Leap Day FMC in Italy & Ticino 2024

Enrico Tenuti delivered the standout performance of the entire weekend with a winning average of 24.67 and a sharp single solve of 23 moves. Competing in the classic 3x3x3 Fewest Moves discipline, Tenuti set the pace across a focused slate of attempts. The unique competition linked competitors across multiple locations throughout Italy and Mendrisio in Switzerland under the banner of Leap Day FMC in Italy & Ticino 2024. Staged across Multiple cities, XE on February 29, 2024, the contest brought twenty-five competitors together on a rare calendar day for analytical speedcubing action.

The 3x3 results at the top of the standings reflected a tightly contested battle for efficiency on the classic Rubik's Cube. Enrico Tenuti secured first place with his 24.67 average, holding off Lorenzo Mauro who finished as runner-up with an average of 27.00. Mauro had earlier posted a single of 22 moves, which stood as the lowest single count achieved in the entire round. Vincenzo Maria Gammino completed the all-Italian podium in third place, recording a final average of 29.33 along with a best single of 28 moves.

Fewest Moves challenges cubers to find the shortest possible solution within sixty minutes, diverging from the standard speed cubing setup where pure manual turning velocity dominates the timer. Even without traditional speed-focused events on the schedule, the tension across the single round remained high. Remo Decio from Switzerland captured fourth place overall with a steady 32.67 average and a 28 single. Behind him, Germany's Achim Spies placed fifth by logging a 34.67 average alongside a single of 30 moves.

Further down the top half of the order, Gabriele Cappelletti of Italy secured sixth place with a 36.00 average, matched by a best single of 34 moves. Simone Cantarelli followed in seventh with a 38.00 average and a single of 36. Mattia Pasquini rounded out the sub-forty averages for Switzerland, securing eighth place with a 39.67 average and a standout 32-move single. Matteo Provasi took ninth place for Italy with a 40.67 average, while Fabian Tomasović reached tenth with an average of 42.67.

Beyond the podium race, the weekend featured significant personal breakthroughs across the scorecards. Alexandros Fokianos delivered the biggest improvement of the competition by recording a 3x3x3 Fewest Moves personal best single of 21 moves, shaving 12.5 percent off his previous benchmark of 24. Chiara Marcucci similarly made major gains on the day, securing a personal best single of 31 moves, an 11.4 percent improvement from 35. Giorgio Ferrara tackled the discipline on the official stage for the very first time, logging a first ever attempt of 43 moves to finish 25th.

Other competitors also made their presence felt through strong individual milestones across the field. Ottavia Mapelli lowered her personal record to 42 moves, improving 6.7 percent over her prior best of 45 to take 24th place. Carmela Gravano recorded a personal best of 44 moves, marking a 6.4 percent improvement over her old mark of 47 to earn 15th overall. Riccardo Raciti secured a personal best single of 34 moves on his way to 23rd place, while Elisa Gasperotti achieved a 12th-place finish and Simone Canova concluded the day with a 14th-place result.

The specialised format of this cubing competition offered a distinct atmosphere from typical multi-event weekends, concentrating all competitive energy into a single puzzle variant. Operating simultaneously across multiple regional venues allowed a diverse spread of participants from Italy, Switzerland, and Germany to test their analytical methods simultaneously under official regulations. Every competitor faced the identical set of scrambles, making each efficiency breakthrough a direct comparison of spatial awareness and solution planning.

With twenty-five solvers submitting their solution sheets across the international network of host sites, Leap Day FMC in Italy & Ticino 2024 proved to be a fitting showcase of disciplined technique. The tournament demonstrated the sustained appetite for specialised events within the European circuit. As the 2024 calendar moves forward toward the next wave of challenges, the results achieved during this rare quadrennial fixture will stand as a memorable chapter in the ongoing WCA competition season.