Today, the sixth annual Classic Tetris World Championship takes place in Portland, Oregon. At the event, the world's best Tetris players duke it out using original Nintendo hardware, thrift-store CRT TVs, and live commentary by experts. If you dig Tetris, this is the event of the year.
If you can't make it in person, it's streaming on Hitbox, and embedded below (minus the live chat). The 32-player bracket begins Sunday, October 18, at 10am Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8). Here's the full schedule:
NES Tournament Early Rounds (Announcer: Chris Bidwell) Round 1: 10:30am - 12:00pm (16 matches) Round 2: 12:15pm - 1:15pm (8 matches) Break: 1:15pm - 1:45pm NES Tournament Top 8 (Announcer: Chris Tang) Round 3: 2:00pm - 2:45pm (4 matches) Round 4: 3:00pm - 3:30pm (2 matches) Round 5: 3:45pm - 4:30pm (final match) NES Award Presentation: 4:30pm
Note: If you are in Portland, come by the event and say hi! I'm the head referee for the championship this year.
Wait, What's the Classic Tetris World Championship?
If you're not aware of this game, it may be useful to watch Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters, a documentary about the first competition of this kind. Here's the trailer:
Five years later, the event has gotten much bigger. More video, including previous years' streams of the final rounds, is available on the CTWC site.