A New Zealand man playing his first-ever competitive Scrabble game in Spanish, a language he doesn’t speak, has won the board game’s Spanish-language world title.

Nigel Richards from New Zealand has won Scrabble titles around the world, including in France, despite not speaking the language.

A man playing his first-ever competitive Scrabble game in Spanish, a language he doesn’t speak, has won the board game’s Spanish-language world title.That’s despite the language barrier that stopped him from chatting with his opponents.

A New Zealand man hailed as a Scrabble phenom dominated the Spanish World Scrabble Championships – despite reportedly not speaking the language.

Benjamín Olaizola, who came second to New Zealander Nigel Richards, called his opponent a “gifted guy” with “very particular abilities"

A New Zealand man playing his first-ever competitive Scrabble game in Spanish, a language he doesn’t speak, has won the board game’s Spanish-language world title. Nigel Richards, a professional player who holds five English-language world titles, won the Spanish world Scrabble championships in Granada, Spain, in November, losing one game out of 24.

Spanish media have dubbed New Zealander Nigel Richard’s victory the “height of absurdity” after it was revealed he can’t actually speak the language.