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.
National teams are determined by local affiliates of the World Puzzle Federation. Of the 30 championships (team category) held thus far, 17 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 grand champion titles since 2000.
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. 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. As described by Nick Baxter, co-director of the U.S. Puzzle Championship, the challenge of the competition is speed.
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. Individuals may also take part if their country is not already represented by a national team. In the 2017 WPC, 169 contestants from 27 countries participated. The United States has won the championship 17 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 Individual Team Year City Country Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze Ref. 1992 New York City David Samuel Darren Rigby Daniel Johnson 1993 Brno Robert Babilon Wei-Hwa Huang Pavel Kalhous 1994 Cologne Ron Osher Pavel Kalhous Pero Galogaza 1995 Poiana Brasov Wei-Hwa Huang Gyorgy Istvan Pavel Kalhous 1996 Utrecht Robert Babilon Zack Butler Wei-Hwa Huang 1997 Koprivnica Wei-Hwa Huang Ron Osher Robert Babilon 1998 Istanbul Wei-Hwa Huang Akira Nakai Zack Butler 1999 Budapest Wei-Hwa Huang Zack Butler Niels Roest 2000 Stamford Ulrich Voigt Wei-Hwa Huang Niels Roest 2001 Brno Ulrich Voigt Robert Babilon Zack Butler 2002 Oulu Niels Roest Roland Voigt Ulrich Voigt 2003 Arnhem Ulrich Voigt Wei-Hwa Huang Roger Barkan 2004 Opatija Niels Roest Ulrich Voigt Roger Barkan 2005 Eger Ulrich Voigt Wei-Hwa Huang Niels Roest 2006 Borovets Ulrich Voigt Wei-Hwa Huang Maho Yokota 2007 Rio de Janeiro Pal Madarassy Thomas Snyder Ulrich Voigt 2008 Minsk Ulrich Voigt Mehmet Murat Sevim Roger Barkan 2009 Antalya Ulrich Voigt Peter Hudák Mehmet Murat Sevim 2010 Paprotnia Taro Arimatsu Ulrich Voigt Hideaki Jo 2011 Eger Palmer Mebane Ulrich Voigt Thomas Snyder 2012 Kraljevica Ulrich Voigt Thomas Snyder Palmer Mebane 2013 Beijing Ulrich Voigt Palmer Mebane Thomas Snyder 2014 London Ulrich Voigt Palmer Mebane Florian Kirch 2015 Sofia Ken Endo Ulrich Voigt Palmer Mebane 2016 Senec Ulrich Voigt Palmer Mebane Ken Endo 2017 Bangalore Ken Endo Ulrich Voigt Kota Morinishi 2018 Prague Thomas Snyder Ulrich Voigt Ken Endo 2019 Kirchheim Philipp Weiß Ken Endo Walker Anderson 2020 Shanghai cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2021 Shanghai 2022 Kraków Ken Endo Prasanna Seshadri Thomas Luo 2023 Toronto Ken Endo Walker Anderson Thomas Luo 2024 Beijing Ken Endo Kota Morinishi König Christian 2025 Eger Freddie Hand Ken Endo Walker Anderson
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.
Under 18 Over 50 Year City Country Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze Ref. 2013 Beijing Qiu Yanzhe Jakub Bahyl Zuzana Hromcová Stefano Forcolin Nick Baxter Jouni Juhani Särkijärvi 2014 London Qiu Yanzhe Olivier Garçonnet Mehmet Durmuş Stefano Forcolin Jiří Hrdina Nick Baxter 2015 Sofia Qiu Yanzhe Olivier Garçonnet Pavol Kollár David McNeill Stefano Forcolin Zoran Tanasić 2016 Senec Qiu Yanzhe Pavol Kollár Olivier Garçonnet Taro Arimatsu Stefano Forcolin Miklós Mócsy 2017 Bangalore Walker Anderson Pavol Kollár Kang Hyunmo Taro Arimatsu David McNeill Michael Smit 2018 Prague Walker Anderson Tantan Dai Ivan Georgiev Taro Arimatsu Cedomir Milanovic Michael Smit 2019 Kirchheim Walker Anderson Ryotaro Chiba Péter Gyimesi Taro Arimatsu David McNeill Cedomir Milanovic 2020 Shanghai cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2021 Shanghai 2022 Kraków Nityant Agriwal Yoon Geonwoo Ahmet Eren Gozubenli Taro Arimatsu Deyan Razsadov Cedomir Milanovic 2023 Toronto Qiu Suzhe Valentin Miakinen Maciej Ignaciuk Deyan Razsadov Claudine Thiry Philippe Meyer 2024 Beijing Qiu Suzhe Oyun-Erdene Adiyajav Huang Zhenyu Deyan Razsadov Claudine Thiry Philippe Meyer 2025 Eger Qiu Suzhe Ramazan Fıstıkcı Oyun-Erdene Adiyajav Wei-Hwa Huang Jana Vodičková Deyan Razsadov
Classic puzzles used
Incomplete list, in alphabetical order:
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
External links