Nigel Richards doesn't speak a word of French. Nor Spanish. However, there is one discipline where this New Zealander crushes the competition despite the language barrier: Scrabble. After winning the French-speaking Scrabble World Championship five times between 2015 and 2019 in various disciplines, he tackled the Spanish-speaking version by participating in the international tournament currently being held in Granada (Spain). And there again he shriveled his opponents. He became the duplicate Scrabble world champion this Monday, November 11, during the first day of events.
As spotted by a journalist from Actu.fr, the 57-year-old man has established himself in this discipline where all players compete with the same letters in a solo game. The goal is to obtain as many points as possible.
And Nigel Richards made history for several reasons: in addition to winning against the competition, he became the first Spanish-speaking Scrabble player to match the computer's score during one of the games of the competition . He also beat the Frenchman Serge Emig, a big name in the discipline.
A legend of his discipline
But where did this idea come from? A formidable Scrabble player in his native language, this fifty-year-old from Christchruch on the south island of New Zealand began with English-speaking competitions in the 2000s. Winner of the prestigious Thai Cup in 1999, the biggest annual meeting, it imposes itself almost every year. After a few running-in editions, he became world champion in 2007, beating Malaysian Ganesh Asirvatham.
From there continues an impressive series of titles: five times United States champion between 2008 and 2013, four other world champion titles between 2011 and 2019. The Thai Cup? A formality that he has now won fifteen times, just like the Singapore Open or the United Kingdom Open, from which he is a multiple winner. In the mid-2010s, he looked for a new challenge, worthy of his track record which was starting to go in circles. Being world champion again, for him, can be tiring.
Around ten world titles in French-speaking Scrabble
But Scrabble is full of variations, starting with linguistic ones. So in May 2015, the New Zealander immersed himself in the French-speaking lexicon of the most famous word game, reports American radio NPR. Two months later, at the French-language World Championships held in Louvain (Belgium), he beat Gabonese Schélick Ilagou Rekawe in the final.
Here we are, the French-speaking Scrabble world champion does not speak French. The start of a new raid of titles, routine for Nigel: eleven titles in total, including two in classic version and three in duo version. And there it is, he's done it again.
In this year 2024, Nigel Richards has arrived with another challenge in his bag. Exit French, make way for Spanish. After a period of preparation that we imagine barely longer than that for the French-speaking version, the man is now present in Granada for the 26th Spanish-speaking World Championships. After his first victory in the duplicate formula, he will now set out to conquer a title in the classic version.
