Meet the new spelling bee champ

Arvind Mahankali had twice finished in third place

Winner correctly spells "tokonoma" then "knaidel"

Prize package includes $32,500 in cash and savings bonds

(CNN) -- Arvind Mahankali, a 13-year-old eighth-grader from Bayside Hills, New York, won the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday, correctly spelling the word "knaidel."

"It means that I am retiring on a good note," said Mahankali, who attends Nathaniel Hawthorne Middle School 74 and was in his last year of eligibility. "I shall spend the summer, maybe the entire day, studying physics."

Mahankali, who wants to become a physicist, had finished third in the two previous national bees, being eliminated after misspelling words with German roots.

Arvind Mahankali, a 13-year-old from Bayside Hills, New York, won the Scripps National Spelling Bee, spelling "knaidel," a dumpling, on May 30. Definitions for the words spelled were taken from Merriam-Webster. Take a look back at previous winners.

Confetti falls on Mahankali after he won the bee.

Mahankali holds his trophy while speaking to reporters after his victory.

The contest started with 281 contestants from eight nations, narrowed down to 11 spellers for the championship round. This year brought a new challenge for the contestants. For the first time, the bee instituted vocabulary tests during the first and fourth rounds. The competition took place at Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

The final three competitors, Pranav Sivakuma, left, Sriram J. Hathwar, center, and Arvind V. Mahankali chat as former competitors' chairs are removed from the stage.

Sriram J. Hathwar, representing New York, waves goodbye after misspelling "ptyalagogue," during the championship round on May 30.

Amber Born, representing Massachusetts, misspelled "hallali," a huntsman's bugle call, during the championship round on May 30.

Vismaya J. Kharkar, representing Utah, was eliminated from the championship round on May 30, after mispelling "paryphodrome," which describes leaf venation that has a vein that closely follows the margin.

Syamantak Payra, representing Texas, was eliminated during the champtionship round when he mispelled "cipollino," a light-colored Roman marble, on May 30.

Chetan G. Reddy, representing Texas, reacts after misspelling "kaburi," a land crab common to mangrove swamps, during the championship round on May 30.

Finalists line up after being announced ahead of the final round on Thursday, May 30. Only 11 contestants will compete in the final.

Jonathan Caldwell, representing Tennessee, reacts to misspelling "pergameneous," meaning to resemble parchment, in the sixth round on May 30.

Lucas Michael Urbanski, from Illinois, waits to compete during the semifinals on Thursday, May 30. Urbanski spelled "parvanimity," the state of having a little or ignoble mind, in round five.

Amber Born of Marblehead, Massachusetts, celebrates after she spells "pediculicide," an agent for destroying lice, in round five on May 30.

Joseph Kirkpatrick, from Indiana, reacts after misspelling "ignimbrite," a hard rock formed from volcanic ash, in the fifth round on May 30.

Isabel Cholbi, right, of San Bernardina, California, celebrates after spelling "telergy," in round five on May 30. Telergy is the hypothetical action of one person's thoughts and desires on the brain of a different person via an unknown form of energy transmission.

Dylan O'Connor of Alexandria Bay, New York, smiles after spelling "acervation," which means a heaping up, in round three on Wednesday, May 29.

Mollie J. Symons of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, returns to her seat after spelling "ombrology," a branch of meteorology dealing with rain, in round three on May 29.

Abram Mikhaeel Goda, left, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, hi-fives Himanvi Kopuri of Denver, Colorado, after he spells "nomenclative," of or relating to name or the act of naming, in round three on May 29.

Zander Reed of Ankeny, Iowa, reaches to adjust the microphone before spelling "blottesque" in the third round on May 29. Blottesque means to be painted with blot-like brushwork.

Eboseremhen Eigbe of Galloway, New Jersey, is comforted by his father after he misspelling the word "meiosis" during the third round on May 29. Meiosis is the complex nuclear process that results in the production of cells (as gametes) with half the number of chromosomes of the original cell.

Alexander Schembra of Lillington, North Carolina, lowers the microphone before attempting, and failing, to spell "Beethovenian" during round three on May 29. Beethovenian is an adjective used to describe things that are related to or characteristic of Ludwig van Beethoven, his works or musical style.

Minka Gill of Kokomo, Indiana, spells "corpuscle" during round two on May 29. A corpuscle mean a minute or elementary particle or a living cell that is isolated and not a continuous part of other tissue -- like a red or white blood cell.

Kennith Gonzalez of Union City, New Jersey, yawns during round two on May 29. Kennith correctly spelled "tarragon." Tarragon is a European wormwood grown for it's aromatic foliage used in making pickles and vinegar.

