 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Sport | ClassicTetris |
| Established | 2010 |
Number of tournaments | 16 |
| Venue | Pasadena Convention Center (2024–present) Online (2020–21) Oregon Convention Center (2012–19, 2022–23) University of Southern California (2011) Downtown Independent (2010) |
| Purse | $23,256 (2025) |
| Website | thectwc.com |
| Current champion | |
| Alex Thach (2025) | |
TheClassic Tetris World Championship (CTWC) is avideo game competition series hosted by the SoCal Gaming Expo. The competition launched in 2010, during the filming ofEcstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters, to determine the world's greatestTetris player.[1] In its first two years, the competition was held inLos Angeles,California,[2] but was moved toPortland, Oregon, in 2012, and was held there annually through 2023 (with the exceptions of the 2020 and 2021 tournaments, held online due to theCOVID-19 pandemic). Since 2024,[3] the tournament has been held inPasadena, California.
The contestants play the 1989Nintendo version ofTetris onNintendo Entertainment System consoles andcathode-ray tube (CRT) video displays. All of the tournaments are streamed online with live-edited screens andheads-up display to improve the viewer experience.
The tournament was initially dominated by the lateJonas Neubauer, who reached the finals in the first nine iterations of the tournament, winning seven titles with accompanying T-shaped trophies. Since 2021, the competition awards the Jonas Neubauer Memorial Trophy in his honor, aJ-tetromino in gold for the champion and in silver for the runner-up. The trophy's backside features an engraved quote of his: “If you're a high visibility player, it's on you to move the community in a positive direction”.[4][5]
The competition takes place over two days, with the qualifying round on the first day and the main event on the second. Contestants are allowed to bring their own controller, but it must be either an original, unmodifiedNES Controller or an aftermarket unit that is deemed a reproduction that is faithful enough.
Qualifying takes place on a fixed number of NES stations. Entrants play "Type A" Tetris, starting on level 9 or higher, and are seeded based on their final score. Once an entrant's game ends for any reason, their score must be recorded by a tournament scorekeeper in order to be valid. Entrants may make as many qualifying attempts as they wish, but must return to the back of the waiting line for each one. Entrants may also pay a fee to rent a station for one hour, which allows unlimited qualifying attempts. In 2022, the lines were discontinued and each player could register for a two-hour time slot in which to make as many qualifying attempts as desired.
The top 32 scorers are seeded into a tournament bracket for the main event. In 2018, 40 players were allowed to qualify, with a "Round Zero" play-off held among the bottom 16 seeds to reduce the field to 32.[6] Forty-eight players qualified in 2016; the top 16 seeds automatically advanced, while the remaining 32 competed in "Round Zero" to fill the other 16 slots. In the event of multiple players maxing out (scoring 999,999 or higher), their highest non-maxout score is recorded to determine their seeding. This was especially utilized in 2018, when seven players maxed out, four of whom (Koji "Koryan" Nishio, Tomohiro "Green Tea" Tatejima, Jonas Neubauer and Harry Hong) maxed out twice. Thus, the officials needed their third-highest scores just to determine the 1st to 4th seeding.[7]
The main event is asingle-elimination tournament, called the Gold Bracket, consisting ofbest of five head-to-head matches. Seeds from opposite ends of the qualifying rankings are pitted against each other in the first round, with the top 16 seeds being awarded abye. Originally, competition games were played on unmodified NESTetris game cartridges. Beginning from the 2016 tournament, the game code was modified to be capable of displaying 7-figure score values (prior to this change, the score would 'max out' at 999,999). Beginning from the 2023 tournament, game code was further modified such that at level 39, the speed of the falling pieces is increased to 2 cells per frame, effectively inhibiting gameplay past level 39.
Both players in a match play "Type A" Tetris, beginning on Level 18, at the same time on separate systems. The player who reaches a higher score wins the round.[8] Matches between players are best-of-three or best-of-five rounds, depending on the event.
