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 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

Host city
 Individual Team
Year City Country Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze Ref
1992 New York  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 Hudak 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

Starting from 2013, titles have been awarded also for the best players in two age groups, Under 18 and Over 50 years of age.

Location
 Under 18 Over 50
Year City Country Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze
2013 Beijing  China China Qiu Yanzhe Slovakia Jakub Bahyl Slovakia Zuzana Hromcová Italy Stefano Forcolin United States Nick Baxter Finland Jouni Juhani Särkijärvi [33]
2014 London  United Kingdom China Qiu Yanzhe France Olivier Garçonnet Turkey Mehmet Durmuş Italy Stefano Forcolin Czech Republic Jiri Hrdina United States Nick Baxter [34]
2015 Sofia  Bulgaria China Qiu Yanzhe France Olivier Garçonnet Slovakia Pavol Kollár United Kingdom David McNeill Italy Stefano Forcolin Serbia Zoran Tanasić [35]

Classic puzzles used

Incomplete list, in alphabetical order:

See also

References

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External links

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