Helen & Graham: How a game of Scrabble sparked an extraordinary love story

A married couple who met during a game of Scrabble are still playing tournaments together 30 years on.

Helen, 68 and Graham Harding, 62, first cast eyes on each other during a match in the 1990s.

Graham, from East Berkshire Scrabble club, and Helen, from Leicester Scrabble club began a long-distance relationship before tying the knot in 2004.

The pair have been taking part in the UK Open Scrabble Championship in Reading this week.

Helen said: "We've known each other since the mid 90s. We were acquaintances no more, sometimes played each other. Then in 2000, we played each other in Sheffield at Easter and we saw something different and we took it from there."

Graham added: "We did, yes. At the time I lived down here in Berkshire and you [Helen] lived in Leicestershire so we were not even local playing in Sheffield either."

The couple think Graham won the Sheffield match which sparked the romance.

When asked what their secret to a long-lasting marriage is, Helen replied: "Healthy competition, patience and understanding", while Graham added: "enjoyment in life together."

• "We're equal rated so you never know who is going to win!" - Graham Harding

The UK Open Scrabble Championship, which was started in 2008 by the Association of British Scrabble Players, is one of the biggest Scrabble competitions in Europe.

Players from all over the world travel to compete for a cash prize.

This year the competition is taking place at the Holiday Inn Reading South, and almost 100 players, of different abiilties, have signed up to compete.

A new update to the official Scrabble dictionary came into effect on 1 January, with more than 1,800 new words added, including 'Imma', meaning I'm going to, tomoz, meaning tomorrow, and coulda, referring to could have, are now included.

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