Mollie J. Symons of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, smiles as she spells "charpoy" in the second round on May 29. A charpoy is a bed made of a frame strung with light rope or tape, typically found in India.

Aleena Boby, in front, of Fort Myers, Florida, spelled "galjoen," an African fish, and Grace Remmer, behind, of St. Augustine, Florida, spelled "repertoire," a set of skills, devices, or knowledge possessed by a person, on May 29.

Parents wave to the competitors on May 29.

Katie Peterson of Palm Desert, California, concentrates as she spells "kirtle" on May 29. A kirtle is long tunic or coat-like garment.

Spellers wait for their turn on May 29.

Zerin Wetzel of Fort Irwin, California, reacts as she fails to spell "commissar" on May 29. A commissar is most commonly defined as a Communist Party official responsible for teaching party principles and policies and ensuring party loyalty.

Lucas Michael Urbanski of Crystal Lake, Illinois, waits his turn on May 29. Urbanski later spelled "hartebeest," a large African antelope that was nearly exterminated.

Giabao Tonthat of Escondido, California, spells "Qatari," a person living in Qatar, on May 29.

Vanya Shivashankar of Olathe, Kansas, younger sister of 2009 Bee champion Kavya Shivashankar, waits her turn on May 29. Shivashankar later spelled "intaglio," a figure or design created as an impression below the surface level of stone or similar material.

Photos: Scripps National Spelling Bee

Scripps National Spelling Bee

Photos: Scripps National Spelling Bee

Scripps National Spelling Bee

Photos: Scripps National Spelling Bee

Arvind Mahankali won the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee after spelling "knaidel," which is a dumpling. Click through to see the rest of the winners from the past 15 years. The definitions of their winning words are from the Merriam-Webster dictionary. View photos from this year's spelling bee.

Snigdha Nandipati won in 2012 with the word "guetapens," which means an ambush.

Sukanya Roy won in 2011 with the word "cymotrichous," an adjective that means "having the hair wavy."

Anamika Veeramani won in 2010 with the word "stromuhr," which is an instrument that measures the amount and speed of blood flow through an artery.

Kavya Shivashankar won in 2009 when she correctly spelled "laodicean," which means lukewarm or indifferent, particularly in matters of politics or religion.

Sameer Mishra won in 2008 with the word "guerdon," which is a reward or recompense.

Evan O'Dorney won in 2007 with the word "serrefine," small forceps used for clamping a blood vessel.

Katharine Close won in 2006 by correctly spelling "ursprache," a language that is reconstructed from evidence of later languages.

Anurag Kashyap won in 2005 with the word "appoggiatura," a smaller embellishing note or tone that precedes a melodic note or tone.

David Tidmarsh won in 2004 with the word "autochthonous," an adjective that means indigenous or native.

Sai R. Gunturi won in 2003 with the word "pococurante," meaning indifferent or nonchalant.

Pratyush Buddiga won in 2002 with the word "prospicience," which is the act of looking forward or having foresight.

Sean Conley won in 2001 with "succedaneum," defined as "a substitute."

George Abraham Thampy won in 2000 with the French word "démarche," meaning a course of action, typically in politics.

Nupur Lala won in 1999 with the word "logorrhea," meaning excessive and incoherent talkativeness or wordiness.

Jody-Anne Maxwell won in 1998 after correctly spelling "chiaroscurist," which is an artist who specializes in chiaroscuro, or contrasting the effects of light and shade in a work of art.

National Spelling Bee champions

Changes coming to spelling bee

"I thought that the German curse had turned into a German blessing," he said, when asked what he thought when he heard the final word, a German-derived Yiddish word for a type of dumpling.

Pranav Sivakumar, a 13-year-old from Tower Lakes, Illinois, finished second. He missed on "cyanophycean" before Mahankali nailed "tokonoma" and "knaidel" for the victory.

The annual contest offers the winner a healthy dose of classroom cred, $32,500 in cash and savings bonds, a trophy and a library of reference materials.

Contest isn't bee-all and end-all

Eleven million schoolchildren participated in preliminaries leading up to the national contest this week. Of those, 281 children made the trip to Oxon Hill, Maryland, just outside Washington, for the national bee. Eleven spellers made it through to the finals.

Among them were 63 children who had been to at least one national bee before, and had to prepare for some changes in the rules for this year's events.

For the first time, participants had to demonstrate proficiency in vocabulary in addition to spelling.

Organizers also added an additional computer test for the semifinals, imposed time limits on computer-based spelling and vocabulary tests and added a rule that resulted in automatic elimination for any participant who misspelled a word on stage in the second or third rounds.

CNN's Athena Jones and Michael Pearson contributed to this report.

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