A LIBRARY assistant from Little Sutton will put his experience with words to good use in the World Scrabble Championships.
All eyes will be on Phil Robertshaw, 30, from Little Sutton as he bids to be the first Englishman to win the title for 16 years in Malaysia later this month.
Competing for the ultimate wordsmith’s accolade of World Scrabble Champion, library assistant Phil will pit his wits against more than 100 of the world’s word masters.
With just five years of competitive Scrabble game-play under his belt, along with a stint on Countdown, Phil is already 39th in the world after competing in the 2007 championships.
The final, held in Johor Bahru from November 25-26, features the crème de la crème of the world’s Scrabble players, each battling for the title and the $15,000 top prize.
Phil said: “I played when I was young with my family, as you do. Then I didn't play for a long time.
“I joined the official Internet Scrabble Club. I knew I had an ability when I was playing online. Then I started to study it a bit.
“I liken it to a sport. To get good at it you have to put time into it.
“Any of the top players would know all the two and three letter words. I try to put time into learning words every day.”
Competitors from 40 countries will play 24 games over three days, before a best-of-five final to determine the world champion.
Players must complete all of their moves in 25 minutes, working with a timer as chess players do.
Phil says his highest single score in a competitive match was for the word ‘moonfish’. He got 192 points after it straddled two triple word scores in a tournament last year.
He has played in Mumbai, Dallas and Malta in his Scrabble-playing career and won £800 when he came second in the UK Open earlier this year.
