A 12-YEAR-OLD boy will represent Great Britain at the world championships of a popular board game after winning the country's junior crown.

Mark Plowman, from Witney, triumphed in the very first British Othello Junior Championships and will travel to Prague next week to take on the world's best.

The King's School student beat three finalists in last month's tournament in Cambridge, including twin sister Anya.

The siblings have picked up the game quickly thanks to their dad, Guy, who has competed at five World Othello Championships himself.

Mark started playing just two-and-a-half years ago but will go to the Czech Republic as Britain's designated junior player, and the youngster is looking forward to the challenge.

He said: "I'm a huge fan of Othello and we even take the travel version away on holidays.

"I didn’t think for a second though that I would win and am very excited to travel for the first time to Prague and compete on the world stage."

The British Junior Championships were held at Trinity College, Cambridge, with a range of abilities from board game enthusiasts to absolute beginners taking part.

Each competitor played six head-to-head rounds of the iconic two-player strategy board game, with a twenty-five-minute time limit.

Players take turns placing discs on the board with their assigned colour facing up and the aim is to have the majority of discs displaying your colour when the last square is filled.

Mark won all five games in the Swiss part of the tournament to give himself a chance of advancing to the global championships.

The Plowman family comprised 50 per cent of the final quartet and Mark took the title in a tense tie break.

He will fly to Prague on an all-expenses paid trip, which runs from Tuesday to Friday, where he will compete against players from 27 different countries.

Although he is mainly in the running for the junior prize, Mark will face some of the top adult players on the planet.

Japan are the dominant force in the Othello world and the country is where Mark's father played his first world championships in 1996.

Mr Plowman discovered Othello as a teenager and became hooked on the game, before passing his passion on to his five children.

Oldest son Luke, who once completed a Rubik's Cube in just 8.8 seconds, was too old to compete against his younger siblings, while Jessica, 16, and Sophie, 6, also play the game.

He said: "I was playing the game competitively so it was quite natural for them to come to tournaments.

"We get to travel to a lot of places and it's nice to do it as a family."