Winchester Blind & Side 2023

Seven distinct puzzle disciplines packed the schedule across nine rounds of intense play as Winchester Blind & Side 2023 got underway. Held on November 11, 2023, at the Winchester Elks Club in Winchester, Massachusetts, USA, the gathering brought together a dedicated field of 31 speedcubing competitors. Rather than focusing on mainstream brackets, this specialized WCA competition showcased everything from big cubes to mechanical dials, geometric shape-shifters, and memory-intensive blindfolded events, highlighting the vast technical breadth present in modern competitive cubing.

Kevin Hays delivered an authoritative showcase across the large NxN puzzles, sweeping every multi-layered event on the schedule. In the 5x5x5 Cube, Hays captured top honors with a 49.12 winning average and the best single of the day at 45.61, outpacing runner-up Gabriel Garber Burd at 1:06.26 and Nikhil Soares at 1:09.84. Hays carried that sharp form directly into the six-layer puzzle, taking the 6x6x6 Cube title across two rounds with an average of 1:22.87 and a single of 1:21.91, again clear of Soares at 1:55.43 and Garber Burd at 2:10.58.

The 7x7x7 Cube rounded out the heavy-hardware sweep for Hays, who sealed his third victory of the competition with a commanding 2:05.14 average and a best single of 2:01.47. Soares earned second place on the podium with a 3:11.24 mark, while Connor Reid locked in third place with a 3:25.29 average. Managing the friction and turn count of these massive cubes requires immense stamina, and Hays demonstrated total control throughout each round, setting the benchmark across all three big-cube categories in Winchester.

Solving without visual aid requires precise spatial memorization, and the 3x3x3 Blindfolded event proved to be one of the most thrilling battles of the day. Thiago Han secured first place behind a blistering best single of 22.06 seconds. Han also delivered a standout milestone during the competition by posting a Brazilian national record average of 24.88 seconds, alongside a 24.59 single. Patrick Collins finished second overall with a single of 47.66 seconds, while Soares captured third place with 1:13.73, adding to his busy podium haul.

Beyond the traditional Rubik's Cube variants, the side events tested solvers with completely unique mechanical challenges. In Clock, Gabrielle Morasse topped the field with a winning average of 5.85 seconds and a single of 5.18, leading Timothy Huynh at 6.70 and Zachary Miller at 6.90. The dodecahedral Megaminx saw Nikhil Soares take top honors with an impressive 36.31 average and a 34.14 single, followed by Thiago Han at 55.42 and Derek White at 59.87. In Square-1, Chris Sutedja took victory with an 11.73 average and an 8.74 single, ahead of Han at 13.12 and White at 14.61.

Away from the top steps of the podium, several competitors achieved remarkable milestones across the packed slate. Ryan Durette took on seven events and earned a fourth-place finish in 3x3x3 Blindfolded with a personal best of 1:56.44, shaving 31.7 percent off his prior mark, while also recording a 6x6x6 Cube best of 2:33.40. Luke Chestnutt improved his Clock personal best by 23.6 percent down to 8.26 seconds, placed eighth, and took his 5x5x5 Cube mark down by 19.7 percent to 1:45.64. Daniel Winterberg secured a personal best of 1:56.01 in blindfolded solving, an improvement of 16.1 percent, and added a 5:48.34 personal best in the 7x7x7 Cube.

First-time event attempts also fueled the energy in Winchester. Gabriel Vennard entered six disciplines, posting first-ever official attempts with 1:55.58 in the 5x5x5 Cube, 30.21 in Square-1, and 4:08.30 in the 6x6x6 Cube. Benton Tolley dropped his Clock personal best by 10.1 percent to 12.42 and improved his blindfolded single to 2:50.41. Tommy Chestnutt lowered his Clock best by 5.3 percent to 11.35. Debut competitor Colin Chu contested four disciplines, recording his first official attempts in Square-1 at 15.85 to place seventh, 6x6x6 Cube at 3:46.69, and Megaminx at 1:53.58. Peter Ha made his first official Square-1 attempt with a time of 24.52.

The diverse array of categories showcased the deep versatility of contemporary speed cubing, where mastery spans far beyond standard 3x3 results into complex geometry, dial coordination, and blind execution. The medal table reflected broad geographic representation, with the United States collecting 12 podium spots, India earning five, Brazil securing three, and Canada taking one. Winchester Blind & Side 2023 wrapped up having tested the 31 participants across seven demanding puzzles, closing another memorable chapter in Massachusetts cubing as solvers look ahead to their next competitive season.