Conrad Bassett-Bouchard started his championship Scrabble game Wednesday with the word “zilch” and finished with the opposite — the $10,000 prize and title of national Scrabble champion.

The 24-year-old player, of Portland, beat 29-year-old Jason Li, of Montreal, in the final round of the five-day 25th National Scrabble Championships played at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center.

Bassett-Bouchard, the tournament’s second seed, said he knew luck was with him when he drew a wild-card blank tile and an “s” on his first seven-tile rack. He led for most of the match, winning by a score of 477-350.

Li, the 18th seed, said, “I was playing catch-up right to the end.”

Li had the letters to play an obscure but potentially high-scoring word but didn’t see it, creating a buzz among experienced onlookers.

“He’s going to be kicking himself for missing ‘gramarye,’” tournament director John Chew said after the play.

The tournament drew 525 players from 11 countries.