The Greatest Scrabble Player Ever Is Underrated

Welcome to Episode 5 of Scrabble History, a series where I break down some of the most incredible plays, epic rivalries, and amazing moments in Scrabble's rich competitive history.
Everyone agrees that Nigel Richards is the greatest Scrabble player ever.
But somehow, I believe he's still underrated. In this video, I break down a game that proves my case.
For more Scrabble content from me, follow my Twitch channel:
/ wanderer15
I also have a weekly show on the official Scrabble Twitch channel (Tuesdays 3-5 PM ET)
/ scrabble
Play Scrabble at playscrabble.com!

[@wanderer15]

Sorry for my editing mistake at 5:57, everybody. It should say: MARLSTONE n. a sandy rock containing iron Thanks for watching!

[@obiwancannoli1920]

I think there's a slight mistake at 0:46 . You said 2019 but it was 2009.

[@wanderer15]

@@obiwancannoli1920 You're right! Argh!

[@markritchie8874]

What were you thinking?

[@kylewinter1685]

can

[@jalapenochips2408]

🤓

[@snowfloofcathug]

Having people expertly dissect something obscure - having someone talk passionately about what they care about in general - is amazing. Thank you for these

[@wanderer15]

Knowing lots of folks like you are getting something out of it is amazing too! Thank you!

[@rondobrondo]

@@wanderer15 Ditto, it doesn't matter that you are talking about scrabble specifically, IMO. You are so good at this kind of retrospective story telling that I would listen to you do breakdowns of pretty much any subject you listen to. And this is coming from a guy who 1. Is obsessed with this style of pedagogy in general, and 2. used to do this sort of work for a living

[@notsoberoveranalyzer8264]

Completely agree. I find it very interesting that we can become interested in something we know little about, purely based on another’s enthusiasm. Plus, it’s just always cool to see humans accomplishing something exceptionally well.

[@notsoberoveranalyzer8264]

@@rondobrondoIs it too personal to ask what you did? I really wouldn’t even have the faintest.

[@TS-1267]

... Could Be Dissecting From His Scrabble Pair On G-BLOCK.... 😲

[@Wirtual]

The final word had me laughing out loud. Nigel is incredible

[@micklethenickel]

Hi wirtual

[@dragonslayerz2220]

Huh, wirtual.

[@Cowmilker98]

Wirty-chan

[@NeonLightRays]

wirtual scrabble channel when?

[@SirChronoCfdgaM]

UwU it's Wirty-chan uwu nya nya~

[@asherlorentzen6386]

Winning a word game tournament in a language he doesn’t speak is remarkable. That alone deserves a documentary

[@livenotonevil8279]

After playing Scrabble for a awhile now, I'm beginning to doubt that English is my first language!

[@sk8rdman]

I get the impression that he can do this because he doesn't use typical phonetic or other language skills to play Scrabble like a layman would. He plays it more like a combinatorics game. As far as the game is concerned, words are just strings of characters. Their meanings are completely irrelevant and unnecessary to his mastery of the game. At his level, it's not a word game any more. It's a math problem.

[@tomekstec981]

Why? It's like the spelling bees kids that can memore words and definitions, but have zero understanding.

[@TheWaxlemon]

@@tomekstec981 they don't learn 360,000 words numbnuts

[@HamishGarland]

I've had discussions about scrabble with English teachers. They think it is a language game, IMO language has very little to do with it other than having a large vocabulary being a useful tool.

[@Ballmans346]

How I got here I don’t know, but I never in my life thought scrabble would be as technical and outside the box as it is. I always figured it was just “write the longest word.” Very well done video for such an unexpected competitive game

[@MagnetDzn]

Seriously! I wish the guy would’ve explained the point system though because I have no clue

[@JackTheGamingGuy4REALZ]

@@MagnetDzn each tile has a score (it's the number). Playing words normally will just add up score. Then if a tile overlaps a double or triple letter score, you double or triple the score for the letter. A double or triple word score applies to the entire word. Finally using all 7 letters (a "bingo") grants an additional 50 points.

[@geisenm]

The complexity of played out scenarios is like chess, as well as the spatial element, but it has the "concealed hand" element of poker, PLUS the need for extensive lexicographical knowledge. Amazing game.

