Mental Improvement

[wantonhalo]

Improvement in Scrabble, or anything, is always an interesting subject. There are so many subareas of any one area to improve in, and in such a deep area as Scrabble, each subarea is itself quite fascinating. While I occasionally get bored with improvement in an area--if strategy starts to seem degenerate, or studying becomes tedium--I soon pick up

Comments

[canikin]

So you aren't apathetic when you're observing, but sometimes are when you're playing? Seems a little backwards to me. I had this problem too, and I overcame it by uploading every live game I play online publicly. Knowing that those same observers who would be watching live can watch online seems to give me a reinvigorated competitive spirit and drives out the apathy.

[wantonhalo]

I am sometimes apathetic while observing, e.g. going through cross-tables games at a breakneck pace for no particular reason. Yet when I decide to really focus, I am a strong observer.

As for posting games online, while I think there is some truth in what you said, on the other hand I think that attitude could potentially make someone play fewer controversial plays (e.g., I can't do this, Good Player X wouldn't like this move!).

[canikin]

But does the cost of trying hard and being timid in your plays outweigh the the benefits of making 'controversial' plays? It seems better to try hard and not take risks than to try a little and be 'cute' with your plays.

[wantonhalo]

I am not saying that one should play something just for the sake of controversy, but rather that external pressures can tell you to make the wrong play, since the common knowledge often deviates from correctness. Any schmuck can play a game full of "controversial" plays, but they aren't going to win too many games. On the other hand, making controversial plays that are also good requires hard work and creativity, because that is what it takes to escape from the common knowledge.

[cesarsalad]

This is a good point, and it's actually screwing up some of my games recently, I gotta fix this soon before a certain big tournament that I just registered for :P

Basically I've lately been spending way too much time on some plays even if I know I'm not going to post the game online, because I really want to not lose that equity. It's kind of ridiculous, because then I run out of time and blow much more equity at the end. It's also making me play more phonies sometimes. Must fix.

[wantonhalo]

If anything I'd say it's probably better to this in games that aren't in a tournament, or that don't "count". When you aren't in a tournament, experimentation is good, and this kind of practice looking for plays will probably help you become better at play-finding in the long run. On the other hand, there's something to be said for playing clubs like tournaments to adjust to the feeling, but I don't think one should always do this, since you don't want to be too "safe" and thus fail to improve.

[bbstenniz]

the whole punting on fourth down when statistics say you should go for it is a pretty good analogy for what noah means. It's not about being cute, it's about making the best decision, even if said decision seems counterintuitive, and would be made by few people, knowing that the conventional decision is going to work out better sometimes (but less often).

[wallydraigle]

Trying hard and not taking risks is a good way to become a solid 1900 player, hit a wall, and be completely hapless when you're trying to get better because the same ideas and rules that got you to the dance have to be abandoned.

FWIW, I think Conrad knows you can't evaluate plays by which play works out more often vs. less often, but just for the sake of others, that's... not a very good method of evaluation.