Alex Thach – or “Alex T” – might be just 16 years old, but he’s also the greatest Tetris player in the world, having won back-to-back titles in the Classic Tetris World Championship. The Classic W recently sat down with Alex to talk about his process; his rise to the very top of the Tetris world; the origin story behind his unique, lactose-laden victory celebration; and miscellany. (The interview has been edited)
TCW: You’re a Tetris world champion now, but do you remember when you first learned about Tetris?
AT: I actually do. I came across Tetris from YouTube recommendations. I don’t remember what I was watching at the time, but YouTube suggested I watch the Classic Tetris World Championship finals from 2018, it was Joseph Saelee versus Jonas Neubauer. Something about watching that video and their competitiveness immediately got me hooked. I wanted to match their skill, so I started to try to play the game. Obviously, my first game wasn’t very good. But still, I was hooked and I started playing regularly after that.
TCW: How old were you then?
AT: I think I was 11.
TCW: You said that when you first started playing, you weren’t that good. Obviously, you got a ton better with practice. How steep was that learning curve? How quick was it for you to actually get relatively good?
AT: Honestly, in the beginning I was putting a lot of time into practice since I had a lot to learn. I was improving little by little, just practicing a few times a week. And I think I was able to get decent at the game after around a couple months. I was getting good scores after, like, four months.
TCW: How much time were you putting in on an average week over those first four months?
AT: There were some sessions that were probably two hours long, because I was really interested in Tetris. I was also watching videos in the background while playing the game; that really got me engaged and wanting to push for more. I’d spend about an hour or two most days.
TCW: And at that point, after four months, you realized that you had a gift for Tetris, and you could compete on the highest level?
AT: I wouldn’t say I was at the highest level, but I realized I had some potential, because I think I was the youngest player at the time who was competing. So I realized, “Oh, I’m really good at this. Maybe if I just keep practicing as I grow up, I can keep up with these master players.”
TCW: That totally makes sense. What was the first significant competition that you were involved in, and how did you decide to join it?
AT: It was in December of 2020. There’s something called “Classic Tetris Monthly”, where they have qualifying rounds, and the winner of each bracket makes it into the major monthly tournament. December 2020 was the first time I played, and I entered into one of their lower tier brackets, and I actually was able to win my qualifying round. That’s what made me realize I had good control of my nerves and I could actually keep up with the good players. That’s why I remember that tournament so vividly.
TCW: Can we talk a little bit about your process when you go into a competition. I assume you have some sort of routine a few days before. Are you eating differently? Are you sleeping differently, practicing more?
AT: Probably the biggest thing is I really try to make sure I get enough sleep. The game is very volatile and really fast on the higher levels. So I make sure to get a lot of sleep, but also before these tournaments start, I make sure to practice with some of my Tetris friends. I try to get enough practice to make sure I play my best.
I also want to make sure I’m in the right headspace. Going into the tournament, I have a little conversation with myself. “What if I don’t play my best? It’s fine, right?” Basically, I try to lower the pressure. I don’t want to end up mad in case I lose – I try to have good sportsmanship, for sure. And also, it keeps me grounded, and prevents the pressure from getting to me, which I find makes me play better.
TCW: These days, how much time do you generally spend on Tetris?
AT: I put in some time every week. I generally play around two sessions for two hours every week.
TCW: What about the week before the Classic Tetris World Championship? How much do you play to get up to game speed?
AT: I obviously put in more time when the Classic Tetris World Championship was coming up, because I wanted to win it all and become the champion. So I was grinding every day with one of my friends who is pretty good, and would help me imitate that feeling of competition. I played two hours every day, maybe even more, so you’re talking about 15 hours of practice that week.
TCW: In this year’s tournament, you had an incredible run of not losing a single match, and you were obviously up against some really good opponents. By the time you reached the finals, weren’t you tired? When you’re competing, how do you keep your head in the game? And don’t your hands get tired?
