‘Tiger Woods of Scrabble’ Wins Spanish Championships Even Though He Doesn’t Speak the Language
Benjamín Olaizola, who came second to New Zealander Nigel Richards, called his opponent a “gifted guy” with “very particular abilities"
Nigel Richards is a Scrabble phenomenon!
The New Zealand native claimed the recent Spanish World Scrabble Championships, despite not speaking the language.
Richards, 57, battled more than 150 competitors from over 20 countries to take home the title, per U.K. newspaper The Guardian. And the man who came second, Benjamín Olaizola, had nothing but good things to say about the victor.
“This is someone with very particular, incredible abilities; he’s a gifted guy,” Olaizola told Spanish radio network Cadena Ser, per The Guardian.
Reuters reports that the New Zealander dominated the competition, which took place on Nov. 16 in Grenada, Spain. The outlet also reported that Richards has won similar competitions in France, but he can’t speak French either!
According to CNN, Richards, who is known as the “Tiger Woods of Scrabble,” has won nearly 200 tournaments, including multiple world titles, and is ranked No. 1 by the World English-language Scrabble Player’s Association (WESPA).
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Richards first made headlines in 2015 when he won the Francophone Scrabble World Championships in Louvain-La-Neuve on Jul. 21. CNN reported at the time that the extent of his French was “Bonjour.”
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His friend Liz Fagerlund told the outlet that Richards — who she met in 1996 at the Christchurch Scrabble Club in New Zealand — had spent nine weeks memorizing the French Scrabble dictionary and was “wired” differently.
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“He doesn’t even study the pages word by word,” Fagerlund explained. “He can look at a page full of words and absorb them all.”
In 2018, Richards once again won the French title and is widely viewed as the best player of all time, reports The Guardian.
The outlet adds that Richards is intensely private and rarely gives interviews.
Eric Salvador Tchouyo, a world champion Scrabble player from Cameroon, told Radio France Internationale on Nov. 22, per The Guardian, that Richards is a “phenomenon” and an “exceptional person.”
“When Nigel Richards sits at a table, everyone loses their nerves, even the biggest champions,” he continued. “Playing against Nigel Richards is like playing against a computer.”
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