Starting today, 200 puzzle aficionados will gather in Valladolid, Spain, for the World Jigsaw Championship! This year’s championship features three competitive categories: Individual, Pairs, and Teams each with a grand prize of €1,000.
The World Jigsaw Puzzle Federation has organized these annual competitions since 2019, attracting a wide swath of puzzle enthusiasts across the globe. This event was also significant since it was the first time a world ranking was available for jigsaw puzzle competitors.
Since its inception, all the events have been held in Valladolid, Spain however in 2020 and 2021 the event was cancelled due to COVID 19. The championship has evolved over the years, incorporating new rules and categories to enhance the competitive experience and showcase the growing global interest in jigsaw puzzles.
Can you spot yourself at last years championship?
By World Jigsaw Puzzle Federarion - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
Last year, an unfortunate incident happened with Norwegian speed puzzler Kristen Thuv during the individual final event. There were five missing pieces in her puzzle, and consequently, she was charged a 10-second penalty per piece. This was highly controversial since this looked to be a manufacturing error and no fault of the competitor. Impressively, Kristen was still able to come 2nd in the 2023 World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship with a time of 48min 40sec to complete a 500-piece puzzle!
Most likely due to this incident, this year, the tournament has changed the rules and stated that, “If there are 2 or more adjacent and missing pieces, no penalty will be applied as it is a manufacturing error.” This is great to see and shows how the sport is slowly evolving.
For the 2024 World Puzzle Championship, Mango Puzzles, is having a site-wide sale on our entire collection. This is a small way that we hope to raise awareness for this growing sport. We are super impressed at all the competitors and wish them good luck!
By Kemal Didić