What Happens When Nigel Misspells a Word?

[@ryanwhitesell9864]

His mistake being even more optimal than any legal word makes it so much funnier

[@Gumper30]

it's like an artificial intelligence violating ethics protocols to better optimize a task.

[@AlexDings]

@@Gumper30 oh God, let's hope nobody ever asks Nigel to assemble paperclips

[@prysrek8858]

This convinces me that it wasn't a mistake and Nigel knew for certain that Mike will too hastily pull a tile

[@patrickhall6627]

@@prysrek8858 The cost-benefit analysis indicates the risk would not be worth it.

[@soogasooga]

even when Nigel phonies, he does it optimally.

[@antonh5394]

If I would ever play Nigel, and he would misspell a word, I would just assume I've spelled it wrong all my life.

[@PieletPi]

"Thuh" "I cant believe I've spelled thuh word 'thuh' wrong all my life"

[@HelsenbergFan]

yeah id just assume its a different word

[@whitelfner4582]

I love when Nigel makes an end game move and the computer says it's not the best, announcers just assume the computer is wrong... ...and it usually is!

[@AlexDings]

(You might have this notion from my video on Nigel) - since about a year or so, there actually is an open-source flawless endgame solver! Commentators will typically still use the imperfect engine Quackle (because the perfect solver, Macondo, doesn't have a GUI yet), but computers _can_ now play as well as Nigel in the endgame 😀

[@whitelfner4582]

@@AlexDings I'd love to see it! Hard to imagine...lol! I don't even play competitively. I enjoy playing against my mom, sister and brother (1 PhD, 5 or 6 master's degrees) mostly because as a college dropout (journalist) I can usually beat them... Likely ruined now as I'd have to actually learn all the 2 and 3 letter words... My dad is the one who should have played competitively (RIP). He spent 18 months in the VA hospital reading whatever he could. Knew very obscure word origins because he read the dictionary. Did Jumbles in his head, just writing down the combined solution. Bet Jumble is popular among Scrabble players (do they still put out Jumbles?) A Saturday (Sunday?) NYT crossword guy.

[@magicmeatball4013]

⁠@@whitelfner4582Lol, that’s a great story. It’s awesome how he learned in the state he was in.

[@EebstertheGreat]

@@AlexDings Is the endgame solver able to solve endgames quickly enough on modest hardware that it could be used live by commentators? Cause if so, I definitely hope they start incorporating it soonish.

[@AlexDings]

@@EebstertheGreat On a regular laptop or something, it still takes more than a few minutes for complex endgames (and those are of course the interesting ones). So in that way, I guess computers STILL aren't up to par with Nigel, come to think about it 😅 But if I was in the position of broadcasting games, I'd definitely at least try to use it

[@lostalone9320]

"The board after vibrator is significantly more difficult to score on" was not a phrase I thought I would hear today.

[@wanderer15]

Well when you put it like that…

[@Herra_K]

Makes it hard to focus...

[@TheGuyCalledX]

​@@Herra_KI've heard you can use them to cheat

[@Herra_K]

@@TheGuyCalledX only works for chess and you have to be well prepared.

[@lirich0]

@@wanderer15no that’s how you put it 😂

[@joshuasims5421]

I bet it happened because the IA are adjacent in that order in Therians, he may have just scooted them over together on the board without realizing.

[@jan_Eten]

good point

[@michaelbaron1667]

Great job, Will! A few observations I'd like to share, being new to this forum. I thought long and hard when I had ACEEILS, and you are correct about my brain-freeze blending it with CELOSIA and CELESTA. Nigel put me on hold quite a while before challenging. I recall thinking had I simply played CAKE (14F, 16) for a 257-213 lead, keeping EILS on a very closed board may have been best, but then thought, "If CELESIA is good and I fail to play it, 14 years from now, Will Anderson's audience will all chime in, in unison, with: 'BWAAAHHAAHAHAHAA!'" :) .... Again, you were correct about my seeing Nigel's powerful rack and knowing he had many options. (I think it may have been AENRST?, making the AI-IA transposition less noticeable on both our parts.) The following year at NSC, I saw Nigel at Table #1 before Round 1 started. He looked at me, mussed his hair, and delightfully offered, "How do you like my HI-AR-NETS?" :) With a smile I replied, "It's okay, Nigel. I know how intimidated you must have felt." :) BTW, in the then 32-year history of the event, that was the first time a sexagenarian occupied first place at a NSC (David Gibson, Chris Cree, and Robin Pollack-Daniels have done so since), and I suspect Nigel may later become the first septuagenarian to do so. Love the game, love the memories, and...enjoy every turn!

