A young boy from Buckingham takes on 97 year-old in board game challenge

After reading the games age suggestions on the box, a young boy looked to challenge a 108 year old

Author: Monty McPheePublished 9th Dec 2021

A youngster challenged the oldest person he could find to a game, after reading the age guide on the side of a board game's box.

Charlie Pelling, who is eight years old, saw that the age guide on his favourite word game said 'from eight to 108' he was keen to challenge a 108 year-old to a match, to see who would win.

97 year-old word fan Ruby Hill took up the challenge and invited him to her care home in Maids Moreton, Bucks, to prove that age is just a number.

Charlie told us: "I loved the idea of playing against a really old person to see whether they had more experience than me and Ruby gave me a tough match. I loved playing the word game against Ruby and I think we both did really well."

Ruby's daughter Judith 54, said: "My mum has always been an avid reader and still loves to do crossword puzzles every day, she loves Countdown and other quiz programs and until recently enjoyed challenging her grandchildren to Scrabble and taking part in the Christmas afternoon tradition of a game of Monopoly.

"She hopes to still be doing crosswords when she gets to 100."

The 2 Way Words game was invented by Shaun Delaney, 64 from Aylesbury, and he says that he believes his game - a cross between Battleships and Scrabble - can bridge the generation gap this Christmas.

He said: "Everyone loves a word game, and 2 Way Words is a lot of fun with lots of ways to eliminate your opponent. It was so lovely to hear about Charlie's challenge, and how nice that he took the age guide on the side of the box so seriously!

"During the pandemic we have spent a long time away from elderly relatives and friends, so I was pleased to hear this 2 Way Words match brought the generations together."

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