Vratsa Cube Open 2026

Seven events shaped the schedule as competitors gathered at Concert Hall - Vratsa on September 12, 2026, delivering high-level speedcubing battles across both classic and non-standard puzzles. While standard Rubik's Cube formats always draw attention, the day put a sharp focus on specialist disciplines like Megaminx, Clock, Square-1, and 3x3x3 Blindfolded. The single-day WCA competition brought together standout performers from Bulgaria and Poland, resulting in a competitive program where niche mechanics and varied puzzle geometries took center stage throughout the venue.

The Megaminx contest emerged as one of the tightest showcases of the entire competition. Joanna Hołdakowska of Poland claimed the top step on the podium with a winning mark of 50.58 seconds. She narrowly edged out fellow countryman Przemysław Rogalski, who completed his attempts in 51.58 seconds. Bulgarian contender Victor Hadzhibeev remained right on their heels to secure third place with a time of 51.64 seconds. The three-way contest highlighted the precise turning and stamina required across the twelve-sided puzzle.

Clock solving produced another sharp demonstration of mechanical mastery, where Przemysław Rogalski took the win for Poland in 5.46 seconds. Bulgarian solvers filled out the remainder of the podium, with Gabriel Arangelov securing second place in 6.31 seconds and Victor Hadzhibeev collecting third in 6.58 seconds. Rogalski proved to be one of the busiest podium contenders of Vratsa Cube Open 2026, appearing across four distinct event podiums including Pyraminx where he took third place in 4.06 seconds behind Gabriel Arangelov in 3.91 and winner Aleksandar Dimitrov in 2.55.

The technical demands of Square-1 and 3x3x3 Blindfolded belonged to Kacper Paweł Dworak, who secured a dual victory for Poland. In Square-1, Dworak navigated the shape-shifting layers in 14.90 seconds to take first ahead of Bulgaria's Alexander Tenev at 15.30 seconds and Rogalski at 15.86 seconds. Dworak then returned to the table without sight, solving the 3x3x3 Blindfolded in 1:00.71. Rogalski claimed second with a time of 1:33.70, while Bulgarian competitor Ognian Baruh finished third in 1:45.16 in a discipline that demands pure memorisation and precision.

Away from the top steps of the podium, several competitors achieved remarkable milestones across new disciplines and personal time barriers at Vratsa Cube Open 2026. Kalin Nikolaev Dimitrov delivered the largest personal record drop of the meet, logging a 2x2x2 Cube result of 14.78 seconds that improved upon his prior mark of 39.67 by 62.7 percent. Stefan Atanasov entered five events and recorded a personal best of 11.36 seconds in Clock, cutting his past standard of 22.27 by 49 percent to place eighth, alongside a 7.40 personal best in Pyraminx. Ivaylo Dimitrov tackled six events, achieving an eighth-place finish in 3x3x3 Blindfolded in his first ever attempt at 3:29.97, while dropping his Clock time by 48.3 percent to 23.41 and his Megaminx mark by 11.3 percent to 1:58.17.

The depth of progress across the field continued with Boyan Tsvetanov Tsvetkov, who finished 14th in Clock with a personal best of 14.52 seconds (16.2 percent faster) and lowered his 3x3x3 Cube time by 30.7 percent to 35.70. Darina Nikolaeva Nikolova took on two events, making her first ever attempt at 2x2x2 Cube with an 11.11 and reducing her 3x3x3 Cube best by 31.2 percent to 21.18 seconds. Vencislav Pavlov took on five events, achieving his first ever attempt at Square-1 with a 15th-place 1:38.92, his first Clock attempt at 32.45, and a 22.1 percent 2x2x2 Cube drop to 6.70. Mihail Tenev entered six events, claiming seventh in 2x2x2 Cube with a 20.9 percent best of 2.57 while making debut attempts in Square-1 at 1:57.07 and Megaminx at 2:53.10. Petko Raychinov Raychinov rounded out the breakthroughs with a first ever 2x2x2 Cube solve of 5.80 and a 3.2 percent 3x3x3 improvement to 12.58 seconds.

The sprint events maintained the fast pace of the cubing competition, highlighted by an exceptionally tight finish in the 2x2x2 Cube. Yoan Stefanov earned the gold for Bulgaria with an explosive winning mark of 2.21 seconds. Kaloyan Vladimirov Kalev trailed by mere hundredths, taking second place in 2.24 seconds, while Ivaylo Rangelov Kirilov took third in 2.47 seconds to complete an all-Bulgarian podium sweep. The event demonstrated the razor-thin margins that define modern speed cubing at the highest levels.

In the flagship event, Alexander Tenev delivered the top performance on the table, securing victory in the 3x3x3 Cube with a winning mark of 9.58 seconds. The 3x3 results finalized an all-Bulgarian podium, as Kaloyan Vladimirov Kalev posted a 10.14-second result for second place and Ivaylo Rangelov Kirilov earned third with 10.85 seconds. Tenev's sub-ten performance served as an exclamation point for the host nation's strong presence across the weekend schedule in Vratsa, Bulgaria.

When the final tallies were confirmed, Bulgarian competitors had accumulated 13 podium places, while the visiting Polish contingent secured 8 top-three finishes across the seven events. The action at Vratsa Cube Open 2026 demonstrated the incredible versatility demanded across the modern speedcubing circuit, where puzzle specialists and multi-event contenders shared the floor to create a memorable competition.