At only 11, Bradley Robbins of Windham was not only the youngest competitor at the 2008 National Scrabble Championship. He emerged from the event as the youngest national champion ever.

Bradley, making his debut at nationals, lost only four of the 28 games he played. He scored an average of 425 points over the 28 games he competed in and outscored his opponents combined by 2,758 points.

“He was a big hit there,” said Bradley’s father, Phil. “They were all cheering for him, all his friends.”

The tournament, held July 25 through 29 in Orlando, Fla., drew more than 650 competitors. Players were divided in six divisions based on their qualification ratings.

By emerging as the top player in Division 6, where 80 people competed, Bradley took home $1,500 and a championship silver platter.

“It was pretty good,” said the Scrabble whiz, who will enter the sixth grade this fall at Windham Middle School. “I was pretty confident I would win.”

In Scrabble, players place individually lettered tiles on a game board to spell words across and down to acquire points. Only seven tiles are kept on a player’s rack at a time.

“I just focused on the rack I was on, the game I was on,” Bradley said.

Bradley has been playing the game for only about a year. He’s played online, at a school club and at a club in Manchester. He’s competed at both school and adult tournaments.

“Bradley absolutely loves Scrabble,” said his mother, Jill. “It’s absolutely a passion.”

The tournament, where the Division 1 winner won $25,000, draws some of the game’s best players. Even after tournament games are over for the day, players get together to play socially.

“For him, it’s like meeting the Michael Jordans and the Tiger Woodses of the Scrabble world,” said Phil.

Bradley used his letters to spell out some usual words such as yautia, lionise and urbanist. One word, “gunkiest,” won him 108 points. Fifty of those points came from achieving a bingo – the use of all seven letters on his rack at one time.

Phil said his son has a very good vocabulary and spatial understanding of the game’s board. He balances well the ability to spell out words to win points, while retaining letters on his rack that will be useful for future moves and minimizing openings for his opponents.

Bradley’s parents like the benefits their son derives from the game. He learns new words, uses his math skills when adding points, and enjoys the camaraderie of playing with others.

“It’s a wonderful community,” said Jill, whose son plans to continue competing. “People are very nice.”