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ROME (AFP) - Sudoku enthusiasts from 13 countries will flock to Italy next week for the gripping number puzzle's first world championship, the organisers said.
"Sudoku has become in a very short time one of the favourite pastimes of millions of players throughout the world," said Adeline Berthaux, of French puzzle magazine company Keesings, sponsors of the event.
"There's been a huge increase in the number of tournaments and so it's legitimate to have countries where Sudoku has become such a phenomenon participating in a world championship."
Players will face off on Friday March 10 in the Tuscan town of Lucca for a session lasting three hours and 45 minutes for long, short and varied Sudoku challenges. The 16 survivors will play off in the final the following day.
Millions of players around the world have been playing the logic game since a 60-year-old retired New Zealand judge, Wayne Gould, made it popular -- although its origins are believed to back to the 18th century.
The craze really took off after Gould proposed it to the London Times, and Sudoko is now reproduced in some 400 daily newspapers around the world.
Participating countries in the world championships are Belgium, Britain, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, Slovakia and Turkey.
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