The 2024 Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC) took place at the SoCal Retro Gaming Expo from June 7-9. It had relocated from Portland, Oregon to Pasadena, California. The tournament format was the same as last year. In the Qualifying round, players were given 2 hours to play as many games as possible. The Multiple Maxout […]

The 2023 Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC) took place at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo from October 13-15. In tournament matches, a Level 39 Super Killscreen was added, where the pieces fall at double the speed of Level 29. This was added to prevent Rollers from playing forever. The rest of the tournament format was […]

The 2022 Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC) returned as an in-person event at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo. In the Qualifying round, they removed the part where players waited in line to play a game. Instead, players signed up for a 2-hour session where they played an unlimited amount of games within that time period. […]

The 2021 Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC) was held online due the Covid-19 Pandemic. Tournament format remained the same as the previous year. This became the first tournament without Jonas Neubauer and Harry Hong. Jonas Neubauer suddenly passed away in January 2021. Harry Hong had retired from playing competitive Tetris. For the first time in […]

The 2020 Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC) took place online due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Having the tournament online meant a change in the format. In the qualifying round, players were given a 2-hour session to make unlimited attempts to get the highest score. The Top 64 qualified for the tournament. They were split into […]

The 2019 Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC) was the 10th annual tournament. Last year, Joseph Saelee defeated 7-time champion, Jonas Neubauer, in the Finals to win the tournament. This inspired a new generation of players to play NES Tetris and master the game. The qualifying round was the same as before where players lined up […]

The 2018 Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC) is the 9th annual tournament. “Boom! Tetris For Jeff!” meme made the 2016 finals go viral. It brought new fans to the tournament, including 16-year old Joseph Saelee. This year, the organizers brought in Arda Ocal, who joined as a commentator and host. The tournament format changed in […]

The 2017 Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC) is the 8th annual tournament. James Chen makes a debut appearance as a commentator, commentating alongside Chris Tang during the Top 8. The tournament format remained the same. The same piece sets returns for a second time. Despite the introduction of the 7th digit in the score counter […]

The 2016 Classic Tetris World Championship was the 7th Annual tournament. For the first time, the tournament used a modified cartridge that allowed players to compete with the same piece sets. Also, the cartridge had a 7th digit for the score counter which allowed the game to score to exceed the Maxout score of 999,999. […]

The 2015 Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC) was the 6th annual tournament. It became the first tournament to feature the “Treyvision” display which drastically improved the viewing experience for the audience. Mainly by recording the game’s standard definition (SD) display and converting it to high definition (HD). I write more about this when talking about […]