This Word Changed Scrabble Forever

Scrabble evolves constantly along with language, with new words keeping the game from ever becoming stale. With SO many words already in the dictionary, though, it's rare that any individual word makes that much of an impact. In 2006, one word proved to be a huge exception to this rule - the Chinese life force QI.
(Note that QI was already valid in the Collins lexicon used outside of North America at that point in time, but the majority of the video is still relevant)
Thank you to:
Erickson Smith for data on 10 million self-play AI games
Josh Castellano for helping find great pre-QI example games
For more Scrabble content from me, follow my Twitch channel:
/ wanderer15
I also have a weekly show on the official Scrabble Twitch channel:
/ scrabble
Play Scrabble at playscrabble.com!

[@gingeral253]

It’s funny how Scrabble has a naturally evolving meta.

[@wanderer15]

Well said! And naturally evolving with no regard for the game of Scrabble…

[@bigge1002]

It did have one till corporations, cough cough Hasbro decided to kill all online versions of the game, and then many former Scrabble addicts like us had to move on. Don't even get me started on the butchering of English language in some of the recent TWL updates.

[@theresa.y5221]

@@wanderer15 If the Shrek piece existed, if the opposing king gets scared, you have to yell “Shrekmate!!”😂😂😂😂😂

[@denischen8196]

There is a version of Scrabble where instead of "Q", there are "Qu" tiles. It is the only tile that has 2 letters on it.

[@frankmerrill2366]

There should be a Q tile and a Qu tile, but the Qu tile would be 5 points...

[@Chromeno]

I didn't even know there is a Q piece...

[@johnrigler8858]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5nKc2Sofdqshrc

[@mikebarnes2294]

Isn't that what Boggle and Upwords have?

[@elio7610]

There should be a version of scrabble where the English language makes sense.

[@xtlm]

I remember when I found out about Qi(s) in high school. It was totally random. I threw it on the board, someone challenged, I won to my surprise. Then I won so many Scrabble games since using that word. Never thought I would watch a video about it years later lol

[@wanderer15]

Thanks for sharing that memory & thank you for watching!

[@TheFantasticWarrior]

As someone who speaks Chinese the fact that they added plural to a Chinese word is so funny to me

[@wanderer15]

It's a good point, actually - while I think "QI" makes sense as a concept in English for which we have no direct analogue, so we need to borrow the word, I doubt anybody would ever actually need the "plural" (if you can call it that) if this word. But typically English dictionaries allow you to slap that S onto most nouns unless they specify otherwise.

[@TheFantasticWarrior]

Not just qi, in Chinese the concept of plurals just don't exist. But particularly qis is funny as it should be a special word without plural in English too

[@totallynotpaul6211]

@@TheFantasticWarrior I'm no expert, but if you have different types of qi, when referring to all of them, in english at least, it would be proper to use a plural from.

[@mirady9675]

​@@totallynotpaul6211there is not such thing as "types" of qi. It simple represents life force, an abstract, vague concept which does not encompass any subclass of objects, unlike something like colours. Colours can be blue or purple, but qi can only be qi, with some adjective appended to it.

[@crowbartender]

@@mirady9675 With your definition of qi plural form doesn't make sense but people playing scrabble still pluralize it. I guess they are just different qis.

[@cyber746]

For us, French/francophone players, qi was also a game changer when it was introduced in 2020. I guess it's not really a surprise since French and English are so close. However, we have it a bit easier compared to you as we have 1850 entries of 2 to 9-letter words containing Q making for around 6500 words if we count inflexions/conjugations. Still it's a nice addition to the "Q but not QU" list.

[@ohtani2024]

And its even worse for french players that Q is only worth 8 points!! This is so unreal despite there are 2 more Us than in english. The Q is extremely low value given that the pace in french scrabble is way faster, much more bingoes are played in the games. Meanwhile X, Y and most importantly the Z are all worth 10 points! Which I believe they should've been worth 8 points at most

[@cyber746]

@@ohtani2024 True. If I remember correctly, some people had computed the "real" values of the letters and I think we should have 2 Zs worth 5 points ! Regarding the Q, I feel like, it's not as critical in French as it is in English (it's still pretty bad, don't get me wrong) because we have a bit more words with Q and since French Scrabble is naturally more open (because more hooks and fewer overlaps because fewer 2 to 4-letter words), you can get an opportunity to play the Q more easily.

[@David280GG]

English is the frakenstein of languages

[@paegr]

How many points is W worth in French Scrabble, since it's a lot rarer in French?

[@cyber746]

@@paegr It's 10 points.

[@Eljay_Kay]

The share of games featuring "Qi" is even more remarkable if you consider that you realistically have only two chances of playing Qi with the one Q available in the bag. Other words are much more likely to be played if they contain more common letters. edit: fixed typo.

