left, or are these fancy tiles that have no difference in touch between the different characters?

[@jorgelenny47]

If I had to guess they're like casino dice, where the letters are just painted over blank tiles so the feeling is the same

[@richards31415]

The tiles used in tournaments are plastic, so you cannot feel them (unlike wood tiles with engravings). On your turn, you can count the # of tiles in the bag.

[@TheIainCollier]

And thank you KZbin.......you have just made me realise how lacking my English vocabulary really is......that was strangely enjoyable !

[@theoryismypraxis3538]

19:15 i like how the announcer pronounced jap as "jape" to avoid saying a racial slur. My sincere most commendations

[@XXYY-u2o]

Dumb. We all know the real word. Grow up. Loser

[@russellharris4229]

QUESTION WHERE CAN HE PLAY THE WORD OX AND WHY?

[@cumulus888]

Won't say I am crazy with Scrabble. Never good at it but love the commentary.

[@ts4gv]

the delay between the board flipping & the display correcting is hilarious to me lmao

[@jasonhu9505]

My recommended has been fucked ever since I watched that competitive tag match

[@kenmendoza6932]

I feel bad for Nigel. And I dont even know the rules on this game.

[@jacobmpp]

If they took the shot of the board from a bit farther away, they could stabilize it in real time so it could never be upside down. A scrabble board is perfect for stabilization too because of the distinctive elements on the board and the letters and the black table in the back.

[@WeirdVideoGames]

3:29 Taoist would have fit nicely

[@g40rc378]

KZbin algorithm, you know me so well. The graphics on this version of "Cave of the Word Wizard" are stunning.

[@applemejeansbootswiththefu8654]

Points too little and it would open the board for that triple word considering you will end it with a good tile T

[@judycole9752]

Join us in Reno this year - July 20 to 24!

[@leefisher6366]

21:39 - Didn't Joel have the bingo 'PREZENTS' (Plural Noun: Gifts [Etym: Using the fact that Z is cool]) through the E of Mauve?

[@IvarHuisman]

I agree, however presentzz is spelled with double z at the end not one z in the middle. And with phat dope in front of it usually the traditional spelling is used

[@Ceruleanst]

"He's got rez on top of alidade": Dang, all this time I thought "za" was an eccentricity of Words With Friends.

[@Max-Everest]

they claim it is short for pizza.... like, "yo, homies - who wants to eat some slices if za." As if anyone in the history of English said that without getting punched.

[@Benjy52]

sounds like an overwatch game

[@Bonsoni03]

This has the same energy as classic tetris

[@ohtani2024]

OMG what a game

[@toanoradian]

I know it's really easy to look up words, but if in the future they could put brief definitions of the obscure words, maybe in that lower right box, it would help. I don't have to open a new tab if a word makes me curious and move away from the video. edit: alternatively, have the commentators define it.

[@trustmebroigoogledit2382]

hey I know some of these words!

[@sanghamitramitra2629]

Your name explains why you know the words

[@PandaloverHK]

Is it just me or does Joel remind you of the old guy in the PIxar short that came with the original Toy Story, Geri's Game?

[@Notorietypulp]

I'm so close to caring enough to go to the website to find answers to questions I have, but im just not there. Maybe it's cos im not good enough to imagine myself playing competitively.

[@OBmaster]

@1:55 "stuff that ain't gonna play through much" ??? Something I never expected to hear during a Scrabble match.

[@Williamwerenberg]

I need more info on the Fortune Cat piece bag, please. Also... Old Harold Delaney

[@Ssssssnakeisone]

Any time you want, it'll just be the two of us!

[@Williamwerenberg]

Occurrences Good Lord! I’ve never heard such a thing!

[@mhc121]

The ending was so exciting, but I have no idea why 😅

[@mastersubarashii8285]

Tomorrow i have a scrabble competition i hope i can win!

[@justasingledronevideo2583]

How did it go?

[@XXYY-u2o]

Updates?

[@mastersubarashii8285]

I won

[@JustaDudeTryinToLearnPiano]

I wish I was as passionate about anything like these guys are about fucking scrabble

[@ArturoVengassi]

Why toward the end are they talking about how long Joel is spending picking tiles? Said he picked the tiles fast. Is the point that taking your time picking tiles ensures a random draw? Is it not illegal to feel for a blank?

[@garivelthecleric]

Why did I see this and why did I watch it all the way through?

[@MikeSugs]

Hear hear. That was a goshdarn dang good game of teh Scrabs (as they used to call back in my 20s).

[@xkolm]

I don't understand a thing but I'm in love with the commentator

[@eightbo]

Yoooo! Scrabble eSports! We made it bois!

[@hg_properties]

1st month coronavirus lockdown: i want to play scrabble!!!! 2nd month coronavirus lockdown: i want to watch someone else play scrabble!

[@InfiniteUniverse88]

I'd like to see how an a.i plays against them.

[@user-jm1lz6zg6m]

First scrabble championship watched and already this

[@terrillt426]

Can someone explain how can you play rainy underneath taiko? I thought abbreviations aren't allowed. So ai is a word? And I guess ta is a word? Now I see the oleo play and re is an acceptable word? I'm thoroughly confused now.

[@richards31415]

"Ai" is a 3-toed sloth. Nigel and Joel are two of the best scrabble players in the world and pretty much every expert player knows all the acceptable 2-letter words, so you can rest assured that all the 2-letter words on the board are valid.

[@mtti.gamedev]

The KZbin recommendation algorithm is out of control.

[@xxskyla.violettexx]

When a word is played parallel to another, is that done by linking the two with a word? As in GI played with IQ connecting in this game.

[@marceline2147]

“sexy queer lefties,,,,,, hmm what” lmao

[@tothejazz4828]

I couldn't have wished for better commentary

[@OsamaBinLooney]

the problem with scrabble is it HUGELY luck based with the letters you get, sometime I play and get all the high point letters and sometimes I play and get all vowels or 1 point letters

[@axcertypo]

The better you get at Scrabble, the more you can nullify the "luck" factor. Most top experts believe that with accurate play, you can win at least 75% of games at the top level, which means that if you are playing weaker opponents, you should just about always be winning.

[@DavenH]

That's not a problem with the game, it's an excitement factor. Like poker.

[@Shedgie]

Man I watched a bunch of Tetris competition videos and KZbin recommend me this. Don't temp me KZbin.