Scrabble has new national champ

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Conrad Bassett-Bouchard started his championship Scrabble game Wednesday with the word “zilch” and finished with the opposite — the $10,000 prize and the title of national Scrabble champion.

The 24-year-old player, from Portland, Oregon, beat 29-year-old Jason Li, of Montreal, in the final round of the five-day 25th National Scrabble Championships played at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center.

Bassett-Bouchard, the tournament’s second seed, said he knew luck was with him when he drew a wild-card blank tile and an “s” on his first seven-tile rack. He led for most of the match, winning by a score of 477-350.

Li, the 18th seed, said, “I was playing catch-up right to the end.”

Li had the letters to play an obscure but potentially high-scoring word but didn’t see it, creating a buzz among experienced onlookers.

“He’s going to be kicking himself for missing ‘gramarye,’” tournament director John Chew said after the play.

Chew, co-president of the North American Scrabble Players Association, the event’s sponsor, called Li’s presence in the final round the biggest surprise in the tournament, which saw an emerging group of younger players edge out the old guard.

Six of the top 10 finishers are in their 20s, and one, Mack Meller, from Bedford, is 14.

Tournament favorite and five-time champion Nigel Richards, 47, described by one competitor as the Michael Jordan of the game, finished a surprising 16th.

“All these younger players are avid online players,” said Will Anderson, 29, trying to explain the success of the tournament’s 20-somethings at an old-fashioned board game.

“These guys have all played thousands of games on the Internet to hone their skills and meet each other before they’ve ever met in person,” said Anderson, of Croton-on-Hudson, who finished fifth in Buffalo after placing third last year.

The final game saw Bassett-Bouchard and Li at a white-linen-draped table while a tournament representative live-tweeted their every move. Although it was just one of dozens of games taking place inside the cavernous meeting room, the muffled clattering of tiles as players shook and drew from cloth drawstring bags was virtually the only sound.

The winning board contained the words florigen, trooz, venerate, contuse and barf.

Bassett-Bouchard said his win seemed imminent when Li played “jug,” giving him room on the board to spell “docents” and pull further ahead.

“From that point on,” he said, “it was going to be pretty hard for me to lose.”

The tournament began days after the announcement that 5,000 new words had been added to “The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary,” but players won’t be able to use those entries — including much-anticipated two-letter words da, gi and po, along with selfie, hashtag and bromance — until after this year’s championship.

The 25th National Scrabble Championships drew 525 players from 11 countries.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

The Washington State University Snohomish County Extension building at McCollum Park is located in an area Snohomish County is considering for the location of the Farm and Food Center on Thursday, March 28, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Year-round indoor farmers market inches closer to reality near Mill Creek

The Snohomish County Farm and Food Center received $5 million in federal funding. The county hopes to begin building in 2026.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.