[@Sam-oz8pn]

Whoa, that blows my mind. It’s not just 57% of games that have Qi, it’s 57% of *all Q’s* are played as Qi. and that’s before you even consider that not all Q’s are even played, because it’s so easy to get stuck with it…

[@Idkwholmao]

Plus Qi is in a different game, Toribash.

[@stevesmith291]

It occurs when you're near the end of a game and you have a Q and you need to get rid of it. The situation where there's an exposed I that can take the Q is pretty common.

[@RiderOmega]

Once I played Scrabble with my grandma and I learned my grandpa would play a lot of two letter words including Qi that my grandma would be learning about in situ. I am now realizing that they were probably playing qi in their home games for far longer than competitive players have been using it.

[@beeble2003]

I knew QI, QAT and QADI as a casual player in the UK in the 1990s, so I was very surprised to hear it only entered competitive play in North America in 2006.

[@BrettMKW]

7 year old me remembered just how useful QAT was as it was by far the easiest Q without U word to play. QI really was a game changer and it's hard to overstate how big of an impact it had, you almost just had to be there when it wasn't legal.

[@frankmerrill2366]

Yeah, how easy it is to forget the days when, if we drew the Q (at any point in the game), we would tend to THROW IT BACK IN. We just don't do that anymore.

[@Placeholder501]

Seeing his opponent have a good use for Q after swapping it out twice must’ve hurt so bad.

[@wanderer15]

It hurt me to watch when I came across that game! (Amazingly, David ends up coming back to win, spoiling my narrative)

[@rondobrondo]

The addition of The Joker at the World Series of Poker was unbelievable to say the least. Several players had nervous breakdowns and hysterically fled the expo center or locked themselves in the bathrooms. Daniel Negreanu, on the final day of the final table, showed up with a bleached face, dyed hair, and he had viciously mutilated his own body shortly before sitting down to play. In the end, it was Negreanu against Phil Helmuth. Helmuth went all in after the flop, but Negreanu got a Joker on the river to complete a straight flush. After taking Helmuth’s chips, Negreanu shook his hand and sinisterly muttered in Helmuth’s ear, “All it takes is one… bad… day…” Helmuth was later found dead from asphyxiation, with a grotesque ear-to-ear grin held motionless by rigor mortis. He had laughed himself to death. And Negreanu finally had the last laugh.

[@arturocevallossoto5203]

I can believe this happening.

[@mikaylagrace]

My (casual) scrabbling has become so much better since watching this channel, QI being one of my favourites

[@dakineprotoss]

the fact that "za" (shortened version of pizza) was added makes me think we scrabble players just need to band together to make other fake words go viral enough to be added like zegj

[@Loops-1]

I choose zjfq. It’s pronounced “air” and means to try.

[@DadgeCity]

And glwt

[@ohtani2024]

Agree... QI is a genuine word, ZA tho... I have no idea why, the Z has been so powerful.. and I never heard anybody using ZA as the short form of pizza😅😅😅

[@RicketyRocket]

Za is just ridiculous.

[@zidane8452]

I never know people call a pizza za, only za I know is marijuana where people call it that

[@AlexDings]

The official German dictionary includes QI purely because its chief editor was a Scrabble enthusiast and was... open to suggestions from tournament players 😀 For us it's even more important because we have virtually no other Q-without-U words. The last lexicon update gave us NIQAB - other than that we have *no* other such words below 6 letters. Without QI, the Q would decide too many games.

[@ohtani2024]

This is exactly the story of the dutch scrabble. They only have QAT. QI is not a word and therefore Q stick always decide the game. Dutch players are always careful in the end game. The player taking the lead may have to pass to avoid drawing the Q

[@wanderer15]

Not sure if I’m glad or sad to know that German Scrabble has similar Q issues!

[@silatejo]

btw. the german letter set is even equipped with 6 Us to help with the Q, which causes its own problems with frequent multiple U racks

[@Zarunias]

I always wondered why German Scrabble hasn't used the trick that the modern version of German Boggle uses: There the "Qu" is printed together on one side of a die. If one of the German Scrabble tiles comes with a "Qu" (maybe with a lower point value as you now don't need a U) words like NIQAB wouldn't be possible anymore but I think overall the game would improve.

[@ohtani2024]

@@Zarunias actually all languages of scrabble could apply the rule that catalan scrabble is using.. the Q could be used as both Q and Qu

[@TheCounterChris]

It would be really interesting if with each dictionary update there was also a list of antiquated words removed from valid competition play. I know it doesn't make linguistic sense, but it would really shake the meta up and keep the game changing.

[@wanderer15]

I think it does make plenty of linguistic sense…extremely obsolete words or words that are in very few of the source dictionaries could definitely be pruned. There is some inertia from competitive players on that point, who tend to become fond of their playable words.

[@frankmerrill2366]

There are those two "four-letter words" that were removed, though both are probably among the Top 50 words most-commonly used by Anglophones.

