The world of classic Tetris was rocked this weekend when a teenager dethroned the seven-time Classic Tetris World Champion.
Joseph Saelee, 16, won the ninth annual CTWC at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo after more than 100 competitors vied for the big prize.
The competition saw entrants playing the 1989 Nintendo Entertainment System version of the game, and the last moments in this year's final were as tense as any great sporting moment.
After two days of gruelling competition just two players remained, with Saelee defeating Jonas Neubauer, who had won the title on seven of the previous eight occasions.
Watch the video here:
The moment 16-year-old wunderkind Joseph Saelee dethroned 7-time winner Jonas Neubauer (@neubsauce) to take the Worโฆ https://t.co/VVj4m9sor7โ Tetris (@Tetris) 1540169877.0
To put that into contextโฆ
Lots of people had kudos for the new champion.
@Tetris_Official @neubsauce @TheCTWC @ArdaOcalTV He defeated the king, congrats to him!โ ZeRo | FlipperG ๐ง๐ท (@ZeRo | FlipperG ๐ง๐ท) 1540169987.0
@FilipetaGomez @neubsauce @TheCTWC @ArdaOcalTV BOOM, Tetris for Joseph! ๐๐๐โ Tetris (@Tetris) 1540170028.0
@Tetris_Official @TheCTWC OH MY GODโ boze (@boze) 1540202973.0
@Tetris_Official @TheCTWC @markellislive cue the Rocky training montageโ Daniel Lojik (@Daniel Lojik) 1540193495.0
@Tetris_Official @neubsauce @TheCTWC @ArdaOcalTV From all of us who gave up after level 14... https://t.co/2XQhxZ71u2โ Tomas Quillopo (@Tomas Quillopo) 1540184793.0
Saelee took home $1,000 for his efforts, as well as an appropriately themed trophy.
#CTWC https://t.co/h0wlq6tXTBโ Tetris Championship (@Tetris Championship) 1540168630.0
Folks who watched said this year's championship was next level good.
@TheCTWC @neubsauce @Tetris_Official @Twitch @RetroGamingExpo This year CTWC has been on another level, i hope nextโฆ https://t.co/KvuO0viWW8โ #PUKIGUROM Radziu (@#PUKIGUROM Radziu) 1540183085.0
@TheCTWC @neubsauce @Tetris_Official @Twitch @RetroGamingExpo I cried for Jonas but man that kid is good.โ Seven (@Seven) 1540175348.0
@TheCTWC @neubsauce @Tetris_Official @Twitch @RetroGamingExpo Legends. โค๏ธโ Aaron Kenney (@Aaron Kenney) 1540169704.0
@TheCTWC @neubsauce @Tetris_Official @Twitch @RetroGamingExpo It's been amazing. Sometimes while watching them I stโฆ https://t.co/75vWBMzOYLโ Oriolowsky (@Oriolowsky) 1540168905.0
@TheCTWC @neubsauce @Tetris_Official @Twitch @RetroGamingExpo Another amazing year! So glad to see so many people watching the stream.โ Jason DeCrypto (@Jason DeCrypto) 1540194923.0
@TheCTWC @neubsauce @Tetris_Official @Twitch @RetroGamingExpo That was a amazing tournament guys, can't wait next year! xDโ Julio Cesar ๐ง๐ท (@Julio Cesar ๐ง๐ท) 1540171224.0
With the NES game being 29 years old at the time of the championship, Saelee wasn't even born until 13 years laterโฆ
Fun fact: NES Tetris is 13 years older than our current world champion. Almost double in age. ๐คท๐ปโโ๏ธ #CTWXโ Tetris Championship (@Tetris Championship) 1540171466.0
Tetris was created in June 1984 by Alexey Pajitnov, an artificial intelligence researcher working for Dorodnitsyn Computing Centre of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, a Soviet government-founded R&D center in Moscow. NES released their version in 1989.
@TheCTWC @Tetris_Official @neubsauce @Twitch @RetroGamingExpo How cool! Loved Tetris since I got to play it on theโฆ https://t.co/4aQcLXStunโ kristine (@kristine) 1540198417.0
With time on his side, how many more world titles can this guy win?
A version of this article originally appeared on Press Association.