A New Zealand man named Nigel Richards has once again amazed the world with his Scrabble skills—this time by winning the Spanish World Scrabble Championship, even though he reportedly doesn’t speak Spanish!
The championship took place in Granada, Spain, last month. Richards went up against over 145 players from around the globe, including top contenders from countries like Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia. Not only did he win, but he also dominated the competition, claiming 22 straight victories. The Federación Internacional de Léxico en Español shared the incredible news on Instagram.
Richards, who is in his 50s, has been dubbed the “Tiger Woods of Scrabble” because of his unmatched talent. He’s won almost 200 tournaments, including multiple world championships, and is currently ranked as the world’s No. 1 Scrabble player by the World English-language Scrabble Players Association (WESPA).
But this isn’t the first time Richards has stunned the Scrabble world by competing in a foreign language. Back in 2015, he won the French-language Scrabble title after reportedly learning the French Scrabble dictionary in just nine weeks. That dictionary includes nearly 400,000 words! According to his friend Liz Fagerlund, Richards doesn’t memorize words in the usual way. Instead, he seems to absorb entire pages of words at once, like a human sponge.
Fagerlund, who met Richards when he joined the Christchurch Scrabble Club in New Zealand in 1996, shared a fun detail about his Scrabble journey. “He started playing Scrabble with his mom because she got tired of losing to him at card games,” she said. “She thought she had a chance to win at Scrabble since he wasn’t great at English in school. But before long, he was beating everyone at the club.”
Richards is known for being a private person who avoids the spotlight. He loves biking, doesn’t drink or smoke, and doesn’t watch TV or listen to the radio. Despite his low profile, his skills are impossible to ignore.
Benjamín Olaizola, the runner-up in the Spanish championship, admitted he was shocked by Richards’ performance. Olaizola described Richards as a “gifted man” with “very specific abilities.” He also pointed out that Richards has a way of surprising his opponents by avoiding obvious moves and using incredibly complex words—even in a language that’s not his own.
“This is an incredible humiliation,” Olaizola said in a radio interview. “He played in ways we didn’t expect.”
Nigel Richards’ story is nothing short of extraordinary. From playing Scrabble with his mom in New Zealand to conquering the Scrabble world in multiple languages, his talent and dedication continue to amaze everyone.