[@Caaro99]

@@frankmerrill2366what were the words? I’m guessing they were controversial words but which exactly?

[@frankmerrill2366]

@@Caaro99 Sh*t and Euck (both slightly misspelled) are no longer Scrabble words, but they're not in the OSPD.

[@frozenpeak1524]

everyone in 2006: "bro did you see the new scrabble update? this new 'qi' meta is going to ruin the game!"

[@wanderer15]

Some people likely said that, but most welcomed it with open arms, recalling all those disaster games where you draw the Q 3 times after tossing it back twice

[@hugopk1]

Awesome video as per usual, but would have been interesting to hear a little more about how the update was received by top tournament players, speaking as an outsider

[@wanderer15]

I had this in mind to do and even checked an old Yahoo Groups message board used by players to discuss the tournament scene, but when I couldn’t get access, I forgot to follow up! Would’ve definitely been a great addition to the video. I think in general most players welcomed QI with open arms (it was also already playable in the rest of the world at that time, so not a total shocker), while I have vague memories of a much smaller number of people being a little more perturbed by it!

[@PetersPuzzles]

I was an active tournament player at the time and wasn't a fan of adding QI because I actually enjoyed the strategy involved in "Q-stick" endgames. However, I recall most liked it as you said.

[@blakewickens8373]

Love the videos Will, your videos have helped me develop a much deeper understanding of Scrabble. Thanks for showcasing what an amazing game it is!!

[@gurchyy]

As someone who came to Scrabble after QI, I can't imagine playing without it...

[@XANDOAndy]

One of my favorite parts of speedrunning Scrabble on old consoles is just trying to work around the fact that QI and ZA aren't valid 😅

[@wanderer15]

Me too!

[@mikebarnes2294]

I played many hours on my computer with a Scrabble game made in 2003. No QI or ZA in this version.

[@ollie-d]

I remember learning Qi from an episode of NCIS when I was younger. It was before I ever played a game of scrabble and I remember using it on my first game and people being so pissed. I chased that high by learning all of the two letter words once words with friends started becoming popular and that general practice led me to becoming a decent scrabble player haha

[@mikebarnes2294]

In the late 90's there was an episode of "The Secret world of Alex Mack" that had a Scrabble game using the word "majorly" which back then was NOT an official Scrabble word, it is now.

[@MarcelVos]

Loved the intro, and great video once again!

[@Goodigo]

Unless i'm misinterpreting what your stats mean, I'm pretty sure your math at 4:00 is wrong. Games in which QI is played twice (as primary and secondary) are included in both the 27.2% and the 30.3%, so just adding those two percentages counts these games twice. This sum is significantly higher than the actual number of games that feature QI as either a primary or a secondary word, which I'd imagine is closer to around 40-50%.

[@wanderer15]

Ah man somebody pointed this out to me in editing and I forgot to fix it. You’re right - the 57% is the chance for it to appear once in a game, with QI/QI games technically counting as 200%.

[@SAYFVCKFOR100DOLLARS]

what about games using the blank Q as the primary or secondary word, QI could be played 6 times

[@frankmerrill2366]

@@SAYFVCKFOR100DOLLARS Sounds like a total waste of blanks, lol. (usually, as there can be exceptions - I've bingoed at least once calling the blank as a Q.)

[@DuncanEllis]

when I moved to the US in 2001 from Britain, I was horrified to find that the North American Scrabble dictionary was missing QI. Thank you for describing the impact the addition had. Now the dictionary needs ZO and its variants. Those won me a lot of games when I was playing in the UK.

[@psymar]

It at least has ZA! and my favorite set, AX EX XI OX XU

[@wanderer15]

Those oxes (DZHO on down) really pack a punch

[@limegreenelevator]

​@@wanderer15learned about DZO from the book Argo (on which the movie was based) - the six in hiding played a lot of British Scrabble.

[@frankmerrill2366]

We also need QIN.

[@bootmii98]

​@@frankmerrill2366that's a proper noun though

[@benm.4341]

Qi has always been my favorite word to use it’s so easy to get 44 points

[@zunaidparker]

When the day comes that V is finally given a 2-letter word, that will complete the entire alphabet. I often wonder what a modern Scrabble tile set and points scoring would look like if the frequency and points were set not by the English language corpus but by some metric of number of occurrences in 2-letter words etc.

[@guidodenbroeder935]

That will probably be 'vu', which has several meanings in slang with cell phone looking very promising.

[@Sak153158e]

I'm a member of riichi mahjong community in Thailand. Some time around 2012, I was invited to play in board game club of so-called 'top university of Thailand'. After several games of mahjong, I have myself vs the club's instructor in a scrabble game. That was the first time I encounter the word 'qi'. I asked him and he replied with acting of his 'QI POWER', then I realized that's a valid word because I had saw the word in the PC game 'Battle Realms'. lol.