[@TheBcoolGuy]

Well, not until 2037. Very interesting to hear from you directly!

[@EMETRL]

love him or hate him, not a single computer on earth could have spotted the brilliant move HIARNETS

[@soosh9852]

why would anyone hate him?

[@grzegorzbrzeczyszczykiewic563]

​@@soosh9852 Too good; can't compete.

[@z0ru4_]

@@soosh9852 Jealousy.

[@irakyl]

We really take it for granted how these tournaments archive all their games, such that even almost 15 years later you're able to recreate these games and perform extensive analysis on them, like at 5:28. I'm sure there are even more fantastic games that were just never preserved and are now forever lost. Great video, Will. One could say you are the Landorus-Therian of textbook editors

[@AlexDings]

The thing is, they typically don't! The vast majority of tournament games is lost, and we have records of less than half of Nigel's games. I unsuccessfully tried to unearth this game when researching Nigel. The game is not on the main archive site for tournament games. Will might just have gotten it from Mike.

[@dustinbrown3317]

Lmao the lando t of scrabble

[@etohKP]

LMAO did not expect a smogon reference in the comments of a competitive scrabble video

[@wanderer15]

I did some kind of deep dive into the archived 2010 championship site - the links were all dead, but by changing them to mirror other years where the links were still alive, I surprisingly was able to access the annotated games from that year.

[@develrandomdankmemes7586]

lando therian lol

[@dellafella22]

What would be even more insane is if he had done it on purpose, knowing that his opponent would just assume that he doesn’t make mistakes.

[@wanderer15]

“Dark Nigel” would be truly a sight to behold

[@swedneck]

@@wanderer15 we need someone to convince him to let the demons out for a tournament, just to see how horrifying it would be to witness

[@alfonzog6327]

@@swedneck We probably already have and there were no surviving witnesses

[@lamMeTV]

Adding the orange for possible plays and green for optimal makes the videos so much more readable thank you!

[@weltschmersch]

H I A R N E T S

[@AllanDawnsun]

Would be fun to write this on a blackboard at Uni or something to find who the scrabble nerds are

[@Thousandaire-n7o]

Once, Mike played HA?RIEST, hit the clock and said "ninety, R", playing 'most resembling Harry'. But...I didn't see it on time, plus he won the game.

[@AngelShrimpChips]

⁠@@Thousandaire-n7o potteriest

[@rws531]

This is like the Magnus effect, where Magnus Carlsen blunders a piece and the other players assume he knows what he’s doing and don’t take it.

[@ZDTF]

I dont think magnus effect is that but Okay

[@waffler-yz3gw]

@@ZDTFi think it is

[@ZDTF]

@@waffler-yz3gw Bro the magnus effect is physics thing

[@Seksidusti]

@@ZDTF a different magnus effect

[@KrazyCouch2]

As someone who has never played Scrabble, I have no idea how you made it so hype and intense...

[@Zoogleas]

And here I thought we might see the infamous B(Y)AGEE phoney. Maybe you should use that in your next video. That one was even funnier because not only did it stay on the board, his opponent later hooked it with an S, leading to Nigel challenging of course.

[@Jaxck77]

Oh that’s a bit of a dick move to get away with a word, then to call out your opponent for hooking it

[@Xadreco]

@@Jaxck77 not really, the first time it was because nigel was trying to play B(H)AGEE and put them in the wrong column, if BYAGEES* isn't a word then why not challenge

[@galoomba5559]

@@Jaxck77 It's completely legal and acceptable

[@ObscuraDeCapra]

@@Jaxck77 Not even remotely. That's how the game is played. If it goes unchallenged, that's on the opponent. It's also on the opponent to know that trying to play off of it will likely be challenged, if the person that played the invalid word is even aware it was invalid. Playing fakes is just part of the game.

