He knows words you didn't know existed

UP against the world's best in an epic battle of strategy and intellect, a young Singaporean has brought pride to this small island.

Victor Gwee, 14, took second place in the 6th World Youth Scrabble Championship held in Johor Baru last month. Australian Anand Bharadwaj, 11, took first place.

Armed with obscure words like aquae and dzo, he beat players from Scrabble powerhouses such as the UK.

He probably knows words you never knew existed in the English language. Just don't ask him what they mean.

"In Scrabble, I memorise words, but do not necessarily know what they mean," said the Raffles Institution boy.

"All I know is that they are valid on the playing board."

Victor, who is also a member of the Boys Brigade, got his first taste of the game at the age of five, when his father bought him his first Scrabble set.

Said Mr Winston Gwee: "I realised he had the ability to digest long words, such as dinosaur names. He also had a knack for anagrams."

Victor said he loves the game because of its dynamic character.

Unlike games like chess, where each piece is standard and everyone has the same pieces, Scrabble deals you different sets of lettered tiles every round.

The game also trains your mathematical skills as you have to quickly count the points after each move isplayed.

Under pressure

And you are always thinking under pressure since each player has a limited playing time, said Victor.

The Secondary 2 student credited his second-place win to his parents, who accompanied him to Malaysia for the tournament. His father, who regularly plays with him, introduced him to the Internet Scrabble Club.

So what is it like on the big stage?

"There's really not much pressure. Everyone just wants to have fun, so we foster a spirit of fair play," said Victor.

He added that he also enjoyed interacting with many people from other countries.

This was Victor's fifth time competing in the youth championship, having first participated when he was in Primary 4.

He won the Best Under-12 Player title in 2007 and 2008. He was in the top 20 in 2009 and 2010.

Mr Gwee said he was proud of his son's performance, adding that it was exceptional, considering the competitiveness of the game these days because of software such as Flashcard and Quackle, which help to train Scrabble players.

Victor said he did not train extensively for the tournament due to time constraints, and relied heavily on word-study programs such as Zyzzyva for his preparations.

As part of his preparations, Victor competed in local competitions, where he faced much older challengers.

"He is much better than me," said Mr Gwee.

Victor said that based on his experience, age is not a factor. He pointed out that this year's tournament champion is only 11 years old.

Victor's mother, Joanne, and his sisters - Michelle, 20, and Jacqueline, 16 - do not share an interest in the game.

Mr Cheah Siu Hean, the president of the Singapore Scrabble Association, was full of praise for Victor's achievement.

"Victor plays in many tournaments and has performed so well that I do not consider him a youth anymore," he said.

"To me, he is a full-fledged player. He even beats me."

He added that Victor's second-place win puts him in good stead to be a much better player in the future.

He cited two examples.

Singaporean Toh Wei Bin, who won the 2007 youth edition, is the reigning national champion.

David Elbar, who won the first youth edition in 2006, went on to be the Australian national champion.

However, due to the lack of formal backing and funding for the game, Singapore is unable to match up to traditional Scrabble powerhouses such as the US, Canada, UK, Australia and Thailand.

Competitors pay for their own training and travelling costs for international competitions. Said Mr Cheah: "This year, the competition is in Birmingham. I fear there may be no one representing Singapore at all."

This article was first published in The New Paper.