Tbilisi Cube Day 2023

Twenty-four competitors converged on College Barakoni on February 19, 2023, delivering a rapid-fire day of competitive solving across six official disciplines. Staged across eleven total rounds in Tbilisi, Georgia, the tournament offered a high-intensity stage where emerging speedcubing talent showcased massive leaps in solving efficiency. The gathering proved that rapid development remains the defining characteristic of the modern scene, as competitors trimmed huge margins off their career personal bests throughout the single-day schedule.

The 3x3x3 Cube served as the centerpiece of the program, drawing twenty-three contenders through three rigorous elimination stages. Alexander Bashutkin secured the title with a commanding 7.21 final average, highlighted by a tournament-best single of 5.26 seconds. Tamar Dolenjishvili took second place with an average of 8.01, while Giorgi Minasiani clinched third on the podium with an 8.24 average. The deep 3x3 results demonstrated how competitive local solving has become at the regional level in 2023.

Alexander Bashutkin established complete control over the broader event schedule, sweeping four of the six categories contested. In the 2x2x2 Cube final, Bashutkin claimed gold with a 1.51 average, ahead of Georgia's Vako Marchilashvili with 1.95 and Ukraine's Mykhailo Lagoida with 2.26. Bashutkin extended his winning run to the 4x4x4 Cube, finishing first among fourteen competitors with a 28.36 average, while Tamar Dolenjishvili and Giorgi Minasiani took silver and bronze with marks of 30.70 and 39.58 respectively.

One-handed solving provided another proving ground for top-tier dexterity, where Alexander Bashutkin completed his fourth victory of the day. In the single round of 3x3x3 One-Handed, Bashutkin posted a winning average of 13.48 and a best single solve of 9.81. Tamar Dolenjishvili secured another silver medal with a 15.34 mark, while Giorgi Minasiani picked up third place at 16.72. The results underscored the versatility required to conquer multi-discipline speed cubing under strict tournament conditions.

Away from the top of the podium, several participants produced massive personal breakthroughs across their events. Zurab Kakhiani delivered an extraordinary drop in Pyraminx, setting a personal best of 4.64 that was 61.9 percent faster than his previous standard of 12.18, alongside a 9th-place finish and an 8.40 in his first ever attempt at Skewb. Micah Hudson Steinfort took on four events, achieving a 13th-place finish with a 1:51.54 in his first attempt at 4x4x4 Cube while dropping his 2x2x2 Cube mark by 38.7 percent to 5.29. Mayis Jraghatspanyan entered all six disciplines, achieving a personal best of 10.44 on Skewb to improve by 46.2 percent, while Calvin Jacob Steinfort made his first official attempt at 3x3x3 One-Handed in 1:45.88 and cut his Pyraminx best by 24.1 percent to 6.41.

The surge of fast improvement extended across the entire venue as rising solvers tackled ambitious schedules. Luka Nadiradze improved his 2x2x2 Cube mark by 34.4 percent to register a 4.82 personal best, while Irakli Siradze took on three events and slashed his Rubik's Cube best by 28 percent down to 13.08. Ketevan Feradze entered three events and made substantial progress on the classic puzzle, securing a 25.77 personal best that was 31.2 percent faster than before. Meanwhile, Peter John Byl tackled his first WCA competition, launching his career with first attempts of 7.62 on the 2x2x2 Cube, 23.18 on the 3x3x3 Cube, and 12.67 on Pyraminx.

Specialty puzzle events yielded intense battles on the tables, breaking Alexander Bashutkin's sweep of the winner's circle. In the Pyraminx final, Giorgi Minasiani captured first place for the home country with a 2.71 average, edging Bashutkin who recorded 2.98, while Tamar Dolenjishvili secured bronze with 4.11. Skewb competition was claimed by Mykhailo Lagoida of Ukraine, who averaged 4.03 to defeat Nikolozi Kobakhidze with 5.55 and Tamar Dolenjishvili with 6.06 in a brisk eleven-person bracket.

By the conclusion of Tbilisi Cube Day 2023, host nation competitors had secured eleven total podium placements, with Russian and Ukrainian competitors earning five and two top-three finishes respectively. The energetic cubing competition at College Barakoni highlighted how quickly developing solvers are advancing, transforming months of dedicated practice into immediate, measurable speed on the official timing mats.