Cubing in Cill Chainnigh 2023

CJ Furey delivered the decisive blow on the final turn to take the premier 3x3x3 Cube title at Cubing in Cill Chainnigh 2023, sealing first place with a 7.85 average after three hard-fought rounds. Furey also posted the fastest single solve of the weekend at 5.73 seconds, keeping him narrowly ahead of Iollan Walsh, who secured second place with an 8.37 average, and Richard Madden, who finished third with 9.05. The clash at the top of the 3x3 results table closed out two full days of high-intensity speedcubing in Kilkenny, Ireland, where 94 competitors gathered on September 9 and 10 to battle across 14 official disciplines.

The Ormonde Hotel served as the backdrop for the 2023 gathering, which featured a packed schedule of 23 rounds. Madden proved to be the busiest presence across the weekend, claiming top honours in six separate categories. In the 4x4x4 Cube, Madden took the gold with an average of 34.34 seconds, fending off Furey, who placed second in 36.17, and Adam Furlong, who recorded a 40.33 for third. Madden followed that up with a commanding 1:05.74 winning average in the 5x5x5 Cube, where Furlong placed second in 1:09.00 and Furey finished third in 1:20.69.

Madden extended his dominance across the bigger puzzles and side events throughout Cubing in Cill Chainnigh 2023. He captured the 6x6x6 Cube with a 2:22.06 mean, heading a podium that featured Elliott Laurent in second at 2:32.95 and Ben Timmons in third at 2:43.45. In the 7x7x7 Cube, Madden secured first place with an average of 3:54.17, with Laurent taking second in 4:07.49 and Timmons claiming third in 4:10.28. Madden also secured victories in 3x3x3 One-Handed with an average of 12.85 and in Square-1 with an average of 10.76, while finishing runner-up in Megaminx behind United Kingdom competitor Rory Menary.

Short-format puzzles produced their own drama at the cubing competition. In the 2x2x2 Cube, Kalin Doherty captured the title with a 2.53 average and the quickest single of the event at 1.06 seconds. Ronan Finke topped a field of 67 competitors in the Skewb final, winning with a 3.40 average, while Miłosz Andzel took first place in Pyraminx with an impressive 2.91 mark. Rían Burke emerged victorious in Clock with a 5.26 average, finishing ahead of Jack Corr, who took second in 6.87, and Aidan Browne, who finished third in 6.90. In the blindfolded disciplines, Colm McCarthy secured the 3x3x3 Blindfolded win with a 49.97 single, and Namuun Natsagdorj won 3x3x3 Multi-Blind with 5 out of 6 cubes solved in 39:34.

Away from the championship rounds, the depth of progress across the tournament floor showed the true spirit of speed cubing. Sebastian Holton engineered a massive breakthrough in Pyraminx, cutting his personal best by 51 percent down to 8.39 seconds, while also trimming his 2x2x2 Cube mark by 20.5 percent to 9.11 and making a first ever attempt at 4x4x4 Cube in 3:04.37. Logan Tully tackled 11 separate events, shaving 44.7 percent off his previous Skewb best with a 5.24 solve and recording a new 6x6x6 Cube mark of 2:56.99 alongside a tenth-place finish in 7x7x7 Cube. Ted Bjoremark Deegan set a fresh 2x2x2 Cube mark of 7.42 seconds, a 28.2 percent improvement, and made his first ever attempt at Skewb in 16.68.

New challenges were embraced across every round of the WCA competition. James O'Shea improved his Pyraminx personal best by 27.2 percent down to 3.78 seconds, took 11th in 2x2x2 Cube, and registered his first ever attempt at Clock with a time of 19.87. Tadhg O'Shea took on his first ever attempt at 3x3x3 One-Handed in 1:16.07 while posting an improvement of 22.1 percent in Pyraminx at 9.86 and a 21.2 percent improvement on the Rubik's Cube with a 21.28 single. Ciara O'Brien took on her first ever attempt at Square-1 with a 39.34 solve and dropped her 3x3x3 Cube time by 18.9 percent to 14.85, while Zayd Vawda took his first ever attempt at Pyraminx in 10.29 and achieved a personal best of 9.03 in Skewb. Julia Hurley took on 11 events, achieving a best finish of ninth in Clock and making her first ever attempt at 6x6x6 Cube in 4:19.32.

The diverse schedule tested endurance and technical variety across two days of intense competition. From 11 competitors tackling multi-blind memorisation to 88 starters in the opening round of the classic three-by-three, the venue saw non-stop action across every table. Irish competitors captured 39 podium positions across the tournament, with international challengers from Mongolia and the United Kingdom claiming two and one podium places respectively. The variety of solving styles on display highlighted the technical versatility required at the top level of the sport.

When the final timers were stopped, Cubing in Cill Chainnigh 2023 had delivered memorable races across all 14 events. Furey stood atop the marquee category, Madden closed the weekend with six titles, and dozens of solvers walked away from Kilkenny with fresh benchmarks in the books. As competitors pack their puzzles and look ahead to the next season of tournament action, the bar across Ireland continues to rise.