World

Non-Spanish Speaker Wins Spanish Scrabble World Title

NO HABLO ESPAÑOL

Spanish media have dubbed New Zealander Nigel Richard’s victory the “height of absurdity” after it was revealed he can’t actually speak the language.

New Zealander Nigel Richards holds up his trophy after winning one of his previous English-language world titles.
Jonathan Brady - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images

While you might not hope to battle for Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World without some fancy footwork and a solid left hook, turns out you can still win the Spanish Scrabble World Title without, well, speaking a lick of Spanish. Nigel Richards–a 57-year-old New Zealander, labelled the board game’s Tiger Woods for the five English-language tournaments already under his belt–recently beat more than 150 other people from 20 different countries to emerge victorious at the Spanish World Scrabble Championship in Granada. Spanish-language newspaper El Confidencial labelled his win “the height of absurdity”, perhaps not least given he’s also twice won the French World Championship without, you guessed it, being able to speak any French. The trick to global board game fame, apparently, is simply memorizing any language’s Scrabble dictionary… which you’d think might at least equip you with a basic grasp of how to ask for the nearest biblioteca.

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