KenKen United States
Home of the KenKen International Championship since 2010.
KenKen arrived in the United States through Robert Fuhrer, whose company Nextoy brought the puzzle from Japan and into The New York Times. In 2010 he launched the KenKen International Championship, billed at the time as the first tournament of its kind anywhere in the world.
The championship
For its first seven years the championship was held at the Chappaqua Public Library in Westchester County. It outgrew the room, and in 2017 it moved to the Westchester Table Tennis Center in Pleasantville, a venue owned by Will Shortz, the longtime crossword editor of The New York Times.
By 2018 the field had reached 180 competitors, with solvers travelling from China, Japan, India, Israel and the United Arab Emirates to face the best players in the United States. Data scientist John Gilling won that year for the third time in a row.
In the classroom
The KenKen Classroom Program sends free weekly puzzles to teachers across the country, and the puzzle is endorsed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Many of the students who reach the championship first met KenKen on a classroom worksheet.
Milestones
- 2009
KenKen begins running in The New York Times.
- 2010
Robert Fuhrer launches the KenKen International Championship.
- 2017
The championship moves to Pleasantville, New York.
- 2018
180 competitors; John Gilling wins his third straight title.
- 2022
The championship travels to Abu Dhabi, its first time outside the United States.
