An Australian living in Malaysia, who is described as the Michael Jordan of Scrabble, is vying for his sixth title when the world's best players square off in New York, the Australian Associated Press reports.

The 25th National Scrabble Championships began on Sunday and concludes today, with 525 players from 11 countries competing for the US$10,000 top prize.

By the time it is over, contenders in five divisions will have played 31 games each over five days, with rankings based on win-loss records and the number of points by which they outscore opponents.

The player to beat is Australia's five-time champion, and winner of the past four competitions, Nigel Richards, who lives in Malaysia.

Will Anderson, an editor from Croton-on-Hudson, was hoping to provide a serious challenge after finishing third last year.

"He (Richards) is like the Michael Jordan of our game," Anderson was quoted as saying.

"He's in a class by himself and his command of the dictionary is unbelievable ... We're all kind of looking up at this guy in awe."

The tournament began days after the announcement that 5,000 new words had been added to "The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary," but players won't be able to use those words until after this year's championship.