PBs in Palisades Open 2026

The expansive layout of the Palisades Center in West Nyack, New York, USA was filled with intense focus and the relentless clatter of plastic layers turning at top speed on February 21, 2026. Ninety-seven competitors gathered under the venue lights for a full day of puzzle-solving action across five events and nine rounds. Solvers of all experience levels took to their stations with stackmats ready and timers calibrated, creating an atmosphere primed for fast marks in this major local speedcubing gathering.

American competitors established complete dominance across the leaderboards throughout PBs in Palisades Open 2026, capturing fourteen of the fifteen available podium positions. The United States claimed clean sweeps in three distinct events, showcasing deep talent across both traditional puzzles and specialty formats. Across every stage of the weekend, domestic solvers pushed the pace, turning the single-day gathering into a showcase of high-end national consistency.

Matty Hiroto Inaba led the charge for the home nation with a pair of commanding victories. In the flagship 3x3x3 Cube event, which drew all 97 competitors through three intense rounds, Inaba locked down the gold with a stunning 5.40 winning average and a round-best 4.54 single. Curtis Chai secured second place with an average of 6.67, while Shaun Mack took third with a 6.68 mark to complete an all-American podium in the classic Rubik's Cube discipline.

Inaba mirrored that success on the larger hardware, capturing the 4x4x4 Cube title with a 24.83 winning average and a 20.98 single across two rounds featuring 82 competitors. Curtis Chai earned his second silver of the day with a 26.73 average, while Christopher Sun rounded out another United States sweep by taking third place with a 27.11 average. The duo at the top maintained steady turn rates throughout the final round to keep the pressure on the rest of the field.

The 72-entrant Clock competition delivered another complete sweep for the home country. Aaron Jake Wong captured the victory with a 4.01 winning average, powered by a sharp 2.57 single solve. Quinn Maloney took second place with a 4.15 average, finishing narrowly ahead of Yuki Nagai, who claimed third with a 4.19 result. Maloney then went on to top the podium in Skewb, taking first place among 61 competitors with a 2.32 winning average and a 1.88 single, leading teammates Parker Trager at 3.11 and Ryan Hughes at 3.12 for yet another sweep.

Away from the top steps, individual breakthroughs defined the atmosphere of the cubing competition. Sanavi Pradhan delivered massive personal bests across three entered events, cutting their Skewb mark by 74.8 percent down to 5.59, reducing their 3x3x3 Cube time by 43.9 percent to 20.10, and logging a first ever attempt at Clock with a 29.84. Alexander Meconiates had a standout day across four events, posting an official first attempt at 4x4x4 Cube in 37.84, dropping their Skewb personal best by 67.3 percent to 4.22, and cutting 15.4 percent from their Megaminx mark to finish 38th with a 1:30.76. Zalan Tarjan of Hungary took on five events, earning a 33rd-place finish in Megaminx behind a personal best of 1:20.68, which was 46.7 percent faster than before, alongside a 30.8 percent improvement in Clock down to 15.94. Amy Blankemeier made her first official attempt at 4x4x4 Cube in 1:45.75 while slicing her Megaminx personal best by 24.4 percent to 2:00.00.

The push for personal milestones continued across all brackets. Zachary Estrin tackled five events, completing first attempts at Megaminx in 4:13.69 and 4x4x4 Cube in 2:07.01 while trimming 32.7 percent off his Skewb best to record 16.15. Cameron Lee achieved a best finish of 15th place in Clock during a five-event campaign, improving his Skewb personal best by 54.4 percent down to 5.07. Julian Clark Hwang registered first attempts in Megaminx with 2:19.21 and 4x4x4 Cube with 1:25.41 while taking 27.2 percent off his 3x3x3 Cube time with a 23.03 personal best. Nati Tropper rounded out a busy five-event slate with first attempts at 4x4x4 Cube in 1:42.60 and Megaminx in 2:53.67 alongside a Clock personal best of 11.81 that was 44.8 percent faster.

The lone gold medal that escaped the host nation went to Indonesia in Megaminx. Matthew Liong navigated the 63-competitor field to win the event with a 33.90 average and a 31.58 single. Declan Wilhelm took second place for the USA with a 35.43 average, while Curtis Chai earned his third podium of the competition by claiming third place with a 40.53 result. The single-round format gave contenders no room for error across the twelve-sided dodecahedrons.

With fast times across every bracket, PBs in Palisades Open 2026 provided a complete showcase of speed cubing excellence in New York. From the commanding multi-event victories to the deep list of personal milestones in the standard 3x3 results, the competition delivered high-level execution on every table. The action in West Nyack closed with memorable performances across all five events as competitors now look forward to carrying their momentum into the next WCA competition.