Some of the sharpest minds descended on Windsor last weekend to compete for the title of Australian Open Tantrix Champion.

Held at the Upper Hawkesbury Power Boat Club in Governor Philip Park, the first Australian Open Tantrix Championship was a quiet affair with only about 11 players attending.

But what they lacked in numbers they made up ini passion for the game.

Players came from Adelaide, Brisbane, New Zealand, and even Japan, many of whom had already won other Tantrix Championships.

A game of skill and chance, Tantrix is played using hexagonal tiles painted with a series of coloured stripes. Players are each allocated a line colour and take turns positioning randomly selected pieces, aiming to form the longest line possible of their own colour. It can be played online, as a puzzle for one person, or with up to four players.

The tournament was organised by McGraths Hill local Dave Kenny, who has been a Tantrix enthusiast for five years. Mr. Kenny said he became interested in Tantrix as a puzzle for one player, but later discovered it could be played by several people.

"It was bought for me as a puzzle initially, then I found out it was a game and I've been hooked ever since," he said.

Over the the course of Saturday and Sunday 110 games of Tantrix were battled out, and the championship title was eventually taken out by New Zealander Jungle Payne.

Described on the website as an "elegant coffee-table strategy game", Tantrix was invented in 1988 by New Zealander, Mike McManaway, who attended the weekend's championship. Although the first Australian championship didn't attract an overwhelming crowd, Mr. McManaway said numbers would grow as the tournament became more established.

The game is extremely popular in Europe and Asia, and has a following of about 2,000 tournament players.

"They will come when they know they will meet the best players," he said.

Since Tantrix was first invented, various versions of the game have evolved involving different skill levels and tile sizes. There's even 'beach Tantrix' with big foam tiles suitable for playing on the ground.

To find out more about how to play Tantrix and what the rules are visit the website www.tantrix.com.au