Alex Thach

Last updated

TetrisAlexT
Alex Thach 2024 CWTC (cropped).jpg
Thach after winning the 2024 Classic Tetris World Championship
Personal information
NameAlex Thach
Born (2008-11-07) November 7, 2008 (age 15)
Career information
Games Classic 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)

Alex Thach (born November 7, 2008), known online as TetrisAlexT or 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.

Contents

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 12, 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

Thach was born on November 7, 2008, [1] and is of Vietnamese descent. [2] : 25:54  [lower-alpha 1] He entered the competitive Tetris scene at 11 years old in 2020, the same year becoming the youngest player to ever maxout out the game's score counter at 999,999 points. [2] : 2:48  On June 2, 2021, Thach further became the first player to reach level 41. [8] [2] : 3:07  This was Thach's last major achievement before he adopted a playing technique called "rolling", as his "hypertapping" playstyle was becoming 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. [2] : 5:15  In the April 2023 Classic Tetris Monthly (CTM) 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 a score of 9,903,960 points, which would have beaten the previous high score record if it had been recorded. [2] : 9:58  On March 12, 2024, Thach followed this 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. This game was played on a modified game cartridge which suppresses crashes that normally occur in later levels of the game [2] : 31:26  and won Thach a $2,600 prize created by the Tetris community for the first person to reach a score of 10 million points. [9] [10] Thach's score 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. [11]

Michael Artiaga competing against Thach in the 2024 CTWC Finals 2024 CTWC Finals.jpg
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. [3] [4] [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. [5] [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. [12] 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]

Playing style

Thach's mother pouring Parmesan cheese on her son's head after winning the 2024 CTWC, his signature victory celebration Alex Thach cheese celebration at 2024 CTWC.jpg
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. The technique was first popularized by Joseph Saelee in his winning 2018 CTWC tournament. [14] Thach found much of his early success with this technique, using it to reach level 41 for the first time in 2021. [2] : 2:20  Shortly after winning the January 2022 CTM Masters Event, [2] : 3:26  however, Thach adopted 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. [15] Much of Thach's recent success has come since adopting and mastering this technique, including his recent world records and world championship win. [12]

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 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 12, 2024, livestream. [10] 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]

Competitive record

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. [16]

YearTournamentWon-LostFinishing placeRef.
2020CTM December Challengers Event4–01st [17]
2021CTM January Futures Event4–12nd [18]
CTM June Masters Event3–12nd [16]
Classic Tetris World Championship 2–225th [19]
CTM December Masters Event4–01st [16]
2022CTM January Masters Event4–0 [16]
CTM February Masters Event3–12nd [20]
CTM March Masters Event2–1Contender [21]
CTM April Masters Event3–1 [22]
CTM June Masters Event1–1 [23]
CTM July Masters Event1–1 [24]
CTM August Masters Event2–1 [25]
CTM September Masters Event3–12nd [26]
Classic Tetris World Championship 1–116th [19]
CTM December Masters Event2–1Contender [27]
2023CTM January Masters Event0–1 [28]
CTM Mega Masters6–01st [29]
CTM Lone Star Championship3–1Contender [30]
CTM August Masters Event2–1 [31]
CTM September Masters Event1–1 [32]
CTM October Masters Event1–1 [33]
CTM November Masters Event1–1 [34]
Classic Tetris World Championship 2–1 [35]
CTM December Masters Event3–12nd [36]
2024CTM January Masters Event2–1Contender [37]
CTM February Masters Event3–12nd [38]
CTM Mega Masters4–1Contender [39]
CTM April Masters Event4–01st [40]
CTM May Masters Event4–0 [41]
Classic Tetris World Championship 5–0 [13]
CTM July Masters Event4–0 [42]

Citations

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References

  1. ↑ Late Birthday Win. Alex Thach (YouTube). November 7, 2019. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 A 15 Year Old Just Broke Every Tetris World Record. aGameScout (YouTube). April 26, 2024. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  3. 1 2 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.
  4. 1 2 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.
  5. 1 2 Sharma, Karan (May 2, 2024). "15-Year-Old Gamer Makes History: Breaks 6 Tetris Records With Highest Score Ever". Mashable . Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  6. ↑ 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.
  7. ↑ McFerran, Damien (May 1, 2024). "This 15-Year-Old Just Utterly Destroyed Tetris". Time Extension. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  8. ↑ First Level 41 In NES Tetris. Alex Thach (YouTube). June 2, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  9. ↑ 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. 1 2 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.
  11. ↑ "Highest score on NES Tetris (NTSC)". Guinness World Records . Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  12. 1 2 "Classic Tetris Leaderboard". Maxout.gg. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Wingfryer (June 14, 2024). "Alex T Wins The 2024 Classic Tetris World Championship". Tetris Interest. Retrieved July 30, 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. 1 2 3 4 "Past Tournament Results [Masters tab]". Classic Tetris Monthly. Archived from the original on December 8, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
  17. ↑ "Past Tournament Results [Challengers tab]". Classic Tetris Monthly. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  18. ↑ "Past Tournament Results [Futures tab]". Classic Tetris Monthly. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  19. 1 2 "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 August 9, 2024.

Notelist

  1. ↑ 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] 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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