Welcome to Piece-off #8! Come solo, bring a partner or a team, and try your hand at speed puzzling - the top performers in each category go home with prizes!
Categories and Formats
- Individuals (solo): Puzzle Chess (3 rounds, 1-v-1, no elimination, top 3 ranks win),
- Pairs (group of 2): Speed Puzzling (250 pieces, fastest 3 finishers win),
- Teams (group of 4): Speed Puzzling (500 pieces, fastest 2 finishers win)
You can register under multiple categories as they will take place at different times. For Pairs, only one person from each group needs to purchase a ticket for the Pair. For Teams, each person in a team needs a ticket.
Schedule
| 11 AM | Pairs check-in and briefing |
| 11:15 AM | Pairs Speed Puzzling |
| 12:15 PM | Teams check-in and briefing |
| 12:30 - 2:00 PM | Teams Speed Puzzling |
| 3 PM | Individuals check-in and briefing |
| 3:15 - 5:15 PM | Individuals Puzzle Chess |
Rules
SPEED PUZZLING - PAIRS AND TEAMS
- Pairs will have 60 minutes (1 hour) to complete a 250-piece jigsaw puzzle from Frank.
- Teams will have 90 minutes (1.5 hours) to complete a 500 piece puzzle from Jigsaw Nation.
- Puzzles will come bagged or boxed, with an image for reference.
- Only letter openers, keys or other non-sharp objects may be used to open the plastic that covers the puzzle; sharp objects like scissors or box cutters are not permitted.
- If, once the time period has elapsed competitors have not finished the puzzle, we will count the number of placed pieces, adding only lots of 3 or more pieces correctly joined together. Competitors will be ranked by the least number of unplaced pieces.
- If pieces are missing/misplaced at the end of the puzzle, 10 seconds for each lost piece will be added to the final time. If there are 2 or more adjacent and missing pieces, no penalty will be applied as it is considered a manufacturing error.
- Tickets include registration and the cost of the competition puzzle - competitors take their puzzle home!
- The fastest three Pairs win puzzles sponsored by Frank Toys and the fastest two Teams win puzzles sponsored by Jigsaw Nation!
PUZZLE CHESS - INDIVIDUALS
- There will be 3 rounds of 1-v-1 matches. There will be a gameplay demo before rounds start.
- Matches and rankings will follow the Swiss format - this means there will be no player elimination and all players will play the same number of matches.
- Matches will be played in the “Puzzle Chess” format: Players will take turns to place one piece at a time in the puzzle, using a chess clock to track the time taken to do so. The player with the most time remaining on the clock at the end of the match wins.
- Puzzles will range from 80-150 pieces. Borders will be constructed off the clock before the match begins.
- Top 3 players win prizes from our sponsor, The Puzzlist!