Francophone Scrabble world in shock after victory by New Zealander who does not speak French
The French Scrabble world is reeling after 47-year old New Zealander Nigel Richards' victory in the Francophone Scrabble title in Belgium but he is not a French speaker. He has shown that the word game is not so much a matter of literary genius as one of mathematical brilliance.
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Richards' big win came from memorising the Scrabble French dictionary in only nine weeks.
It also helps that he has a photographic memory.
He won against French-speaking Gabonese player Schelick Ilagou Rekawe in a three-hour final match. These were a few noteworthy words that led to his victory:
French media expressed their awe at the fact that a New Zealander could win the title using words such as 'anatrope' [inverted vegetable ovule] 'chum' [friend in Canadian French), and 'canide' [Carnivorous land mammal ].
And yet, he would not be capable of explaining what they mean. "Nigel will say Bonjour and will give you the scores in French, because it's obligatory. But that's all," explained the vice-president of the Belge Federation of Scrabble to Francetv info.
French journalist Dzibiz present during the tournament tweeting that Nigel Richards, an avid cyclist, is greater than Tour de France celebrity Chris Froome.
Nigel Richards > Chris Froome (cc @LePlus)
http://t.co/4UEuhLhDaG
— Dzibz (@dzibz) July 21, 2015
"Amazing!", tweeted the Francophone Scrabble association, expressing its shock at a victory by a player who does not speak the language of Molière.
Nigel Richards néozélandais ne parlant pas français est le nouveau Champion du Monde de Scrabble francophone AMAZING! pic.twitter.com/ShjX1PLU6V
— FFSc (@FFScrabble) 20 Juillet 2015
Avid French tweeter of the match, Kévin Meng wrote that Francophone Scrabble entered a new dimension the night of the match. He tweeted a video of the standing ovation for Nigel Richards.
Le #Scrabble francophone est entré dans une nouvelle dimension ce soir! L'ovation du public pour Nigel Richards. pic.twitter.com/67kmw8eIQ4
— Kévin Meng (@kevinspmeng) July 20, 2015
Wearing a wizard-like beard, sporting modest attire and oversized glasses, Richards has become legendary in Scrabble circuits. He is referred to as the Tiger Woods of Scrabble.
He's a three-time Anglophone champion, five-time American champion and 12-time champion for the the King's Cup in Thailand, a sort of Tour de France to thousands of scrabble players worldwide.
Although much of Richards' personal life is undisclosed, he is trained as an engineer and his participation in competitions has proven to be very lucrative.
He has won an estimated 200,000 euros over his 22-year career.
He first began to play scrabble at the age of 28, when his mother proposed playing this game because she was fed up with him winning card games. Though he wasn't very good at writing at school, his mother was dumbfounded to see him excel at the word game.
Richards declined RFI's request to be interviewed.
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