Culture & Education | Monday 5 January, 2015 2:24 pm |

Local whiz kids with a love for words and language will have the rare opportunity to learn the ins and outs of Scrabble from the foremost expert on the educational game: Karen Richards, youth chair for the World English-Language Scrabble Players Association (WESPA), who will conduct a free workshop for children aged 9-18 this Wednesday (Jan 7th) at the International Horizons College in Business Bay. Mrs. Richards, who is en route between leading tournaments in UK and India, will be assisted by her son Alastair, who at the ripe young age of 22, has twice finished in the top 10 at the World Championships for the mind sports and ranks no. 17 in the world.

The initiative is part of a youth program by the UAE Scrabble Club, which commenced in 2011 with a two day coaching camp at Dubai Academic City conducted by Karen and Alastair. Since then, the UAE has hosted the World Youth Scrabble Championship in 2013 and produced consecutive top 5 finishes in the last three tournaments. 2011 and 2012 under-16 world champion Navya Zaveri of Indian High School, who started playing under Karen’s tutelage at the last coaching camp, will be one of the leading challengers for top spot this weekend.

The workshop will be followed by a tournament for all ages at the same venue over the weekend, where the best players in the region will pit their wits against the likes of Australian grandmaster Alastair Richards. The tournament, which has been dubbed the Dubai Winter Scrabble Challenge, will for the first time have a separate division for beginners who would like to take up the game competitively, with prizes provided by the makers of Scrabble, Mattel, while the masters division will be rated by WESPA and affect the international rankings of the players involved. The International Horizons College, an American Honors college situated on the 42nd floor of the U-Bora tower in Business Bay (www.ihc-dubai.com), will provide a unique backdrop for the event with their state of the art ‘campus in the sky’ equipped with vista views of the nearby Burj Khalifa and the Dubai skyline.

Advance registration is a must for both the tournament and workshop due to limited availability of space, and further details can be obtained by sending email to uaescrabble@gmail.com. All Scrabble equipment will be provided for participants.