Chang Cheng is very excited to be at the World Sudoku Championships. It is the first time the 13-year-old boy from Beijing has been abroad — but while he loves Prague he loves Sudoku more and, if you really don’t mind, he wants to go and prepare for the next round.

Like the other 140 competitors here at a sprawling conference hotel on the outskirts of the Czech capital he has been battling to complete 76 Sudoku puzzles in seven hours over two days to qualify for the play-offs today.

Although Cheng has not, it is fair to say, featured among the leaders, he represents the puzzle’s future. He is the youngest competitor here and he is a member of the first Chinese team to take part. The Sudoku phenomenon started by The Times in November 2004 has swept round the world, gathering many millions of devotees. There are 32 national teams competing in Prague, in the second world championships, including Lithuania, Ireland, India, South Korea, Turkey, Thailand and the Netherlands. China hadn’t really caught the bug. Until now.

The Chinese team captain is George Wang, a vice-president of the Beijing Evening News readers’ centre. His company joined the World Puzzle Federation in February. “Students and airline staff brought the puzzle back to China in ever-greater numbers last year, and a couple of the major newspapers have printed puzzles on and off,” he says. But now the tipping-point has arrived. “A couple of months ago there were a couple of Sudoku books and now there are a couple of hundred in my local bookshop.” So how many people are playing Sudoku in China now? “If you don’t print more than 100,000 copies of a book in China, it’s not called publishing,” he says. “We expect a big new industry in the Chinese market.”

Mr Wang’s team, made up of hopefuls who got through a qualifying competition entered by 3,000, include another teen-ager, an insurance clerk and a retired manager from a foreign trade company. For Mr Wang this first foray into the competitive puzzle world is just for the experience. He is determined to improve on China’s 32nd place in the team event.

Last night it looked as if there would be no surprises in the team event, with Japan, the home of Su Doku, in first place, followed by the powerhouse team from the United States.

The World Sudoku Championships, staged by the World Puzzle Federation, are generally dominated by puzzlers who have taken part for many years in the World Puzzle Championships. Being confronted under exam conditions with a hefty booklet of unfamiliar variations of Su Doku (the ones printed left are some of the easier ones) makes some competitors freeze. The seasoned participants have a distinct advantage. Among these is David McNeil, who led the British team to a provisional ninth place. In the individual event he came sixth, winning a place in the play-offs.

Mr McNeil, 43, who lectures in electronic engineering at Queen’s University Belfast, came second in The Times National Su Doku Championships in October. The Times Champion, Rachel Roth, 32, an investment banker from London, came 66th in the individual competition here. Other members of the British team, sponsored by The Timesand Puzzler Media, were Nick Deller, 35, a puzzle editor from Huntingdon, Tom Collyer, 20, a mathematics student at Warwick University, Simon Anthony, 33, an investment banker from London, and Warren Harvey, 26, a train-ee accountant from London.

Back with the Chinese team, Mr Wang resolves to train harder on the unfamiliar Su Doku variations to achieve a better placing next year.

Many here feel that there should be more classic Su Doku puzzles to keep the competition connected to the daily experience of enthusiasts around the globe — 30,000 Indians took part in regional qualifiers to come to Prague. For the moment, the hardline puzzlers who want competitors to think “outside the box” hold sway.

Mr Wang may have a say himself soon. He wants to organise the championships in China in 2009, after the Beijing Olympics. By then, many millions of his compatriots are likely to be hooked. And Prague will give Chang Cheng, whose father is a leading mathematician, a good chance of representing his country again.

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