I'm seriously impressed! I want this guy as my friend. I've no doubt socially, he's inept as Hell, but who cares, the guy is a walking memory bank.
Can you imagine having someone around that can remember everything you say, but you forgot, yet doesn't give a damn that you said it?

The mathematical, photographic memory.

Nigel Richards is very good at Scrabble. He's thought of as possibly the best English-speaking Scrabble player in the world (he's won the USA National Scrabble Championship five times and the World Championship three times), but he also recently won the French Scrabble Championship, which might compound his title.

Richards, who lives in Malaysia, did this without an active speaking command of French. He was unable to properly deliver a victory/acceptance speech without the aid of a translator, and yet he was able to correct his opponents when they attempted to play an incorrect word.

He was able to do this because he memorized a French dictionary in nine weeks.

Richards, bafflingly, didn't pick up Scrabble until he was 28. He was encouraged by his mother, who was irritated that his ability to count cards made their weekly card games too one-sided. He won his first national championship in 1997 on his first attempt.

A vegetarian who does not drink or smoke, Richards has a reputation as something of a monk. According to a 2010 profile, he doesn't keep up with pop culture or current events, and he disdains providing personal information to tournament organizers. His only other hobby is cycling; for his first New Zealand championship, he biked 14 miles overnight to get there, played over the weekend, and then biked home.