For people like you and me, kicking back and playing a relaxing game of Tetris probably goes about the same way. We settle in as the pieces move down at a slow and steady pace, gradually making our way up through the levels and faster play.
But professional Tetris players take casual gameplay to a different level. For one Tetris world champion trying to break one world record, he totally missed the fact he set an entirely different world record until after he reached a stopping point.
Jonas Neubauer is a seven-time Classic Tetris World Champion, having won each of the first four world titles since the Classic Tetris World Championship was introduced in 2010 in Portland, Oregon. Neubauer has won the event seven out of eight years, finishing in second place in 2014.Being a world champion requires plenty of training year round, and Neubauer often streams his practices and world record attempts.
While streaming his latest attempt to clear 100 lines in the fastest time, a record now owned by Neubauer at 3:15 after setting the mark eight days ago, Neubauer was feeling pretty good about his run. His run was incredible, but it only dawned on him afterwards — while checking the chat updates from his stream — that he may have fallen shy of his goal for the fastest time to clear 100 lines. But he set an entirely different record for the fastest time to hit the 300,000-point mark.
The previous record for the fastest 300,000 score was 2:12, set seven months ago. Like a marathon runner trying to break the 2-hour mark, Neubauer became the first official player to break the two-minute mark with a 300,000 point total in 1:57. As he dubs it, this was an “accidental” world record run, but with his skill, nothing should be considered an accident.
In the speedrunning community, Neubauer’s world record attempt has inspired others to continue trying to push the game’s limits in an effort to break the two-minute mark and potentially challenge for a new world record. Days after Neubauer’s sub-two minute run for 300,000 points record was set, a second official sub-two-minute run to 300,000 was recorded and put on record. This run only came in second place though with a time of 1:59.54.
So if you ever thought you were good at Tetris, think again. These Tetris pros will teach you a lesson in a hurry. Literally.