[@hridaysamtani5797]

Wow, Scrabble is indeed lucky to have a phenom like Nigel. I remember the only time I played against him in 2019 over the board, I was so jittery that I could barely count my score, and he twice corrected me whenever I underscored myself. And to top it all, Nigel even has a wicked sense of humour! Thanks for the incredible series, Will. I could watch these on loop.

[@usmh]

Wicked sense of humor? Well now you've gotta share some of it :)

[@mikehamelin7520]

​@@usmh he may have a good sense of humor but its probably all in the context of the game. Its not like the guy has a comedy act or something.

[@livenotonevil8279]

​@@mikehamelin7520 Hi I'm Nigel. I'm more of a qat person ...

[@mikehamelin7520]

@@livenotonevil8279 I'm challenging that

[@Dani-it5sy]

Sense of humor and intelligence are connected. 😉 That's why some people that don't get certain jokes go straight to banning freedom of speech and actually think that that is a nice a peaceful thing to do 😱

[@GuyGallium]

High level play in any game is just incredibly fascinating, especially when it comes to reads and fakes. I love this series!

[@sickedout7723]

It's 1:15 am and I have 5 assignments due yesterday at midnight but I am watching this. True gold.

[@bw-leftturnracing7779]

It was already too late anyway

[@OrekiBurd]

​@@bw-leftturnracing7779real

[@connorclimenhaga2379]

Most relatable comment Ive seen in my life

[@IHJello]

i love when i randomly receive a superbly well done essay video on a niche topic i know little about. so interesting. definitely watching more.

[@Petronio39]

The title had me curious. I always find myself struggling just to see basic plays and thinking, "Wow, if only I knew more words, I would be unstoppable." This is next level though by several tiers. The ability to not only understand your options, but also your opponents options, and the likelihood of what they could have in their hand based on what's been played already and the number of tiles left is incredible.

[@paulthompson1466]

I heard somewhere recently (maybe A Will video) that Nigel makes the best endplay sequence 98% of the time while other top players do so 50% of the time. It's mind-boggling that somebody can be this phenomenal and so much better than his closest rival. I'm sure Nigel would also be a chess world champion if he also put his mind to that.

[@assafarieh4419]

Chess is a different beast. Becoming a world champion is incomprehensible

[@SomeOne-hb7cn]

It was in fact a will video

[@ules5799]

Big fan of this channel, but im very high right now and 1:22 genuinely scared me. keep up the good content

[@Hottodoggu.]

I am surprised you are the only one I could find making scrabble documentaries. This game deserves more attention!

[@Aequorin628]

Check out Mack Meller, he also has a few really good videos

[@amarverma9301]

He hides tiles in his beard

[@BrettMKW]

I've seen Nigel play a phony 3 before. There's a video of it on YT. Also heard a story where OD was on the board and Nigel hooked it with a K by playing PELK/KOD (both phonies), stared at it for 2 minutes, then picked it back up and played KELP/POD instead. I swear his brain is wired differently than everyone else in the world.

[@thompkins6796]

So glad I found this channel, great work explaining everything with clear visuals. It doesnt matter what game it is, but the highest level players' ability to read a complex board state flawlessly is always amazing to see.

[@wanderer15]

Thanks for the kind words

[@bummeryyy6306]

I love watching videos going so deep into something i have no idea about, it makes me think about what other people might be thinking when i talk like this about my own specific hobbies that they might not have

[@EvilTim1911]

If you'd asked me to imagine the world's best Scrabble player Nigel is exactly what I'd have in mind

[@p.f132]

I will say, I haven't even seen a minute of this video, but I am so glad, and so amazed this exists, it's unreal.

[@Alpenmagier]

how did i get here

[@sarahisatitagain]

Reddit?

[@sarahisatitagain]

Reddit?

[@alfonzog6327]

You don't get to a Will Anderson video; a Will Anderson video comes to you

[@rafindeed]

Once i was visiting the US for the first time and i saw a big darts tournament paying 200k for the 1st place and i said to myself “wait, there’s a tournament for this?”. Then i found out that anything that can be made into a competition, will have a competitive scene in US. Not bashing us people but you guys take any game and non game possible and turn it in a competition. The fact that there’s a big scene of scrabble is what is impressive to me.

