Scrabble genius wins the Spanish championship and he doesn't even speak the language

Many of us love learning new languages and spend years mastering vocabulary and pronunciation. However, few possess the sharp memory needed to quickly grasp a completely foreign language. An English-speaking man defied the odds by winning a Scrabble World Championship in Spanish, despite not speaking the language. Nigel Richards, known for his incredible memory, was dubbed the "Tiger Woods of Scrabble" by CNN. The 57-year-old Malaysia-based New Zealander recently won the competition, which is inspired by the classic crossword puzzle, in a language completely unfamiliar to him.

Before achieving this remarkable feat, the renowned Scrabble player had taken home the trophy of the famous board game five times, reported The Guardian. Richards was determined to become the greatest Scrabble player in multiple languages after overpowering opponents in his mother tongue. His journey—from starting at the Christchurch Scrabble Club to leading successful campaigns in the US, UK and Singapore—earned him the title of "greatest tournament Scrabble player of all time." Since beginning his competitive career in 1996, Richards has won over 75% of his tournament matches and earned an estimated US$200,000 in prize money, according to Cross Tables.

In addition, Richards’ inability to speak French didn’t stop him from winning a similar competition in France in 2015. He defeated 150 opponents from over 20 countries, leaving no room for doubt about his mastery of the game. Even those he triumphed over, including Benjamín Olaizola, the runner-up of the world championship in Granada, couldn't deny his brilliance. “This is someone with very particular, incredible abilities; he’s a gifted guy,” Spanish radio network Cadena Ser quoted Olaizola as saying.

One of Richards’ friends, Liz Fagerlund, whom he met in 1996 at the Christchurch Scrabble Club in New Zealand, revealed his unique preparation methods. According to Liz, the differently "wired" player spent nine weeks memorizing the French Scrabble dictionary. Richards went on to win the French Scrabble World Championship title again in 2018 in a tight competition. “He doesn’t even study the pages word by word. He can look at a page full of words and absorb them all,” Liz told CNN at the time. Notably, the “phenomenal” skill of learning words at such a quick pace makes the player “exceptional” among his competition, per another world champion, Eric Salvador Tchouyo from Cameroon.

“When Nigel Richards sits at a table, everyone loses their nerves, even the biggest champions,” he told Radio France Internationale. “Playing against him is like playing against a computer.” Amid his successful victory and media attention, the New Zealander reportedly chooses to remain low-key about his achievements. "I often say he would make a good doctoral thesis topic for students in medicine because it’s incomprehensible that someone could have such memory capacity in a language he doesn’t speak," Tchouyo added.