UK Puzzle Association

Results: 2017 UK Sudoku Championship

Congratulations to Mark Goodliffe, who has claimed a maiden UK Sudoku Championship. Mark finished the set of 16 mind-bending sudoku puzzles with almost 15 minutes to spare in a very strong performance, and now qualifies for the UK team at the World Sudoku Championships later this year in Bangalore. Joining Mark on the team is runner-up Heather Golding, who also finished the set within the 2 hours.

1. Mark Goodliffe - 804 pts
2. Heather Golding - 734 pts
3. Neil Zussman - 630 pts

A full list of UK results can be found here.

The championship was also open to international participation, and was contested by the world's elite. A total of 30 participants successfully finished the set of 16 puzzles, with Takuya Sugimoto of Japan narrowly beating off the competition to top the table for the second year running. Congratulations Takuya!

1. Takuya Sugimoto (JAP) - 1050 pts
2. Kota Morinishi (JAP) - 1043 pts
3. Jan Mrozowski (POL) - 1038 pts

The full international results can be found here.

2017 UK Sudoku and Puzzle Championships

The 2017 UK Sudoku Championship will take place over the weekend of Friday 9th to Mon 12th June 2017.
The 2017 UK Puzzle Championship will be held 2 weeks later, Fri 23rd to Mon 26th June 2017.
Both championships will take place online, on this website, via the contests page (http://www.ukpuzzles.org/contests.php)
Exact duration (usually 2 - 2.5 hrs) and start/end times will be posted nearer the time.
You may commence at a time convenient to yourself within the allotted time.
The puzzles will be available as a PDF, which you will need to print out and solve.
You will then need to enter the requested answer keys from your solution into the contest page.
You will need to be logged in to this website (forum) to participate. (Simple registration is free)
Past championships are available at the above contests page.

Bot registrations

The site is being hammered with rogue registrations, and spam posts, so I've turned off self-registration.
For the foreseeable time, all new accounts must be admin approved.
Therefore, if you register a new account, you must email me (chairman@ this site's domain name) to request account activation.

I call them bots, but an 'I am human' question is presented on registration, and confirmation clicking on an email sent to a valid email account is required, so I believe there are just some really sad and desperate people out there. Some people do just ruin things for others. Seems we have to legislate for the most stupid people in any society we live in.

Shouldn't make much difference in reality. I will reopen self-registration nearer the time of the the UK championship season, when hopefully this madness dies down a bit.

2017 UKPA Open Sudoku and Open Puzzle Tournaments

The UK Puzzle Association are pleased to announce the 2017 UK Open Sudoku and UK Open Puzzle Tournaments.
The Sudoku Tournament will be held on Saturday 25th February, 2017 and the Puzzle Tournament will be held from the evening of Saturday 25th and on Sunday 26th February, 2017. Both will take place at the Selsdon Park Hotel in Croydon, the site of the 2014 World Sudoku and Puzzle Championships.

These events will be used as part of the selection process for the UK teams for the World Sudoku Championships (WSC) and World Puzzle Championship (WPC) for 2017.

As well as the honours for the winners of both events we also have a range of prizes including best newcomer, best junior and best overseas competitor so come along and enjoy the fun whatever your skill level. Everyone is welcome, although those under 16 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Start time on Saturday will be around 10.30 am and finish time on Sunday to be no later than 4 pm.

For further details please contact liane@ukpuzzles.org

2016 WPC & WSC results

The UK team is all home now after a frantic, but very enjoyable week in Senec, where the Slovakians put on a very good week of puzzles and entertainment.

The winners were:

WSC overall: 1st, Tiit Vunk (EST); 2nd, Jakub Ondroušek (CZE); 3rd, Kota Morinishi (JPN). Czech Republic also took the team title.
Britain's Mark Goodliffe was the clear world leader in the over-50s category, until the playoff, but came away with 2nd place.
The British team finished 12th overall (of 24 countries)
Tom Collyer was the highest rank Briton, in 25th place. Mark also finished in the top 30 overall in a very competitive field.
Official WSC results here

WPC overall: 1st, Ulrich Voigt (DEU); 2nd, Palmer Mebane (USA); 3rd, Ken Endo (JPN). Ken had a seemingly unassailable lead going into the final playoffs, but struggled with a couple of the puzzles, allowing the others to overtake him. Germany took the team title.
Neil Zussman was the highest ranked Briton, finishing in 12th place, just shy of qualifying for the playoffs.
Alan O'Donnell finished 7th of 24 in the over-50s category, also just shy of qualifying for the category playoffs.
The British team finished 11th overall - comfortably in the top half.
Official WPC results here

UKPC Results and 2016 UK WPC Team

The 2016 UK Puzzle Championship is over, and the results have been published: Official results.

Congratulations to Neil Zussman on becoming UK Puzzle Champion.
Also to James McGowan and Tom Collyer for taking 2nd and 3rd places respectively.

Combining with the UK Open Puzzle Tournament results, the first choice UK team for the 2016 World Puzzle Championships is:

Thomas Powell and AJ Moore are reserves.

Top 3 international guests were Hideaki Jo (Japan), Endo Ken (Japan) and Robert Vollmert (Germany).
Well done, and thank-you to everyone who participated, regardless of scores.

Finally, many thanks to the puzzle authors, the testers, and of course to Liane Robinson for yet again organising the competition.
A booklet of the puzzle solutions is also available on the main contest page. (Full results, with international guests)
I hope to see many of you in Slovakia in October.

UKSC Results and 2016 UK WSC Team

The UKSC is over, and the results are now available.

Congratulations to Heather Golding on her first win!

Mark Goodliffe was runner-up, with Emma McCaughan taking 3rd place.

Combining the results with the UK Open qualifier in February, the final UK team for the World Championships in Slovakia in November October is:

Reserves are Neil Zussman and Adam Bissett.

Top 3 international guests were Takuya Sugimoto (Japan), Kota Morinishi (Japan) and Seungjae Kwak (Korea).
Congratulations to all. Full results are available here.

Finally, many thanks to Tom Collyer for compiling this year's UK Championship, and for the many contributors and testers that have ensured a high quality, error-free competition once again.

2016 UK Sudoku Championship & WSC Qualification

The UKPA are pleased to announce that the UK Sudoku Championship will take place over the weekend of

10th - 13th June, 2016.

The championship page will be here: http://www.ukpuzzles.org/contests.php?contestid=39
The instructions booklet will be available from that link.

The discussion thread for the championship can be found here.

The top two UK competitors will earn their places on the UK team for the World Sudoku Championships that will be held in Senec, Slovakia in October. Already qualified are Tom Collyer and Mark Goodliffe.

2016 UK Sudoku & Puzzle Championships

The 2016 UK Sudoku Championship will take place over the weekend of Friday 10th to Mon 13th June 2016.

The 2016 UK Puzzle Championship will be held 2 weeks later, Fri 24th to Mon 27 June 2016.

Both championships will take place online, on this website, via the contests page (http://www.ukpuzzles.org/contests.php)
Exact duration (usually 2 - 2.5 hrs) and start/end times will be posted nearer the time.
You may commence at a time convenient to yourself within the allotted time.

The puzzles will be available as a PDF, which you will need to print out and solve.
You will then need to enter the requested answer keys from your solution into the contest page.
You will need to be logged in to this website (forum) to participate. (Simple registration is free)

Past championships are available at the above contests page.

Briton wins 24Hr Puzzle Championship

Neil Zussman won the annual 24Hr puzzle championship in Hungary this year.

Not an event for the weak-hearted - It is a highly competitive 24hr puzzle solving marathon.
Well done Neil!

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