SINGAPORE: They sit across each other, staring intently at the tables in front of them. Some clutch their heads, frowning; others are relaxed. No one speaks.

The only sounds come from ticking clocks and small, plastic square tiles being sifted in small velvet bags before they take up positions on a board.

This was not quite the level of intensity I expected to observe at the Millennium Cup, a Scrabble tournament in Singapore taking place in March every year.

Here at a multi-purpose hall in Nanyang Technological University (NTU), over 50 players young and old engaged in 16 rounds of hour-long matches over two days. The concentration was relentless; the effort total.

But as each round comes to an end, players break ranks to hover over other tables and peek at the words on display. One showdown, however, was of more interest: Hubert Wee versus Toh Weibin.

The former is world No 3 and No 1 in Singapore. The latter is ranked 11th in the world and second in Singapore. 

Wee, 37, has been playing Scrabble competitively since 2003. It started with casual games with his family, but his interest took off after reading Word Freak by Stefan Fatsis, a collection of profiles of competitive Scrabble players.

After playing online for a few months, he decided to start participating in local tournaments.

What’s kept him going, competitively, for over 20 years? “I enjoy playing the game. It’s intellectually challenging and engaging,” he said after a long pause. 

To the casual player, Scrabble involves forming words on a board, using tiles. They may sigh when they draw the lone Q or X, or pump a fist when they draw a blank tile (denoting any letter they choose). Using all seven tiles on a rack in one move is a bingo, adding a 50-point bonus to their total score. Often, that’s as far as their...