Wikipedia

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 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   David Samuel   Darren Rigby   Daniel Johnson   United States   Argentina   Poland [9]
1993 Brno   Czech Republic   Robert Babilon   Wei-Hwa Huang   Pavel Kalhous   Czech Republic   United States   Canada [10]
1994 Cologne   Germany   Ron Osher   Pavel Kalhous   Pero Galogaza   Czech Republic   United States   Croatia [11]
1995 Poiana Brasov   Romania   Wei-Hwa Huang   Gyorgy Istvan   Pavel Kalhous   United States   Czech Republic   Hungary [12]
1996 Utrecht   Netherlands   Robert Babilon   Zack Butler   Wei-Hwa Huang   United States   Czech Republic   Turkey [13]
1997 Koprivnica   Croatia   Wei-Hwa Huang   Ron Osher   Robert Babilon   Czech Republic   United States   Hungary [14]
1998 Istanbul   Turkey   Wei-Hwa Huang   Akira Nakai   Zack Butler   United States   Japan   Hungary [15]
1999 Budapest   Hungary   Wei-Hwa Huang   Zack Butler   Niels Roest   United States   Netherlands   Czech Republic [16]
2000 Stamford   United States   Ulrich Voigt   Wei-Hwa Huang   Niels Roest   United States   Netherlands   Germany [17]
2001 Brno   Czech Republic   Ulrich Voigt   Robert Babilon   Zack Butler   United States   Czech Republic   Belgium [18]
2002 Oulu   Finland   Niels Roest   Roland Voigt   Ulrich Voigt   Japan   Germany   United States [19]
2003 Arnhem   Netherlands   Ulrich Voigt   Wei-Hwa Huang   Roger Barkan   Germany   United States   Netherlands [20]
2004 Opatija   Croatia   Niels Roest   Ulrich Voigt   Roger Barkan   United States   Germany   Hungary [21]
2005 Eger   Hungary   Ulrich Voigt   Wei-Hwa Huang   Niels Roest   Germany   United States   Japan [22]
2006 Borovets   Bulgaria   Ulrich Voigt   Wei-Hwa Huang   Maho Yokota   United States   Germany   Japan [23]
2007 Rio de Janeiro   Brazil   Pal Madarassy   Thomas Snyder   Ulrich Voigt   United States   Japan   Belgium [24]
2008 Minsk   Belarus   Ulrich Voigt   Mehmet Murat Sevim   Roger Barkan   United States   Japan   Czech Republic [25]
2009 Antalya   Turkey   Ulrich Voigt   Peter Hudák   Mehmet Murat Sevim   Germany   United States   Japan [26]
2010 Paprotnia   Poland   Taro Arimatsu   Ulrich Voigt   Hideaki Jo   United States   Japan   Germany [27]
2011 Eger   Hungary   Palmer Mebane   Ulrich Voigt   Thomas Snyder   United States   Germany   Japan [28]
2012 Kraljevica   Croatia   Ulrich Voigt   Thomas Snyder   Palmer Mebane   Germany   Japan   United States [29]
2013 Beijing   China   Ulrich Voigt   Palmer Mebane   Thomas Snyder   United States   Germany   Japan [30]
2014 London   United Kingdom   Ulrich Voigt   Palmer Mebane   Florian Kirch   Germany   Japan   United States [31]
2015 Sofia   Bulgaria   Ken Endo   Ulrich Voigt   Palmer Mebane   Germany   Japan   United States [32]
2016 Senec   Slovakia   Ulrich Voigt   Palmer Mebane   Ken Endo   Germany   Japan   United States
2017 Bangalore   India   Ken Endo   Ulrich Voigt   Kota Morinishi   Japan   United States   Germany [33]
2018 Prague   Czech Republic   Thomas Snyder   Ulrich Voigt   Ken Endo   Germany   United States   Hungary [34]
2019 Kirchheim   Germany   Philipp Weiß   Ken Endo   Walker Anderson   United States   Germany   Japan [35]
2020 Shanghai   China cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic [36]
2021 Shanghai   China
2022 Kraków   Poland   Ken Endo   Prasanna Seshadri   Thomas Luo   Japan   United States   Germany [37]
2023 Toronto   Canada   Ken Endo   Walker Anderson   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   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 [39]
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 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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