[@jf8200]

Watch out for the disgusting hot dog eating contests….the prize money is enough to live off for a year. Then again, it may take a year off your life too.

[@sepixsound]

oh youtube ... where does'eth thou lead me this night ...

[@quotes612]

I’ve never been interested in scrabble but for some reason the way he dissects each play with such passion is just so entertaining 😂

[@Maxsmack]

Those mutton chops at 0:18 are absolutely legendary and deserve their own documentary

[@rondobrondo]

Bro these are AMAZING, I love THOUGHTFUL competition breakdowns in general for any board sports, video games, or board games, and yours have me hooked and inspiring me to start playing scrabble again. I'm showing these to my friends rn who are also into this stuff and they are loving it

[@wanderer15]

Thank you for such nice comments & for your good audio advice elsewhere! I’m still working on being less of an amateur on the technical side…

[@Ascension721]

@@wanderer15 youre doing amazing!

[@hhannahh7835]

Hey! I found your channel today and I've quickly started to binge it already - this is INCREDIBLY well made content. Even as someone who's only ever played scrabble casually with my family it's almost inspiring to want to try and learn it at a more serious level. I wish your channel all the best!

[@wanderer15]

Really appreciate these comments, thank you!

[@ruben.108]

The passion in your voice is what made this video for me, I never seen anything before about this game but this was amazing. Thanks for your work!

[@noahjz]

Cheers to another fine addition to this series! Excelsior!

[@Why_Fred]

Showed up in my recommended, and i learned a lot of scrabble lingos. Nice video

[@ineedhelp5844]

This is maybe to most mind boggling thing I’ve ever seen. I can sorta see people being chess prodigies and math prodigies but scrabble is something that my mind can’t wrap around and this skill is hilariously impressive.

[@5ManaAndADream]

The only thing more impressive than his scrabble play is KZbin’s algorithm knowing I’d love this analysis despite never watching a scrabble video in my life.

[@wanderer15]

Thank you for trusting that algo and giving my content a try!

[@TheGrimeway1]

i never knew there was a competitive scrabble world. and seeing this i'm in awe... I've heard of this man before but his analysis of the game is amazing!

[@josephlondon8188]

this is the single nerdiest thing i’ve ever seen. love it

[@illiardbilliard2355]

Kinda unrelated but I like how Nigel has such an iconic look. You can always recognize him as the scrabble legend.

[@OnionManSteve]

For people like me who are stumbling across this channel/vid for the first time, a bingo is where you play all 7 tiles in one go, giving you a 50 point bonus. Outside the US it's called a bonus I think (that's what I thought it was) or a Scrabble. Great video! Love finding this niche interests, there's always so much passion!

[@lildmckay]

Absolutely brilliant plays

[@ReadyToHarvest]

Subscribed on this one. Second video of yours I watched and I have enjoyed them both a lot! Great work.

[@relaxedpenny604]

Genuinely this is just dictionary chess

[@Kevin-ex9vr]

why I`m watching this? I`m not proficient in english and neither am a scrabble player. yet the deepness of analysis seems extremely interesting!

[@Eunos_FD3S]

This guy thanked me for not competing, giving him a chance to become champion. Keep killin it buddy.

[@SurrealScotsman]

Bruh... I watch maybe 4-5 hours of KZbin a day on second monitor while doing other stuff for the past maybe, 8 years? & not once has scrabble even remotely entered my mind to watch. Dont ask me how, but I watched the 'greatest game ever' where board was completely blank & one guy won with -6 points last night. Now I just watched this & now apparently I'm subbed & a fan of Scrabble :D lol

[@goonhead3791]

This the most advanced words with friends I’ve ever witnessed

[@specialedclass2982]

Any game theory is very interesting

[@Langharig_Tuig]

I've never knew there was competitive scrabble, but the algorithm gives me this... and now I can't get over the genius of that single 'U' play, foreseeing everything clearly like a true god.

[@adamc1368]

WILL I LOVE THIS SERIES PLEASE KEEP MAKING THESE!!!

[@johnelstad]

I stumbled across your video and I want to say how much I enjoyed your insight and passion for the game. You helped me appreciate Scrabble-a game I've only ever played casually-on a completely new level. Thank you!

[@wanderer15]

Really appreciate this comment!

