War of words in Dubai as Scrabble champs convene

Competitors from around the GCC have gathered in Dubai for a test of wits and words.

Navya Zaveri, the under-16 world Scrabble champion from the UAE, says his strategy is to focus on consistent medium-value plays. He faces 29 others at the Gulf Scrabble Championships this weekend. Jaime Puebla / The NationalShow less

DUBAI // A war of words is unfolding at the Etisalat Academy in Dubai this weekend.

The 23rd Annual Gulf Scrabble Championship began  yesterday and wordsmiths from around the region have gathered to compete in the only world-rated Scrabble tournament in the Arab world.

Thanks to the increasing popularity of the game, this is the first time the competition features 20 rounds of games, with more than 300 games played to decide the champion.

The top finishers from each country will qualify for December’s  Scrabble Champions Tournament, which is being organised by Mattel in Prague. With so much at stake, players have travelled from around the GCC for their only chance at qualifying.

The reigning champion, Ronald Credo, will be defending his title against 29 other top players, including several past Arabian Gulf champions.

“I am the top-seeded player in the Gulf,” said the 43-year-old Filipino. “I think I have a good chance at defending my title, but I take it one game at a time.”

Credo said winning the title would mean more this year because of the chance to compete in Prague. “I’m putting more effort into winning this year, focusing on the seven-letter word bingos,” he said.

Credo, a two-time Philippines national champion, has competed in the world championships four times, making it to the 24th spot out of 100 in 2001. “I don’t check my world ranking. I don’t want to know if my opponent is higher or lower ranked that I am, as that can affect my play and make me nervous.”

Making his debut in the Gulf championship was 15-year-old Navya Zaveri, who was crowned the under-16 world champion last December. He could not hide his nerves yesterday.

“This is the first time I’ll be competing against adults,” said the pupil from Indian High School Dubai. Some of his competitors are more than twice his age.

“I have high hopes but I can’t really say much. Anything can happen. There is always a luck element – that’s part of the game, you can’t avoid it,” said the young champion.

Zaveri’s strategy was to maintain an average of 30 points per move. “Don’t try to play for low points and wait for the high-scoring words, you’re better off being more consistent in your moves,” he said.

The advice is strange coming  from a boy who took the under-16 title last year with a seven-letter hat trick in the final game.

“I learn a lot from every game,” he said. “To me, Scrabble is very similar to chess and I’m also an avid chess player.”

Another force to be reckoned with at this weekend’s games is 70-year-old Mohammed Sulaiman. The veteran competitor already has two Gulf championships under his belt.

Many of the players said he would be their fiercest competition, although Sulaiman himself thought he was past his prime. “My game is slipping a little now. I’m 70 and my concentration is not what it used to be,” he said. “I’ll do my best and hope I can qualify for the world championships.”

The future of Scrabble in the UAE looks rosy, said Sulaiman, who represented the country at the 2011 championships.

“Scrabble is coming up fast here. There is a good scope for the game in Dubai,” he said.

“Usually you have the older players fading away and no young players to replace them. That is not the case here. We have a good number of young competitors who are eager to play.”