[@AbiGail-ok7fc]

If additions like adding Qi to the dictionary can have such a dramatic effect, one wonders if it would have a good idea to reevaluate the letter scores. If Q (and Z) now are much easier to play, perhaps giving them a score of 9 or 8 better reflects their relative difficulty.

[@wanderer15]

It's an interesting thought experiment. The Q is still a very challenging tile to use in many situations even with QI added - the Z is much stronger by comparison, as it's not so reliant on any individual letter the way the Q is with the U and now to a lesser extent the I. To balance them, the Q could stay where it is or even gain a point or two in score, while the Z should definitely drop down to 7 or 8.

[@benro6564]

I wonder if U should maybe be bumped up to 2 points? Kind of unrelated but I feel like it is only 1 point because all vowels have to he one point

[@ComputerJesus]

I used to use this all the time on my grandparents, but I had no idea that it was actually a widely used thing (never looked at any scrabble stuff online other than the dictionary). I just have read a good amount of manhuas lmao.

[@jjj_jacko]

So I am no means a serious scrabble player and I just play with my family every few months. There was one time I thought of “Qi”, looked it up on the scrabble dictionary, and played it for big points. My brother always ridicules me for using qi and now I’ll show him this video. Thank you

[@abee127]

Only 90 seconds into the video, so i apologize if this has been suggested, but what if the scrabble community starts using a word as a meme, e.g. zq or something in order to get it into the dictionary so that scrabble becomes easier? The word could even have an autological definition. To zq could mean to create a made up word in order to get it into the scrabble dictionary. What combination of letters would you zq if given the chance, Will?

[@wanderer15]

great question! Gut instinct - pair up two underwhelming letters like WU. Maybe define it as a shortened version of UWU on twitch or a variation of WOO :)

[@EebstertheGreat]

@@wanderer15 Or it could have a meaning derived from the region, people, or language Wu, sort of like "turkey" or "ottoman." It could mean almost anything.

[@pialba]

Fun fact : In French, language names don't take a capital letter and are thus allowed in French scrabble. These notably include WU and EWE. As W is the hardest letter to play in French scrabble, and WU is the only two-letter word with it, it comes to no surprise these were the most used words in French scrabble (WU in over 8% of games and EWE in p over 7% - note that the only source I could find only counts primary words). These were the most used words... until the introduction of QI in 2020 (played as primary word in over 8% of games, taking #1 place over WU). In the last three dictionary updates (2016, 2020, 2024) we only got one new two-letter word - but it's the most impactful of them all.

[@JohnDoe-ti2np]

@@wanderer15 Like QI, WU has a meaning in Chinese philosophy, meaning something like "awareness" or "enlightenment".

[@Shalmanese]

@@wanderer15​Wu is an ethnic group/language of China.

[@noah12361]

I really enjoy your videos, I've been binging them this past week. I never played Scrabble growing up but I did play Words With Friends. While not 100% the same it's awesome to learn more about Scrabble at a deeper level. Keep up the great work

[@LRXC1]

This was an amazing video, im so glad you’ve started making content!!!

[@etymonlegomenon931]

Hi Logan

[@yriiiiiii]

The intro genuinely made me snort laughing. Amazing work my guy

[@wanderer15]

I struggled to get through the intro without laughing which I felt was a good sign

[@thomascorey7284]

Lmao the storytelling here is so good. I love the intro. Super High quality video will

[@glowstonelovepad9294]

"Qi" and "Qat" are probably the only words starting with Q that removing the Q gives you another word, because most words starting with Q have the Q followed by a U and then another vowel, and there aren't very many words that start with a U followed by another vowel.

[@stevesmith291]

“Qif” is an Arabic punctuation mark. The word is not much used in English outside of Arabic language textbooks for English speakers. So should count as an English word, the same way, the Greek letters are?

[@glowstonelovepad9294]

@@stevesmith291 I forgot about "qaid".

[@FirstLast-gm9nu]

Great intro to a great video. Love the channel, love watching you improve as it grows

[@wanderer15]

Thanks so much!

[@Andrew-bz4yo]

I play Scrabble and a few word games casually, and even there QI is a HUGE play. you have no idea how many games of bananagrams in my dorm kitchen QI has won me

[@wanderer15]

QI is useful in Bananagrams for all the same reasons, though usually I find a U from within my existing structure and poach it immediately to pair with the Q

[@EltWilder]

Oh yeah, even for a super casual Scrabble player like me this was a great addition.

[@YaddleGaming]

These Videos are so awesome! Super interesting, well told, well visualized, funny,... Also made me dust off my old scrabble game and play semi frequently again

[@wanderer15]

Really makes me happy to hear this. Happy Scrabbling!

[@doggie5791]

Why am I watching a video about scrabble and why the hell am I this captivated

[@mikewarner3597]

If someone has the Q and there's only 1 tile left in the bag, can they exchange their Q which essentially forces their opponent to get the Q?

