US teen is new Tetris world champion

A 16-year-old boy from California was the surprise winner of the grand final of the Classic Tetris World Championship in Oregon.

The iconic block stacking computer game is 13 years older than him.

Joseph Saelee beat Jonas Neubauer, who has won seven times in the tournament’s eight-year history.

He told the BBC he had started playing as a hobby after watching the championships in 2016, and he plays on an original 1985 Nintendo NES console.

He said he practises for a couple of hours each day on the device, hooked up to a “blocky” cathode ray tube (CRT) television screen rather than a modern thin screen.

Mr Saelee said he prefers using the old-fashioned monitor because there is less latency – a tiny time difference between the controller and the visual.

“My friends are like, ‘what is this guy playing’,” he said.

“Tetris is easy to learn but it can take years to master.”

He added that he intends to take part in the competition again next year.

“I feel like I could still improve – it isn’t just a one-time thing.”