A pair of brainiac brothers aged just eight and 11 left their parents lost for words when they were crowned World and European Champions – at SCRABBLE.
Joshua Moisey was the first brother to taste success, when the eight-year-old won the title of Under-Eight Scrabble World Champion.
Reuben Moisey claimed European glory last weekend when he won 12 of his 13 games, winning the European Youth Scrabble Championship at the tender age of just 11.
Even more remarkable, little Reuben was the highest scorer out of all under 18 categories – including getting a special prize for the zaniest word.
His highest scoring word was “zaniest” which earned him 120 points with a double letter score and a special prize for scoring the most points using the letter Z.
The brothers, from Penge in south east London, continue to make history together in a string of impressive achievements.
Last year Joshua became the youngest ever person to cycle the length of Britain from Land’s End in Cornwall to John O’Groats in Scotland.
He was just seven-years-old when he completed the 1000 mile trek alongside brother Reuben and their dad Alvin Moisey.
The family flew to Iasi in Romania last weekend where Joshua also competed in the Scrabble tournament and was awarded best European player under ten.
Reuben said: “It’s very exciting. I love all the tournaments I do.
“The first prize was decided by the final match so I had to concentrate right to the very end to win.
“We practise a lot at home – I play games with my younger brother and my dad every day and the three of us practised word lists together in the months leading up to the tournament.
“My dad makes it really fun.
“We sometimes chant words in different rhythms, make up songs with new words and invent rude mnemonics together to help remember some of the difficult lists.
“We learned about 600 new seven-letter words and 300 new eight-letter words for this tournament, to help get the 50 points bonus you get for using all the letters on the rack.
“It’s great Joshua and I can both do Scrabble at the same level.
“Our average score is almost exactly the same, so we can enjoy playing together at home and in tournaments – although I nearly always beat him.”
Parents Alvin and Hiroko Moisey, both professional musicians, flew to Romania with their two sons and were overjoyed at their success.
Alvin, a 56-year-old professional pianist, said: “It’s wonderful, I can hardly believe it has happened.
“I am very proud of them and don’t know what to say. I am lost for words.
“It was quite stressful for the parents as we were able to float around the room and watch the games.
“Reuben is a very strong Scrabble player. It has been a year or so since I have been able to beat him.
“We play together at home and it is a challenge to keep up with my own children.”
Reuben took to Scrabble aged eight while his younger brother Joshua began playing aged just five.
Alvin said: “It all started by chance. We had a game of Scrabble floating around the house and my younger son Joshua picked up on it.
“He could not really write when he started playing Scrabble. He was playing seven-letter bonuses without knowing what the words meant.
“He was just looking at the words and soaking them up somehow.
“I home educate the children so if they want to play at home they can -and they do.”
In addition to his spelling talents, Reuben is a dab hand at chess and his greatest skill is playing the piano, according to dad Alvin.
The high achiever also swam 200 lengths in the London Swimathon to raise money for Cancer Research UK.
Both Reuben and Joshua are currently preparing for upcoming chess tournaments.
They will also take part in the World Scrabble Championships in Torquay later this year.