Chilling in Canberra 2023

Inside the sports hall at Canberra Girls Grammar School, the rhythmic click and clatter of turning plastic echoed across rows of competition tables. Over the weekend of May 6 to May 7, a field of 119 competitors gathered in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia for Chilling in Canberra 2023. Speedcubers took their seats under the bright indoor lighting, carefully inspecting scrambled puzzles before launching into intense solving sequences across 13 distinct events spanning 21 total rounds.

The larger puzzles demanded immense endurance, finger strength, and unwavering focus throughout the schedule. Tackling the 5x5x5 Cube and 6x6x6 Cube requires solving hundreds of individual pieces while managing lookahead and stamina across multiple minutes of sustained effort. In the 6x6x6 Cube final, Feliks Zemdegs claimed top honours with a winning average of 1:27.05, posting the best single of the event at 1:25.01. Bryan Eng secured second place with an average of 1:47.64, while Liam Highducheck finished third with 2:04.53.

The big-cube masterclass continued in the 5x5x5 Cube event, which drew 50 entrants to the tables. Feliks Zemdegs again set the standard, delivering a winning average of 49.63 alongside a round-best single time of 46.92 seconds. Bryan Eng followed closely behind with a 55.08 average to capture silver, and Liam Highducheck rounded out the podium positions with a mark of 1:03.33. The precision required on these larger layers proved pivotal in separating the leaders across long solving sessions.

Blindfolded solving raised the technical difficulty even further, requiring competitors to memorise intricate piece placements before executing algorithms without sight. In the 5x5x5 Blindfolded event, Michael Tripodi clinched victory with a single time of 3:22.45 among a field of six solvers, while Lennon Hughes earned second place with 19:00.00. Tripodi also captured first place in the 3x3x3 Blindfolded final, posting a winning average of 25.86 and a best single of 22.42 seconds ahead of Hughes and Conan Mo.

Beyond the podium battles, several competitors achieved remarkable milestones across their individual schedules. Jacob Shem recorded significant personal bests, cutting his Pyraminx single down to 7.55 seconds for a 53.1 percent improvement and improving his 3x3x3 One-Handed time to 32.83 seconds, which was 36.2 percent faster than his prior mark. Vincent Hua logged a 9.59 Pyraminx single that was 36.3 percent faster and trimmed 31.9 percent from his 3x3x3 One-Handed mark with a 45.82 single, alongside making his first ever attempt at Clock with a 21.90. Parker Ashton achieved a 35.2 percent drop on the 4x4x4 Cube with a 1:27.36 personal best, also making first career attempts in Clock and 3x3x3 One-Handed.

Other solvers expanded their repertoires with fresh official challenges across multiple disciplines. Fritz Gonzales posted a 5.22 personal best in Skewb, which was 33.5 percent faster than before, while taking on his first attempts at 5x5x5 Cube in 1:47.10 and Square-1 in 17.09. Albert Phan shaved 17.8 percent off his 4x4x4 Cube mark to reach 57.82 seconds and debuted in Clock and One-Handed. Lucinda Horne tackled seven disciplines, recording first attempts in Clock, Pyraminx, and 5x5x5 Cube, while Samuel Keun completed his first official solves in 5x5x5 Cube, Square-1, and One-Handed. Syon Chen entered seven events, logging first attempts in 4x4x4 Cube, One-Handed, and Pyraminx.

The classic Rubik's Cube drew the largest lineup of the weekend, as 116 solvers stepped up across three rounds of play. In the final, Feliks Zemdegs took victory with a winning average of 6.93, backed by a competition-best single of 5.72 seconds. Lennon Hughes claimed second place with an 8.26 average, while Liam Highducheck earned third with 8.54. These 3x3 results capped a dominant showing across multiple categories for the top tier of Australian speed cubing talent.

Zemdegs added three more gold finishes across the weekend, winning the 2x2x2 Cube with a 1.99 average, the 4x4x4 Cube with a 22.72 average, and 3x3x3 One-Handed with an 11.90 average. In the side events, Alex Butera secured victories in both Skewb with a 4.61 average and Square-1 with a 12.52 mark. Junqi Feng topped the Pyraminx event with a 2.60 average, and Conan Mo captured the Clock title averaging 5.20 seconds.

The two-day WCA competition showcased both the stamina needed for large mechanical puzzles and the rapid precision of shorter events. Across 2023, the speedcubing circuit continues to provide a stage where seasoned champions and emerging solvers meet to test their boundaries. Chilling in Canberra 2023 concluded as a thorough test of endurance, leaving the community eager for the next cubing competition on the calendar.