By Tayo Ogunseye
Enoch Nwali, the African champion has disclosed that he is confident of coming top at the Ultimate Scrabble Showdown scheduled to hold I’m Lagos from Friday to Sunday as he revealed that word-knowledge and board strategy are his main weapon.
The Drummer Boy will go into a duel with the West African champion, Timilehin Doko in a top of the draw clash in Lagos.
Both top jammers share a few striking similarities as they are both undergraduates of the University of Lagos.
Calm and calculative, these two ‘Word-Warriors’ pack some powerful strategies which has helped them navigate the word-and-number board even against more illustrious rivals.
Their mien outlook and explosive style of landing words on the board has earned them some respect and admiration by lovers of the game even their adherents.
Giving a rare insight into how he creates the potion that gives him the magic, Nwali revealed that ” I have been going through some games I played in the past, going through some of the old studies which I had written in the past” he disclosed.
“My strength” he continued “is word-knowledge and board strategy and I will credit these to the masters who I met in the game and how much impact they have on my game.”
He further stressed the significance of what has been termed as the biggest single duel on the continent and perhaps the world this weekend.
“It’s going to be a keen contest because I will be playing against one of the top players in Africa. How I’m going handle the pressure of this high calibre match is by taking it one game after a a game, one move at a time. A game comes down to an average of 12 or 13 moves. So I will focus on each move.”
“Expect the bout to be very keen,” he warned ” I expect it to be very exciting especially for those who will be watching from different app places around the world.”
21 games will be played between these gunslingers as every rack-shuffling and word to be played can be seen through a live coverage by subscription.
Many believe this weekend will be like no other especially in the world of scrabble.