In a manner similar to theNational Invitation Tournament, silver and bronze tournaments were introduced in 2020 and 2021 respectively. Each bracket consists of 32 top-scoring players who failed to qualify for the main event. Just as with the Gold Bracket, all games are fully broadcast and each winner will receive a smaller trophy and an interview. In 2022, a local media outlet incorrectly identified the Silver Bracket winner as the "Tetris world champion".[9][10]
The inaugural Classic Tetris World Championship was held on August 8, 2010,[1] at theDowntown Independent theater inLos Angeles,California. Los Angeles was chosen because several high-ranking players lived there.[11] Modeled after the 1990Nintendo World Championships, eight players completed threeTetris challenges to decide the two finalists. Five of the eight seats in the semifinal were reserved for specific distinguishedTetris players:Jonas Neubauer, Harry Hong, Ben Mullen, Jesse Kelkar andThor Aackerlund.[12] Neubauer won $1,000 after defeating Hong in the final. The tournament was attended byHenk Rogers and a film crew[11] for the 2011 documentaryEcstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters.[12]
The second annual championship was held at theUniversity of Southern California's Bovard Auditorium on October 16, 2011,[2][13][14] with financial support fromElectronic Arts.[15] The main tournament was now a single-elimination tournament, and all matches were best-of-three.[14] Neubauer successfully defended his title against Alex Kerr in the final.[16][17] In addition to classicTetris, tournaments were also held forEA'sTetris for PlayStation 3 (including both a solo and 2 vs 2 team tournament, with best-of-seven matches)[2][14][18] and the tabletop game Tetris Link.[13]
The 2011 tournament was expensive and poorly attended, and it was unclear if a third event would be feasible. In what Chris Tang describes as the tournament being "saved by a miracle", the Portland Retro Gaming Expo – held at theOregon Convention Center – made arrangements for it to be held there beginning in 2012.[15] Neubauer continued his winning streak in the 2012 and 2013 finals,[16] which were now held as best-of-five matches.[19] His streak was interrupted in 2014 when he was defeated by Hong,[20] but he regained the title with his fifth championship win in 2015.[16]
Neubauer's opponent in the 2016 final was Jeff Moore, adark horse who was performing strongly. Moore's impressive play got the commentators "overly excited", and they enthusiastically yelled "Boom! Tetris for Jeff!" every time he scored.[21] Although Moore was not able to defeat Neubauer, the match became popular onYouTube, where it was parodied.[22] Writing forEngadget, James Trew credits the Neubauer–Moore match and "Boom! Tetris for Jeff!" with "piqu[ing] the interest of younger eyes and kickstart[ing] a growing appetite for competitive classic Tetris videos."[21]
After watching the Neubauer–Moore match on YouTube, 15-year-old Joseph Saelee became interested inTetris. He prioritized learning a rare playstyle calledhypertapping, which by 2017 had only been used competitively by two players – Thor Aackerlund and Koji "Koryan" Nishio. When hypertapping, the buttons on the game controller are pressed extremely rapidly with muscle tremors (rather than pressing and holding buttons). Within one year, Saelee had set numerous world records with the technique.[22]
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Saelee, now 16 years old, entered the 2018 tournament hoping "just to qualify", without serious expectations for his first competition.[23] He was much younger than most competitors, many of whom were in their thirties or forties. After defeating both Hong and Koryan, he had reached the final, where he would face Neubauer.[24] Saelee won the final 3–0, becoming the new world champion.[25] He initially exited the stage emotional and speechless; Neubauer took the microphone to praise Saelee's play.[24]
The YouTube video of the Neubauer–Saelee match, titled "16 y/o Underdog vs. 7-time Champ", became the most-viewed competitiveTetris match[24] and is credited with popularizing hypertapping and attracting young players toTetris.[26] As of 2025, it has over 20 million views. The 2018 event was shown on commercial television, with a recap airing onESPN2.[27] Future recaps would air as part ofESPN8: The Ocho special programming.[28]
In 2019, Saelee won back-to-back titles, defeating rival hypertapper Koji Nishio.
Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 event was held online with a different set of rules from the in-person tournaments.[29]Michael Artiaga (dogplayingtetris) won the final. He became the youngest-ever champion, aged 13 years and 16 days, defeating his 15-year-old brotherAndrew Artiaga (P1xelAndy). Michael Artiaga scored back-to-back CTWC victories by defeating Jacob Huff in the 2021 final. Neubauer died unexpectedly in January 2021.[16]
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Although Huff had lost in 2021, he demonstrated the effectiveness of a new style of play known as "rolling." Originally introduced by CTWC regular Chris "Cheez" Martinez, the playstyle involves partially depressing the controller's D-pad with one hand, while tapping the back of the controller with the fingers of the other, pushing the controller the rest of the way into the first hand and registering an input. The new strategy has brought in a wave of scoring records, with the world record more than quadrupling, and has seen former DAS players and hypertappers (including the Artiagas) adopt the playing style.[30]
The 2022 tournament, held in Portland for the first time in three years, was dominated by rollers.Eric Tolt "EricICX" defeatedJustin Yu "Fractal161" to win the title three games to one. The third game saw both players exceed 2.1 million points, with Tolt winning the game and later the crown.
The 2023 event saw Yu win his first title, coming from 0–2 down to defeat Eve "Sidnev" Commandeur of the Netherlands 3–2 in the final. Commandeur also set the qualifying record with 16 maxouts,[31] which was tied by bothWillis Gibson "Blue Scuti" and Noah Dengler in the 2024 event.[32]
In the 2024 tournament, now held in Pasadena,Alex Thach claimed his first title, defeating former two-time championMichael Artiaga in a close 3:2 decider.[33][34]
The 2025 tournament again was won by Thach, notablywithout losing a single game in bracket play. Thach also set a new qualifying record by tying the previous 16 maxouts, but with an additional high score of 971,440 points, less than atetris short of an unprecedented 17th maxout.[35][36]
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| Year | Date | Location | Players | Purse | Final Score | Champion | Runner-up | 3rd place[a] | 4th place[a] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 8–9 August | Los Angeles, California | 200+[37][38] | $1,000 | 2–0 |  Jonas Neubauer | Harry Hong | Matt Buco | Dana Wilcox |
| 2011 | 16 October | Los Angeles, California | 20 | $1,000 | 2–0 | Jonas Neubauer (2) | Alex Kerr "Kitaru" | Harry Hong | Robin Mihara |
| 2012 | 30 September | Portland, Oregon | 28 | $1,500 | 3–0 | Jonas Neubauer (3) | Mike Winzinek | Eli Markstrom | Alex Kerr "Kitaru" |
| 2013 | 6 October | Portland, Oregon | 28 | $3,000 | 3–2 | Jonas Neubauer (4) | Harry Hong | Chad Muse | Matt Buco |
| 2014 | 19 October | Portland, Oregon | 32 | $2,000 | 3–1 | Harry Hong | Jonas Neubauer | Terry Purcell | Eli Markstrom |
| 2015 | 18 October | Portland, Oregon | 68[39] | $2,000 | 3–1 | Jonas Neubauer (5) | Sean Ritchie "Quaid" | Alex Kerr "Kitaru" | Harry Hong |
| 2016 | 23 October | Portland, Oregon | 72[40] | $1,500 | 3–1 | Jonas Neubauer (6) | Jeff Moore | Harry Hong |  Koji Nishio"Koryan" |
| 2017 | 22 October | Portland, Oregon | 100[41] | $1,500 | 3–0 | Jonas Neubauer (7) | Alex Kerr "Kitaru" | Sean Ritchie "Quaid" | Matt Buco |
