Yeah, it is kind of silly, but I think the message they might be trying to get across is that the game should be recognized as a little more venerable now, that people still compete at it, and that future generations are playing it.
(Certainly people know about Chess, Go, Golf and Football — but depending on your definition, this could be considered a digital sport.)
People in this thread are missing the point. It’s significant in Tetris because he’s playing against people who have been playing since release, an advantage which he didn’t have.
The same thing is happening in the Super Smash Bros Melee scene right now, where a new top player is winning games, and he’s the only top player who hasn’t been playing since ~2001-2002. It’s pretty exciting to see someone new beat the old guard.
Young players will always have the competitive advantage in games requiring speed and dexterity. Just take a look at the age of Starcraft champions - with rare exceptions veterans stand no chance against the young blood
The twist seems to be that he is not just play the original game, but also on the original hardware with the original software. It's like if people would play football with a 100+ year old ball and the original rules. Though, this is more an example for a well maintained videoconsole and some writer desperate for a quirky headline.