Scrabble: Korat wonderkid wins world youth championship

 

Tarin (right) at the World Youth Cup in Kuala Lumpur

 

Fifteen year old Tarin Pairor from Nakhon Ratchasima has won the world youth Scrabble championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

 

Tarin - son of a Canadian father and Thai mother, both lecturers in physics - outlasted a field of 190 young players in the World Youth Cup formerly the World Youth Scrabble Championships. 

 

Tarin announced his arrival on the scene of competitive Scrabble - the world's most popular word game - at the WESPA world championships in India in October. 

 

There he briefly led the adult section and defeated the greatest player of all time Nigel Richards of New Zealand, the reigning world champion in both English and French languages. 

 

Tarin's proud father Mike Smith, 43, told Thaivisa that he didn't want to go to KL this time as he felt he might jinx his son! Both he and Tarin's mother, Puangratana Pairor, 46, were on tenterhooks as the results came in from Malaysia. 

 

Tarin won with one game of the 23 to spare winning the US$1,000 first prize. 

 

Bangkok resident Gerry Carter who plays Scrabble for Thailand said: "Tarin is an extremely good player, not just by youth standards but by any standards. 

 

"He has a maturity well beyond his years.

 

"There will be high hopes that he might develop into someone to challenge Nigel Richards in the future and wrest the world title from the GOAT!"

 

Tarin is a member of the "Word Wizard" Scrabble training academy run by Akkarapol Kwansak in Nakhon Ratchasima. 

 

Scrabble - known as Crossword Game in Thailand for contractual reasons - is widely played in the kingdom with regular domestic and international tournaments taking place throughout the country. 

 

Big corporations sponsor events and the game enjoys the patronage of the Thai Royal family.

 

Two Thais have been crowned adult world champion in the past in 2003 and 2009. 

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2019-12-02

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 I would like to play against you to improve my own game and vocabulary,

well done young man,

8 minutes ago, leeneeds said:

 I would like to play against you to improve my own game and vocabulary,

well done young man,

you can.  get ranked in the world.  i would like to play against Messi, but .....   so, start playing competitively!!!!  

46 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

Please do tell us all how one cheats at Scrabble.

uncle google says.....

YourDictionary's Word Finder is the cheat tool that will help you wipe out the competition. Type in the letters you want and our word finder will show you all the possible words you can make from the letters in your hand, or find words you can play later.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

He has a maturity well beyond his years.

if at 15 he is winning at scrabble in thai,french and english language that is an understatement

2 minutes ago, wombat said:

49 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

Please do tell us all how one cheats at Scrabble.

 

2 minutes ago, wombat said:

uncle google says.....

YourDictionary's Word Finder is the cheat tool that will help you wipe out the competition. Type in the letters you want and our word finder will show you all the possible words you can make from the letters in your hand, or find words you can play later.

Next question. How do you hide your device from the judges and adjudicators? ????

 

1 hour ago, Ks45672 said:

He probably cheated

How very helpful of you to celebrate a young Thai man's greatest personal triumph to date in this way. 

 

Incidentally, did you know that you could get 248 points if the placed the word "KNOBHEAD" in the optimum position between two triple word score squares. 

 

Rooster

A troll post has been removed as well as the replies. 

1 hour ago, wombat said:

if at 15 he is winning at scrabble in thai,french and english language that is an understatement

That is Nigel Richards, not Tarin. Nigel has won in English and French and is considering a tilt at the Spanish world championship too, I heard. Tarin just plays English Scrabble.

 

But who know what the future might hold!

 

Rooster

Arrest him, looks suspiciously like gambling ????

Scrabble seems to be widely popular...

 

 

(Admit that I'm not native English speaker, so had to Google, so I should not compete in a Scrabble competition...????)

I hope later he becomes an English teacher in Thailand 

On 12/2/2019 at 10:01 AM, Jane Dough said:

How very helpful of you to celebrate a young Thai man's greatest personal triumph to date in this way. 

 

Incidentally, did you know that you could get 248 points if the placed the word "KNOBHEAD" in the optimum position between two triple word score squares. 

 

Rooster

Carry on "KNOBJOCKEY"