Nigel Richards (Scrabble)
Encyclopedia
Nigel Richards is a Scrabble
player who represents New Zealand
in international competition. He is the reigning World Champion
and a three-time U.S. National Champion, the only player to have held both titles concurrently. He is a nine-time champion of the Singapore Open Scrabble Championship.
Richards started playing competitive Scrabble at New Zealand's Christchurch
Scrabble Club before moving to Malaysia in 2000.
Since beginning his competitive career in 1997, he has won about 75% of his games, collecting an estimated USD 153,000 in prize money. Richards, who now lives in Kuala Lumpur
but plays as a New Zealand representative, is an eight-time winner of the King's Cup in Bangkok, the biggest Scrabble competition in the world.
Richards won the 2008 USA National Scrabble Championship and earned USD 25,000 by winning his last three games against the runner-up, 1998 champion Brian Cappelletto
, for a record of 22 wins and 6 losses, with a cumulative spread of +1340 points.
Richards was the runner-up in the 2009 USA National Scrabble Championship in Dayton, Ohio. He lost in the final game to Dave Wiegand, who would win the tournament, but Richards still won 25 of the 31 matches.
Richards is the current USA National Scrabble Champion, having won 25 of 31 games at the National Scrabble Championship in August 2010, the same record he attained the previous year at the Nationals. His performance in this tournament was so dominant that he clinched the title before the last day of competition began.
Richards won the 2007 World Scrabble Championship
and earned USD 15,000 by winning a playoff, 3 games to 0, against Ganesh Asirvatham
of Malaysia. The two qualified for the playoff by leading a field of 104 international experts after 24 rounds of a tournament held November 9–12 in Mumbai
, India. He repeated this success in the 2011 World Scrabble Championship
in Warsaw
, Poland, winning a closely fought final against Australia's top player, Andrew Fisher
, so becoming the first person to win the World Scrabble Championship twice.
Scrabble
Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by forming words from individual lettered tiles on a game board marked with a 15-by-15 grid. The words are formed across and down in crossword fashion and must appear in a standard dictionary. Official reference works provide a list...
player who represents New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
in international competition. He is the reigning World Champion
World Scrabble Championship
The World Scrabble Championship is the most prestigious title in competitive English-language Scrabble. It has been held every second year since 1991. The current World Scrabble Champion is Nigel Richards...
and a three-time U.S. National Champion, the only player to have held both titles concurrently. He is a nine-time champion of the Singapore Open Scrabble Championship.
Richards started playing competitive Scrabble at New Zealand's Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
Scrabble Club before moving to Malaysia in 2000.
Since beginning his competitive career in 1997, he has won about 75% of his games, collecting an estimated USD 153,000 in prize money. Richards, who now lives in Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
but plays as a New Zealand representative, is an eight-time winner of the King's Cup in Bangkok, the biggest Scrabble competition in the world.
Richards won the 2008 USA National Scrabble Championship and earned USD 25,000 by winning his last three games against the runner-up, 1998 champion Brian Cappelletto
Brian Cappelletto
Brian Cappelletto is a Scrabble player who represents the United States in international competition. He was the runner-up at the inaugural World Scrabble Championship in 1991 and won the event in 2001...
, for a record of 22 wins and 6 losses, with a cumulative spread of +1340 points.
Richards was the runner-up in the 2009 USA National Scrabble Championship in Dayton, Ohio. He lost in the final game to Dave Wiegand, who would win the tournament, but Richards still won 25 of the 31 matches.
Richards is the current USA National Scrabble Champion, having won 25 of 31 games at the National Scrabble Championship in August 2010, the same record he attained the previous year at the Nationals. His performance in this tournament was so dominant that he clinched the title before the last day of competition began.
Richards won the 2007 World Scrabble Championship
World Scrabble Championship 2007
The World Scrabble Championship 2007 was held in the , Mumbai, India between 9 November and 12 November. The winner was Nigel Richards of New Zealand.The tournament began with a 24-round Swiss tournament, whose top two players contested a best-of-five final....
and earned USD 15,000 by winning a playoff, 3 games to 0, against Ganesh Asirvatham
Ganesh Asirvatham
Ganesh Asirvatham is an English language teacher from Klang, Selangor. He is a Scrabble player who represents Malaysia in international competition. He was the World Scrabble Championship 2007 runner-up. Ganesh is also the current Guinness World Record holder for the most Scrabble opponents played...
of Malaysia. The two qualified for the playoff by leading a field of 104 international experts after 24 rounds of a tournament held November 9–12 in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, India. He repeated this success in the 2011 World Scrabble Championship
World Scrabble Championship 2011
The World Scrabble Championship 2011 was held in the Hilton Hotel, Warsaw, Poland, from 12 October to 16 October 2011. The format was a 34-round preliminary tournament and a best-of-five final. The top two players after the preliminary tournament, Nigel Richards and Andrew Fisher, played a...
in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Poland, winning a closely fought final against Australia's top player, Andrew Fisher
Andrew Fisher (Scrabble)
Andrew Fisher is an international Scrabble player who represented England in international competition but now lives in and represents Australia having emigrated in 2002. He was the World Scrabble Championship 2011 runner-up, the UK National Scrabble Champion in 1996 and the Australian National...
, so becoming the first person to win the World Scrabble Championship twice.
Achievements
- Two-time World Scrabble ChampionshipWorld Scrabble ChampionshipThe World Scrabble Championship is the most prestigious title in competitive English-language Scrabble. It has been held every second year since 1991. The current World Scrabble Champion is Nigel Richards...
winner: 2007, 2011 - Three-time U.S. National Scrabble Championship Champion (2008, 2010 and 2011)
- Nine-time winner of the Thailand International (King's Cup)
- Nine-time Singapore Open Scrabble Championship Champion (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
External links
- The Enigmatic Nigel Richards: A profile by Stefan FatsisStefan FatsisStefan Fatsis is an author and journalist. He regularly appears as a guest on National Public Radio's All Things Considered daily radio news program and as a panelist on Slate's sports podcast Hang Up and Listen. He is a former staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal.-Biography:Fatsis grew up...
- NSA profile
- NZ article on the WSC win in 2007
- http://50.63.8.131/2011/finals.html