Since beginning his competitive career in 1996, he has won about 75% of his tournament games, collecting an estimated US$200,000 in prize money.

[10] Richards won the World Scrabble Championship[11] and earned US$15,000 by winning a playoff, 3 games to 0, against Ganesh Asirvatham of Malaysia.

[12] The two qualified for the playoff by leading a field of 104 international experts after 24 rounds of a tournament held 9–12 November in Mumbai, India.

[13] Richards was the runner-up in the USA National Scrabble Championship in Dayton, Ohio,[14] losing to Dave Wiegand but still winning 25 of the 31 matches.

He repeated his success in the World Scrabble Championship[16] in Warsaw, Poland, winning a closely fought final against Australia's top player, Andrew Fisher.

Richards won the USA National Scrabble Championship in Dallas, Texas,[17] winning 22 games, including his final two, to hold off a number of challengers.

Richards won the USA National Scrabble Championship,[18] in Orlando, Florida, winning 22 of 31 games.

Richards won 24 of 31 games to finish first at the National Scrabble Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada, in July.