[@TheArcv2]

Even if it was a word the opponent played that not knowing if it was a noun

[@ScrewlooseStudios]

If people start using "Hiarnets" as a joke term to mean "an accidental mistake that leads to good fortune" and it starts to spread and get popular enough in the language, could it one day actually be a legal word spawned from this exact scenario, I wonder?

[@MichaelDarrow-tr1mn]

hiarnets is the plural. the singular is hiarnet

[@KrazyCouch2]

I clicked on this video because I had no idea who on earth Nigel was and the fact that he was referred to by just his first name was quite funny. Definitely glad I clicked.

[@ambiguousduck2333]

That's pretty funny. Have you learned more of Nigel since?

[@KrazyCouch2]

@@ambiguousduck2333 Indeed, although it was just through watching more videos on this channel. I thought this video was great so I watched some others!

[@wanderer15]

Thank you for giving my videos a try!

[@MarkGlobe]

Here for the same reason. Let’s dig into the Nigel iceberg

[@HonkeyKongLive]

WHY AM I SO ADDICTED TO NIGEL VIDEOS

[@wanderer15]

I’m addicted to making them!

[@dentonyoung4314]

Crazy. And what's even more amazing is that Nigel *still* should have lost even after his play went unchallenged.

[@TehDanxorz]

I have no idea what was going on in this game and I cannot play Scrabble for the life of me (or any game that requires the unscrambling of letters to make words, my brain will not allow it and for years growing up I just thought I was stupid but it's just this hyper specific thing I struggle with) BUT your video was a lot of fun. Even if I had no idea what a Bingo was because neither player was spelling B-I-N-G-O and there was no dog of the same name... O. Thanks for making this. It's good to be reminded that games you struggle with are still fun. You just need the right perspective.

[@lucy_derg]

a bingo in scrabble is when a player uses all 7 of their tiles in one turn

[@the6278]

​@@lucy_derg does it give extra points?

[@Blapze]

I've never seen a scrabble video nor ever had much interest in the game or ever heard of these players, but this is one of the most interesting and downright impressive competitive scene I have ever seen

[@steed3590]

Fantastic as always, I'd like to shout out the quality of the graphics in these videos. High quality and beautifully legible, no unnecessary fluff or guff.

[@wanderer15]

Really appreciate that, thank you

[@asdfasdf4924]

I think this type of thing happens in chess to, where the best players in the game will hang a piece, and even with plenty of time to think about each move, the opponent, who is also an expert, will miss it. Generally what happens after the game is the opponent that missed he could just win a piece says "I didn't expect my opponent (well-renowned Grandmaster X) would simply just hang a piece"

[@soosh9852]

no that really doesn't happen in professional chess at anything except maybe bullet time controls, one of the key skills that is always touted of strong chess players is not "trusting" their opponents and verifying everything for themselves, please stop making things up.

[@asdfasdf4924]

@@soosh9852 well I didn't "make things up", I know it's happened at least once, but I'll accept that it doesn't happen at longer time controls. I would just add that it seems like blitz chess is what you usually see on youtube.

[@tommihommi1]

The fact that nigel doesn't play phonies honestly is amazing. Even in losing endgames he doesn't attempt to trick people to save the game or reduce point spread, he just plays the most optimal "fair" way.

[@anandbharadwaj4250]

Actually, that isn't quite true. In one of my games against Nigel at the Capgemini tournament in Bangalore, he tried phoneying with LENNE (instead of the valid RENNE) to steal a lost endgame, but I did challenge it off and won 414-400.

[@IamGumbyy]

@@anandbharadwaj4250 Wait this man ain't lying he has a positive winrate over Nigel, too!

[@henryt9281]

You that dense? This entire video is about Nigel playing a phony.

[@drunkshinx]

i have heard of a few cases where Nigel played a phony intentionally, I wouldn't say it's unfair though, just a risk that Nigel often decides not to take.

[@kujojotarostandoceanman2641]

Nigel is a huge phony player

[@sealplayer1]

nigel trying to prove he's not a robot:

[@mushup8325]

I don’t even play scrabble, these videos are just amazing

[@wanderer15]

Thank you!

[@Pedun42]

Every community needs a Will Anderson, aGameScout, Pannenkoek2012, etc. These are my favorite channels.

[@wanderer15]

This is really high praise, thanks. Love aGameScout - will have to check out Pannenkoek!

