The first significant Tetris competition took place in 1990 during the Nintendo World Championships. After a long hiatus, the Classic Tetris World Championship was organized in 2010, becoming an annual event.
Participants played on the NES console connected to a CRT TV with the original controller, just like 20 years ago. Since then, the popularity of Tetris as an esports discipline has steadily grown, and new controller techniques have emerged.
The traditional technique for moving pieces involved pressing and holding buttons. However, in 2018, hyper-tapping became widespread. This technique involves rapidly tapping the buttons with the thumb at a frequency of up to 10 times per second or more.
Since 2022, all titles and records have been achieved using another revolutionary technique called rolling. This technique involves placing one finger on top of the button while the fingers of the other hand roll rapidly across the back of the controller, pushing the button into the static finger.