Malaysian teenage Scrabble protege Tengku Ariff Shah can spell more English words than most adults in the Western world, but he doesn't always know what they mean.
Ariff is among a swath of Asian youngsters who are turning the competitive Scrabble scene on its head by using a combination of probability, math and memory to defeat opponents whose first language is English.
It is estimated that roughly a third of American and half of British homes have a Scrabble board, and it is no surprise that tournament play in the crisscross word game has been dominated by competitors from the English-speaking world.