LONDON, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Britain's four-time Scrabble champion was bested at the national contest by a transsexual player who only began playing the word game five years ago.

Mikki Nicholson, 32, who is biologically a man but lives as a woman, defeated returning champion Mark Nyman, who has won more than 20 major tournaments, including a world championship, by playing "obeisant" for 86 points in the fifth round of the British national championship in London, The Guardian reported Monday.


Nicholson, the country's first transsexual Scrabble champ, said she only began playing the word game online about five years ago and recently began playing competitively.

"It was a big challenge but I wouldn't have entered if I didn't think I had a chance of winning," Nicholson said.

Nicholson plans to spend the $2,400 in winnings on a trip to Malaysia for the Causeway Scrabble Challenge in December.