Chula Vista Winter 2023

Inside the gymnasium at Chula Vista High School, the steady clatter of turning plastic echoed across the hall as competitors checked their tensioning and warmed up their fingers. Timing mats lined the long tables while judges took their positions, ready to oversee a packed day of twisting puzzles in San Diego, California, USA. The January 14, 2023 gathering brought together a dedicated field of 110 competitors across eight rounds of head-to-head action, offering puzzles of every dimension.

Tackling larger hardware requires an entirely different mindset, where deep physical endurance meets intense spatial reasoning across hundreds of piece movements. The 5x5x5 Cube event served as the ultimate test of stamina, challenging thirty-seven solvers to manage intricate center building and lengthy edge pairing without losing their rhythm. In a single marathon round that demanded total focus on every solve, the big cube specialists set a relentless pace at Chula Vista Winter 2023.

Michael Muething mastered the heavy layers of the 5x5x5 Cube, taking the title with a composed winning average of 1:07.85 and posting the day's best single of 1:01.51 for the United States. Mexico's Jonathan Soto Valenzuela pushed hard throughout the round, securing second place on the podium with a 1:09.15 average. Gavin Torreflores claimed third place for the United States with a mark of 1:14.84, completing a grueling showcase of big-puzzle mastery.

The traditional Rubik's Cube brought all 110 participants to the tables across three stages of competition. In the final round of the 3x3x3 Cube, Kavin Tangtartharakul delivered exceptionally fast turns to earn first place with a winning average of 8.38 and a best single of 7.48. Michael Muething added another podium to his tally by finishing second with an average of 8.54, while Graham Johnson secured third place with 9.03, highlighting an elite set of 3x3 results at this cubing competition.

Beyond the main event, single-handed solving and tetrahedral geometry expanded the day's variety. Kavin Tangtartharakul collected a second victory at Chula Vista Winter 2023 by leading the 3x3x3 One-Handed event with a 12.82 average and an 11.33 single, ahead of Matthew Arca in second with 13.57 and Taiwan's Derek Hsieh in third with 15.38. In Pyraminx, Vinícius Shaw of Brazil topped the field of seventy-five competitors, recording an average of 3.44 to win over Franklin Pham with 4.57 and Turkey's Sami Ozgun with 4.83.

Behind the headline winners, several competitors posted significant breakthroughs away from the podium spotlight. Ryan Baik entered three events and registered a Pyraminx personal best of 4.65 seconds, which was 70.1 percent faster than their previous mark, alongside a first attempt at 5x5x5 Cube at 3:56.90. Jingyi Zhu took on four events, setting a Pyraminx personal best of 11.29 seconds that improved by 45.9 percent, and notched a first attempt in 3x3x3 One-Handed of 24.27 seconds. Emil Lazaryev improved their Pyraminx personal best to 2.91 seconds, cutting 66 percent off their previous best, and completed a first attempt in 5x5x5 Cube at 3:31.01.

Other solvers similarly made huge strides during their weekend appearances. Richard Hyrum Weber completed four events, securing a Pyraminx personal best of 3.28 seconds for a 60.3 percent improvement and dropping their 5x5x5 Cube best down to 2:25.46, which was 47.3 percent faster. Jeremiah Qian earned a 13th-place finish in Pyraminx with a personal best of 5.79 seconds, 55.8 percent better than before, while logging a first 5x5x5 Cube effort of 2:43.35. Gabriel Sanchez-Rivera recorded a 3x3x3 Cube personal best of 10.55 seconds, 56.7 percent faster than their past mark, and made a first 5x5x5 Cube attempt of 1:34.76.

First-time attendees also stepped onto the official floor for their debut WCA competition. John Ludwick tackled four events in their first sanctioned outing, logging an initial 3x3x3 Cube time of 24.19 seconds and an initial 5x5x5 Cube effort of 4:21.07. Isaiah Hogan also made their debut, taking on four distinct events and setting a baseline 3x3x3 Cube mark of 41.25 seconds alongside a first Pyraminx solve of 14.90 seconds, adding fresh energy to the local speedcubing landscape.

The single-day meet concluded with eight total podium finishes for United States competitors, alongside international podium representations from Brazil, Mexico, Taiwan, and Turkey. From the sheer endurance of the big cubes to the rapid turns of one-handed solving, Chula Vista Winter 2023 demonstrated the full spectrum of modern speed cubing skill in Southern California as competitors wrapped up their timers and turned their attention to the next season of play.