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[rooster59]

Thai word wizards take on the world – in the English language!

 

Komol Panyasophonlert

 

Two Thai men will be attempting to stun the world of English native speakers when they compete in the 2016 World Scrabble Championships in France next week.

 

The world’s most popular word game has thousands of tournament players worldwide and the champion is hailed by millions throughout the world who play and love the game.

 

Vying for the title this year are Komol Panyasophonlert, 30, a computer programmer from Bangkok and Jakkrit Klaphajone a doctor who lives in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai.

 

Both have a realistic chance of the US 7,000 dollar first prize but must defeat about one hundred others from around the world to secure the crown.

 

Players are taking part from the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada as well as all over Africa and other parts of Asia.

 

The world number one, Nigel Richards of New Zealand, 48, is the favorite. He is the best player of all time and beat Komol to the title in Prague in 2013 after the Thai led 2-1 in the best of five final.

 

Komol said that he had been practicing hard reading wordlists in order to get his revenge on his nemesis Nigel who has won the championship three times since its inception in 1991.

 

“I hope I can do it, “he said, “though it certainly will not be easy.”

 

Jakkrit is taking time out from his job of fitting and designing prosthetic limbs to take part in the event at the Grand Palais in northern France. 

 

In the de facto world championship in Perth, Australia, last year he managed to win the last seven games straight but missed out on the title.

 

He is a former Thailand King’s Cup champion and has been playing the game for 25 years. Both players are considered great role models in Thailand and have inspired thousands to take up playing English Scrabble in the kingdom.

 

Scrabble is promoted as a sport in Thailand and the game receives royal family patronage as well as sponsorship from big business for dozens of events held in Bangkok and the provinces each year. 

 

Bangkok was named as the number one place in the world to play Scrabble by a US website last year due to the high level of its competition and number of expert Thai players living in the city.

 

Former international school teacher and Briton Gerry Carter who has lived in Thailand for 33 years will also represent Thailand in the championships.

 

Gerry said: “It is not widely known but Thailand is a hotbed of Scrabble with thousands playing the game nationwide – many to a world class level.

 

“People are often surprised by this due to the level of English competence many encounter while in the country. But Scrabble is part of the university games in Thailand and the players here are regarded as sportsmen and women.

 

“Two Thais have been crowned World Champions in the past in 2003 and 2009 and these are the only non-native speakers of English to win the title”.

 

Most of the winners have come from the UK, USA, NZ or Canada.

 

Scrabble, however, requires much more than just vocabulary though the top players will know well in excess of 100,000 words to compete at world championship level.

 

“Players need to have great strategy and mathematical capability to win at Scrabble at this level and many practice for hours per day in order to compete,” said Gerry who has represented Thailand at eight world championships and is rated number 11 in Thailand’s rankings.

 

“Lots of Thais have been hailed as great and innovative masters of the game by enthusiasts all around the world,” he added. “Many are the “grand masters” of the Scrabble world”.

 

The Mindsports International World Scrabble Championship begins on August 31st and there will be 24 games played before the top eight form the quarter finals and subsequent semis. 

 

The final will be a best of five on Sunday September 4th when one of the Thais will hope to claim the title of the best crossword gaming player on earth.

 

Several Thai youths will also take part in the World Youth Scrabble Championship that begins on Saturday August 27th and lasts for three days. 

 

Two Thai youths have won this title in the past and hopes will be high that the country’s under 18 word wizards will be able to follow suit in Lille this year.

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2016-08-28

[ratcatcher]

Good serendipity to them in the competition.

[mamypoko]

Were the World Scrabble Championships to be held in "Bangkok",

would they write a song about it...too?

 

[ratcatcher]

1 minute ago, mamypoko said:

Were the World Scrabble Championships to be held in "Bangkok",

would they write a song about it...too?

 

No, because that's already been done 30 years ago by Tim Rice (Murray head vocals etc) about a Chess tournament one night in Bangkok.

[Gillyflower]

Thanks Ratcatcher.  I haven't thought of Murray Head in years.   I used to be a great fan and particularly liked One Night.......  Went straight to Utube.

[Wilsonandson]

 

 “When he was learning to talk, he was not interested in words, just numbers,” his mother, Adrienne Fischer, said. “He related everything to numbers. We just thought it was normal. We’ve always just treated Nigel as Nigel.”

 

Richards, whose other great passion is cycling, wasn’t introduced to the game until he was 28, persuaded by his mother. “I said, ‘I know a game you’re not going to be very good at, because you can’t spell very well and you weren’t very good at English at school’,” she said.

Edited August 28, 2016 by Wilsonandson

[Mook23]

good luck!

just remember that Suhpain and universe-city are NOT correct ?

[Wilsonandson]

 

Richards' talents have drawn attention from women on the circuit. "There are certainly women in the Scrabble world who are fascinated by him, despite the fact he's no Dan Carter," says Aucklander Howard Warner. "Some women find a big brain sexy."

Edited August 28, 2016 by Wilsonandson

[Krataiboy]

Ye gods - rote learning works!

[mamypoko]

23 hours ago, ratcatcher said:

No, because that's already been done 30 years ago by Tim Rice (Murray head vocals etc) about a Chess tournament one night in Bangkok.

"....too?"  = in addition to the song about chess

but, nice catch...that was the song I was referring to.