Wikipedia

Alex Thach

Alex Thach, known online as TetrisAlexT or Alex T, is an American-Vietnamese[2]: 25:54 [a] 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.

TetrisAlexT
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 15)[1]
Career information
GamesClassic Tetris
Playing career2020–present
Career highlights and awards
  • CTWC champion (2024)
  • First person to get over 10 million points (2024)
  • 4th person to "beat" Tetris (2024)

Born in 2008, 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 was forced to adopt 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 12, 2024, where achieved the highest level reached in one game, and became the first to get a score of more than 10 million, winning a $2,400 bounty made by the Tetris community for 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 entered the competitive Tetris scene at 11 years old in 2020, the same year becoming the youngest player to ever maxout out the games score counter at 999,999 points.[2]: 2:48 [a] On June 2, 2021, Thach further became the first player to reach level 41.[9][2]: 3:07  This was Thach's last major achievement however, before he was forced to adopt a better playing technique called "rolling", as his current playing style called "hypertapping" became increasingly obsolete among top players.[2]: 4:34  Thach had switched to rolling full time to compete in the 2022 Classic Tetris World Championship (CTWC), but performed worse than expected due to inexperience with the new technique, and unlucky droughts on certain game pieces.[2]: 5:15  In the April 2023 CTWC Masters Event, Thach won his first major competition since adopting the rolling technique.[2]: 5:41 

On March 11, 2024, Thach uploaded a photo on Discord of a game with the score of 9,903,960 points, which would have beat the previous high score record for the game, but was disregarded by the Tetris community as the game was not recorded or livestreamed, which was needed for proof.[2]: 9:58  On March 12, 2024, Thach followed up on his claims by livestreaming a Tetris game lasting slightly over an hour, in which he broke the records for highest level reached and highest score reached at 235 and 16,248,080 points respectively on a modified game cartridge, which suppressed crashes in the later levels of the game.[2]: 31:26  The highest score record specifically won Thach a $2,600 bounty created by the Tetris community for the first person to reach a score of over 10 million points.[10][11] This highest score record was also recognized by Guinness World Record for the NES version of Tetris, which far surpassed the previous record of 8,952,432 points set by Andrew Artiaga ("PixelAndy") on January 11 earlier in the year.[12]

 
Michael Artiaga competing against Thach in the 2024 CTWC Finals

On April 2, 2024, while on a video call with a number of top Tetris players including Justin Yu ("fractal161"), Thach broke the original game cartridge records for highest score reached[2]: 37:40  and latest game crash achieved, simultaneously becoming the fourth person to ever "beat the game" by triggering a killscreen.[4][5][2]: 37:05  He also became the first to trigger a rare visual glitch nicknamed "summoning satan" by the community, after clearing a single line of blocks on a level where doing so has a 70% chance of crashing the game.[6][2]: 36:48  On April 15, 2024, Thach again broke the record for highest score reached on a modified game cartridge after scoring 16,700,760 points,[2]: 38:19 , and currently maintains this record.[13] On June 9, 2024, Thach beat two-time previous champion Michael Artiaga ("DogPlayingTetris") to earn his first Classic Tetris World Championship title.[14] The golden J-Piece trophy was given to Thach's mother to give to Thach, instead of being awarded by the event's host.[14]

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 which emphasizes vibrating the buttons rapidly over pressing them; first popularized by Joseph Saelee in his winning 2018 CTWC tournament.[15] Thach found much of his early success using this technique, using it to reach level 41 for the first time in 2021.[2]: 2:20  Shortly after winning the January 2022 CTWC Master Event,[2]: 3:26  however, Thach was forced to adopt to a new technique created by fellow Tetris player Christopher Martinez ("Cheez") before the 2020 CTWC called "rolling", which involves rolling the back of the controller with all five fingers to position the game pieces more quickly.[16] Much of Thach's recent success has come since adopting and mastering this technique, using it while breaking the Guinness World Record for most points scored in a game.[13]

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.[2]: 32:18  Thach has also become well-known for destroying his set-up and dumping various odd items on his head to celebrate victories: most notability Parmesan cheese, which became his signature victory celebration after he poured the cheese over his head in his room to celebrate beating multiple records on his March 12, 2024, livestream.[3][11] He continued the tradition after winning the 2024 CTWC, where an inflatable pool was brought out to collect the cheese as it was poured on him by his mother and hosts of the tournament.[14]

Competitive record

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Below is a table of the Tetris tournaments Thach participated in and their outcome. It should be noted the table is likely incomplete, as results on the CTM website prior to February 2022 only list the name of a competitor if they won or were the runner-up, not including the names of those who competed otherwise.[17]

Year Tournament Score Finishing place Ref.
2020 CTM December Challengers Event 4–0 1st [18]
2021 CTM June Masters Event 3–1 2nd [17]
Classic Tetris World Championship N/A Contender [19]
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 N/A Contender [19]
CTM December Masters Event 2–1 [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 N/A [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 N/A [14]
CTM July Masters Event N/A Scheduled [42]

Citations

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References

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  1. ^ Late Birthday Win. Alex Thach (YouTube). November 7, 2019. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o A 15 Year Old Just Broke Every Tetris World Record. aGameScout (YouTube). April 26, 2024. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Marfram (April 1, 2024). "How Much Capital Loss Has Tetris Caused Alex T?". Medium. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Tyson, Mark. "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 Sharma, Karan (May 2, 2024). "15-Year-Old Gamer Makes History: Breaks 6 Tetris Records With Highest Score Ever". Mashable. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ McFerran, Damien (May 1, 2024). "This 15-Year-Old Just Utterly Destroyed Tetris". Time Extension. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  9. ^ First Level 41 In NES Tetris. Alex Thach (YouTube). June 2, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ a b 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". Inkl. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  12. ^ "Highest score on NES Tetris (NTSC)". Guinness World Records. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  13. ^ a b "Classic Tetris Leaderboard". Maxout.gg. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  14. ^ a b c d Wingfryer (June 14, 2024). "Alex T Wins The 2024 Classic Tetris World Championship". Tetris Interest. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ 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.
  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. ^ a b "Results". Classic Tetris World Championship. Archived from the original on December 10, 2020. Retrieved January 24, 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 July 30, 2024.

Notelist

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  1. ^ a b The YouTube video used as the article's primary citation was made by the respected Tetris community reporter aGameScout, whose video was referenced by a number of other reliable sources.[3][4][5][6][7][8] To stay true to the original source, aGameScout's YouTube video is what is cited throughout the article, and not the sources referencing it.
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