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World Puzzle Championship

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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 2023 in Canada.[2]

Origin

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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

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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 four of the most recent seven championships.

Results summary

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Host city
 Individual Team
Year City Country Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze Ref.
1992 New York City  United States Canada David Samuel Canada Darren Rigby United States Daniel Johnson  United States  Argentina  Poland [9]
1993 Brno  Czech Republic Czech Republic Robert Babilon United States Wei-Hwa Huang Czech Republic Pavel Kalhous  Czech Republic  United States  Canada [10]
1994 Cologne  Germany United States Ron Osher Czech Republic Pavel Kalhous Croatia Pero Galogaza  Czech Republic  United States  Croatia [11]
1995 Poiana Brasov  Romania United States Wei-Hwa Huang Hungary Gyorgy Istvan Czech Republic Pavel Kalhous  United States  Czech Republic  Hungary [12]
1996 Utrecht  Netherlands Czech Republic Robert Babilon United States Zack Butler United States Wei-Hwa Huang  United States  Czech Republic  Turkey [13]
1997 Koprivnica  Croatia United States Wei-Hwa Huang United States Ron Osher Czech Republic Robert Babilon  Czech Republic  United States  Hungary [14]
1998 Istanbul  Turkey United States Wei-Hwa Huang Japan Akira Nakai United States Zack Butler  United States  Japan  Hungary [15]
1999 Budapest  Hungary United States Wei-Hwa Huang United States Zack Butler Netherlands Niels Roest  United States  Netherlands  Czech Republic [16]
2000 Stamford  United States Germany Ulrich Voigt United States Wei-Hwa Huang Netherlands Niels Roest  United States  Netherlands  Germany [17]
2001 Brno  Czech Republic Germany Ulrich Voigt Czech Republic Robert Babilon United States Zack Butler  United States  Czech Republic  Belgium [18]
2002 Oulu  Finland Netherlands Niels Roest Germany Roland Voigt Germany Ulrich Voigt  Japan  Germany  United States [19]
2003 Arnhem  Netherlands Germany Ulrich Voigt United States Wei-Hwa Huang United States Roger Barkan  Germany  United States  Netherlands [20]
2004 Opatija  Croatia Netherlands Niels Roest Germany Ulrich Voigt United States Roger Barkan  United States  Germany  Hungary [21]
2005 Eger  Hungary Germany Ulrich Voigt United States Wei-Hwa Huang Netherlands Niels Roest  Germany  United States  Japan [22]
2006 Borovets  Bulgaria Germany Ulrich Voigt United States Wei-Hwa Huang Japan Maho Yokota  United States  Germany  Japan [23]
2007 Rio de Janeiro  Brazil Hungary Pal Madarassy United States Thomas Snyder Germany Ulrich Voigt  United States  Japan  Belgium [24]
2008 Minsk  Belarus Germany Ulrich Voigt Turkey Mehmet Murat Sevim United States Roger Barkan  United States  Japan  Czech Republic [25]
2009 Antalya  Turkey Germany Ulrich Voigt Slovakia Peter Hudák Turkey Mehmet Murat Sevim  Germany  United States  Japan [26]
2010 Paprotnia  Poland Japan Taro Arimatsu Germany Ulrich Voigt Japan Hideaki Jo  United States  Japan  Germany [27]
2011 Eger  Hungary United States Palmer Mebane Germany Ulrich Voigt United States Thomas Snyder  United States  Germany  Japan [28]
2012 Kraljevica  Croatia Germany Ulrich Voigt United States Thomas Snyder United States Palmer Mebane  Germany  Japan  United States [29]
2013 Beijing  China Germany Ulrich Voigt United States Palmer Mebane United States Thomas Snyder  United States  Germany  Japan [30]
2014 London  United Kingdom Germany Ulrich Voigt United States Palmer Mebane Germany Florian Kirch  Germany  Japan  United States [31]
2015 Sofia  Bulgaria Japan Ken Endo Germany Ulrich Voigt United States Palmer Mebane  Germany  Japan  United States [32]
2016 Senec  Slovakia Germany Ulrich Voigt United States Palmer Mebane Japan Ken Endo  Germany  Japan  United States
2017 Bangalore  India Japan Ken Endo Germany Ulrich Voigt Japan Kota Morinishi  Japan  United States  Germany [33]
2018 Prague  Czech Republic United States Thomas Snyder Germany Ulrich Voigt Japan Ken Endo  Germany  United States  Hungary [34]
2019 Kirchheim  Germany Germany Philipp Weiß Japan Ken Endo United States Walker Anderson  United States  Germany  Japan [35]
2020 Shanghai  China cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic [36]
2021 Shanghai  China
2022 Kraków  Poland Japan Ken Endo India Prasanna Seshadri United States Thomas Luo  Japan  United States  Germany [37]
2023 Toronto  Canada Japan Ken Endo United States Walker Anderson United States Thomas Luo  United States  Germany  Japan [38]
2024 Beijing  China Upcoming competition

