Jesper was back at the 2023 Classic Tetris European Championship, after finishing in the Top 16 in 2022.
He qualified for the tournament as the #1 seed, giving him high expectations of making it far in the bracket. It helps when you have a Bye to Round 3 (Top 16).
What was interesting about this tournament was that the Top 2 players from last year, Sidnev and SV, did not participate in this tournament, which explains why there were no maxouts in Qualifying.
Jesper’s First Match of the Tournament
Jesper’s first opponent was RoccoRicci (#16 seed).
In Game 1, RoccoRicci creates a Long Bar dependency 4 rows high. When the Long Bar arrives, he overshifts the piece and tops out.
In Game 2, both players reached the Level 19 Killscreen. RoccoRicci wins the game by 10K points, which ties up the Best of 5 match, 1-1.
(CTEC uses the PAL version of NES Tetris where the Killscreen happens on Level 19. The organizers have added a Super Killscreen on Level 29)
In Game 3, an O-Piece comes at the wrong time from RoccoRicci. He uses it to block the Left well. Eventually, he tops out early and loses. Jesper is at match point.
Game 4 goes all the way to Level 19. Jesper wins the game and match with a commanding 100K lead.
Quarterfinals
Jesper was up against Alex_H in the Quarterfinals, where the match is a Best of 7.
In Game 1, Alex_H’s stack gets high on the board. He tries to get the T-Piece all the way to the right, but hangs it in a way that blocks the Column 9 well, leading to a top out. Jesper wins Game 1.
In Game 2, Alex_H misdrops a J-Piece, which causes him to top out eventually. Jesper leads 2-0.
Both players reach Level 19 in Game 3, with Jesper winning the game with a 50K+ point lead.
In Game 4, as Alex_H’s board was messy going into Level 19, causing him to top out. Jesper was already leading so he wins the game and sweeps the match, 4-0.
Semifinals: Taking on the Champ
Obviously, the Semifinals was not going to be easy. Jesper was taking on 2020 CTEC Champion, Wing (#4 seed).
Game 1 ended early when Jesper misdropped an O-Piece that throws him off, causing him to top out quickly. Wing leads the Best of 7 match, 1-0.
In Game 2, Jesper enters Level 19 with a 150K point lead. Wing attempts to line it out on Level 19 in hopes winning the game but he tops out at Level 21. Even though Level 19 is considered the Killscreen, it is still possible to line it out with DAS. Anyways, the match is tied 1-1.
In Game 3, Wing misdrops a T-Piece and tops out. Eventually, Jesper chases down the points to win the game.
Wing’s stack gets high in Game 4, he misdrops an L-Piece that leads to a top out. Jesper is at match point, 3-1.
Wing is playing to stay in the tournament in Game 5. And then, he misdrops an O-Piece, which leads to another misdrop, which leads to a top out and elimination.
Jesper wins the match 4-1 to advance to the Finals.
Finals: Last Year’s Rematch
Jesper’s opponent in the Finals was Schnecke (#2 seed). This was the player that eliminated Jesper at last year’s CTEC.
The Finals was a Best of 9
Jesper loses the first game from a misdropped S-Piece that spirals into an early top out. He also loses the second game. Schnecke leads the match, 2-0.
In Game 3, both players reach the Level 19 Killscreen. Schenecke goes for a Tetris at Level 20 to win the game, but gets droughted and tops out. Jesper gets his first win of the match.
In Game 4, Jesper goes into the Level 19 Killscreen with a nearly 100K point lead. Both players score a Tetris at Level 19. Both players top out, with Jesper winning with a dominate 100K point lead. The match is tied, 2-2.
A similar scenario happens in Game 5. Jesper reaches Level 19 Killscreen with another dominating 100K point lead to win the game. Jesper leads the match, 3-2.
Jesper also wins Game 6, putting him at Match point, 4-2.
In Game 7, Jesper misdrops an S-Piece, that eventually leads to a top out. Schnecke stays alive, with Jesper leading the match, 4-3.
In Game 8, Schnecke leads in points going into Level 19. He tops out at Level 20 with a 39K point lead. Jesper would need to chase it down by lining it out on Killscreen. The crowd holds their breath as Jesper attempts to complete the chasedown to win the tournament. But he misdrops a Z-Piece that prevents him from doing so. The match is tied 4-4, and the match went to a Decider Game 9.
Both players reach the Level 19 Killscreen again in the Final game. Jesper had the lead advantage in this Killscreen battle. Schnecke misdrops a T-Piece that messes up his board and he tops out. Jesper wins the deciding game.
After a match that lasted all 9 games, Jesper becomes the new Classic Tetris European Champion.
