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16-year-old kid dethrones 7-time world Tetris champ

Posted at 11:35 AM, Oct 23, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-23 11:35:33-04

A California 16-year-old is the new world champion of Tetris.

Joseph Saelee beat Jonas Neubauer in the Classic Tetris World Championship grand final Sunday night in Oregon; a definite stunner, per Kotaku, considering Neubauer, a 37-year-old taproom manager, has come out on top seven times in the eight years the tournament has been held.

Saelee, on the other hand, just started playing after watching the 2016 championships, he tells the BBC. And yes, he plays the iconic video game on an original 1985 Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) console.

Saelee, it should be noted, is 13 years younger than the NES version of the block stacking game.

You can watch nearly seven hours of gaming in our video gallery or just skip to the winning moment; if you’re not convinced all those hours are worth it, take note of what Alex Walker writes at Kotaku: “The Classic Tetris World Championships is one of the best gaming events to spectate all year. It’s easy to understand, gets real intense, and the commentary adds a ton to the proceedings.” (To lose weight, play Tetris?)

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