[@thurm64]

No, you can’t exchange with less than 7 tiles in the bag

[@mikewarner3597]

@@thurm64 ah beautiful, thank you!

[@joshuamasonseight-bitbasta2451]

the addition of Za was a changer too

[@niconewtime5589]

This and other recent videos are great. Keep up the good work and the channel will eventually take off

[@jamisonr]

Enjoyable video, good call on adding those games prior to 2006. I could feel the frustration of those scenarios!

[@aLime404]

Top 10 times that DLC made the base game better

[@hx7004]

never knew a video would have me so captivated by scramble 😂

[@qwerty3793]

1:12 While this might be technically accurate, I would say it is misleading given just how old the game of chess is, and debatable depending on what someone might consider to be a meaningful change (such as the introduction of digital chess clocks in the 1980s). There have been several changes to chess over its history that influence the game just as much if not more than the addition of qi to the Scrabble dictionary, such as the queen's increased mobility (which made it the strongest piece and significantly sped up the game). Scrabble is a very young game in comparison. It seems more likely that we'll directly witness more significant changes to it than its ancient, fully evolved companion. That said, I enjoyed how you presented this topic. Seeing how an unplayable Q decided a tourney game just a year prior to the introduction of qi, a word that would have saved that match, helps to drive home how important that one addition was.

[@wanderer15]

I think the "en passant" rule in chess is also relatively recent, but didn't want to get bogged down in details. Actually, as others have pointed out, there have been many more changes to poker in recent years than I gave credit for in the video. Still, you're absolutely right that Scrabble is young by comparison to chess. At the same time, it's very rare that a game has the kind of staying power that Scrabble has shown over the last 80 years - so that bodes well for its ability to remain relevant into the future!

[@hambini-bunnybunn2238]

ANOTHER WILL ANDERSON VIDEO YESSSSSSSSS!!! Also, you hit all of the games I like. My top 3 non-electronic games are poker, chess, and scrabble. (Not in order.

[@wanderer15]

Love all of those games too!

[@grey_b7319]

babe, wake up. Will Anderson released a new video

[@jakeholmes9296]

Another great informative video. I love how you show what would happen pre QI. Would love a video on the longest word played in a tournament!

[@Forensource]

There have been at least one 14, Jim Geary played it. He also played WATERZOOI... www.google.com/search?q=WATERZOOI+SCRABBLE+GEARY

[@wanderer15]

Thanks! I’ve played a couple 11 letter words, I believe…will have to dig them up!

[@matthewoconnor3362]

@@wanderer15 It doesn't count when you play UNTEARFULLY and it gets challenged off

[@frankmerrill2366]

@@wanderer15 The longest word I remember seeing, was when QUARTZ (one of us having hooked the Z to QUART) was on the board, and my dad added -ITES to make it hit a double word score.

[@jockin]

The fact that someone can make an interesting video about Scrabble and about a single word as someone who has absolutely no interest at all just shows how great youtube can be

[@angusheath5321]

Fun fact about adding the joker into poker: it would break the game. This is because the ranking of hands is dependent on the frequency they occur. But with the joker you run into a paradoxical loop where the ranking of a hand affects which card the joker is, but that changes the frequency of that hand occuring, changing the ranking. Thus if you have a joker and can make either a 3 of a kind or a straight, two hands very similar in frequency, it is impossible to determine which one is better.

[@KasperCoei]

I don't know who you are... I don't know why my youtube randomly recommended me you... But I used to play this with my family while I was snowed in in the mountains during winter, and knowing this random information makes me warm and fuzzy inside. Thank you, you scrabble nerd. Keep your cool shit up.

[@wanderer15]

Thank you for giving my videos a chance and for the kind words!

[@AllemandInstable]

These videos are always delightful to watch, I hope that scrabble stories never end

[@Forensource]

If I remember correctly, back in 1977, JA was acceptable and XU was not in NA scrabble. I once was asked in a job interview for the Uless Q words. The funny thing is that whenever a change is made to dictionary, at least one strong player will declare his exit from the game.

[@AlexDings]

Would you mind elaborating on that job interview - I'm curious why on earth that was a question 😀

[@Forensource]

I listed tournament scrabble player on my resume. The interviewer thought that all q words need a u.

[@yotamchaimmoshe8013]

"He sacrifices... HIS SHREK!!!!"

[@ZdzichuWiertara96]

You don't even need a joker card to frustrate Hellmuth, putting him on the table next to Tony G is well more than enough

[@SAYFVCKFOR100DOLLARS]

Tony G is #1

[@Anti-anti-adblock_account]

Putting him in any game is enough. He is just too much.

[@reidprichard]

Is the math right at 4:09? One would expect that a word would appear as both a primary *and* a secondary word in some games, preventing one from simply adding the percentages.

