Competing in anything at a high level is difficult. Scrabble, however, is in a league of its own when it comes to what it takes to reach the upper echelons of gameplay. In a casual setting, knowing more words than the opponent is a great advantage to have. At high levels, that advantage is nullified by both players likely having memorized every word up to eight letters in length. Without the vocabulary giving the edge, scoring strategically becomes the advantage, making competitive Scrabble more about math than words. Adam Logan, the winner of the most recent World Scrabble Championship and mathematician by trade, typically also has the advantage there in his games.

Logan, despite all of his skill, was still the underdog when he faced off against New Zealand’s Nigel Richards at the 2025 World Scrabble Championship in Accra, Ghana. Richards is the undisputed greatest player in Scrabble history, having won a record eight world titles — five in English, two in French and one in Spanish, despite not speaking either of the latter two languages. Beyond his resume, Richards is also known for his ability to spot and play words very few players in the world would be able to, such as playing the 10-letter “ATHLEISURE” in the championship game of an event held in St. Louis, Missouri earlier this year. 

In the first game of the best of seven series the two played, Logan was able to emerge victorious 450-375 off the back of playing “HAEMATINS” and “TOILERS,” getting an extra 50 points for each for having used all seven of his tiles to make each word. Richards was only able to get the “bingo” bonus for playing “PUNCTUAL” early in the game and was unable to find another to catch up to Logan. However, Richards redeemed himself quickly in Game Two, opening the match with the 94-point “JEEPING” before running away with the lead by finding an additional three bingos in “SALTATE,” “FACTISES,” and “TUBEROID.” 

The words Scrabble allows to be played are generally dependent on where the game is played, with North American competitions using a smaller word list than the rest of the world. Since knowing definitions of words has no real benefit to winning games, most players who take the time to learn the dictionary have no idea what the words they play mean. As a result of not needing to know the grammar or meanings of the words they use, many players can still find success without speaking the language the game is played in.

Richards opened Game Three with a pair of back-to-back bingos plus another two later in the game, leading the game by as many as 128 at one point. Logan retaliated by finding back-to-back scores of his own over 100 points, playing “INFAMIES” followed by “DIOPTERS” on spaces with score multipliers to surge into the lead and escape Richards’ four-bingo onslaught to win 515-499. Richards evened the series by winning Game Four despite placing his 102-point “SHERIAT” with the H and E swapped, losing his turn and causing him to have to work back to win the game 509-446.

Game Five saw the two exchange bingos in “ARMOIRE” and “RELOOKED” to open the game before Logan’s 88-point “JAMS” gave the Canadian a lead he would never lose, putting him one win away from the championship victory. Richards drew brutally unhelpful tiles for the majority of the sixth game, allowing Logan to land the finishing blow to the Scrabble giant with a simple play of “RATS” to win his second World Scrabble Championship.