| 2018 | 21 October | Portland, Oregon | 40 | $1,500 | 3–0 | Joseph Saelee | Jonas Neubauer | Tomohiro Tatejima "Greentea" | Koji Nishio "Koryan" |
| 2019 | 20–21 October | Portland, Oregon | 48 | $10,000 | 3–2 | Joseph Saelee (2) | Koji Nishio "Koryan" | Aidan Jerdee "Batfoy" | Daniel Zhang "DanQZ" |
| 2020 | 31 Oct–12 Dec | Online | 163 | $10,000 | 3–2 | Michael Artiaga "DogPlayingTetris" | Andrew Artiaga "PixelAndy" | Jacob Huff "Huffulufugus" |  Nenu Zefanya Kariko |
| 2021 | 9 Oct–15 Nov | Online | 206 | $10,000 | 3–1 | Michael Artiaga (2) "DogPlayingTetris" | Jacob Huff "Huffulufugus" | Joseph Saelee | Andrew Artiaga "PixelAndy" |
| 2022 | 15–16 October | Portland, Oregon | 110 | $23,012 | 3–1 | Eric Tolt "EricICX" | Justin Yu "Fractal161" | Andrew Artiaga "PixelAndy" | Michael Artiaga "DogPlayingTetris" |
| 2023 | 13–15 October | Portland, Oregon | 134 | $21,016 | 3–2 | Justin Yu "Fractal161" |  Eve Commandeur"Sidnev" | Willis Gibson "Blue Scuti" | Michael Artiaga "DogPlayingTetris" |
| 2024 | 7–9 June | Pasadena, California | 128 | $32,069 | 3–2 | Alex Thach "Alex T" | Michael Artiaga "DogPlayingTetris" | Tristan Kwai "Tristop" | Noah Dengler "TheDengler" |
| 2025 | 6–8 June | Pasadena, California | 128 | $23,256 | 3–0 | Alex Thach (2) "Alex T" | "Meme" | Willis Gibson "Blue Scuti" |  Michael Cloudson"iBall" |
| Sources: 2010[12] 2011[17] 2012–2022[42] | |||||||||
| Player | Wins | Losing finals | Losing semi-finals | Losing quarter-finals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonas Neubauer | 7 | 2 | ||
| Michael Artiaga | 2 | 1 | 2 | |
| Joseph Saelee | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Alex Thach | 2 | 1 | ||
| Harry Hong | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Justin Yu | 1 | 1 | ||
| Eric Tolt | 1 | |||
| Alex Kerr | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Andrew Artiaga | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| Koji Nishio | 1 | 2 | ||
| Sean Ritchie | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jacob Huff | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Eve Commandeur | 1 | 2 | ||
| Jeff Moore | 1 | |||
| Mike Winzinek | 1 | |||
| "meme" | 1 | |||
| Matt Buco | 3 | 2 | ||
| Eli Markstrom | 2 | 2 | ||
| Willis Gibson | 2 | 1 | ||
| Chad Muse | 1 | 2 | ||
| Terry Purcell | 1 | 2 | ||
| Tristan Kwai | 1 | 2 | ||
| Noah Dengler | 1 | 1 | ||
| Nenu Zefanya Kariko | 1 | 1 | ||
| Tomohiro Tatejima | 1 | 1 | ||
| Dana Wilcox | 1 | 1 | ||
| Michael Cloudson | 1 | |||
| Aidan Jerdee | 1 | |||
| Robin Mihara | 1 | |||
| Daniel Zhang | 1 | |||
| Josh Tolles | 5 | |||
| Trey Harrison | 3 | |||
 Jani Herlevi | 3 | |||
| Ben Mullen | 3 | |||
| Bo Steil | 3 |
| Achievement | Year | Player(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| First level 30 in qualifying round of CTWC | 2018 | Joseph Saelee | [43] |
| First level 31 in qualifying round of CTWC | 2019 | Joseph Saelee | [44] |
| First maxout in CTWC tournament | 2019 | Joseph Saelee | [45] |
| First double maxout in CTWC tournament | 2019 | Joseph SaeleeTomohiro Tatejima ("Greentea") | [45] |
| First double 1.1 million score in CTWC tournament | 2020 | Michael Artiaga ("DogPlayingTetris")Koji Nishio ("Koryan") | |
| First double 1.3 million score in CTWC tournament | 2021 | Michael Artiaga ("DogPlayingTetris") Minjun Kim ("Pokenerd") | |
| First double 1.5 million score in CTWC tournament | 2022 | Justin Yu ("Fractal161")Eric Tolt ("EricICX") | |