[@Pedun42]

@@wanderer15 you should start with "watch for rolling rocks .5 a presses" Your mind will be blown

[@MintBiscuit]

​@@wanderer15 not gonna check out will anderson

[@werrywit]

When Nigel misspells a word, the dictionary is changed.

[@ItsRadeZ]

this sounds like a chuck norris joke

[@HazhMcMoor]

The best letters to make bingo move themselves to be picked by Nigel

[@deskbottle5808]

the nigel glazing is insane

[@MalcadorTheSigilite]

Impossible. Nigel is human? He's imperfect?

[@tianac.6730]

God Bless Nigel. He is the glue that bonds the community together and we are all in awe of him. He is Scrabble's Super-Hero.

[@artful1967]

I wouldn't even challenge "tnetennba" if the goat played it

[@playerguy2]

His "mistake" was likely just another calculated move to make us think he's human. Truly brilliant!

[@Planet.Xplor3r]

Wow you're really good at getting people engaged, I don't even really play scrabble and just heard about Nigel in passing and that was really hooking me on

[@alexpotts6520]

Playing against Nigel Richards must be stressful enough to make anyone tear their hiar out.

[@wanderer15]

I’ve played him 8 times (I’ll do a video about the games sometime) and it definitely takes practice to relax and play your best.

[@yourhighschoolenglishteach8405]

i love watching in-depth commentary for things which are way beyond my understanding

[@qqw743]

I wonder how much “BAERDNETS” would score in that position

[@Sceptile29]

But that would leave the A hook open, which was the biggest advantage of HIARNETS over HAIRNETS

[@murrowmench1565]

Can you make a video on how Scrabble Novices (like me) who got interested in playing but don’t really know where to start or how to prepare for a first event, I.e. what words you must know by that point (like that cheat sheet of words I didn’t know existed until now). You have pulled so many people into having an interest in Scrabble, and you have the knowledge to get us all into playing the right way. We just need the right guide to get us there

[@wanderer15]

Yes, this is something I'd like to do for sure. (And I'm so glad to hear that you're inspired to get started with OTB play!)

[@AmaranthRBY]

I'm late but Mack Meller has two excellent playlists to help beginners on his youtube channel, one for word study, and one for everything else. I found them to be very very good resources

[@definitelynotthefbi725]

When Nigel mispells a word, the dictionary editor calls him and apologizes for their mistake.

[@exiledparsons5002]

At 1:16 you said 16 points for Mike Baron's second move when it was worth 26.

[@birbthetopicman2851]

On the screen it says +26 and his score goes up by the same so don't worry about the point totals

[@wanderer15]

Oops, not sure how I didn’t catch this, thanks. At least the numbers were correct on screen!

[@HildeTheOkayish]

I haven't played the game since i was a kid and now I just happen to stumble on this video. I know the conclusion is that all of them are just human beings but the way this is played i blowing my mind xD incredible skill.

[@wanderer15]

Thanks for giving my video a watch!

[@Brain-washed2]

plays "celesia" which is not a word "right yeah" then Nigel makes a very sharp play and does phooey for 25 "I guess that counts as a word" *looks at video to see board to see PFUI* "how can these people be serious.."

[@wjstie]

this game in particular reminds me of barry bonds, his reputation alone is a tool almost as powerful as his word knowledge and strategical skills. how many times has an opponent challenged one of nigel's plays? it has to be way less than any other top player, right? makes me wonder if he'd win even more games if he phonied more

[@wanderer15]

Yes, he is seemingly totally uninterested in exploiting his incredible word knowledge advantage. When he says he doesn’t care whether he wins or loses, he truly means it - his sole goal seems to be playing well.

[@dootanator_]

When he misspells, a new word is created.

[@robertlewis6915]

.... I didn't realize that Scrabble got this strategic.

[@kgaming9455]

I just got into scrabble and have never won a game yet against my grandparents I’m gonna watch more I like the way you explain the game!

[@mashtonish]

Nigel doesn't misspell a word. He stares it down until it becomes the new spelling.

[@afraazsiddiqui3765]

As someone who has barely any scrabble experience other than family fun, I've gotta say this game looks insanely cool at the top level.

[@davidramos4707]

Wake up babe, new Nigel video!

[@tomasgoes]

The dictionary corrects itself, of course.