[@wanderer15]

Good catch. For some reason, though I thought of this midway through editing, I neglected to change that portion. Fortunately, this case isn't common enough to change any of the core argument. Technically, the 57% figure is the chance for QI to appear once in a game, with the QI/QI primary/secondary instance counting as 200% of an appearance.

[@johnjenkins9445]

this is not how percentages work.. you cannot simply add the probabilities of primary and secondary use, as you are ignoring the case where QI was played as a primary and secondary word during the same game :/

[@wanderer15]

Yes, I goofed on that. It’s a 57% chance of appearing once in a game, with the games you mention counting as 200%. I think the general argument still holds. But you’re right - mea culpa!

[@vsridev973]

Read that for the next dictionary update "VU" is going to be acceptable as well (do not know how credible this info is), this will increase the versatility of V as well. Great video again❤

[@iwersonsch5131]

A few more and this update might VY* with the impact of QI

[@DadgeCity]

afaik, vu is not in the next update. The rule continues to be that if a foreign phrase enters the language, eg. deja vu, the individual words that make up the phrase are *not* added to the Scrabble wordlist. I disagree with this rule, btw.

[@ronaldwayne7092]

@@DadgeCity Yes, status quo* is God.

[@Forensource]

Give a citation for that bullshit? Words are added if they are contained in many major unabridged dictionaries in lower case.@@DadgeCity

[@frankmerrill2366]

@@iwersonsch5131 I see what you did with VY.

[@evanrosman9226]

I used to love playing Scrabble.

[@lemonadogirl4082]

I actually discovered QI's validity as a word through Words With Friends. My mom and I had a phase of regularly playing Scrabble (we're not pros, I've bingo'd all of once in my life, with JUVENILE during a game of "pejorative/curse words only" Scrabble), and hoo boy did I make good use of some of the more obscure two letters to maintain a firm winning streak during that time. I was actually surprised to see ZA as a word that got added in the same dictionary update, as one of the closest games I had to losing to my mom during that time, I was able to just barely save by playing it-when my only exposure to the word at the time had been as a wacky interjection in the webcomic _El Goonish Shive._ The more you know!

[@markblacket8900]

When I saw the title card, I thought you would be talking about QI, the tv show

[@reginaldforthright805]

2024 dictionary is adding qe, qa, qo, eq, iq, aq, oq, and uq. These are all either Arabic words relating to qats or Chinese origin words dealing with the flow of qi.

[@TaleOfTheToaster]

Fascinated to learn how big of an impact Ze has made since 2015, I only learned today that it became valid

[@wanderer15]

Definitely a big one - underrated perhaps by the fact that the Z is already quite useful, but ZE took it up to a new level of effectiveness

[@erichluepke855]

Now I don't feel bad for not playing Qi when I played with my family in 2004

[@not-on-pizza]

Normally, words like these would have been the headliners in any dictionary update, since two-letter words are so pivotal to the competitive game. But The Qi Stands Alone.

[@Ascension721]

I'm so mad I didnt get this in my recommended. Also I wish I was around for the Chess Shrek piece and Joker in poker that seems like it would be fun

[@ThatNerdAlbert]

that intro really had me confused if i was watching the correct video

[@nathan._.h]

is this a re-upload? getting major deja vu rn

[@wanderer15]

I grabbed some stuff from my previous video about the dictionary as well as my Better Know a Letter video about the Q.

[@StuffsB3]

i never knew i wanted to watch a video about scrabble meta but here we are

[@Adyj-zx6ol]

Not gonna lie, I'd probably prefer the days where QI wasn't a word. Not because I don't like "fake Scrabble-ese two-letter words", but just to have that one terrible tile everyone is scared of making everything that much more tense. Nobody here's going to get the reference, but it's like the thundercloud in Mario Kart Wii that you can't get rid of, compared to the blooper that you can more easily dump and hope for something better. Yeah, the Q is still kinda terrible nowadays, but I want to see the world burn more.

[@wanderer15]

I can appreciate this viewpoint. QI is somewhat of a low-skill play compared to the struggle of managing the Q at different phases of the game. I think my second example game, where the Q shows its potential to completely derail a game, was more annoying to players than being stuck with it at the end, which often involves interesting strategic decisions.

[@isavenewspapers8890]

0:16 So Shrek replaced one of the rooks, and in this position, each player has two rooks. Assuming the addition of Shrek was the only rule change, this means that one of the rooks must be a promoted piece. And since Black isn't missing any pawns, it must be a white rook. Thus, Shrek started out replacing one of White's rooks. During the game, a white pawn marched all the way down the board, dodged Black's forces, became a rook, and retreated to White's back rank. Also note that the white king is in check, implying that it's White's turn. But it would seem that Black was the one who moved Shrek. Maybe Black gave check and then moved Shrek in the same turn? But if Black controls Shrek, why did Shrek start on White's side? Maybe both players can control Shrek, I dunno. It's certainly fun to speculate about this stuff.

