New Zealander Wins Spanish Scrabble Championship Without Speaking Spanish

Nigel Richards, widely regarded as the greatest Scrabble player of all time, memorized the Spanish Scrabble word list to secure victory over native speakers.

Nigel Richards, a New Zealand Scrabble champion, won the Spanish World Scrabble Championship in Granada, Spain, defeating over 150 competitors from 20 countries.
Richards, who does not speak Spanish, spent a year memorizing the Spanish Scrabble word list to prepare for the tournament.
The victory marks another linguistic triumph for Richards, who previously won French-language Scrabble championships in 2015 and 2018 despite not speaking French.
Richards' success is attributed to his photographic memory and mathematical approach, allowing him to recall word patterns without understanding their meanings.
Known as the 'Tiger Woods of Scrabble,' Richards has won nearly 200 tournaments in his career, including five English-language world titles, and is celebrated for his unparalleled skill and strategy.