Wikipedia

Alex Thach

Alex Thach (born November 7, 2008), known online as Alex T, is an American classic Tetris player. He is best known for his victory in the 2024 Classic Tetris World Championships (CTWC), becoming the first person to get a score of over 10 million points, and a number of other smaller records achieved on both original and modified game cartridges which prevent crashes late game.

Alex T
Thach in a black shirt holding a golden J-Piece trophy
Thach after winning the 2024 Classic Tetris World Championship
Personal information
NameAlex Thach
Born (2008-11-07) November 7, 2008 (age 16)
Career information
GamesClassic Tetris
Playing career2020–present
Career highlights and awards
  • CTWC champion (2024)
  • 1st over 10 million point Tetris game (2024)
  • 4th person to "beat" Tetris (2024)

Thach entered the competitive Tetris scene in 2020 at 11 years old. He originally found success using the "hypertapping" technique of playing but in 2022 adopted the more competitive "rolling" technique as competition improved. Using the new technique, Thach broke multiple records in a more than hour-long game livestreamed on March 11, 2024, where he achieved the highest level reached in one game and a score of more than 10 million, also winning a $2,400 bounty made by the Tetris community for being the first to do so. On June 9, 2024, Thach won the Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC) after beating two-time former champion Michael Artiaga ("dogplayingtetris"). Thach is also known for his unique and signature victory celebration of dumping Parmesan cheese on his head.

Tetris career

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Thach was born on November 7, 2008,[1] and lives in the U.S. state of California.[2] He entered the competitive Tetris scene at 11 years old in 2020,[3] the same year becoming the youngest player to ever maxout out the game's score counter at 999,999 points.[4][5] Thach became known to the Tetris community because of these achievements, and in 2022, was able to compete in the Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC), but was eliminated early and placed 16th.[6]

On March 11, 2024, Thach uploaded a photo of a game with a score of 9.9 million points,[4][7] which surpassed the previous record of 8,952,432 points set by Andrew Artiaga ("PixelAndy") on January 11 earlier in the year.[8] Thach followed this game up by livestreaming a Tetris game lasting slightly over an hour, in which he broke the records for highest level and highest score reached at 235 and 16,248,080 respectively.[4][9][10] This game, which was played on a modified game cartridge to suppress crashes that normally occur in later levels of the game,[11] won Thach a $2,600 prize created by the Tetris community for the first person to reach a score of 10 million points.[9][12] Thach's highest score record was also recognized by Guinness World Records for the NES version of Tetris.[8]

 
Michael Artiaga competing against Thach in the 2024 CTWC Finals

On April 3, 2024, Thach broke the original game cartridge records for highest score reached and latest game crash achieved, simultaneously becoming the fourth person to ever "beat the game" by triggering a killscreen.[4][5][2] He also became the first to trigger a rare visual glitch nicknamed "Summoning Satan" by the community.[7] On April 15, 2024, Thach again broke the record for highest score reached on a modified game cartridge after scoring 16,700,760 points.[11] On June 9, 2024, Thach beat two-time previous champion Michael Artiaga ("dogplayingtetris") to earn his first Classic Tetris World Championship title.[13] The golden J-Piece trophy was given to Thach's mother to give to Thach, instead of being awarded by the event's host.[13]: 1:03:30 

Playing style

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Thach's mother pouring Parmesan cheese on her son's head after winning the 2024 CTWC, his signature victory celebration

Thach began playing NES Tetris in 2020 using "hypertapping", a technique where the player rapidly vibrates their arm to press the buttons on the controller. This technique was used by Joseph Saelee in his winning 2018 and 2019 CTWC tournaments.[14] Thach found much of his early success with hypertapping, but was compelled to adopt a new technique called "rolling" around 2023 and 2024, as hypertapping was becoming obsolete among top players.[4] Rolling, which was created by fellow Tetris player Christopher Martinez ("Cheez") before the 2020 CTWC, is a technique where the player rolls the back of the controller with all five fingers to position the game pieces more quickly.[15][16]

In terms of attitude while playing, Thach often makes jokes and uses comedic body language, which he has admitted helps soothe his nerves when getting through difficult levels of the game.[10]: 46:44  Thach has also become well known for destroying his setup and dumping various odd items on his head to celebrate victories, most notably Parmesan cheese. This became his signature victory celebration after he poured the cheese over his head to celebrate beating multiple records in his March 11, 2024, livestream.[11] He continued the tradition after winning the 2024 CTWC, where an inflatable pool was brought out to collect the cheese as he was doused in it by his mother and the hosts of the tournament.[13]: 1:04:20 

Competitive record

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Below is a table of the Tetris tournaments Thach participated in and their outcomes. It should be noted the table is incomplete, as results on the CTM website prior to February 2022 only list the names of the winner and the runner-up.[17]

Year Tournament Won-Lost Finishing place Ref.
2020 CTM December Challengers Event 4–0 1st [18]
2021 CTM January Futures Event 4–1 2nd [19]
CTM June Masters Event 3–1 2nd [17]
Classic Tetris World Championship 2–2 25th [6]
CTM December Masters Event 4–0 1st [17]
2022 CTM January Masters Event 4–0 [17]
CTM February Masters Event 3–1 2nd [20]
CTM March Masters Event 2–1 Contender [21]
CTM April Masters Event 3–1 [22]
CTM June Masters Event 1–1 [23]
CTM July Masters Event 1–1 [24]
CTM August Masters Event 2–1 [25]
CTM September Masters Event 3–1 2nd [26]
Classic Tetris World Championship 1–1 16th [6]
CTM December Masters Event 2–1 Contender [27]
2023 CTM January Masters Event 0–1 [28]
CTM Mega Masters 6–0 1st [29]
CTM Lone Star Championship 3–1 Contender [30]
CTM August Masters Event 2–1 [31]
CTM September Masters Event 1–1 [32]
CTM October Masters Event 1–1 [33]
CTM November Masters Event 1–1 [34]
Classic Tetris World Championship 2–1 [35]
CTM December Masters Event 3–1 2nd [36]
2024 CTM January Masters Event 2–1 Contender [37]
CTM February Masters Event 3–1 2nd [38]
CTM Mega Masters 4–1 Contender [39]
CTM April Masters Event 4–0 1st [40]
CTM May Masters Event 4–0 [41]
Classic Tetris World Championship 5–0 [13]
CTM July Masters Event 4–0 [42]
CTM August Masters Event 2–1 Contender [43]
CTM August DAS Masters Event 0–1 [44]