[@user-svqmbiv]

The only thing wrong with this series is that there's not more of it

[@bobdole7292]

So basically you need to memorize obscure flora and fauna scientific names to play scrabble.

[@Ascension721]

at a top level, yes lol

[@Astar72439]

You have to control the board aswell. It’s not just about slamming large words. Great video!

[@degenerate82]

You do excellent work at explaining the genius of top level Scrabble players. It is such a fantastic game at the top levels.

[@stephensneed8181]

You could do this series forever and I would never get tired of it. I remember hearing about this last play but now seeing the game and your analysis made it all the more incredible

[@fluuuki]

It’s 12:00 and I have an exam tomorrow. Why am I watching this in it’s entirety?

[@tul5124]

I havent played scrabble in over a decade and stumbled on this video. Do scrabble matches like this air with full breakdowns like this, and where can I watch? This was so f****** exciting to watch for some crazy reason.

[@wanderer15]

Some good places to know: Official Scrabble Twitch channel: twitch.tv/Scrabble Let’s Play Scrabble YT channel: www.youtube.com/@letsplayscrabbledotcom

[@koalalala3939]

2023 and I'm down the scrable hole? Thanks algorithm?

[@paperpopper1290]

This is an incredible series! please keep it going

[@WorldWaterWars14]

Never thought about scrabble this much, but the way you narrate makes it seem like advanced chess, which I appreciate!

[@LucaGarzeli]

I barely understand english, I've never played scrabble in mi live, idk who is that big Nigel Richards and, obviously, I've never searched for scrabble in youtube, but this video appeared me from nowhere, and was a great experience, tbh. This is how virality works, I guess 😂In Spain we had a tv contest that I used to watch in my childhood called "Numbers & Letters", where in the "Letters" part, contestants had to build the bigger possible word between 9 random letters. Scrabble is like that, but mixed with chess level thinking, so is 1000 times more difficult.

[@KEAonYT]

It’s literally 2am wtf am I watching. But I can’t stop! 😅

[@minch333]

Okay, I'm fully on board with this channel now. Subbed!

[@Zeekfox]

Around 2:55, when QUINT was mentioned to be dangerous for the S hook of SQUINT, I wondered about RINDY doing the same thing with a G. However, GRINDY is apparently not a valid Scrabble word. That just means I've played too many RPG games over the years. Some of them require a lot of "level grinding", and if you Google the word, "grindy," you'll find people using it in that context. Ah well.

[@wanderer15]

I would be surprised if GRINDY doesn’t find its way into the dictionary sometime soon

[@alZiiHardstylez]

Scrabble strats are insane dude.

[@formsight5927]

i hope you keep making these bc theyre rly good

[@paintcandan5972]

sometimes when i think i’m pretty smart i have to remind myself that people like nigel exist

[@stickpfp6347]

When I watch Nigel play I feel my neurons multiplying

[@tomekstec981]

Let's be honest. This is not a wordgame, it's a math game with letters.

[@zach8501]

Word game with math

[@MirkyMan]

I have no idea why I love these. Thank you, I love seeing someone explain niche game strategies to me and show me how awful I am at Scrabble!

[@wanderer15]

Almost everyone is "awful" compared to the gameplay you're seeing here. If you can find a well-matched opponent, Scrabble is still a lot of fun to play!

[@JokobZuma]

this is my exposure to scrabble and it seems intense

[@obscurity3027]

Nigel may be a Scrabble God, but Will Anderson is THE Scrabble analyst. These videos are extremely entertaining and educational.

[@Sam-oz8pn]

Scrabble strategy is so fascinating! It might not be the flashiest game, but imo this was the most interesting episode of the series so far. It’ll stick with me for sure

[@j.pricey]

I’m watching this having no clue how to play Scrabble, and it’s so good

[@AtagoSKK]

The transition to 2:25 just cracked me up

[@bakuretsu9187]

I had no idea this was even an competitive game at all. Thanks for this passionate video!

[@john_mohr]

Have you made a video on the losses an eventual champion has in a tournament? Of the handful of videos of yours I've watched it seems like they lose a couple times, and I was wondering if there were any patterns or interesting interactions in these losses.

[@wanderer15]

Great idea!

[@mikehamelin7520]

cool breakdown. these games are not my bread and butter but watching a master work is always interesting to watch.

