A Jewish Scrabble player from London was one letter short of winning the 2022 National Scrabble Championship.
Elie Dangoor, 63, a real estate director, nearly became the champion of the 78-player tournament, but lost a down to the wire match to current British national Scrabble champion Brett Smitheram, 43, considered one of the greatest players in history.
Dangoor had an early lead, playing the word “enclave” for a triple word score, but Smitheram made a comeback and the match’s final moments were down to one last letter.
“He needed an E – a one-in-eight chance – and he got it,” Dangoor told the UK Jewish News. “It was most unfortunate! Still, it was a very satisfying tournament, as I was only seeded 11th.”
Dangoor, the former chair of the World English-Language Scrabble Players Association, explained that he won against Smitheram earlier in the tournament.
“It’s a shame because I would have been the oldest national champion if I’d won. But that’s OK, it just means I’ll be an even older champion when I do eventually win it,” he said.
“Lots of Jewish people play scrabble. I don’t know why but we seem to like it,” he added.