Mark Nyman

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Mark Nyman (October 14, 1967-) is a Scrabble player from Leeds, England. As of July 2005, he is rated as the second-best player in the UK [1]. He is most widely known as the first, and to date only, British player to win the World Scrabble Championship, which he accomplished in 1993. He married in 2004 and has two children, Max and Kizzy.

Nyman played Canadian Joel Wapnick in the 1993 WSC final, in which he came back from 2-1 behind to win 3-2, including winning one game having been 174 behind. The two met again in the 1999 WSC final, and this time Wapnick was victorious, winning a nail-biting decider by just a single point; 403 to 402.

Nyman has won a record twenty majors, including [2]:

1. The British Matchplay Scrabble Championship in 1992, 1996 and 2002
2. The National Championship in 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2004
3. The ABSP Masters in 1995, 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2004.
4. Durham in 1988 and 1993.
5. Easter Matchplay in 1994.
6. Summer Matchplay in 1990 and 1991.
7. Winter Matchplay in 1991, 1992 and 1994.

Nyman's playing style has some distinctive features. He is extremely good at foreseeing what tiles the bag might yield, even at an early stage in the game. He occasionally makes seemingly weak plays of one or two tiles for low scores, only to follow it up with a low-probability, high-scoring bonus.

Nyman also produced the British game show Countdown from 1990 to 2002 and made many appearances as an on-screen adjudicator. He had previously appeared on the show as a contestant, recording his initial performances at the age of 16, in 1983. In 1986 he was the series' first Champion of Champions. He is still generally regarded as one of the most outstanding players ever to appear on the programme.