[@goat2601]

No one, definitely not me: I should learn about the Scrabble GOAT today KZbin: HERE YOU GO, KNAVE

[@martinwinter615]

Scrabble was never a game I was into but this video really was interesting to see how deep scrabble goes on a tactical level. Thanks.

[@DanToruno]

damn I watched a different documentary about this guy so I knew this guy was incredible but they didn't break down any gameplay. I've never watched professional scrabble before but this was thoroughly entertaining

[@jackier5464]

@dantoruno which doc was that? Where can I see it? :)

[@kirtil5177]

a proper breakdown is what makes or breaks an actually incredible person, apart from being among the skilled. you can say the same fluff to describe top scrabble players, but only Nigel plays like Nigel

[@AllemandInstable]

I don't even play Scrabble This video is a nice entry point for it i'm now intrigued

[@truthsmiles]

Fascinating. I’ve played scrabble maybe a dozen times in my life and never considered that top pros consider “unseen” tiles and act to defend against likely opponent plays. I just sit and struggle to come up with words I can make from AAEEEII

[@noahgross7600]

Watching this so I can finally beat my grandma in words with friends

[@alhfgsp]

Cool, I didn't know Scrabble had this level of tactics.

[@samuelkitching5880]

I don’t know how I ended up here, but I laughed when he said squint or squirt

[@ilikemoviesandmore]

Love it! Never played scrabble in any other setting than the usual family game night. This opened a lot of doors, love how it becomes more like chess than just ‘find good word’. And you explain what’s going on really well.

[@asdfasdf4924]

I had a dream about playing Nigel Richards last night. It was a weird dream

[@tombiby5892]

I like how the last thing you said in the video was “scrabble history”. Master of the endgame indeed

[@a_maxed_out_handle_of_30_chars]

this video was recommended and it was excellent :)

[@joshuawinters4907]

Loving this series, Will! Keep it up!

[@L2.Lagrange]

Never thought I'd be watching scrabble history, but considering I should be sleeping, here I am.

[@julianlapenna1838]

Just found your channel recently and this is great stuff by the way. Please make more videos like this!

[@Harrs2]

Cool series. I love scrabble but I've always sucked at it (I'm that player that can regularly take 10 minute turns and I'm sorry). Seeing someone talk about their favorite scrabble games is super enlightening, and not just because it's Nigel Richards, I've watched all the other episodes too and they're brilliant. Subbed!

[@psymar]

That's okay! I'm pretty decent but can still take ten minutes when I know there's a bingo I just can't find it. But that's why tournament games use a chess clock.

[@supreme5998]

10 minutes? Bro that’s almost instant. I’ll get you back the next day sometimes

[@DonjiKong]

I never knew scrabble was so interesting until I found your videos

[@Siscon92]

I felt my vision getting blurry and freckles forming on my face listening to this 🤓

[@shannonmcstormy5021]

I'm considered incredibly intelligent by those who know me and I'm highly educated. But what I really am is a sort of idiot-savant. I have near prescient abilities in the mental health field, my profession (now retired). I write (used to write) Doctoral-Level papers and I have a huge working vocabulary. In Scrabble......a 9 year old can probably beat me. I just can't think of words out of the blue outside of sentences. Granted, practice improves nearly anything and I rarely play Scrabble, but still......you'd think I would be great at Scrabble and people think I should be, but my brain just doesn't work that way. - - > It was brilliant having someone explain a high-level Scrabble game. I love Excellence, no matter the profession or area.

[@ybab-j]

great video! suggestion: talking about the quality of the moves of his opponent would make it even clearer why he’s great

[@howjoec2638]

Ive seen alot of dumb shit in my life but this almost tops all of it. Thanks for the content

[@oxk_gaming]

Stumbled upon this series today and watched the entire playlist of history vids! Great content!

[@garethmagis]

No clue why the algorithm gave this to me but i love that it did.

[@sethmasters477]

do i play scrabble... no Do I know the rules of scrabble... No Did I watch the entire thing and will forever simp for Nigel... Yes

[@fortifieddarkness5394]

I thought this video would've been incredible glazing, but it indeed was just to display the magnificence of the existence of Nigel.

[@verbosed]

love these videos! thank you will ❤