References

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  1. ^ Late Birthday Win. Alex Thach (YouTube). November 7, 2019. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  2. ^ a b I Beat The Game Of Tetris Again Back To Back!. Alex Thach (YouTube). April 3, 2024. Retrieved September 6, 2024. I Did Not Expect Beating BlueScuti, 14-Year-Old Boy In Oklahoma Gets Crushed By The 15 Year Old Boy In California.
  3. ^ Singh, Ritu (May 1, 2024). "15-Year-Old Gamer Breaks 6 Tetris World Records With The Highest Ever Recorded Score". NDTV. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e Tyson, Mark (April 30, 2024). "Teen breaks six Tetris world records — wins cash prize as first to score over 10 million points". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Santabarbara, Seb (April 30, 2024). "15-year-old Tetris Player Breaks Multiple Records With The Highest Ever Recorded Score". Retro Dodo. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c "Results". Classic Tetris World Championship. Archived from the original on December 10, 2020. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Sharma, Karan (May 2, 2024). "15-Year-Old Gamer Makes History: Breaks 6 Tetris Records With Highest Score Ever". Mashable. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Highest score on NES Tetris (NTSC)". Guinness World Records. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Sims, Daniel (March 25, 2024). "Forgotten Tetris sequel "Tetris Reversed" resurfaces after a decade". TechSpot. Retrieved July 30, 2024. Mere weeks later, Alex Thach nearly doubled Artiaga's record with 16,248,080 points, winning $2,600 and becoming the first person to exceed 10 million.
  10. ^ a b First Ever 10 Million Score In NES Tetris!. Alex Thach (YouTube). March 11, 2024. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  11. ^ a b c Bailey, Dustin (April 30, 2024). "15-year-old kid demolishes the game of Tetris, obliterating every major world record and pouring cheese over his head to celebrate". GamesRadar+. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  12. ^ McFerran, Damien (March 25, 2024). "The Classic Tetris World Record Has Been Smashed, Again". Time Extension. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  13. ^ a b c d 2-Time Champ vs 15 Y/O World Record Holder - Classic Tetris World Championship 2024 Finals. Classic Tetris World Championship (YouTube). September 1, 2024. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  14. ^ Pape, Sam (October 7, 2022). "The Portland Retro Gaming Expo—And Its Tetris Competition—Returns". Portland Monthly. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
  15. ^ Sweet, Jacob (March 26, 2021). "The Revolution In Classic Tetris". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on January 17, 2024. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  16. ^ Karnadi, Chris (July 21, 2022). "Teens are rewriting what is possible in the world of competitive Tetris". Polygon. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
  17. ^ a b c d "Past Tournament Results [Masters tab]". Classic Tetris Monthly. Archived from the original on December 8, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  18. ^ "Past Tournament Results [Challengers tab]". Classic Tetris Monthly. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  19. ^ "Past Tournament Results [Futures tab]". Classic Tetris Monthly. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  20. ^ "CTM February 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. February 2022. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  21. ^ "CTM March 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. March 2022. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  22. ^ "CTM April 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. April 2022. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  23. ^ "CTM June 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. June 2022. Archived from the original on January 24, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  24. ^ "CTM July 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. July 2022. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  25. ^ "CTM August 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. August 2022. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  26. ^ "CTM September 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. September 2022. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  27. ^ "CTM December 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. December 2022. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  28. ^ "CTM January 2023 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. January 2023. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  29. ^ "CTM Mega Masters 2023". Classic Tetris Monthly. April 2023. Archived from the original on March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  30. ^ "CTM Lone Star Tetris Championship". Classic Tetris Monthly. May 2023. Archived from the original on March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  31. ^ "CTM August 2023 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. August 2023. Archived from the original on March 20, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  32. ^ "CTM September 2023 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. September 2023. Archived from the original on February 28, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  33. ^ "CTM October 2023 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. October 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  34. ^ "CTM November 2023 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. November 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  35. ^ CTWC 2023 TOP 8 Pt. 1 | Tetris World Championship. Classic Tetris World Championship (YouTube). December 4, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  36. ^ "CTM December 2023 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. December 2023. Archived from the original on February 28, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  37. ^ "CTM January 2024 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. January 2024. Archived from the original on January 7, 2024. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  38. ^ "CTM February 2024 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. February 2024. Archived from the original on February 28, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  39. ^ "CTM Mega Masters 2024". Classic Tetris Monthly. March 2024. Archived from the original on March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  40. ^ "CTM April 2024 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. April 2024. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
  41. ^ "CTM May 2024 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. May 2024. Retrieved May 5, 2024.
  42. ^ "CTM July 2024 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. July 2024. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  43. ^ "CTM August 2024 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. August 2024. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  44. ^ "CTM DAS Masters August 2024 DAS Masters". Classic Tetris Monthly. August 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
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