Tantrix inventor Mike McManaway has won the game's world title after a decade trying.

A strategy game for 2-4 players, Tantrix was created by Mike McManaway in 1988 and has developed a cult following around the world. Tournaments are held around the world and on the internet.

Despite never placing better than fourth since the first World Championship was held ten years ago, McManaway said he never gave up hope of winning: "It has always been a dream to one day win the world title."

This year, 172 players from 25 countries entered the online tournament.

After progressing through the early rounds, McManaway beat top-ranked UK player Neil Jenner in the quarter finals, then was up against former world champion Matt Peek from Auckland in the semifinals.

In the final he was up against the current world number two player, Israel's Yoseph Phillips. The match was played over nine games, with each game taking approximately half an hour.

The scores were tied at 4:4 after the first eight games. This morning the decider was played, with McManaway winning 22 points to 17.

"I'm very happy to get the recognition from inside the Tantrix community," he said.

"The top players know I have been training 3-4 hours most days for months. But it's also nice to put my name on the trophy because the public does not seem to understand when I lose.

"Just because you invented Chess would not necessarily make you a top Chess player, inventing and playing are completely different skills."

These 10th world championships of Tantrix began back in August and had 172 contestants from 25 different countries. The early rounds were 6 games, increasing in later rounds, with the semifinals and finals being best of 8 and 9 games respectively. These games are usually played over two or three sessions.

Tantrix was originally invented in March 1988 during a climbing trip in South America.

Though sometimes played as a solitaire puzzle, it is mostly famous as a two person strategy game. Each player chooses a colour and uses the 56 coloured hexagonal tiles to try to form the longest line of their colour, while preventing their opponents from doing the same.

The table version of the game is on sale in around 30 countries and has sold over two million copies worldwide. In recent years the online version has become increasingly popular especially for tournament play. In an average year, around 2000 players complete over half a million "tournament or ranking" games at the tantrix.com website. Players move up or down the world rankings every game they play.