World Puzzle Championship

The World Puzzle Championship is an annual international puzzle competition run by the World Puzzle Federation. The first one was held in New York in 1992. All the puzzles in the competition are designed to be language- and culture-neutral.

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. The first WPC was held in New York in 1992. Shortz was the organizer and Helene Hovanec was the coordinator.

National teams are determined by local affiliates of the World Puzzle Federation. Of the 21 championships held between 1992 and 2012, 13 have been won by the U.S. team (1992, 1995, 1996, 1998-2001, 2004, 2006-2008, 2010-2011), 4 by Germany (2003, 2005, 2009, 2012), 3 by the Czech Republic (1993, 1994, 1997), and 1 by Japan (2002). Most successful individual contestant is Ulrich Voigt (Germany) with 8 titles since 2000.

Past Locations:

Year Place Country Individual Team
Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze
2012 Kraljevica Croatia Ulrich Voigt Thomas Snyder Palmer Mebane Germany Japan United States
2011 Eger Hungary Palmer Mebane Ulrich Voigt Thomas Snyder United States Germany Japan
2010 Paprotnia Poland Taro Arimatsu Ulrich Voigt Hideaki Jo United States Japan Germany
2009 Antalya Turkey Ulrich Voigt Peter Hudak Mehmet Murat Sevim Germany United States Japan
2008 Minsk Belarus Ulrich Voigt Mehmet Murat Sevim Roger Barkan United States Japan Czech Republic
2007 Rio de Janeiro Brazil Pal Madarassy Thomas Snyder Ulrich Voigt United States Japan Belgium
2006 Borovets Bulgaria Ulrich Voigt Wei-Hwa Huang Maho Yokota United States Germany Japan
2005 Eger Hungary Ulrich Voigt Wei-Hwa Huang Niels Roest Germany United States Japan
2004 Opatija Croatia Niels Roest Ulrich Voigt Roger Barkan United States Germany Hungary
2003 Arnhem Netherlands Ulrich Voigt Wei-Hwa Huang Roger Barkan Germany United States Netherlands
2002 Oulu Finland Niels Roest Roland Voigt Ulrich Voigt Japan Germany United States
2001 Brno Czech Republic Ulrich Voigt Robert Babilon Zack Butler United States Czech Republic Belgium
2000 Stamford United States Ulrich Voigt Wei-Hwa Huang Niels Roest United States Netherlands Germany
1999 Budapest Hungary Wei-Hwa Huang Zack Butler Niels Roest United States Netherlands Czech Republic
1998 Istanbul Turkey Wei-Hwa Huang Akira Nakai Zack Butler United States Japan Hungary
1997 Koprivnica Croatia Wei-Hwa Huang Ron Osher Robert Babilon Czech Republic United States Hungary
1996 Utrecht Netherlands Robert Babilon Zack Butler Wei-Hwa Huang United States Czech Republic Turkey
1995 Poiana Brasov Romania Wei-Hwa Huang Gyorgy Istvan Pavel Kalhous United States Czech Republic Hungary
1994 Cologne Germany Ron Osher Pavel Kalhous Pero Galogaza Czech Republic United States Croatia
1993 Brno Czech Republic Robert Babilon Wei-Hwa Huang Pavel Kalhous Czech Republic United States Canada
1992 New York United States David Samuel Darren Rigby Daniel Johnson United States Argentina Poland

As of October 2010, 45 countries are members of the World Puzzle Federation.

Read more about World Puzzle Championship:  Some Classic Puzzles Used At WPC

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