AT: Well, my hands aren’t really an issue, because I put so much intensive work in that my hands just just adapt after the amount of practice I do. That said, this year there was really a lot of pressure on me, because I swept everybody including Scuti [Editor’s note: Willis “Blue Scuti” Gibson is a Tetris legend who was the first player to crash the game on level 157). And yeah, there was also some mental fatigue, because I had been at the screen like the whole day. My hands were fine, but my mental state wasn’t at its best.
TCW: Is there anything that you do to try to keep your head in the game or are you just operating tired at a certain point?
AT: Honestly, I just remind myself things will be alright whether I win or lose. I know I’m really good out there, and I just need to power through a few more matches and I’ll get it done.
TCW: At this point, you’ve put in thousands of hours playing, and it’s second nature to to play at such a high speed. I assume you’re always thinking one move ahead but is it essentially muscle memory or are you thinking actively while you’re playing?
AT: I mainly use my muscle memory to decide where I put the pieces, because I have the intuition for it at this point. When I’m playing competitively, I’m also thinking in the back of my mind about how good the playing field is, and how I just always want to make sure I try to stay alive with the blocks while also getting as high a score as possible.
TCW: I want to shift gears a little bit. Other than classic Tetris. Are there other variants that you play?
AT: Well, there was a time when I played a lot of the modern Tetris games you find online. One is called Jstris – I play that sometimes for fun.
TCW: Do you play a lot of other computer games?
AT: I’m not big into the mainstream games, but I play a lot of Roblox, Minecraft and Valorant.
TCW: When you started playing Tetris, you were hypertapping and now you roll, right? [Editor’s note: “Hypertapping” and “rolling” are techniques used to move pieces more quickly, which is critical in high-speed Tetris play.] Do you ever think about how you’re playing the game in such a different way from how it was envisioned 40 years ago? Do you ever think about the historical context and how it’s a little funny? It wasn’t designed to be such a high speed game, and now it is.
AT: I was rewatching some old Tetris gameplay, from back in 2010, and I also recently watched one of the documentaries – it’s called “Best of Five” – which takes place 10 or 12 years ago. And I realized the whole playing field has changed. The old demographic has turned over, and now more younger players are playing. Now we also have kill screen play, which I don’t think people thought would be possible. But it’s just insane that everything has changed with the demographic shift and the playing skill and mastery of today’s players.
TCW: Talk to me about Parmesan cheese.
AT: I think I started this ritual in April of 2023. I was eating spaghetti and had some cheese on my table. At some point, I won one of my matches, and I wanted to celebrate in a unique way, so I just dumped it all on my head. It was really funny and got everyone laughing, so I just started doing it again and again. It became my iconic way to celebrate.
TCW: You’re still in high school, right? What’s being a world champion at Tetris like for Alex the high schooler? Do you get a lot of attention?
AT: I definitely get a lot of followers because of it. But at school, there are tons of people who will see me and immediately be, like, “Oh, you’re the Tetris world champion.” I get called out like that all the time. Even some teachers know about my Tetris life, and I think there’s sometimes a little bit of favoritism because I’m famous. But I don’t walk around saying I’m a champion. I try to be humble, but I think everyone in my school knows.
TCW: You’re already a two-time Tetris world champion. Thinking ahead 10 years, do you have any big goals? You’re clearly very competitive. How do you see yourself channeling that energy? Are there other world titles that you’re thinking about pursuing?
AT: Besides Tetris, I do have another big hobby. For the last few months, I’ve been doing rock climbing, and I dove into it pretty hard. I do a three-hour session three times a week. Right now, I’m not a great rock climber but I’m super into it because I feel like I can really improve. At this point, it’s probably a stronger passion for me than Tetris is. I want to adapt to climbing a lot more, and I’d love to see myself rock climbing at a competitive level in 10 years.
TCW: Time for some rapid-fire questions before we wrap. What’s your favorite subject in school?
AT: Math.
TCW: Do you have a favorite television show?
AT: I don’t really watch TV other than Tetris.
TCW: Do you have a favorite musician?
AT: I like a lot of musicians but I’ll say Post Malone.
TCW: How do you like your eggs?
AT: Scrambled well.
TCW: What’s the best way to get around? On the train, plane, bus, etc
AT: If I can’t get picked up, I just use Uber.
The Classic W 