Brno, Czech Republic (Jan 1, 2013) The World Puzzle Federation announced its first online sudoku event - the WPF Sudoku Grand Prix.

The Sudoku Grand Prix consists of eight online tournaments between January and June, organized by WPF members from eight countries. The hosts will be Czech Republic, Germany, India, Italy, Serbia, Turkey, UK, and the USA.

The first event is the Czech sudokucup, January 25-28. Instructions for all the puzzles are available online, and anyone will be able to take the 2-hour test anytime during a 60-hour window between Friday night and Monday morning.

All players must first register at the WPF site for the Sudoku Grand Prix, then register for each of the individual events. Registere here for the U.S. Sudoku Team Qualifying.

Anyone can take part and compare their results (with their best six out of eight events) against other players from around the world. Only registered players will be included in the final WPF ranking and eligible for prizes.

The annual U.S. Sudoku Team Qualifying Test will be Saturday May 25, and will serve as the USA leg of the Sudoku Grand Prix. The World Sudoku Championship will be held in Beijing, China later this year.