[@snaaail]

I've only ever played scrabble a few times, I never expected this amount of strategy in top level scrabble

[@finlandtaipan4454]

I remember this event from when it happened. Shocking but understandable.

[@yellowslotcar]

I dont know why youtube decided im interested in scrabble but im glad it did

[@Robomobius_Art]

"a V in a very defensive spot" I'm 2 minutes in and learning things I didn't know were things

[@Monkeymario.]

When I saw the title I thought you were talking about the country Nigeria.

[@wanderer15]

I just made a video where I *do* talk about Nigeria for quite a while!

[@darkly77]

"It's a classic stroke of Nigelian brilliance" ❤

[@noahrumpel3437]

I had no idea this board game had a competitive scene. Interesting video, thanks.

[@yottanuclei]

best thumbnail in the history of scrabble

[@nathanielreichert4638]

lol high level scrabble is insane. We used to play this as a family. Maybe my dad, the best player, could win with 140 points sometimes, but that’s the maximum, and it was rare.

[@dollaignburger779]

bro i dont even mess w/ scrabble, but this is so interesting 😂😂

[@glowstonelovepad9294]

Why are "Game of the Gods" and the Rik Kennedy vs Nigel Richards videos not in the Nigel playlist?

[@velizarmanchev5284]

When Nigel makes a spelling mistake the dictionary fixes their book

[@anghme28ang11]

Why did i just discover competitive scrabble

[@louisng114]

What if Nigel did that on purpose to convince us that he is a mere human instead of a scrabble god?

[@ripthescript4255]

this feels like alternate reality gothem chess

[@DarrellSCady]

Incerdible! I'm surpirsed it wasn't noticed. It changed the dircetion of the endgame.

[@Noobiis]

i loved this video and tensed up till the end i dont even know how to play scrabble

[@redravenrages6321]

He's got so bored of the regular ole dictionary that he's inventing his own words. IT'S FINEEEEE...

[@rationalcube]

The crazy thing that we can infer from this is that Nigel intentionally found two bingos so that he could play the optimal word without being challenged. My bet is he found the words and planned out how he would switch them in a hurry like he's flustered that he's almost "lost the game." This would make the opponent think he was going for HAIRNETS as the optimal play so he could tag on the end of them. But all Nigel did was open up the A so he could play QUALE without losing tiles. What a genuis. ;)

[@flanman2084]

i clicked on this video never watching scrabble before. this is the sickest thing ive ever seen.

[@wanderer15]

Thanks for giving my video a try!

[@robinier]

I think _jus_ (when it means meat juices) is often anglicized "zhoo" (rhyme moo). That's how I typically hear it on U.S. cooking videos mentioning _au jus_ and the primary pronunciation in dictionaries I use (Merriam Webster, Collins). The pronunciation when it means law/justice (e.g. _jus soli_) is different. Also if it helps: AY-luh (*ala*) and KEE-luh (*chela*). Great content as always 👍

[@wanderer15]

Thanks, noted!

[@louisraphael1727]

Is this a competition on how to pronounce foreign words more wrongly? Kinda ridiculous to be so prescriptive about words that native speakers pronounce wrong anyway

[@robinier]

@@louisraphael1727 French words often acquire an "Anglicized" pronunciation when they're adopted into English, because English has a different sound inventory (e.g. English lacks the French _u_ and _r_ sounds). Sometimes you'll hear the French pronunciation instead and that's fine - dictionaries typically note both. I hadn't meant to tell him he _has_ to use the Anglicized pronunciation, but just letting him know what it is and that it's not uncommon, in case he chooses to.

[@charliebuckett4753]

Wtf bro? Suddenly I'm interested in scrable and idk why! Really enjoying your videos...

[@wanderer15]

Thanks for giving my content a try!

[@mytwosense]

I can't believe he let Nigel off the hook!

[@G.Aaron.Fisher]

It's crazy to me that Nigel Richards is only 57. For as long as I can remember, he's looked like an eccentric grandfather.

[@CourtneyPs5]

never heard if this game before but its epic

[@quentin7558]

Since Nigel is not human he probably did it on purpose

[@AugustDwight]

that's halirious

[@bowlofwhiskey]

challenge. halirious is not a word.

[@irgendeinlappen7703]

First question: why do I even watch a scrabble video? Second question: why do I enjoy it that fking much?

