A wordsmith from Nailsea has been crowned Scrabble champion at a national competition in Milton Keynes.

Phil Robertshaw, aged 38, reaped the reward for his dedication to years of Scrabble word study when he won the final critical game in round 17 at the Association of British Scrabble Players championships. The competition included two past world champions so Phil had to be on top form to win 14 of the games.

Phil, who joined his first Scrabble club in 2004, scored big points in the final with upvalued, haiku, nanowire and zincs. Some of the bonus-scoring words he played at this year’s competition included davida, detraque, kerogen, nihonga and whimbrel.

He said: “It’s the first time I’ve won it so I’m very excited and pleased because it’s a result of a lot of hard work learning words over the years. It’s very competitive.”

“The games are played with clocks so each player has 25 minutes to play all their moves, which demands clear and calm thinking if a game goes down to the wire with scores close and just minutes left.”

There are Scrabble clubs in Clevedon and Nailsea for anyone interested in taking up the game.