• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Man wins Spanish and French scrabble championships despite not speaking the languages

Home> News> World News

Published 19:22 12 Dec 2024 GMT

Man wins Spanish and French scrabble championships despite not speaking the languages

It's his second time winning the Scrabble World Championship in a different language

Joshua Nair

Joshua Nair

A man has gained overnight fame for the second time after winning the Spanish World Scrabble Championship - nine years after winning the French World Scrabble Championship.

The twist? He's from New Zealand and doesn't speak either of the languages.

Nigel Richards is the man of the moment, winning the 2024 edition of the tournament in Granada, Spain, in November.

Reuters reported that the New Zealander triumphed, with his outstanding linguistic abilities coming to the fore, beating out several native speakers once again.

Advert

Richard walked away with his second Scrabble championship in a different language (JOHN THYS/AFP via Getty Images)
Richard walked away with his second Scrabble championship in a different language (JOHN THYS/AFP via Getty Images)

Richards spectacularly beat out over 145 opponents from around the world, from Spanish-speaking countries such as Argentina, Colombia, Spain and Venezuela, including a winning run of 22 matches in a row, according to the Federación Internacional de Léxico en Español on Instagram.

Benjamín Olaizola lost to Richards, who is in his 50s, in the final, and told Spanish radio network La Cadena SER: "This is an incredible humiliation."

He also called the New Zealander a 'gifted man' that has 'specific capabilities'.

Speaking more about his willingness to use complex words, Olaizola further explained: "He had a hand that was the most obvious one, the one that a computer would give to you, and he didn't use it."

Advert

Richards is so well known in the community, in fact, that he has garnered a nickname: the 'Tiger Woods of Scrabble'.

And it's not for nothing either, because on top of his two World Scrabble Championship wins, he is ranked no.1 by the World English-language Scrabble Player's Association (WESPA), having won almost 200 tournaments in his career.

Among his wins was his first famous win, the 2015 French-language title, where he claimed that he only knew 'Bonjour' in the language, and not much else.

He doesn't like being in the public eye (JOHN THYS/AFP via Getty Images)
He doesn't like being in the public eye (JOHN THYS/AFP via Getty Images)

All he did, according to friend and supported Liz Fagerlund, is memorise the French Scrabble dictionary, albeit for just nine weeks.

Advert

It still contained near 400,000 words, as Fagerlund explained to CNN: "It's most likely that he's wired differently; he doesn't even study the pages word by word.

"He can look at a page full of words and absorb them all."

The two met at Christchurch Scrabble club back in 1996 in their native, as Fagerlund recalled: "He started playing Scrabble with his mom because she got sick of him beating her at cards. She thought she might be able to win, since he was no good at English in school."

She revealed that he was 'soon beating everyone' at the club, clearly having a talent from a young age.

Despite the fame, Richards doesn't really give interviews, keeping to himself, though he likes to cycle, and doesn't smoke, drink, watch TV or even listen to the radio.

Featured Image Credit: JOHN THYS/AFP via Getty Images

Topics: Weird, World News, Gaming, Community

Joshua Nair
Joshua Nair

Joshua Nair is a journalist at LADbible. Born in Malaysia and raised in Dubai, he has always been interested in writing about a range of subjects, from sports to trending pop culture news. After graduating from Oxford Brookes University with a BA in Media, Journalism and Publishing, he got a job freelance writing for SPORTbible while working in marketing before landing a full-time role at LADbible. Unfortunately, he's unhealthily obsessed with Manchester United, which takes its toll on his mental and physical health. Daily.

X

@joshnair10

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Man killed in London street 'unlike any case in history' still not identified despite clear photos of him
  • Average penis size around the globe has been revealed and it's not good news for the UK
  • Man shared what he saw when visiting ‘heaven and hell’ in near-death experience following car crash
  • Man trying terrifying world record ‘death dive’ left with major injuries after it went seriously wrong

Choose your content:

an hour ago
4 hours ago
  • an hour ago

    Truth behind ‘golden retriever experience’ revealed as owner barred from owning dogs after animal deaths

    The owner of the dog experience showed 'no remorse or victim empathy,' the judge said

    News
  • an hour ago

    Mum says doctor dismissed rare condition that left her 'burning alive' as just a pregnancy side effect

    She says the condition has 'robbed her of everything'

    News
  • 4 hours ago

    Dad responds after being branded 'lazy cheat' taking the 'easy way out' over 6st Mounjaro weight loss

    George Keywood has lost almost 40kg on the medication so far

    News
  • 4 hours ago

    Woman diagnosed with ADHD at 28 reveals commonly asked question that's a red flag you have the condition

    Over two million people are said to be living with undiagnosed ADHD

    News