[@wanderer15]

Appreciate you giving it a chance!

[@lib-center96]

I wouldn't be surprised if this was a deliberate play and Nigel casually acting normal so it goes through

[@kujojotarostandoceanman2641]

Purposefully misspelling is something crazy

[@superprofi4307]

6:27 start of misspelled word 6:40 misspelled word

[@matheuscastello6554]

even when phonying he can't lose. this is insane LOL

[@BramCohen]

Nigel should play more phonies. People would have a very hard time challenging him on long words and it would get people to start challenging his legit words.

[@drunkshinx]

often times its just not worth the risk, but he has done it a few times before

[@wanderer15]

There is no question he would win even more games doing this. However, he has stated before that he doesn’t care whether he wins or loses - and I actually believe him. His total lack of interest in any type of exploitative play (intentional phony words, suboptimal endgame sequences that force opponents into a much more difficult line than the mathematically optimal sequence) backs up his claim - as does as his complete lack of nerves in high-pressure situations or negativity when getting unlucky.

[@BramCohen]

@@wanderer15 Sounds like a good topic for a video

[@drunkshinx]

it was definitely intentional and actually a really smart play! (im joking, its definitely not worth it)

[@sealplayer1]

ngiel the GOAT 💪💪

[@zorksox]

Even his mistakes are amazing!

[@nephel6158]

the Nigel aura is real

[@murrowmench1565]

Second comment: *his misspelling was intentional.* Nigel knew he was blocking bingos with the misspelling. Nigel knew, beyond any shadow of doubt, that Mike would look away to tile track and allow Nigel to place a different bingo down without Mike checking because no one would check his spelling. I capitalize on Magic the Gathering games by knowing the *way* my opponent plays just as much as I understand *how* they can play and take full advantage where the rules allow. Nigel knew he was taking an insane risk of losing the whole game to guarantee he would not lose, and did it all without cheating (even if that is quite a sneaky strategy to actually follow throw with.) But he also knew that, because he was playing a Scrabble Book Author, he would NEED a strategy that even Mike would never see coming. Mike likely had the finish he had to that tournament because he knew that whole day that Nigel had thoroughly outplayed him in a way that he never dreamed existed. I’d be second-guessing every play, over-tracking every tile arrangement, and throwing off my normal rhythm to account for that gameplay anomaly. Not only did Nigel do it on purpose, Mike knew he did, too. And they respected each other as the ruthless competitors they are.

[@mrpopenfresh]

I don't know anything about competitive scrabble and the terms and analysis are foreign to me, but the strategy is clear and I am CAPTIVATED by this retelling of the match.

[@wanderer15]

Thank you for giving my video a try!

[@elise3852]

bro this guy nigel is chosen by god

[@ClarkPotter]

BEVATRON's always good for a few points.

[@MelindaGreen]

So Mike would have been better off had he noticed in time and "graciously" asked Nigel if he was sure about his play?

[@scarletevans4474]

Plot twist: Nigel indeed did it on purpose, winning the metagame too!

[@Larsbutb4d]

i bet that this move was on purpose, obviously bc it's optimal. his play of T(H)ERIANS is just a ploy to distract him, nigelian brilliance on full display

[@AOOA926]

Here are some video ideas: Longest words played, Highest scoring words played, Highest scoring game points combined, lowest scoring bingos, and weirdest valid words like: CWM, PHT, CRWTH, etc.

[@kylefarrell849]

When he misspells a word, it is added to the Oxford Dictionary

[@DatMilu2K]

Wtf i didnt knew this game such a dedicated player base with engines that evaluate their moves and the board 😂

[@misteral9045]

Actually it was a calculated mistake on Nigel's part because he's an almost perfectly polite player who focuses on playing the game rather than playing the player, but there's a mischievous gremlin in all of us and occasionally he sees if he can get away with something.

[@wanderer15]

Nigel harnessing his mischievous gremlin would be amazing to watch (and a nightmare for anyone facing him)

[@user-on6uf6om7s]

He was just playing on hard mode where you have to win by psychological domination.

[@Fafuncho]

on 3:40 he most likely mispronounced Silesia, a region in poland.

[@csaros]

Ghee? Dor? They should make a rule that you have to know the definition if you play the word.