What You Missed During the 2017 Classic Tetris World Championship
This year the CTWC was full of upsets, surprises, and intense Tetris action.
This year’s Classic Tetris World Championship was held on October 21st and October 22nd at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo in Portland, Oregon. For those unable to attend the event in person, all of the intense Tetris action was live streamed on the CTWC’s Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook channels.
The live stream drew tens of thousands of viewers throughout the course of the event, with each user rooting for their favorite competitor in the comments. If you missed it, you can watch it from start to finish over on the CTWC Twitch channel, as well as in the video embed down below.
October 21st featured the qualifying rounds that determined who would participate in the main competition. It was a Saturday full of palpable tension within the Portland Retro Gaming Expo, as hundreds of prospective participants from around the world, including the United States, Japan, Finland, and France, vied for the 32 spots available.
In the end, all 32 competing finalists were determined with many “neck on neck” scores. Several returning CTWC competitors were among the 32 finalists including Jonas Neubauer, Koryan, Harry Hong, Jeffrey Moore, Alex Kerr, Bo Steil, and Eli Markstrom, among others.
Photo Credit: ©CTWC
Aside from the NES competition, the 2017 Classic Tetris World Championship also hosted an exciting Tetris Grand Master (TGM) competition. After sweeping through the qualifying rounds with an incredible double maxout, it was Koryan who wound up walking away with the 1st place trophy in TGM.
Although Koryan was unable to maintain his momentum during the main event and was eventually eliminated by Alex Kerr before reaching the top 8, his victories in both the qualifying rounds and the TGM tournament are extremely impressive. We want to extend a huge congrats to Koryan for his TGM victory, and wish him the best of luck during next year’s CTWC!
Photo Credit: ©CTWC
Competition was fierce during the main event, with the 32-bracket seeded roster eventually whittling down to the final 8 competitors. Everyone was on the edge of their seats as 8 Tetris pros fought hard for a chance at CTWC 2017 victory. You had incredible performances from Harry Hong and Matt Buco, as well as humorous costume get-ups from Hauser. He definitely commanded attention with that fake moustache and mullet!
Photo Credit: ©CTWC
Finally, it all came down to the last two competitors: Alex Kerr and Jonas Neubauer. Things were extremely close between the two, with many holding their breath wondering if Alex Kerr would be able to dethrone the 7-time CTWC champ, Jonas Neubauer. In the end, Jonas made a surprising comeback (boom, Tetris for Jonas) during the final stretch that saw him through to the end.
Your CTWC 2017 champ this year is Jonas Neubauer, taking home the coveted trophy for the 3rd year in a row. Meanwhile, Alex Kerr walked away with the 2nd place trophy after a commendable fight against Jonas Neubauer. Phew, just watching the two battle it out made our hearts pound! We want to give a big thank you to the CTWC team, including Vince Clemente, Trey Harrison, and Adam Cornelius for doing such an awesome job organizing the tournament this year.
We’d also like to thank Chris Bidwell, James Chen, Chris Tang, and the rest of the CTWC staff including the judges, scorekeepers, social media coordinators, and front desk volunteers for helping the CTWC team pull off such a successful production. Want a chance to take on CTWC champions like Jonas and Alex next year? Be sure to check out our article on how you can participate in the Classic Tetris World Championship.
Looking for more information on the CTWC? Click here to head over to the CTWC website, and be sure to follow the CTWC on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube! In the meantime, get your Tetris practice in by playing for free right here at Tetris.com!
