Pittsburgh Be Quiet 2023

Seventeen competitors stepped into the David L. Lawrence Convention Center over the weekend of December 16 to December 17, proving that youth and technical mastery are advancing at an extraordinary pace. Pittsburgh Be Quiet 2023 delivered intense concentration across 11 rounds of specialist puzzles in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. The quiet format gave young, rapidly developing speedcubing talents the exact environment needed to push their limits and secure major milestones.

Evan Liu emerged as the weekend standout by capturing four distinct event titles. Liu demonstrated versatility across both speed and memory disciplines, claiming victory in Clock with a winning average of 6.11 seconds after laying down a best single of 4.73. On the podium, Ivan Krueger followed in second with a 7.50 average, while Jayden Mitchell took third with 7.92. Liu also showed rapid execution in 3x3x3 Blindfolded, winning the event with a single time of 57.51 seconds.

The 3x3x3 Blindfolded podium featured sharp performances behind Liu, as AJ Kamal earned second place with a time of 1:24.38 and Owen Widdis secured third at 1:44.98. The preliminary rounds were equally notable for Rowe Hessler logging a 19.92 single and Chris Chi posting a 45.05 single. In blindfolded solving, competitors must commit the entire puzzle state to memory before donning an eye covering, making fast turn speeds and spatial recall essential for podium contention at this WCA competition.

Big-cube blindfolded events saw Liu expand his dominance even further. In 4x4x4 Blindfolded, Liu earned first place with a single of 4:52.03, narrowly holding off Rowe Hessler, who finished in second place at 4:53.97, while Ivan Krueger reached third with 14:44.00. Liu added his fourth gold medal of Pittsburgh Be Quiet 2023 in 5x5x5 Blindfolded, recording an 11:18.00 single ahead of Ivan Krueger, who placed second with a 14:30.00 result.

Daniel Karnaukh provided his own display of precision, securing top honours in both 3x3x3 Fewest Moves and Square-1. In the Fewest Moves contest, where solvers analyse the classic Rubik's Cube to find the shortest efficient sequence within an hour, Karnaukh took first place with a 23.67 average and a 23 single. AJ Kamal placed second with a 25.00 average, followed by Owen Widdis in third at 26.33. Those following standard 3x3 results will appreciate the sheer economy of movement required for such an average.

Karnaukh carried that exact momentum into Square-1, winning with a dominant 5.88 average and a 5.34 single. Chris Chi claimed the second spot on the podium with an 8.86 average, while Zach Ridall finished in third at 9.04. The 3x3x3 Multi-Blind event brought a historic performance from Rowe Hessler, who claimed victory by successfully solving 56 out of 60 cubes in 59 minutes and 22 seconds, ahead of Liu with 11/13 in 49:38 and Krueger with 10/11 in 59:34.

Away from the top step of the podium, several determined competitors generated personal milestones across the schedule at Pittsburgh Be Quiet 2023. Gabriel Gowman showed massive progress across his five events, cutting his 3x3x3 Blindfolded personal best by 62.3 percent down to 2:35.21, dropping his 3x3x3 Fewest Moves mark by 23.8 percent to 32, improving his Clock best by 5.5 percent to 6.68, and finishing fourth in Clock. Donna Krueger took on three events and secured a 3x3x3 Multi-Blind personal best of 8/8 in 55:10, earning a fourth-place finish.

First attempts at brand-new challenges highlighted the expanding depth of the field. Xavier Ye entered three events and made his first ever attempt at 3x3x3 Fewest Moves, scoring a 43 and taking a sixth-place finish. Rylan Hanczar also tackled 3x3x3 Fewest Moves for the first time in his single-event appearance, posting a score of 55. Jordan Halford made his first ever attempt at Clock with a time of 14.46 in his event entry, while David Miguel-Santiago entered four events and earned fifth place in 4x4x4 Blindfolded, and Jackson Warley secured an eighth-place finish in 3x3x3 Fewest Moves.

The successful run of Pittsburgh Be Quiet 2023 showcased the remarkable breadth of speed cubing talent in the region during the 2023 calendar year. With 23 total podium positions earned across seven challenging events, the cubing competition highlighted both established mastery and the swift progression of rising solvers. As another competitive season approaches, the precision and composure demonstrated in Pittsburgh establish a formidable benchmark for technical solving across the nation.