World Puzzle Championship
The World Puzzle Championship (commonly abbreviated as WPC) is an annual international puzzle competition run by the World Puzzle Federation. All the puzzles in the competition are pure-logic problems based on simple principles, designed to be playable regardless of language or culture.[1]
National teams are determined by local affiliates of the World Puzzle Federation. Of the 30 championships (team category) held thus far, 16 have been won by the United States, 8 by Germany, and 3 each by the Czech Republic and Japan. The most successful individual contestant is Ulrich Voigt (Germany) with 11 titles since 2000.
The latest WPC was held in October 2024 in Beijing.[2]
Origin
The World Puzzle Championship was the brainchild of Levi Summers, who wanted to create an event where puzzlers from different countries could compete on an even playing field.[3] Previously, the International Crossword Marathon was the major international competition for puzzle-solving, and Will Shortz had attended it every year, but because participants used their own language and crossword rules, it was not a very good basis for comparing raw puzzle-solving skills across cultures. Shortz created the WPC to overcome these flaws.[1] As described by Nick Baxter, co-director of the U.S. Puzzle Championship, the challenge of the competition is speed.[4]
The first WPC was held in New York City in 1992, and Shortz was the organizer and Helene Hovanec was the coordinator. Each WPC has been held at a different city since then.
Participants
Currently, 34 countries are official members of the World Puzzle Federation.[5] Individuals may also take part if their country is not already represented by a national team.[6][7] In the 2017 WPC, 169 contestants from 27 countries participated.[8] The United States has won the championship 16 times, followed by Germany with 8 championships. The Czech Republic and Japan has each won three times. Ulrich Voigt of Germany has been the most successful individual contestant, winning the gold medal eleven times since 2000. Wei-Hwa Huang of the United States won four of the first eight championships in the 1990s. Ken Endo of Japan won five of the most recent eight championships.
Results summary
Age-restricted categories
Starting from 2013, titles have been awarded also for the best players in two age categories, Under 18 and Over 50 years of age.
Location
|
Under 18 | Over 50 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | City | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Ref. |
| 2013 | Beijing | China | Qiu Yanzhe | Jakub Bahyl | Zuzana Hromcová | Stefano Forcolin | Nick Baxter | Jouni Juhani Särkijärvi | [30] |
| 2014 | London | United Kingdom | Qiu Yanzhe | Olivier Garçonnet | Mehmet Durmuş | Stefano Forcolin | Jiří Hrdina | Nick Baxter | [31] |
| 2015 | Sofia | Bulgaria | Qiu Yanzhe | Olivier Garçonnet | Pavol Kollár | David McNeill | Stefano Forcolin | Zoran Tanasić | [32] |
| 2016 | Senec | Slovakia | Qiu Yanzhe | Pavol Kollár | Olivier Garçonnet | Taro Arimatsu | Stefano Forcolin | Miklós Mócsy | |
| 2017 | Bangalore | India | Walker Anderson | Pavol Kollár | Kang Hyunmo | Taro Arimatsu | David McNeill | Michael Smit | [33] |
| 2018 | Prague | Czech Republic | Walker Anderson | Tantan Dai | Ivan Georgiev | Taro Arimatsu | Cedomir Milanovic | Michael Smit | |
| 2019 | Kirchheim | Germany | Walker Anderson | Ryotaro Chiba | Péter Gyimesi | Taro Arimatsu | David McNeill | Cedomir Milanovic | |
| 2020 | Shanghai | China | cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | [36] | |||||
| 2021 | Shanghai | China | |||||||
| 2022 | Kraków | Poland | Nityant Agriwal | Yoon Geonwoo | Ahmet Eren Gozubenli | Taro Arimatsu | Deyan Razsadov | Cedomir Milanovic | [37] |
| 2023 | Toronto | Canada | Qiu Suzhe | Valentin Miakinen | Maciej Ignaciuk | Deyan Razsadov | Claudine Thiry | Philippe Meyer | [38] |
| 2024 | Beijing | China | Qiu Suzhe | Oyun-Erdene Adiyajav | Enkhbayasgalan Ganbold | Deyan Razsadov | Claudine Thiry | Philippe Meyer | [39] |
Classic puzzles used
Incomplete list, in alphabetical order:
- Balloon Balance[40]
- Battleship
- Fillomino
- Hitori
- Kakuro
- Nonogram
- Numberlink
- Rubik's Cube
- Slitherlink
- Sudoku and many variants
See also
- World Sudoku Championship, another competition run by the World Puzzle Federation
- Nob Yoshigahara Puzzle Design Competition, a competition for the engineering and design of mechanical puzzles
References
- ^ a b Grossman, Lev (11 March 2013). "The Answer Men". Time. Archived from the original on March 1, 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2013.(registration required)
- ^ "WPC 2024". Retrieved 2024-11-24.
- ^ Harvey, Jay (Feb 26, 2013). "Will Shortz will deal with crosswords and other puzzles at Butler University April 12". IndyStar. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ Antonick, Gary (March 11, 2013). "A Poker Puzzle From the Logic Olympics". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ "WPF Members". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
- ^ "WPF Members". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ Ratzlav-Katz, Nissan (3 November 2009). "First Israeli at World Puzzle Championship". Israel National News. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ Shortz, Will (October 23, 2017). "Japan Wins World Puzzle Championship, U.S.A. Takes Second". The New York Times.
- ^ "The 1st World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "The 2nd World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "The 3rd World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "The 4th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "The 5th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "The 6th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "The 7th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "The 8th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "The 9th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "The 10th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "The 11th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "The 12th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "The 13th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "The 14th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "The 15th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "The 16th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "The 17th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "The 18th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "The 19th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "The 20th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "The 21st World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ a b "The 22nd World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ a b "WSPC 2014: London (UK)". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ a b "The 24th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ a b "WSPC 2017 - Logic Masters India". Logic Masters India. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
- ^ "27th World Puzzle Championship" (PDF). World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
- ^ "WSPC 2019 WPC - Results". World Sudoku & Puzzle Championship 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
- ^ a b "World Puzzle Championships". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
- ^ a b "Home - World Sudoku & Puzzle Championships 2022". www.wspc2022.com. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
- ^ a b "2023 World Sudoku and Puzzle Championship". www.wspc2023.com. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
- ^ a b "The 2024 World Championship". 2024wscwpc.worldartmuseum.cn/wpc. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
- ^ "World Puzzle Championship History 2000 - Stamford CT, USA". World Puzzle Championship. Archived from the original on 21 February 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2025.