New Zealand is on top of the Scrabble world.
Former Christchurch man Nigel Richards, 40, became New Zealand's first world Scrabble champion on Monday in India.

He needed just three games to win the best-of-five final and it is a fair guess he would not have been at a loss for words as he accepted the $US15,000 ($NZ19,820) winner's cheque.

Paul Lister said it was a proud moment for the Christchurch Scrabble Club, where Richards first honed his skills.

Lister watched the players' moves over the internet during the final as Richards played Malaysia's Ganesh Asirvatham.

"He won it comfortably in the end," Lister said.

"But in Ganesh's defence he had atrocious letters on his rack, horror vowel combinations like ee, ii and uu – you can't go anywhere with them."

In the final game, Richards got four bonus scores for getting all seven letters out – for dirtiest, overapt, recopies and equinias (the game clincher that was worth 86 points).

Asirvatham fought back with tailleur (for which he earned 122 points with a rare treble-treble) but it was too late, with Richards outscoring him 499 to 468.

Richards, who now lives in Kuala Lumpur but plays as a New Zealand representative, is a five-time winner of the King's Cup in Bangkok, the biggest Scrabble competition in the world, and has finished second and third in the United States championships.

Before moving to Malaysia in 2000, Richards worked for the Christchurch City Council's water department.

Former Christchurch woman Joanne Craig, now living in Sydney, finished 90th out of 104 at the championships.

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