With modern games always taking center stage, people sometimes forget that the classics have thriving and avid communities. Enter the Classic Tetris World Championship. The CTWC has taken upon itself the burden of carrying the classic Nintendo Entertainment System version of Tetris into public perception for the past seven years, totalling eight events. Vince Clemente runs the event every year and gave some insight on what goes into it in an interview with Twin Galaxies.
As with every awesome event, an origin story was needed.
“It all started August 8th, 2010, in Los Angeles, where the first one was hosted,” Clemente began. “[Prior to that], I was in contact with Adam Cornelius who I was making the film ‘Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters’ with. He wasn't local, but wanted an event in LA to have the championship between all the greatest Tetris players we could find. One of my main jobs was to make that event a success to serve as the climax for that film.”
So the CTWC event’s basis came from a documentary, but the reasoning behind the documentary delves even deeper as Clemente would go on to explain.
“It all goes back to the 1990 NWC which is kind of viewed as the first Tetris championship. There really hadn't been much like this since. What we [were] really trying to do is make Tetris the sport it deserves to be. There's lots of game tournaments here and there, but everyone knows and can understand Tetris - even most grandmas!”
Where the tournament, itself, is pretty straight forward, the organization behind it had a little variety outside of the NES version of Tetris during the event according to Clemente.
“We have included other versions of Tetris in the tournament,” Clemente noted. “Such as the SNES version, Tetris: The Grand Master, Tetris Ultimate, and even the Tetris board game. But, the main title of the championship is always on the NES version.
Clemente clarified that they didn’t do anything outside of Tetris, like Dr. Mario or Puyo Puyo, but he did declare his love of Dr. Mario, speaking to a recent event set to establish and boost the competitive Dr. Mario scene.
“Last year, Chris Bidwell and Scott Vieth put the first ever Dr. Mario Championship together in Pittsburgh at the Reply FX expo. I went, had an amazing time, and walked away with second place, losing to my arch nemesis, Packie.”
Vince deals with some of the greatest Tetris players on a regular basis. He has a firm grasp of what makes a Tetris pro tick.
“I think it's the same for almost all games, or really anything in life. You have to put your 10,000 hours in. You also have to have a ton of patience, a lot of creativity and curiosity also go a long way. You have to be able to see what you're doing wrong, and correct it, even it if feels uncomfortable at first. I'd play lots of 19. You have to play and know how to survive on 19 speeds, while still organizing and clearing four lines at a time. Playing B type 19-2 has helped me with my survival skills. Robin Mihara suggested that to me, and I think he learned it in Tibet.”
Patience is key, but Vincent believes it’s all about calming the mind.
“It's a very zen game. I think just relaxing and being comfortable is what I'd suggest at home, maybe wrapped in your favorite blanket with some nice slippers on. Cold beers are always welcome, but playing in the competition is a totally different beast. I, personally, find myself playing a completely different game when in a match in front of a live audience. I'm not sure how to prepare for that besides competing more, besides maybe hiring a friend to yell at you while you're playing or listening to some very loud prog rock. It's also never a bad idea to record your games and see what you're doing wrong and how you can improve, just like Larry Bird used to do.”
Tetris is on most gaming platforms in some form, even mobile. This can make things very different across versions. Though Clemente’s focus is on the NES classic, he still has some insight on how many of them compare.
“I haven't played every version of Tetris ever made. The SNES version is really close, but the piece distribution is much more brutal. Lots of the newer games have hard drops, hold chambers, and things like infinite spin that are completely different than the NES version. I think it's all about what your personal preference is. Most of the players that compete in the CTWC only play NES Tetris. Other players are masters of all the different Tetris disciplines.”
Competition can start rivalries and even drama, but Vince only sees good sports and very little drama.
“The whole CTWC community is great. It's definitely my favorite part of this. The tourney wouldn't exist without it. Everyone gets along and roots for each other, which is insanely tough. Most the players have been coming year after year. Some of the best rivalries, though. I'd say the #1 rivalry would definitely have to be Harry vs Jonas. Jonas is a beast! He has the competition style of play really dialed in. He has won seven of the eight years, which in any sport anywhere is a crazy achievement. Harry won the only tournament that Jonas was unable to, by beating Jonas, himself.”
Clemente refers to Jonas Neubauer and Harry Hong. Since the inception of the Classic Tetris World Championship, Neubauer has placed first every year except for 2014, in which he took second place behind Harry Hong. Hong was 2014’s Tetris Champion, otherwise placing second or third in 2010, 2013, and 2016.
There’s always that amazing clutch game that comes out of nowhere and Vince also recalls a story about that.
“In 2014, the year Harry won, he had a game against Bo Steil in the final four where he was down a bunch of points. Bo happened to top out and Harry came back to win in the last second available with a Tetris going into the kill screen. The crowd went completely wild! The Harry vs Bo match was the first time I ever saw something like this in Tetris.”
For those unaware, the kill screen on Tetris is on level 29. When it is reached, it’s nearly impossible to get pieces over to the left and right side of the screen. Death is imminent.
“For a long time nobody thought level 30 was possible,” Clemente added. “Now, I think 3 or 4 people have gotten there: Thor Aackerlund, Jani Herlevi, and Koryan.”
The turnout at the CTWC gets bigger every year. The top players join in on the fun, even when they’re not playing that year.
“Thor played in the first one, and hasn't played since, but he has been there to watch the tourney a couple times. Jani has been making the trip from Finland for the past 5 years, and Koryan has come the last 2 years from Japan. There's maybe 25-30 players that have maxed the game. Most of them come every year! The crowd is awesome, getting bigger and better every year. The online crowd is crazy too. There’s tons of love for all the players in the chat and everyone has their favorites they root for. I think it's right there with live sports. It's live, and it's a sport! Lots of the same fans I see every year in the crowd in Portland, too!”
The documentary that started this, Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters, came out in 2011.
“It was well received by festivals and won several awards,” Clemente recalled. “Including the Audience Award at the Austin Film Festival, and once again at the Phoenix Comicon. The film also played in Amsterdam at IDFA, one of the biggest documentary film festivals there is. So, it was quite the achievement! I worked as a producer on the film with one of my main jobs being creating the first CTWC in 2010.”
What’s changed in the last seven years (eight events total) of CTWC? Vince believes he’s helped with a classic game renaissance.
“The amount of max-outs and the playing field has enticed more players since [the documentary came out]. The film has shown people that there is the competitive scene and brought a lot of great players out of the woodwork. Back in 2010, I think there was three, maybe four, known max-outs of the game. Now we have around 30 people that have maxed it out. What's really crazy is how the YouTube videos of the championship have really started to take off. Our championship video from 2016 has over 7 million views. That's nuts! People are finding out about this, so I expect lots more players in the future. Who knows where this is going?”
Indeed, as attraction for and towards the Classic Tetris World Championship grows, so too does the field of enthusiastic players ready to prove their mettle in the most celebrated speed-puzzling game of all time. And so too does the crowd of viewers that want to be there to say they saw their own little piece of gaming history happen.
