Speed puzzlers from sixty-eight countries battled for glory at Spain's World Jigsaw Puzzle Championships – Kristin Thuv from Norway took the individual title this year

For many people jigsaws are a relaxing, low-energy pastime but at the World Jigsaw Championships competitors are speed building for trophies.

The four-day event in Valladolid in Spain gathers 3,500 of the best puzzlers, working individually or in teams, for the chance to be crowned champion.

World Jigsaw Championships have been taking place since 2019, but since the coronavirus pandemic the interest in speed jigsaw puzzle tournaments has really taken off.

This year’s winner of the individual title went to 30 year old Kristin Thuv from Norway, who took just over 37 minutes to complete a tricky puzzle of tigers and vegetation.

“I have been doing puzzles all my life, but then during the pandemic I heard of speed puzzling, and I was like 'I am going to the World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship,' and I started practicing,” she says.

Competitors at this year’s event have come from 68 countries, with the most numerous from Germany with 161 participants followed by the Spain with 136 and then the USA with 116.

Alfonso Alvarez-Ossorio, the President and organizer of the World Championship says the popularity of jigsaws is a move away from the ubiquity of screens in modern life.

“This is a call to recover the non-digital space, the classic game, the board game, and to get us away from the screens. So, I think this is also a positive thing about this championship, which vindicates that too," he says.

Source: AP Newsroom