[@BraxtonMeyer]

Hey Will! Is the data from Erickson's games or ais public? I've been wanting to do something similar with scrabble.

[@wanderer15]

I’ll have to ask, but he’s often very generous with his data. Will let you know!

[@HandsomeLongshanks]

Man, my family had one of the 3 editions from before 05 and missed out on SO MANY WORDS!

[@screechingtoad2683]

Qi is the word that finally let me win in a game of scrabble against my mom

[@tranonehalf]

Great topic to cover. Keep them coming

[@SlippinJimmyJ]

I found your channel view your stream with Eric Rosen. Love your stuff, and love learning about this game!

[@wanderer15]

Eric is amazing - thanks for stopping by!

[@mikewazosksi6334]

Damn the new update dropped

[@Oscaragious]

4:03 Isn't there potential overlap where the same word can be used as both a primary and secondary word in the same game?

[@wanderer15]

Yes - an oversight on my part which I was even aware of and forgot to account for! QI has a 57% chance to appear once in a game, with QI/QI counting as 200%.

[@TheRoboticLlama]

I'm gonna start spelling "cheese" as "qis" in day to day life

[@GoodGoga]

This video was Quite Interesting

[@limegreenelevator]

Wpuld it be possible to do a vid on whatever the Scrabble equivalent of a surprise checkmate is? (You know, when in movies or TV or such, one chess player is looking smug, win presumably in the bag, only for the opponent to drop an unexpected checkmate on them. That, but Scrabble - like the NCIS example another comment mentioned.)

[@guidodenbroeder935]

In actual chess games there is no such thing as an unexpected checkmate in one, as both players can see the entire board. Except in time trouble, of course. Then the weirdest things can happen.

[@limegreenelevator]

Absolutely, especially in grandmaster games. Blundering M1 happens but is extremely rare. In lower or intermediate levels, it's much more common (I've botched a couple). The reason I ask, though, is it's very common in fictional media for a chess game to end with a declaration of checkmate and a shocked opponent.

[@guidodenbroeder935]

@@limegreenelevator I know. For some reason, they never consult an expert, resulting in ridiculous scenes where one player gives check and the opponent replies with checkmate. Often enough the board is even set up wrong. In the real world, checkmate is normally never executed because the opponent resigns before it happens. But it takes more effort to make a resignation look impressive. I guess an equivalent in Scrabble would be that one player plays a 4x word value bonus and the opponent replies with a 9x word value bonus.

[@isavenewspapers8890]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@guidodenbroeder935Below advanced levels, people tend to play out until checkmate. So if the media is depicting that level of chess, it does make sense. Also, when you say that responding to check with checkmate is "ridiculous", I'm not sure if you're aware that it's actually possible. It's quite rare, and it seems especially improbable in an advanced-level game, but it can be done. You just have to get your king out of check in a way that simultaneously checkmates the enemy king. Of course, this probably doesn't paint the winner as intelligent, just the loser as incompetent.

[@carlgibson7850]

Edit: I accidentally posted this to the Let's Play Scrabble Channel. I meant to ask here! My apologies if this is something I should have been able to find independently. Are you able to point me in the direction of a few things? I found your channel recently, and you've got me interested in playing. Is there a site I can reliably use as a dictionary for competitive Scrabble? The lexicon used specifically for U.S tournaments would be great. I've found inconsistencies between different online dictionaries. Also, I heard you say it in another video, however, I couldn't decipher how it should be spelled. Which site do you use to practice unscrambling? Do you have a preferred place to read through useful word lists? Thank you very much for your time.

[@ipudisciple]

google zyzzyva

[@wanderer15]

One good tool is the phone app Ulu, a word lookup app that has major tournament lexicons pre-loaded. Practicing anagrams is best done at Aerolith.org, which gamifies the process of solving anagrams into bite size timed challenges. As for word lists, I’ve always been partial to the program Zyzzyva, but if you’re hoping to find printed word lists to skim, I know some of these are out there too, but I’ll have to look and see what’s out there for you.

[@carlgibson7850]

@wanderer15 This is precisely what I was hoping for! I really appreciate the recommendations, thank you.

[@qwerty3793]

It might be fine to go without mentioning, but in addition to the 4 U tiles, you also have the chance to draw one of the 2 blank tiles, which also could stand in for a U. Still pretty terrible odds (and, honestly, a waste of a blank), but slightly better I guess. Qi absolutely changed the game, both by making the U or blank less needed and by giving Q a coveted two letter word. In my casual Scrabble games, I'm usually more annoyed by a rack full of vowels or by pulling one too many V tiles than the Q nowadays. It can still be difficult to play on a crowded board in the endgame, but it usually isn't a problem early on.

[@wanderer15]

Very true! You make a good point. There are lots of situations where players will use up the blank to score 40 or so points with the Q when their only alternative otherwise would be to exchange tiles.

