Justin Yu

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Fractal161
Yu after winning the 2023 Classic Tetris World Championship
Personal information
NameJustin Yu
Born2000 or 2001 (age 22–23)[a]
Career information
GamesClassic Tetris
Playing careerc. 2016–present
Career highlights and awards
  • CTWC champion (2023)
  • CTWC runner-up (2022)

Justin Yu, known online as fractal161, is an American student and Tetris player from Texas. While also a student at MIT, Yu has competed in several competitive Tetris tournaments, and is the current Classic Tetris World Champion. On January 3, 2024, Yu became the second person to "beat" the game and first person to achieve the earliest possible game crash on level 155.

Personal life and education[edit]

Yu is from Dallas, Texas.[2] He is currently a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, with a computer science and engineering major.[2] As of 2023, Yu was working towards another major in mathematics with a minor in music technology. Yu also plays the cello in the MIT Video Game Orchestra, an orchestra at the school which performs covers of classic video game music.[2]

Tetris career[edit]

Yu began to play the 1985 puzzle video game Tetris in about 2016, becoming interested after watching videos of the game on YouTube.[2] He soon began to play the game more often and practiced on correcting his weaknesses.[2] To get a better understanding of the game, Yu began experimenting in programming assembly and ROM hacking, which consequently helped him in his education and to become the first person to reach Tetris's late-game glitched color levels.[2] After becoming a competitive player, Yu was among the first to change their playing style to the rolling technique, a faster way of playing the game which became crucial to beating later levels.[2]

As a Junior in MIT, Yu competed in the 2023 Classic Tetris World Championship from October 13 to 15, 2023, where he beat fellow competitor Sidney Commandeur (known online as "Sidnev") and placed first, winning over US$3,000.[1][2]

After the 2023 CTWC, Yu announced his intentions to try to "beat the game" by reaching its "killscreen," a point late in the game when the code glitches, resulting in a game crash due to hardware limitations within the NES.[2][3] Fellow competitive Tetris player and YouTuber Willis Gibson (known online as "Blue Scuti") became inspired by the goal, and would beat Yu to the achievement on December 21, 2023.[4] Yu celebrated the achievement with Gibson, exclaiming "He did it, he did it!" on his livestream.[5][6] On another livestream on January 3, 2024, Yu beat the game, becoming the second person to do so after Gibson and first person to achieve the earliest possible game crash on level 155, two levels quicker than on Gibson's run.[3][7][8] Yu has stated his future goal is to one day help run Tetris websites and tournaments as opposed to competing in them.[2]

Competitive record[edit]

Year Championship Score Finishing place Ref.
2020 CTM April Challengers Circuit 2–3 2nd [9]
CTM August Futures Circuit 3–1 1st [10]
2021 CTM April Challengers Circuit 2–2 2nd [9]
CTM June Challengers Circuit 3–0 1st [9]
CTM August Masters Event 3–1 [11]
Classic Tetris World Championship 3–2 14th [12]
2022 CTM April Masters Event 3–2 1st [13]
CTM July Masters Event 3–1 [14]
CTM August Masters Event 3–0 [15]
Classic Tetris World Championship 1-3 2nd [12]
2023 CTM PAL June Tier 1 3–3 [16]
Classic Tetris World Championship 3-2 1st [1]
2024 CTM January Masters Event 3-1 1st [17]
CTM February Masters Event 3-0 1st [18]
CTM Mega Masters 2024 3-2 1st [19]

Notelist[edit]

  1. ^ While no exact date is given, Yu was 22 years old on November 3, 2023.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Leporati, Gregory (November 3, 2023). "Tetris championships, rare video games: Welcome to 8-bit paradise". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Halpern, Jane (October 27, 2023). "MIT's Justin Yu wins Classic Tetris World Championship". MIT News. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Bailey, Dustin (January 5, 2023). "It took 34 years for someone to beat Tetris - now 2 more people have done it days apart from each other". GamesRadar+. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  4. ^ Elmquist, Jason (January 3, 2024). "Wunderkind: Stillwater teen becomes first documented human to 'beat' Tetris". Stillwater News Press. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
  5. ^ "US teenager becomes first human to beat Tetris with game-ending glitch". France 24. January 4, 2024. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  6. ^ Lynn, Bryan (January 4, 2024). "American Teenager Becomes First Human to Beat Video Game Tetris". Voice of America. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  7. ^ Ashraf, Amirul (January 11, 2024). "Classic Tetris World Champion Has Also Beaten NES Tetris". gamermatters.com. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  8. ^ Justin Yu (January 4, 2024). I Defeated NES Tetris (YouTube video). fractal161. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c "Past Tournament Results [Challengers tab]". Classic Tetris Monthly. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  10. ^ "Past Tournament Results [Futures tab]". Classic Tetris Monthly. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  11. ^ "Past Tournament Results [Masters tab]". Classic Tetris Monthly. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  12. ^ a b "Results". Classic Tetris World Championship. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  13. ^ "CTM April 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. April 2022. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  14. ^ "CTM July 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. July 2022. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  15. ^ "CTM August 2022 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. August 2022. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  16. ^ "CTM PAL June 2023 Tier 1". Classic Tetris Monthly. June 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  17. ^ "CTM January 2024 Masters Event". Classic Tetris Monthly. January 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
  18. ^ "CTM February 2024 Masters Event". go.ctm.gg. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  19. ^ "CTM February 2024 Masters Event". go.ctm.gg. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
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