SoCal Please Be Qualified 2023

Inside the UC San Diego Rady School of Management on May 28, 2023, the usual rapid clatter of plastic turns gave way to prolonged stretches of focused silence. Puzzles lay covered beneath cups, stopwatches sat ready, and competitors sat intensely memorizing scrambles across several of the most demanding disciplines in speedcubing. The single-day WCA competition brought together 17 competitors in San Diego, California, USA, challenging them with five distinct events requiring deep patience, strict memorization, and meticulous efficiency.

SoCal Please Be Qualified 2023 offered a rare platform centered almost exclusively on niche events, providing both seasoned solvers and those trying new categories a chance to test their skills. Across six rounds of action, the schedule moved through blindfolded disciplines and the cerebral demands of solving the classic Rubik's Cube with the fewest possible turns. Despite the small field, the intensity remained high as participants pushed for new personal milestones and official rankings in front of an attentive local crowd.

South Korea standout Kyeongmin Choi delivered an extraordinary performance across the board, capturing four event titles on the day. In the 3x3x3 Blindfolded event, Choi led the field across two rounds, securing the victory with a standout single of 47.68 seconds in the final round. United States competitors Hana Nakano and Kavin Tangtartharakul joined Choi on the podium, claiming second and third place with times of 59.27 seconds and 1:02.39 respectively, demonstrating exceptional precision in an event where one misstep results in a disqualified attempt.

Choi continued his sweep in 3x3x3 Fewest Moves, taking first place with an impressive winning average of 25.00 turns and a best single attempt of 24. Elijah Brown earned the silver position with an average of 30.67 turns, while Shane Grogan captured third place on an average of 36.67. Choi also took top honors in the marathon 3x3x3 Multi-Blind event, successfully solving 13 out of 15 puzzles within a time limit of 51:16, finishing ahead of Kavin Tangtartharakul, who achieved a perfect 8 out of 8 in 36:15, and Nate Minkevich with 9 out of 10 in 41:25.

The big-cube blindfolded events at SoCal Please Be Qualified 2023 proved exceptionally challenging, with memory endurance pushed to its absolute limits. In 4x4x4 Blindfolded, Choi secured his fourth title of the day with a single solve of 6:57.33, while Matthew Dickman finished as the only other competitor to log a successful attempt, taking second place in 9:55.51. In the 5x5x5 Blindfolded competition, Hana Nakano stood alone as the sole solver to register a successful completion, winning the event outright with a single time of 14:57.00.

Beyond the top steps of the podium, several competitors made significant breakthroughs in events they rarely tackle. Dylan Govic delivered one of the weekend highlights by taking 10th place in 3x3x3 Fewest Moves with a mark of 31 turns, an improvement of 20.5 percent over his previous personal record. Nitin Kumar also registered a major gain, finishing 7th in the same discipline after recording a personal best of 38 turns, which was 7.3 percent faster than his previous best mark, as he tackled three separate events across the day.

The quiet side of this speed cubing meet also saw several athletes branching out into brand new territory. Alex Lehman took on three events and secured a 10th-place finish in 3x3x3 Multi-Blind while logging his first official attempt in 3x3x3 Fewest Moves with 39 turns. Henry Nguyen made his first official attempt at Fewest Moves with 49 turns for a 12th-place finish, while Krish Banker tackled the event for the first time with 73 turns for 13th place. Thomas Valles rounded out a versatile day by entering three events and claiming 5th place in Fewest Moves.

Across the entire day, the United States accounted for 20 podium places while Korea secured 5, reflecting a balanced mix of domestic depth and top-tier international talent. From the specialized 3x3 results in blindfolded and fewest moves disciplines to the sheer stamina needed for large cubes, the competition delivered an intense showcase of focused problem solving. As SoCal Please Be Qualified 2023 came to a close in San Diego, the competitors walked away with fresh personal benchmarks and renewed momentum for the remainder of the 2023 cubing competition circuit.