Brusov Side Events 2023

Twenty-four competitors gathered at Brusov State University on April 23, 2023, for a high-tempo day of speedcubing across nine rounds of specialty events. Brusov Side Events 2023 brought together talent from five nations in Yerevan, Armenia, setting aside the standard Rubik's Cube to test different mechanical puzzles. Across five distinct disciplines, solvers raced through demanding brackets that delivered quick averages and multiple national marks.

The one-day program unfolded with intense early rounds as competitors pushed their skills across Pyraminx, Skewb, Megaminx, Square-1, and Clock. Rather than relying on familiar 3x3 results, participants tackled puzzles requiring completely different finger dexterity and algorithmic systems. From the morning openings to the late-afternoon finals, the energy remained high throughout the entire cubing competition.

Lev Bruskov established dominance across multiple finals, taking three titles across the day. In Pyraminx, Bruskov captured the gold with an average of 4.11 seconds after posting a best single of 3.03 across three rounds. Mykhailo Lagoida earned second place with a 5.21 average, while Hayk Mergeryan took third for the home nation with a 5.43 mark. Bruskov carried that sharp form directly into the other technical brackets.

In the Square-1 final, Lev Bruskov delivered another victory with a winning average of 7.58 seconds and a single of 6.25, finishing well ahead of Mykhailo Lagoida, who secured second with 22.21. Ilya Anishchanka earned the third podium spot with 23.63 seconds. Lagoida soon claimed his own gold in the Skewb division, recording a winning average of 3.85 seconds to hold off Grigor Shahverdyan at 6.63 and Bruskov at 7.68.

The twelve-sided Megaminx contest was decided over a single demanding round of fifteen competitors. Kevin Marcalian captured the victory with a 54.15 average and a tournament-best single of 48.93 seconds. Grigor Shahverdyan claimed his second silver medal of the day with an average of 1:24.26, while Mykhailo Lagoida completed the podium in third with an average of 1:27.80.

Behind the podium battles, several competitors achieved meaningful personal milestones throughout the day. Gagik Arshakyan registered a massive personal best of 6.99 seconds in Pyraminx, marking a 40.8 percent improvement over his prior standard of 11.80, while also attempting Skewb for the first time with a 7.99 single. Mari Mughdusyan achieved a personal best of 4.36 seconds in Pyraminx, which was 38.6 percent faster than her previous 7.10 mark. Mayis Jraghatspanyan lowered his Pyraminx best to 4.44 seconds, an improvement of 30.2 percent, while competing in four events and earning eighth place in Skewb. Mikhail Nikitin entered five events, cutting 23.9 percent off his Clock mark with a personal best of 16.62 seconds, alongside his first ever Square-1 attempt of 25.38.

New event debuts continued across the board for the field. Alberto Danielyan tackled four events at the meet, taking sixth place in Clock and logging his first official Clock single of 19.28 seconds. Aleks Sahakyan contested five disciplines, securing eighth place in Square-1 alongside a first Pyraminx attempt of 6.55 seconds. Vahe Oustakarayan recorded his first Square-1 solve of 32.32 seconds on his way to a sixth-place finish, while Artashes Matevosyan took eighth place in Clock and registered a first-ever Skewb solve of 11.75 seconds. Hrayr Malek Danghians made his debut at an official WCA competition, recording his first Megaminx solve of 4:50.54.

The Clock event closed out the competition schedule with sixteen solvers producing a flurry of fast times. Lev Bruskov topped the podium with a 5.80 average and a single of 4.51 seconds, leading a final where Mykhailo Lagoida claimed second at 8.59 and Boris Meliksetian finished third at 10.14. The round brought an end to an action-packed day of speed cubing, cementing Brusov Side Events 2023 as a memorable showcase of non-standard puzzle racing in the Caucasus region.