[@ciiety]

dude qi is my favourite scrabble word of all time

[@Fiyaaaahh]

In the history of scrabble, did a dictionary update ever cause a letter value update? I would imagine that these go hand in hand, but have never heard about it.

[@chloemchll3774]

I’ve wondered this too, especially as it feels like several letters really aren’t valued correctly (the J being less valuable than the Z, for example).

[@Charles-yi3mx]

There hasn't, letter values have been the same since when Scrabble was first created. Specifically the Z is now significantly overvalued

[@wanderer15]

No letter rebalancing, though some people have attempted to come up with what each letter’s value “should be” to make it neutral/equivalent to all other tiles. I actually really like the fact that some letters are “good” or “bad” - even the bad ones have interesting attributes you can harness in specific scenarios.

[@frankmerrill2366]

@@wanderer15 Yes, like the "hated" V's and C's. Both are actually good bingo letters, they don't scare me, and both are GOOD AT SOAKING UP A USELESS "I" OR TWO. Now that QI exists, my least-favorite letter is the U.

[@wesoda2484]

Loved the hellmuth bit

[@qjos]

That's Quite Intersting

[@maxm6931]

First time I have to nitpick one of your vids: The chess analogy would have been better if the example hadn't featured two rooks and a Shrek. Because underpromoting a pawn to anything but a Q or a second Shrek (not sure if that is allowed, it's been some time since I studied the FIDE rules) needs a very good reason (99% of cases are to give a check with a knight), and a rook really only makes sense in composed problems.

[@isavenewspapers8890]

Shrek would be a ludicrously broken piece. If promotion to Shrek were possible, then promotion to queen would be considered an underpromotion. I think you're overstating what percentage of underpromotions are knight promotions with check. In fact, perhaps surprisingly, rook promotions seem more common than knight promotions based on some database analyses I've seen. However, this data will of course be skewed by "joke" underpromotions. There are actually quite a few cases of practical rook and even bishop promotions in actual games. Wikipedia's "Promotion (chess)" article provides some good examples. It even provides a good example of rook promotion in a position with only the two kings and a pawn on the board. I do agree with you that the chess analogy doesn't make much sense. Both the concept and the actual position shown are pretty ludicrous when you think about it.

[@TheDiscoMole]

4:06 is this math correct? shouldn't there be a non zero overlap between primary and secondary column percentages since there exists games where qi will have been played as a primary and secondary.

[@wanderer15]

Good catch - you're right. Fortunately, the primary/secondary QI combo isn't so prevalent as to contradict my argument about the word - but the 57% figure technically represents the chance for QI to appear once in a game, with QI/QI games counting as 200% of an appearance.

[@colbyallman]

I would love to see how the pros try to play around the joker in competitive hold'em lmao

[@jkid1134]

Can't wait until the golden ages in 2035 when AQ is an accepted abbreviation for awkward

[@wanderer15]

UWU better be valid by then!

[@justdirt]

I can't believe they made the Shrek Piece into a Dragon piece from Shogi

[@Quwertyn007]

4:04 why is the last column just the first + the second? Were there no games where these words appeared as both primary and secondary? Why?

[@Quwertyn007]

Oh, probably because there is only one Q

[@wanderer15]

No, you’re correct. This was an error on my part. There are games where QI is played as a primary and secondary word on one move. Fortunately, it’s not enough to invalidate my overall point - but good catch!

[@KyrosQuickfist]

Qi and Ki are basically power. So surely they would be powerful words.

[@caleblimb3275]

The math at 4:05 is incorrect. The percentages cannot be simply added as there are likely many games for which a given word is played more than once, both as a primary word and secondary word. I suppose in the case of QI it would be correct if there is only 1 Q in the bag making it impossible for this to happen however, it's possible that there are a non-trivial amount of games for which a wild was used to create the work QI meaning the addition could still be slightly off.

[@wanderer15]

You're right. QI has a 57% chance to appear once in a game only if the Qi/QI case is considered to be 200% for that game. This is a frequent case, but not frequent enough to invalidate the general argument. In any case, thanks for watching and for the correction!

[@HelloIAmAnExist]

The Shrek piece better get added soon or I'm gonna riot

[@sy-py]

You said "chess haven't meaningfully changed in hundreds of years" but actually there were changes! Most recent were a series of changes around 50-move rule, changing the way endgames are played several times within a few decades

[@wanderer15]

Good point!

[@guidodenbroeder935]

The rules for castling have changed a couple of times as well, at one time allowing 0-0-0-0 (vertical castling with king and a pawn promoted to rook).

[@isavenewspapers8890]

@@guidodenbroeder935That's a rumor that's been disproved.

[@NoOne-yy8ok]

Bouta get disowned next family game night for this one 💀

[@ThaRealEnzyl]

3:36 I hate how the plural for Qi made me laugh audibly because it’s pronounced like Cheese T-T