Nigel Richards, arguably the best Scrabble player ever, previously won French tournaments without speaking the language.

A New Zealand man playing his first-ever competitive Scrabble game in Spanish, a language he doesn’t speak, has won the board game’s Spanish-language world title.

The kingdom, which has been accused of trying to “sportswash” its human rights record, hosted the WTA Finals, part of its unstoppable advance into the world of sports. Shohei Ohtani, ...