Please Be Quiet Evanston 2023

Nineteen competitors gathered at the Evanston Public Library for Please Be Quiet Evanston 2023 across June 24 and June 25, 2023, delivering two packed days of focused speedcubing action. The compact field tackled eight challenging events across seventeen rounds of play, demonstrating remarkable progress across memory-intensive disciplines and big cubes alike. While the schedule favored specialized formats over traditional speed cubing setups, the intense concentration in Evanston, Illinois, USA produced a weekend rich in personal progression, breakout times, and technical mastery.

Thomas Reinke delivered a commanding demonstration across the blindfolded events, securing victories in both single and multi-cube formats. In 3x3x3 Blindfolded, which drew 18 entrants over three rounds, Reinke clinched first place with a decisive single of 42.38 seconds, leading Hassan Khanani at 50.95 seconds and Zeke Mackay at 1:01.02. The memory-intensive 3x3x3 Multi-Blind event brought another gold for Reinke, who solved 20 out of 24 cubes in a time of 53:44. Mackay claimed the second spot on the podium with 12 out of 13 cubes in 40:19, while János Csontos earned third by successfully completing 11 out of 12 cubes in 41:13.

Big cube blindfolded solving requires extraordinary precision, and Jacob Turrubiartes proved equal to the task by capturing two titles. Turrubiartes topped the 4x4x4 Blindfolded field of 12 competitors with a winning single of 3:08.82, besting Reinke, who finished second in 4:05.88, and Mackay, who secured third in 4:54.98. Turrubiartes repeated the feat in 5x5x5 Blindfolded, recording a 7:42.40 single among 10 entrants to lead Csontos at 15:23.00 and Aaron Soley at 25:01.00. The dual gold performance solidified Turrubiartes at the front of large-cube blindfolded solving during the competition.

The standard big cube categories brought out fast turning and disciplined execution. Brian Johnson secured the 6x6x6 Cube title with a steady winning average of 1:40.24 and a best single of 1:38.08, holding off Mackay at 1:47.85 and Turrubiartes at 1:54.37. In 7x7x7 Cube, Carter Thomas emerged on top across two rounds of play, recording a 2:55.65 average and a best single of 2:48.87. Mackay earned another runner-up finish with an average of 3:02.02, while Johnson rounded out the podium positions with a 3:04.44 average across the final round.

Puzzles outside the traditional cube configurations delivered intense podium races. In Clock, Carter Thomas took his second victory of the weekend, posting a winning average of 5.34 seconds with a best single of 4.55. Mackay finished second with a 6.72 average, narrowly edging Turrubiartes, who finished third at 6.84. In Square-1, Hassan Khanani secured first place with an impressive winning average of 6.31 seconds and a best single of 5.05. Johnson claimed second with a 7.95 average, while Zayn Khanani took third with an 8.39 average.

Beyond the podium battles, Please Be Quiet Evanston 2023 served as a platform for remarkable individual growth. Eagan Cunningham delivered the weekend's most striking time drop, cutting a 3x3x3 Blindfolded personal best down to 1:58.16, which was 71.4 percent faster than a previous mark of 6:53.67, alongside first-ever official attempts in 3x3x3 Multi-Blind with 3/3 in 19:17 and 6x6x6 Cube at 3:01.29. Nick Rohla tackled five events, completing a first-ever Square-1 effort of 34.72, a first Multi-Blind result of 2/4 in 34:22, and an initial 3x3x3 Blindfolded mark of 3:34.34. Brandon Reichman logged a first official 4x4x4 Blindfolded attempt at 15:10.00 and dropped a 3x3x3 Blindfolded best by 18.1 percent to 2:28.73, while Tommy Moreno lowered a 3x3x3 Blindfolded best to 42.28 seconds, an improvement of 15.2 percent, while posting debut marks of 4:26.04 in 6x6x6 Cube and 7:46.16 in 7x7x7 Cube.

The personal milestones continued as Joshua Paulus-Rosenow completed a flawless first 3x3x3 Multi-Blind attempt, solving 2/2 in 16:59 across six total events entered. Draco Tong contested eight events, posting debut marks of 6:31.32 in 6x6x6 Cube and 11:04.00 in 7x7x7 Cube while shaving 23.3 percent off a Square-1 personal best to reach 23.88 seconds. Brayden Thompson logged an initial 3x3x3 Blindfolded single of 5:12.61, a debut Multi-Blind score of 2/3 in 22:58, and a 12.2 percent drop in Square-1 to 23.29. Sebastian Carrillo completed six events, setting a Clock personal best of 4.09 seconds, 7.5 percent faster than a previous mark, alongside a 7x7x7 Cube best of 3:37.39.

With 24 total podium places awarded exclusively to United States competitors, this WCA competition highlighted depth across specialized events that branch well beyond standard Rubik's Cube formats. Tracking 3x3 results and memory totals across two days of focused play, Please Be Quiet Evanston 2023 demonstrated how much progress dedicated solvers can produce in a calm, focused cubing competition environment.