Yes, it is actually final now that the 3rd place holder of the 2009 Philadelphia Inquirer National Sudoku Championship have been disqualified.

After investigations Eugene Varshavsky of Lawrenceville, N.J was found guilty of cheating. He had to return the $3,000 prize money, which is now awarded to Chris Narrikkattu of New York City.

I think we are likely to see rule changes for the next Sudoku Championship and I hope same situation doesn´t comes up again.

Here is a great video of  Sudoku master Thomas Snyder. It covers parts of the 2009 Sudoku Nationals…and by the way…you can also the accused cheater that came in third place.

It appears that the thrid place holder of the 2009 Sudoku National Championships will be retested as the officials of the tournament suspect him of cheating. Officials think electronic devices might have been used as tools for cheating during the tournament.

A chess player thinks that the suspected cheater might be the same person that also was suspected of cheating during the Chess World Open in 2006. Apparently he recognizes the player which at the time also played in a hooded sweater.

I hope everything turns out to the better on this story.

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, officials at the recent 2009 Sudoku Nationals are investigating suspicions of cheating.
They suspect the third-place holder of cheating. Flags were raised when the contestor could not complete an “easy” sudoku puzzle in the initial stage of the competition. The suspect was playing with a hooded sweater and perhaps the officials suspect that he had help from the outside. It seem like headphones were allowed in the tournament.
Lets hope it is all a misunderstanding.

You can read the full Sudoku article here.

It´s not always easy to know how to play!

If you are new to Sudoku you can always read up on the history and rules of Sudoku.