World Jigsaw Puzzle Championships

The World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship is an annual event organized by the World Jigsaw Puzzle Federation, supported by multiple national associations such as the United States Jigsaw Puzzle Association and Australian Jigsaw Puzzle Association.^[1][2] The World Championship was started in 2019, and all editions have been held in Valladolid, Spain.^[3] The Championship include three events: team, pairs and individual.

World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship
Status	Active
Date(s)	Varying
Frequency	Annual
Country	Spain
Inaugurated	2019 (2019)
Next event	2025
Organised by	World Jigsaw Puzzle Federation
Website	worldjigsawpuzzle.org

The 2019 championships were the first time a world ranking is available for jigsaw puzzle competitors.^[4]

Presentation before begin test

Participants competing in Individual semifinal WJPC 2023

History

In 2019 the World Jigsaw Puzzle Federation was founded and in the same year, the first World Jigsaw Championship was held in Valladolid, Spain. Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic the event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021, and it resumed in 2022.

The 2024 event was also held in Valladolid, from 17 to 22 September.^[5]

Events

Three events are contested in the championships. In all events, placement is determined by the fastest completion within the time limit. For competitors who have not finished the assigned puzzle(s) within the time limit, the remaining pieces are counted to determine position.^[6]

• Team event: Teams of four complete multiple puzzles (1,000, 1,500 or 2,000 pieces) in the time limit.
• Pairs event: Two competitors complete a single puzzle (500 or 1,000 pieces) within a time limit.
• Individual event: Each individual participant completes a 500-piece puzzle within a time limit.

In the first World Jigsaw Puzzle Championships, only one final round was held in each event. In 2022 the semifinals were introduced in all events. For 2023, due to the increase in the number of participants, another round has also been introduced prior to the semifinals of the individual event. For 2024, also a first round has been introduced prior to the semifinals of the pairs event.

Championships

Year	City	Venue	Events	Nations	Participants
2019	Valladolid	Cúpula del Milenio	3	39	531
2022	Valladolid	Cúpula del Milenio	3	44	470
2023	Valladolid	Cúpula del Milenio	3	54	905
2024	Valladolid	Cúpula del Milenio	3	74	1777

All-time medal table

Updated after 2024 World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Spain	5	1	2	8
2	Czech Republic	4	3	4	11
3	United States	1	2	3	6
4	Norway	1	2	0	3
5	Russia	1	0	2	3
6	Poland	0	2	1	3
7	Germany	0	2	0	2
Totals (7 entries)		12	12	12	36

Participants by event

Year	Nº ind.	Nº pair	Nº teams
2019	199	196	86
2022	240	176	77
2023	572	340	159
2024	1102	721	300

Championships records

Event	Participant	Time	Round
Individual (500 pieces)	Katharina Reiner	00:26:39	First round 2024
Pairs (500 pieces)	Alejandro Clemente Gisela Toro	00:20:12	First round 2024
Pairs (1,000 pieces)	Markéta Freislerová Tereza Koptíková	00:47:41	Final 2024
Team (1,000 + 1,000 pieces)	Czech Puzzlequeens Tereza Koptíková Markéta Freislerová Kateřina Klinková Jana Ondroušková	01:10:16	First round 2024
Team (1,000 + 1,500 pieces)	Non Stop Ana Gil Ana Isabel Jimeno Alejandro Clemente David Caballero	02:54:13	Final 2022
Team (4 puzzles)	Siberian Team Irina Batalova Valentina Baburchenkova Natalia Komarova Galina Medvedeva Marina Radchenko	04:11:17	Final 2019