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 24 championships (team category) held thus far, 14 have been won by the United States, 6 by Germany, 3 by the Czech Republic, and 1 by Japan (2002). The most successful individual contestant is Ulrich Voigt (Germany) with 10 titles since 2000.
The latest WPC was held in October 2015 in Sofia.[2][3]
Origin
The World Puzzle Championship was the brainchild of Will Shortz, who wanted to create an event where puzzlers from different countries could compete on an even playing field.[4] Previously, the International Crossword Marathon was the major international competition for puzzle-solving, and 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.[5]
The first WPC was held in New York 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, 33 countries are official members of the World Puzzle Federation.[6] Individuals may also take part if their country is not already represented by a national team.[7][8] In the latest WPC, 184 contestants from 30 countries participated.[1]
Results summary
Individual | Team | ||||||||
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Year | City | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Ref |
1992 | New York | ![]() |
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[9] |
1993 | Brno | ![]() |
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[10] |
1994 | Cologne | ![]() |
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[11] |
1995 | Poiana Brasov | ![]() |
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[12] |
1996 | Utrecht | ![]() |
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[13] |
1997 | Koprivnica | ![]() |
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[14] |
1998 | Istanbul | ![]() |
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[15] |
1999 | Budapest | ![]() |
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[16] |
2000 | Stamford | ![]() |
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[17] |
2001 | Brno | ![]() |
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[18] |
2002 | Oulu | ![]() |
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[19] |
2003 | Arnhem | ![]() |
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[20] |
2004 | Opatija | ![]() |
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[21] |
2005 | Eger | ![]() |
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[22] |
2006 | Borovets | ![]() |
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[23] |
2007 | Rio de Janeiro | ![]() |
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[24] |
2008 | Minsk | ![]() |
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[25] |
2009 | Antalya | ![]() |
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[26] |
2010 | Paprotnia | ![]() |
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[27] |
2011 | Eger | ![]() |
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[28] |
2012 | Kraljevica | ![]() |
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[29] |
2013 | Beijing | ![]() |
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[30] |
2014 | London | ![]() |
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[31] |
2015 | Sofia | ![]() |
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[32] |
2016 | TBA | ![]() |
Starting from 2013, titles have been awarded also for the best players in two age groups, Under 18 and Over 50 years of age.
Under 18 | Over 50 | ||||||||
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Year | City | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |
2013 | Beijing | ![]() |
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[33] |
2014 | London | ![]() |
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[34] |
2015 | Sofia | ![]() |
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[35] |
Classic puzzles used
Incomplete list, in alphabetical order:
- Balance
- Battleship
- Fillomino
- Hitori
- Kakuro
- Nonogram
- Number Link
- Slitherlink
- Sudoku and many variants
See also
References
- ^ a b c Grossman, Lev (11 March 2013). "The Answer Men". Time. Retrieved 4 March 2013.(registration required)
- ^ "The 24th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation.
- ^ "Official website of the 10th World Sudoku Championship and the 24th World Puzzle Championship".
- ^ 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 20 March 2013.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "The 1st World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ "The 2nd World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ "The 3rd World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ "The 4th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ "The 5th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ "The 6th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ "The 7th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ "The 8th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ "The 9th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ "The 10th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ "The 11th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ "The 12th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ "The 13th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ "The 14th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ "The 15th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ "The 16th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ "The 17th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ "The 18th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ "The 19th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ "The 20th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ "The 21st World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ "The 22nd World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
- ^ "2014 WSC & WPC award winners". UK Puzzle Association. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- ^ "The 24th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
- ^ "The 22nd World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
- ^ "2014 WSC & WPC award winners". UK Puzzle Association. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- ^ "The 24th World Puzzle Championship". World Puzzle Federation. Retrieved 7 November 2015.