Kaliganj hosts Int’l Scrabble C’ship again

The International Scrabble Championship was held for the second time in Lalmonirhat on Saturday.

11 students from as many secondary schools in Nepal alongside 180 students from 25 secondary schools in Bangladesh had participated in this popular English vocabulary-based board game that tests players' deduction skills.

The Kaliganj Karim Uddin Public Pilot High School (KKUPPHS) in Kaliganj upazila staged the daylong event, organised by the Bangladesh Scrabble Association (BSA) and inaugurated by Social Welfare minister Nuruzzaman Ahmed MP.

Previously, the International Scrabble Championship was held for the first time at the same venue in 2019.

Arnav Pandey, a participant from Gaindakot English School in Nepal, informed the Daily Star that Scrabble has gained popularity in almost all schools in Nepal. "My English vocabulary is getting richer by playing Scrabble," Pandey said, adding that he was happy to play this game with Bangladeshi school students who played the board game well.

Kari Al Shafin, a student of KKUPPHS, also told the Daily Star that Scrabble has enriched his vocabulary. "Scrabble is a great game of intelligence. Playing this game with students from Nepal has increased my interest in learning more about the game," Shafin added.

Badlul Alam Zadu, a faculty at KKUPPHS, told Daily Star that Scrabble is different from other games because in addition to an improved vocabulary, this world-wide popular board game requires strategic skill of choosing the right words.

The president of Bangladesh Scrabble Association and headmaster of KKUPPHS, Khurshiduzzaman Ahmed, told Daily Star that he is working to popularise Scrabble among school students in Bangladesh after being encouraged by the success of Scrabble in Nepal.

"Scrabble not only helps build vocabulary, but also develops strategic, intellectual and social bonding skills.

"The highly competitive fun game can be beneficial to a person's mental health by developing self-confidence," said the BSA president.