| First double 2.1 million score in CTWC tournament | 2022 | Eric Tolt ("EricICX")Justin Yu ("Fractal161") | |
| Highest level reached in CTWC tournament | 2022 | Eric Tolt ("EricICX") level 71 | [a] |
| Largest number of maxouts in qualifying round of CTWC (in 2-hour attempts) | 2023 | Eve Commandeur ("Sidnev") 16 | |
| 2024 | Willis Gibson ("Blue Scuti") 16Noah Dengler ("TheDengler") 16 | ||
| 2025 | Alex Thach 16"Meme" 16 | ||
| Won the Gold Bracket without losing a game | 2025 | Alex Thach (15 games total) |
Since 2018, global CTWC stops have been officially added, many of which are directly linked to the CTWC main event in Portland. Other than prizes, the winner of each global stop is sponsored to fly to Portland and try to qualify for the finals.
| Inaugural year | Region | Event/Location | Organizer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 |  CTWCHong Kong | Cyberport HK | RETRO.HK, TKO |
| 2018 | CTWCAsia (Regional Finals) | Cyberport HK /City University of Hong Kong | RETRO.HK, TKO |
| 2018 |  CTWCSingapore | James Cook University Singapore / Versus City | RetroDNA, RETRO.HK, TKO |
| 2018 |  CTWCGermany | Gamescom | TKO, Local Community |
| 2019 |  CTWCNorway | Retrospillmessen | TKO, Local Community |
| 2019 |  CTWCTaipei | Taipei Game Show Summer Edition | Brook Gaming, TKO |
| 2019 |  CTWCAustralia | 1989 Arcade Newtown | Local Community |
| 2019 |  CTWCPoland | various | Local Community |
| 2020 (cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic) | CTWCJapan | Akihabara Hundred Square Club | Local Community |
| 2022 |  CTWCUK[46] | 1UP Gaming Bar | Local Community |
| 2024 |  CTWCVietnam[47][a] | Bi Coffee | Local Community |
During the expo there have been several tournaments on other systems over the years.[citation needed]
There is a once-a-month online tournament called Classic Tetris Monthly (CTM) that was previously hosted on the sameTwitch channel as the CTWC, but it now is hosted on MonthlyTetris. Competitors routinely compete from around the world in CTM, which is streamed remotely and thus allows for great flexibility on the part of the competitors. CTM is overseen and commentated chiefly by Keith "vandweller" Didion, who took over for Jessica "fridaywitch" Starr, the tournament's founder, in the Summer of 2018. Starr premiered the tournament on December 3, 2017, on her personal Twitch channel, with 16 participants that had qualified in the few weeks leading up to the event. Harry Hong, the 2014 CTWC champion, was the tournament's first victor. Didion opened a Twitch account dedicated to CTM, called MonthlyTetris, shortly after he began hosting. Additionally, the CTM Discord server is in many ways the center of the Classic Tetris Community, serving as its primary online meeting space.
Since 2015, a Classic Tetris European Championship has been played annually inCopenhagen. The tournament follows a similar structure, but is played on thePAL version of NES Tetris rather than theNTSC version. Due to the difference in framerates, the two versions of the game (both of which are designed for the NES) are balanced differently; pieces do not fall at identical speeds on the same level between the two versions. In addition, Delay Auto Shift (DAS) is faster in PAL compared to NTSC. At higher level play, this leads to significant differences in strategy and outcome. In particular, players who employ DAS as their primary strategy are able to play at the highest level.
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