Age-restricted categories

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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 China Qiu Yanzhe Slovakia Jakub Bahyl Slovakia Zuzana Hromcová Italy Stefano Forcolin United States Nick Baxter Finland Jouni Juhani Särkijärvi [30]
2014 London  United Kingdom China Qiu Yanzhe France Olivier Garçonnet Turkey Mehmet Durmuş Italy Stefano Forcolin Czech Republic Jiří Hrdina United States Nick Baxter [39]
2015 Sofia  Bulgaria China Qiu Yanzhe France Olivier Garçonnet Slovakia Pavol Kollár United Kingdom David McNeill Italy Stefano Forcolin Serbia Zoran Tanasić [32]
2016 Senec  Slovakia China Qiu Yanzhe Slovakia Pavol Kollár France Olivier Garçonnet Japan Taro Arimatsu Italy Stefano Forcolin Hungary Miklós Mócsy
2017 Bangalore  India United States Walker Anderson Slovakia Pavol Kollár South Korea Kang Hyunmo Japan Taro Arimatsu United Kingdom David McNeill Germany Michael Smit [33]
2018 Prague  Czech Republic United States Walker Anderson China Tantan Dai Bulgaria Ivan Georgiev Japan Taro Arimatsu Serbia Cedomir Milanovic Germany Michael Smit
2019 Kirchheim  Germany United States Walker Anderson Japan Ryotaro Chiba Hungary Péter Gyimesi Japan Taro Arimatsu United Kingdom David McNeill Serbia Cedomir Milanovic
2020 Shanghai  China cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic [36]
2021 Shanghai  China
2022 Kraków  Poland India Nityant Agriwal South Korea Yoon Geonwoo Turkey Ahmet Eren Gozubenli Japan Taro Arimatsu Bulgaria Deyan Razsadov Serbia Cedomir Milanovic [37]
2023 Toronto  Canada China Qiu Suzhe France Valentin Miakinen Poland Maciej Ignaciuk Bulgaria Deyan Razsadov Luxembourg Claudine Thiry France Philippe Meyer [38]
2024 Beijing  China Upcoming competition

Classic puzzles used

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Incomplete list, in alphabetical order:

See also

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References

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  1. ^ 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)
  2. ^ "WSPC 2023". Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  3. ^ Harvey, Jay (Feb 26, 2013). "Will Shortz will deal with crosswords and other puzzles at Butler University April 12". IndyStar. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  4. ^ Antonick, Gary (March 11, 2013). "A Poker Puzzle From the Logic Olympics". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  5. ^ "WPF Members". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  6. ^ "WPF Members". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  7. ^ Ratzlav-Katz, Nissan (3 November 2009). "First Israeli at World Puzzle Championship". Israel National News. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  8. ^ Shortz, Will (October 23, 2017). "Japan Wins World Puzzle Championship, U.S.A. Takes Second". The New York Times.
  9. ^ "The 1st World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  10. ^ "The 2nd World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  11. ^ "The 3rd World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  12. ^ "The 4th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  13. ^ "The 5th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  14. ^ "The 6th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  15. ^ "The 7th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  16. ^ "The 8th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  17. ^ "The 9th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  18. ^ "The 10th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  19. ^ "The 11th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  20. ^ "The 12th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  21. ^ "The 13th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  22. ^ "The 14th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  23. ^ "The 15th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  24. ^ "The 16th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  25. ^ "The 17th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  26. ^ "The 18th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  27. ^ "The 19th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  28. ^ "The 20th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  29. ^ "The 21st World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  30. ^ a b "The 22nd World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  31. ^ "2014 WSC & WPC award winners". UK Puzzle Association. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  32. ^ a b "The 24th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  33. ^ a b "WSPC 2017 - Logic Masters India". Logic Masters India. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  34. ^ "27th World Puzzle Championship" (PDF). World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  35. ^ "WSPC 2019 WPC - Results". World Sudoku & Puzzle Championship 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  36. ^ a b "World Puzzle Championships". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  37. ^ a b "Home - World Sudoku & Puzzle Championships 2022". www.wspc2022.com. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  38. ^ a b "2023 World Sudoku and Puzzle Championship". www.wspc2023.com. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  39. ^ "2014 WSC & WPC award winners". UK Puzzle Association. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
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