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Maths teacher retains Scrabble title after UK Open win

Sophie MaddenBBC News, West Midlands
News imageBBC Natalie Zolty sits in front of a row of colourful houses constructed out of lego. She is smiling and has reddish hair cut into a bob, she is wearing a blue shirt with brown spots over a brown vest top. She is wearing a silver necklace with a blue and silver leaf-shaped pendant. BBC
Natalie Zolty was introduced to competitive Scrabble after playing it on Facebook

A maths lecturer has retained her title as the UK's highest rated female Scrabble player.

Natalie Zolty, from Solihull, won the top division of the Final Fling tournament, during the UK Open competition held in Reading.

In the winning game, against grandmaster Gary Oliver, Zolty played words including Zendiks, which means an unbeliever or heretic, which scored 108 points.

She says she hopes her success can encourage more women to compete at the top level.

News imageABSP A yellow scrabble board shows words spelled out with blue tiles displaying white letters. Some of the woods include loaf, wedgy, loup, eristic and wedgy.ABSP
A snapshot shows part of Natalie's winning board, including Zendiks, which scored her 108 points

Zolty, who teaches at Solihull College & University Centre, says she began playing Scrabble on Facebook more than a decade ago, and was introduced to competitions through her online opponents.

She now spends around an hour a day practising anagrams to hone her skills.

In 2024, she was awarded Expert status by the Association of British Scrabble Players.

During the latest tournament, held on 9-10 January, Zolty won 12 out of her 15 games, with a points difference over her respective opponents of over 1,000.

News imageABSP James Burley, who has brown hair, a brown goatee beard and is wearing a black suit, white shirt and pink striped tie, embraces Natalie Zolty who has medium-length reddish hair, is wearing a white jacket with black patterning, a red top and heart shaped necklace. ABSP
James Burley, tournament organiser, congratulates winner Natalie Zolty from Solihull

She says her maths ability helps her to succeed at the game.

"Most people would say Scrabble is a word game, I don't agree. I think Scrabble is very much a maths game," she said.

"The top players don't even necessarily have English as a first language. A lot of the words I don't learn what they mean. We just learn them as patterns of letters to win the game.

"I normally say there's no difference between men and women, we should be able to play, intellectually, the same... but I will take it and say, yes, I am the top female Scrabble player.

"The fact is there aren't many women at the top, it tends to be very male dominated.

"I have put a lot of time into practising and studying and not everyone is prepared to do that, but I enjoy it."

News imageNatalie, who is slightly obscured but has reddish hair cut into a bob, and is wearing a blue shirt with brown spots over a brown vest top. She is wearing a silver necklace with a blue and silver leaf-shaped pendant. She sits behind a pencil case covered with Scrabble tiles at a game of Scrabble. Opposite her can be seen a ladies' arm wearing a green jacket, reaching over to put a tile on the board
Natalie has previously played in Las Vegas, and her next tournament will be in Bangkok in May

James Burley, director of the UK Open tournament, added: "[Natalie's] very good.

"And it's the fact that she's improved over time, sustained it over time.

"There is another title beyond expert. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that Natalie is going to consider that at some point. She is capable of doing that with the continued study and effort that she puts in.

"It is her dedication that has really shown and her determination to succeed as well."

He said plans were already in place for the competition to return in 2027.

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