Ravensburger sponsors third World Puzzle Championship
From September 20 to 24, the World Jigsaw Puzzle Federation (WJPF) will host the third World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship at the "Cúpula del Milenio" (Millennium Cathedral) in Valladolid in cooperation with the city council. Around 950 puzzle fans from Germany, Spain, USA, South Africa and 61 other countries have already registered for the major event, which is well established and respected in the global puzzle community.
The multi-day puzzle competition will start on the evening of September 20. On the following days, in the heart of Valladolid, under the dome of the Millennium Dome, the preliminary rounds, semi-finals and finals in three categories (individual, pair and team) will be contested under perfect lighting conditions. In total, the organizer expects about 2,000 competition entries from 1,200 participants from all over the world. The participants are 73% female and on average 39 years old.
Alone, in pairs or in teams: the three categories of the competition
In the individual category, the challenge is to assemble a 500-piece puzzle in less than two hours. At the last championship, winner Alejandro Clemente León from Spain managed to do this in just 34 minutes and 25 seconds. Norwegian puzzler Kristin Thuv finished second, 7 minutes behind, closely followed by Czech Tereza Koptíková, who took third place with 42 minutes and 18 seconds.
In the pairs category, the competition is similar, but the competitors must assemble a puzzle with 1,000 pieces within two hours. Katerina Novotna and Tereza Koptíková from Poland took 1 hour and 2 minutes to do this last year, winning ahead of Demelza Becerra Robledillo and Ángel Heras Salcedo from Spain.
Teams must complete two 1,000-piece puzzles within three hours, with participants able to choose from four different puzzles. With a time of 2 hours and 54 minutes, the Spanish team "Non Stop" won the 2022 championship ahead of the German team "Eckteile" and the American team "Jigsaw Junkies.“
Ravensburger sponsors puzzles
Ravensburger is providing 2D puzzles from its extensive portfolio as well as as yet unreleased puzzles for the event, including product novelties that will not be launched worldwide until 2024. The use of as yet unpublished puzzles guarantees equal opportunities, as all participants will see the motifs for the first time shortly before the start of the competitions.
All competitions will be broadcast live on the World Jigsaw Puzzle Federation's YouTube channel and on its social media channels. Qualification and classification information will also be made available in real time on the Federation's website.
Puzzle fan Michael Smit competes for Germany
Whether puzzles or Sudoku, in his free time or at work - puzzles are Michael Smit's passion. The software architect from Weissach near Stuttgart is taking part in the World Puzzle Championship for the second time this year. In 2022, he and his team took second place in the team category. This year, he is again competing in all three categories.
According to Guinness World Records, the world's largest puzzle competition
For 50 years, Guinness World Records has been thrilling children and adults every year with top performances from all over the world. Now the international puzzle competition is also among the fascinating records. No wonder, because in 2022 the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championships counted 1,500 competition entries, 1,206 puzzles and 589,394 correctly assembled puzzle pieces. As a result, in April 2023, the event was named the world's largest jigsaw puzzle competition by Guinness World Records.
Source: www.ravensburger-gruppe.de