Spellbound
EAST Cambridgeshire is home to a world-class javelin thrower in the shape of Goldie Sayers, world champion bowler Greg Harlow, and now the national Scrabble champion. Jake Jacobs, 57, saw off Nottingham s Christian Brown on Sunday at the national Scrabble
EAST Cambridgeshire is home to a world-class javelin thrower in the shape of Goldie Sayers, world champion bowler Greg Harlow, and now the national Scrabble champion.
Jake Jacobs, 57, saw off Nottingham's Christian Brown on Sunday at the national Scrabble final at the Cavendish Conference Centre in London.
The Wardy Hill resident is chairman of the Cambridge Scrabble Club and bounced back from a heart attack in 2002 to secure victory in his first tournament since the illness.
"I was very lucky, really," Mr Jacobs said.
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"It was very tough and you don't get easy games at that level."
Mr Jacobs took three games out of five in a head-to-head competition with Mr Brown, 32, and managed to tip the balance in his final game with 'solutive', a word that describes a substance that can be dissolved. He went on to win by a clear 50 points.
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The key to his success, Mr Jacobs said, is a thorough all-round vocabulary.
"You have to have good word knowledge across the board, really, and that's science, music, art and everything else."
# If you are interested in taking part in regular scrabble games, the Hope Nursing Home, in Brooklands, Cambridge, hosts regular games on Wednesday evenings. Mr Jacobs can be contacted on 01353 778560.
