The World Sudoku Championship (WSC) is an internationally held tournament organized by the World Puzzle Federation every year. The first-ever championship took place in Italy in the year 2006. World Sudoku Championship is looked with reverence – it’s considered prestigious amongst the participants. Contestants from all over the world come together as a community to compete at the much-loved game and record their names in history.
But to be a participant at the championship, it demands you to be really quick and skilled. Participants take up several rounds of challenges over two or more days. Dozens of timed levels range from easy to medium and super challenging.
Thomas Snyder from the United States, Kota Morinishi from Japan, and Jan Mrozowski from Poland are some famous players of all time. Amongst the favored teams are Japan, Czech Republic, Germany, and China.
How’s it like at WSC?
Sudoku is an intellectual activity and has more of a niche appeal. But it’s relatively widespread all over the world. There are newspaper puzzles, books and magazines, and then there are championships!
The objective of such tournaments is to foster camaraderie amongst puzzle enthusiasts from all around the globe. These events work to stimulate innovations in the field of puzzling. Plus, there’s a means to exchange opinions and ideas over a global platform.
One can see all of it at the World Sudoku Championship – there’s an enthusiasm to correctly and quickly battle for the crown of the world’s best player and team. There are the classic 4×4, 6×6, and 9×9 Sudoku grids along with eighteen other variations to test one’s true abilities. The bottom line is that the fastest solver wins the race.
Competition conditions are also different. At times, the players have booklets containing a variety of puzzles, whereas they may also be solving the problems on computer screens or life-size boards. Apart from the judges, the audience too tracks the progress of players at certain levels.
There are individual-based and team-based competitions. But there’s no significant prize money for the World Sudoku Championship (WSC) – it’s the U.S. Sudoku Championship that awards a grand prize. WSC awards trophies and certificates to the winners, plus it’s the glory that people compete for.
Thomas Snyder, who won the U.S. Sudoku Championship in 2007, won a grand prize of $10,000. He also said that one might not get rich playing Sudoku, but if you’re the world’s best player, you can afford to fly the first class for different tournaments.
Participants are warmly welcomed to meet fellow puzzlers and compete against each other, representing their countries. Fun, food, games, and bitter-sweet memories sum up the championship experience.
If you’d ever want to participate in a tournament, you don’t have to be an expert. WSC has seen hobbyists winning the competitions – so anyone can be there; you just need to race against the time and your previous self.
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