Celebrating 70 Years of Scrabble, Nigel Richards from New Zealand becomes the Champion after a nail-biting final.

After competing against hundreds of talented Scrabble enthusiasts in 36 games across seven days from 25 countries across the globe, Nigel Richards, 51 from New Zealand, has clinched the title of World Scrabble Champion 2018 in Scrabble’s 70th anniversary year.

Nigel was declared the winner after a nail-biting fourth round final, beating runner-up Jesse Day from California, USA in the final. As well as achieving the ultimate accolade for any Scrabble fan, Nigel also won $8,000.

The crucial word played was Groutier meaning “grouty”, scoring 68 points. Nigel beat opponent Jesse with a final score of 575 to 452.

Nigel commented: “I am absolutely thrilled to have won two World Championships this year including French and English. It was a closely fought championship and Jesse was a very impressive opponent to play.”

Nigel, a top-rated player, has participated in 36 games this week in preparation for the final. Nigel currently lives in Malaysia and started playing Scrabble in 1995. He has won three World Scrabble Championship tournaments in 2007, 2011 and 2013 and has also won the French World Championship in 2015 and in 2018.

The World Scrabble Championship final took palace at Westfield, London as part of an immersive, pop-up Scrabble experience which celebrated the past, present and future of Scrabble, marking 70 years of the world-famous board game.