KenKen Heavyweights Dominate Annual Puzzle Tournament
The ninth annual KenKen International Championships last Sunday turned into a showdown of two of the most high-powered puzzle solvers anywhere.
Data scientist John Gilling won the tournament for the third consecutive year defeating three-time champion Martin Eiger, a computer programmer, at the Westchester Table Tennis Center in Pleasantville. Brooklyn math teacher Julie Davis, who entered the competition for the first time, finished third followed by student champion Aritro Chaterjee, an 11-year-old from the United Arab Emirates, part of a contingent of international competitors who made the trip.
For Gilling, defeating his friendly rival was as satisfying as the $1,000 prize for winning the tournament.
“The first year (I competed) Martin beat me and we haven’t competed side by side since then,” said Gilling, a Brooklyn resident. “He makes it fun.”
After each of the contestants appeared stumped in the opening minutes of the championship round, Gilling broke through to complete the 9-by-9 grid in an unofficial 6 minutes and 4 seconds.
Eiger, of Montville, N.J., who finished fourth each of the last two years after winning the event three times, said he didn’t try to put too much pressure on himself this year and just go out and have fun. He out finished all of the 179 other contestants – except Gilling.
“He’s amazing,” Eiger said. “I don’t know what he does – or how he does it – that I don’t do, but you know he’s very good.”
Davis, in her first KenKen competition, said it was a bit intimidating to be in front of the crowd trying to complete the oversized championship puzzle on a large easel alongside the two three-time winners. For several years, the charter school math teacher has been doing the puzzles online and recently noticed an ad that popped for the tournament.
Davis looked up past results and articles and took notice of Eiger and Gilling. She said it was an honor to be in the championship round with two of the most accomplished KenKen competitors.
“I was kind of freaking out a bit,” she said. “My heart was pounding up there.”
The contestants with the combined top three scores over three qualifying rounds made it to the championship, said Robert Fuhrer, the owner of the Pleasantville-based company Nextoy, which is responsible for bringing the numerical puzzle to the United States from Japan. Each round featured a set of three puzzles, which were progressively more difficult, he said.
The tournament, which was held for the first seven years at the Chappaqua Public Library, was moved last year to the Westchester Table Tennis Center because it had become so popular. Fuhrer said it is now believed to be the world’s largest math puzzle competition.
It’s also fitting that the center is owned by Pleasantville resident and longtime New York Times crossword puzzle editor Will Shortz.
“I feel like my two worlds are colliding here, puzzles and table tennis,” he said. “I’m really proud of it.”
Even for those who didn’t win, matching wits against some of the best KenKen solvers was a thrill. In addition to Chaterjee, contestants came from China, Japan, India, Israel and throughout the United States.
Paul Ternes, a Washington, D.C. geometry teacher, combined his trip to see his sister in the city, who last week had a baby, with the tournament. About two years ago, Ternes discovered KenKen and introduced it to his students.
“The kids loved it and they were into it,” he said. “They were excited.”
Nola Bass-Weiss, a fourth-grader from Dobbs Ferry, was one of the student finalists. Her mother, Brooke, said that she is in an afterschool math club and the teacher told the students about the KenKen tournament. So Bass-Weiss gave it a try.
“It makes me nervous, but it’s also fun,” she said.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/