UCSD Spring 2023

Ninety-three competitors gathered on April 2, 2023, setting the stage for a packed schedule of speedcubing excellence. Held at UC San Diego in San Diego, California, USA, the single-day meet featured five distinct events distributed across nine rounds. The structure of the day demanded versatility and endurance, pairing multi-round elimination brackets with high-stakes single-round shootouts that left no room for error. Every competitor had to adapt quickly to the varying demands of each discipline, from rapid turnarounds in standard formats to intense cutoffs in the larger puzzles.

The 3x3x3 Cube event drew 91 entrants through three rounds of rigorous progression. Max Park led the field through each stage, ultimately claiming victory in the final with a 6.32 winning average and a best single solve of 5.20 seconds. Eric Yang secured second place with an 8.03 average, while Mulun Yin finished third at 8.13. The 3x3 results demonstrated remarkable depth throughout the elimination brackets, with competitors pushing the pace across all three phases to secure their spots in the final round of the classic Rubik's Cube.

A single-round structure in the 4x4x4 Cube meant that all 68 competitors had just five attempts to make their mark. Max Park set the benchmark with a winning average of 21.25 and a best single of 17.82 seconds. Mulun Yin captured the runner-up position with a 29.19 average, followed by Weixing Zhang in third place at 31.54. Without preliminary heats to test the waters, the direct final tested each solver's immediate composure and consistency on the larger mechanism.

The 3x3x3 One-Handed bracket replicated the multi-round pathway of the main event, requiring 67 competitors to navigate three full stages. Max Park once again topped the podium, logging a winning average of 10.03 and a tournament-best single of 7.91 seconds. Kavin Tangtartharakul earned second place with an average of 11.21, and Ryan Peh took third at 12.15. Advancing through multiple cutoffs while solving with a single hand highlighted the stamina required across the long schedule at UCSD Spring 2023.

Big cubes and specialized disciplines closed out the tournament schedule. In the 6x6x6 Cube, 34 solvers faced a single-round battle where Max Park earned his fourth win with a 1:08.93 mean and a 1:03.86 single. Graham Siggins claimed second at 2:03.12, followed closely by Jihu Mun in third with 2:03.69. Siggins then stepped to the top of the podium in 3x3x3 Blindfolded, posting a winning average of 20.93 and a best single of 20.37 across 22 competitors. Kyeongmin Choi followed in second with 35.62, and Kavin Tangtartharakul finished third with 50.43.

Beyond the podium finishes, the tournament roster was filled with impressive personal breakthroughs across every event format. Andrew Sorem tackled four separate disciplines, logging a best finish of 24th in the 6x6x6 Cube with a first-ever result of 3:24.19, alongside a first 4x4x4 Cube mark of 53.55 and a 32.3 percent personal best reduction in 3x3x3 One-Handed to 15.29. Chris Hong took on five events, registering a 50 percent drop in his 4x4x4 Cube personal best to 46.85, a 22 percent cut in One-Handed to 20.19, an 11th-place finish in Blindfolded, and a first 6x6x6 Cube mark of 4:46.84. Destan Le cut his One-Handed personal best by 49.7 percent to 56.48 while recording a first 4x4x4 Cube attempt of 2:04.26. Justin Tompkins slashed his One-Handed best by 41.6 percent down to 28.21 and improved his standard 3x3x3 time by 23.3 percent to 13.47.

Other competitors delivered equally meaningful milestones throughout the weekend. John Ludwick earned a 32.4 percent improvement in One-Handed with a 38.62, improved his 3x3x3 best by 7.8 percent to 18.55, and logged his first 4x4x4 Cube mark of 1:25.40. Noah Bautista took on two events, cutting his 3x3x3 single by 27 percent down to 19.35 and completing his first 4x4x4 Cube attempt in 1:55.36. Kierran Leavitt logged a 6.1 percent improvement in the 3x3x3 Cube to 16.84 while making debut attempts in both One-Handed at 39.78 and 4x4x4 Cube at 1:31.18. Guntaas Singh Bassi made his official WCA competition debut at UCSD Spring 2023, recording first-ever attempts of 27.55 in the 3x3x3 Cube and 1:59.52 in the 4x4x4 Cube.

The single-day program showcased the full spectrum of speed cubing, balancing multi-round elimination brackets against demanding single-round formats. Competitors from the United States captured 10 podium positions, with China earning three, and Korea and Singapore taking one apiece. From direct finals on the big cubes to three-round tests in the standard events, UCSD Spring 2023 delivered a complete showcase of precision and skill for the southern California cubing competition community.

As the final stopwatches clicked off and the venue cleared, the diverse formats left a lasting imprint on the 2023 calendar. The combination of rapid one-handed solving, intense blindfolded memorization, and high-level 3x3 racing tested every participant. UCSD Spring 2023 provided both experienced champions and emerging contenders the stage to measure their preparation against demanding competition standards.