Nigel Richards (Scrabble player) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Nigel Richards
Richards in 2018
Born	1967 (age 57–58) Christchurch, New Zealand
Occupation	Scrabble player

Nigel Richards (born 1967) is a famous Scrabble player from New Zealand. Many people think he is the best tournament Scrabble player ever!

Nigel grew up in New Zealand. He has won the World Scrabble Championship five times. He won in 2007, 2011, 2013, 2018, and 2019. He also won the World English-Language Scrabble Players’ Association Championship (WESPAC) in 2019.

Nigel has won many other big Scrabble events too. He is a five-time U.S. national champion. He won this four times in a row from 2010 to 2013. He has also won the UK Open eight times. He won the Singapore Open Scrabble Championship 11 times. And he won the King's Cup in Bangkok 15 times. This is the world's biggest Scrabble competition!

In 2015, Nigel did something amazing. He won the French World Scrabble Championships even though he doesn't speak French! He reportedly spent just nine weeks studying the French dictionary. He won it again in 2018. He also won many duplicate titles starting in 2016.

In 2024, he did it again! He won the Spanish-language World Championships. He doesn't speak Spanish either.

People say Nigel has an amazing memory. He can remember things like a picture. He is also very good at math. He doesn't often give interviews.

Early Life and Start in Scrabble

Nigel Richards was born in 1967 in Christchurch, New Zealand. He went to Aranui High School. He got a scholarship for university but decided not to go. In 2000, he moved from Christchurch. He started living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Nigel began playing competitive Scrabble at the Christchurch Scrabble Club in New Zealand. He started his professional career in 1996. Since then, he has won about 75% of his tournament games. He has earned around US$200,000 in prize money.

Nigel's Amazing Wins

Nigel Richards has had many incredible wins throughout his Scrabble career. Here are some of his most memorable achievements:

Becoming a World Champion

• 2007: Nigel won his first World Scrabble Championship. He beat Ganesh Asirvatham from Malaysia 3-0 in the final. He won US$15,000.
• 2011: He won the World Scrabble Championship again. This time, he beat Andrew Fisher from Australia in a very close game.
• 2013: Nigel became World Champion for the third time. The championship was renamed the Scrabble Champions Tournament.
• 2018 & 2019: He won his fourth and fifth World Championships. This shows how consistently good he is!

Winning the U.S. National Championship

Nigel has won the USA National Scrabble Championship five times.

• 2008: He won his first U.S. National Championship. He won US$25,000.
• 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013: He won the U.S. Championship four years in a row! This made him the only person to win the event four times in a row. He is also the only player to win it five times overall.

Winning in Other Languages

Nigel is famous for winning Scrabble championships in languages he doesn't speak.

• 2015 French World Championship: Nigel won the French World Scrabble Championship. He doesn't speak French! He studied the French dictionary for just two months. He won 14 out of 17 games before the final. He then beat Schélick Ilagou Rekawe in the final.
• 2018 French Championships: He won his second French Classique Championship. He also won several French Duplicate titles.
• 2024 Spanish World Championship: Nigel won the Spanish-language World Championships. He also doesn't speak Spanish! He finished second in the Duplicate format. He also got the first two perfect scores ever in that championship. He won 23 out of 24 games to win the Classic format.

Nigel's Career Achievements

Nigel Richards has an incredible list of achievements in Scrabble.

World Championship Results

No.	Year	Stage	Opponent	Result
1	1999	Preliminaries	–	–
2	2005	Preliminaries
3	2007	Finals	Ganesh Asirvatham	3–0 (1)
4	2009	Finals	Pakorn Nemitrmansuk	1–3
5	2011	Finals	Andrew Fisher	3–2 (2)
6	2013	Finals	Komol Panyasophonlert	3–2 (3)
7	2014	Preliminaries	–	–
8	2015	Preliminaries
9	2016	Preliminaries
10	2017	Quarter-finals	David Eldar	0–2
11	2018	Finals	Jesse Day	3–1 (4)
12	2019	Finals	David Eldar	3–1 (5)

U.S. National Scrabble Championship Results

No.	Year	Result	Runner-up
1	2002	2nd (1)	–
2	2004	3rd (1)
3	2005	7th
4	2008	Won (1)	Brian Cappelletto
5	2009	2nd (2)	–
6	2010	Won (2)	Brian Cappelletto
7	2011	Won (3)	Kenji Matsumoto
8	2012	Won (4)	David Gibson
7	2013	Won (5)	Komol Panyasophonlert
8	2014	16th	–
9	2017	3rd (2)
10	2018	2nd (3)

French Scrabble Results

No.	Year	Format	Opponent	Result
1	2015	Classique	Schelick Ilagou Rekawe	2–1 (1)
2	2017	Blitz Duplicate	–	Won (1)
3	2017	Elite Duplicate		Won (1)
4	2017	Paires		Won with Hervé Bohbot (1)
5	2018	Classique	Gueu Mathieu Zingbe	2–1 (2)
6	2018	Blitz Duplicate	–	Won (2)
7	2018	Elite Duplicate		Won (2)
8	2018	Paires		Won with Hervé Bohbot (2)
9	2019	Blitz Duplicate		Won (3)
10	2019	Elite Duplicate		Won (3)
11	2019	Paires		Won with Hervé Bohbot (3)

Spanish Scrabble Results

Other Major Wins

• King's Cup (Thailand International): Nigel has won this huge competition 15 times!
• Singapore Open Scrabble Championship: He has won this championship 12 times.
• UK Open: Nigel has won the UK Open 10 times.