Guy Milshtain, 26, is Israel's first representative at the World Puzzle Championship (WPC), dedicated to brain teasers, strategy games and logic problems. The contest, the 18th World Puzzle Championship (and Congress), got underway Tuesday and will continue through Sunday in Antalya, Turkey. As the sole Israeli representative, Milshtain will only be able to compete in the individual championship events. National team qualification requires at least four members. Milshtain, a resident of Tel Aviv, is a physics student and a member of the Israeli branch of MENSA, the international organization of people with superior IQs. WPC challenges include tests of skill in logical reasoning; analytical thinking, knowledge of basic arithmetical operations, awareness, attention, memory, among others. While most of the puzzles are designed to be solved on paper, there may also be puzzles of physical manipulation, image and memory games and strategy games. The World Puzzle Championship is an annual international event organized by the World Puzzle Federation. The international organization of problem solvers brings together people from around the world for both the WPC and the annual World Sudoku Championships. As described by Kamer Alyanakyan, WPC-2009 General Coordinator, on behalf of the organizing committee, "Bright minds and free souls from around the globe will gather to compete for a high placement in the world puzzle rankings." In fact, registered competitors for WPC 2009 come from 27 different countries. In addition to Israel, first-time competitors have come from Greece and Luxembourg. This year's host, Turkey, has been represented at every World Puzzle Federation event since 1992.
