Players Go For The Scrabble Title In Buffalo

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The world's best Scrabble players are squaring off in Buffalo for the title of Scrabble champion.

The winner will be crowned on Wednesday.

The 25th National Scrabble Championship tournament began on Sunday with 525 players from 11 countries competing for the $10,000 top prize.

By the time it's over, contenders in five different divisions will have played 31 games each over five days. They'll be ranked based on their win-loss record and number of points by which they outscore opponents.

The player to beat is five-time champion Nigel Richards, an Australian who lives in Malaysia.

The tournament began days after the announcement that 5,000 new words had been added to "The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary" — but players can't use those words for this year's tournament.