The 2023 World Scrabble Championship Finals were EPIC

Welcome to Episode 8 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.

For our latest episode of Scrabble History, we're going to cover extremely RECENT events!

The 2023 WESPA Championship (effectively the World Championship of Scrabble) concluded with a best-of-7 finals between the top two finishers in the main event, David Eldar and Harshan Lamabadusuriya. These two players put on a spectacular show of top-level Scrabble, and in this video, I'll break down all the key moments in this incredible matchup.

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[ricsreptiles]

Their interaction after the third game is genuinely so wholesome, just a full recognition and appreciation of David's intelligence

[throwaway]

Harshan's reaction to the SEALANT play was so kind and wholesome, he seems like an incredible guy

[kiffe]

I have never seen competitive scrabble. This slid into my recommends.
It's funny to me how this is a completely different game about being able to keep track of which letters are still in the game, knowing what possible plays your opponent might have and setting up your own future plays all at the same time.
When I play scrabble I look at my pieces for 12 minutes just trying to find a word that fits anywhere lol

[KolMan]

As a person who has only played scrabble a handful of times, I appreciate how insightful these videos are and how they genuinely make me care about a game I barely know

[AlexDings]

CUT and TAN were both awesome, but out of the two, TAN is the one that left me stunned. I don't think I've ever seen a pattern like that, creating a lane out of thin air by pseudo-obstructing it! What a creative move in a high-stakes situation. And then to come up with another clutch play two games later... after TENIOID, some people were already congratulating Harshan in the chat. Thanks for this wonderful recap and also for your great live commentary.

[idontknowwhattoputhere]

Video essays on competitive tournaments you didn’t know existed 30 minutes ago hit different at 2am on a Wednesday morning

[typhonyx_was_taken]

This video does a fantastic job of showcasing the potential and nuance of high tier play that I never would have understood just watching the match without commentary

[SpencerTwiddy]

As a programmer, I love how thematic FUBAR is after CODING

[christian]

We have witnessed a surge in interest in strategy games -- most notably in poker and, more recently, chess -- and I think Scrabble is following suit. I don't think it will ever reach the heights of the aforementioned two games, but I definitely see it gaining in popularity. I love poker and chess, and never in a million years did I think I would subscribe to a Scrabble channel, but here I am...

[Qwazimd]

everyone was going crazy in chat live. great finals

[AlexDings]

By the way, here's a notable quote from the champion, who wrote on his blog about the peak viewership of 900 people during the finals:
"Will Anderson is carrying the entire scrabble world on his back"
Who could disagree with him? 🙂

[ohseb-]

so much respect between these two players, i havent followed scrabble for long at all but its really exciting to watch

[EvanBerofsky]

definitely the best scrabble final i've seen live. and it was kinda cool that eldar came into the viewing room after every game of the finals to check the quackle analysis. also, only realized there was a significant delay between the livestream and reality during game 5 when eldar sat down beside us while the game was still being played on the screen.😄

[itskelvinn]

This video is very well edited and described to do these games justice. I don’t know much about competitive scrabble but I did play quite a lot of words with friends and got good at it.

This video was really good in showing how genius these two players are

[Boosteradidas]

your love and enthusiasm for scrabble are so damn contaigous. I' ve never even played the game much, but your videos are just very very good and entertaining. Keep it up! ;)

[gilamesh]

David was in the year above me. Wish him all the best in his successes. Thanks Will for recapping the WSCF.

[kidada]

I watched these games live. And even as a lower level NWL player it was incredibly fun. There was real drama. I appreciated your commentary so much. Great Job!!

[Vinny]

As somebody who has never watched or played scrabble (The only board game I've played is Chess). This was so amazing to watch

[raise]

you got the best obscure storytelling channel on this platform man. Love the videos

[pullt]

Without a doubt the most exciting Scrabble match I've watched.