There will be an appointment of a new WCA Regulations Committee Leader, as Antonio Kam is stepping down as the Leader of the WCA Regulations Committee. The WCA would like to take this opportunity to thank Antonio for leading the WRC since November of 2022.

Candidates are expected to fulfill their terms (24 months) and to spend at least 8 hours per week on average to work for the committee. The qualities expected of candidates are:

Strong leadership skills

Attention to detail

Expert knowledge of Regulations

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

Good judgment and decision-making skills

Excellent communication skills

The application period for candidates to submit their candidacy documents is from now until May 15th, 2024, 23:59 UTC. Interested candidates can send the application privately to the Executive Assistant Team (assistants@worldcubeassociation.org), CC’ing the WCA Board (board@worldcubeassociation.org).

The candidacy documents must be in PDF format, and must include:

Brief personal introduction.

Summary of activities done for the WCA.

Ambitions as the WRC Leader of the WCA.

Candidates are additionally asked to send a copy of their applications which can be made public at the end of the application period.

The rights and duties of the WRC can be found in WCA Motion 10.2021.9.

After the application period, the WCA Board will make a selection by voting and will announce the new Leader, after confirmation among Senior Delegates and sitting Committee/Team Leaders by voting, as described in Section 4 of WCA Motion 10.2022.0.

Thanks for your candidacies and support.

Source:: worldcubeassociation

Dear WCA Community,

So far, this year has been a productive one for the WRC! We would like to share some of our progress with you.

Firstly, 10 new members joined the WRC (committee page) and their contributions have been extremely helpful to the team. We’re looking forward to seeing what the future holds for the WRC and how this shapes our decisions and responses to the community.

For added clarity, we have released two different visual guides, one for 5b5f and one for 3j. We aim to issue more guidance to the WCA community for other regulations as we see fit.

With more cubers than ever, the WCA has been able to organize a huge number of competitions! Naturally, the increase in competitions comes with an increase in incidents. Here are some of the more notable resolved incidents:

1. A solving station with a QiYi timer was set up near the competing area, in order for competitors to familiarize themselves with how to handle timers so as to not damage the official Speed Stacks timers at the solving stations. Unfortunately, many competitors and staff confused this “training station” for an official station, and this non-permitted timer was used for several attempts, violating Regulation 7f1a. Because it was impossible to determine with certainty which attempts used the timer, the WRC decided to remove all results for this competition.
2. A competitor attempted to stop the timer without their palms facing down, violating A4b. Immediately after this, they attempted to stop the timer again with their palms correctly facing down. Both competitor and judge were unsure when the timer was actually stopped, and no video evidence was available. Since no extra attempt was available the WRC has decided to keep the original time as it is not clear if the competitor has done anything wrong.
3. A competitor had their hands quite close to a covered clock pre-inspection and, as the judge lifted the cover, the clock fell over and a turn was unintentionally applied by the competitor to one of the dials. While the puzzle falling over was the judge’s fault, the move was applied by the competitor, which led to a change in the inner clock faces that counts as a DNF (F4). Also, since any moves applied by the competitor in inspection (except those that are within the limits outlined by 10f) are illegal (A3c1), the WRC decided that the correct penalty was a DNF.
4. After stopping the timer the competitor turned a Pyraminx tip that was misaligned by 120 degrees, but there was disagreement between the judge and the competitor whether it was turned more than 60 degrees or less. While turns greater than 60 degrees count as a move (10f3), and applying a move after stopping the timer is a DNF (A6e1), merely touching the puzzle without applying a move is a +2 (A6e2). The WRC decided that the correct penalty is DNF since it is possible that a move has been applied.
5. In an unconventional situation, a power cut that ensued during an FMC attempt resulted in poor lighting for about 3 minutes, during which the attempt was “paused” and the lost time added to the end of the attempt for all competitors. After an internal voting process, the WRC decided that the decision of the delegates to have everyone stop for 3 minutes didn’t pose an unfair advantage to any competitor in any way. In general, the WRC advised against giving extra time for an FMC attempt, and to instead cancel the attempt altogether or give an extra attempt if at all possible.
6. A judge applied an unintentional turn to a clock as they were checking to see if it was solved after a competitor’s attempt was done. This created a difficulty in verifying that the competitor had actually solved the puzzle by the end of their attempt. However, upon reviewing video evidence, the WRC was able to conclude that the exact state of the back of the clock was only possible with the one move made by the judge and that it would have been solved otherwise. On these grounds, the puzzle was considered solved by the competitor.
7. Several competitions utilizing TimeBase reported incidents where the signed results on the score sheets differed from the results logged on TimeBase databases. As TimeBase is an unofficial system not yet defined in the Regulations, a discussion between the WRC and WRT and a subsequent ruling by the WCA Board came to the conclusion that the score sheet results should stand. Due to the fact that score sheets are defined as the source material for results, it should be the main source that should be deferred to in case of such a discrepancy. While systems similar to TimeBase have the potential to dramatically improve the flow of competitions and to greatly simplify the work needed to ensure that competitions run smoothly, it is not yet officially endorsed, and as such disputes concerning errors in results concerning them will continue to use scorecards as reference.
8. A competitor handed in an FMC solution containing an arrow. The solution would have been correct without the arrow, and even with the arrow the move sequence was still unambiguous (E2c2). However, since the arrow was written in a place where it had to be counted as part of the solution, and since E2c4+ explicitly mentions arrows as forbidden symbols, the delegates decided to DNF the attempt. The WRC and the Board decided to uphold this decision following two appeals, but the WRC will revisit this part of the FMC regulations in the next regulation cycle.
9. A competitor forgot to lift a sight blocker attached to a harmonica holder during the execution phase of their solve. The competitor had started execution for around 30 seconds before the Delegate noticed the situation and a sight blocker was placed. Seeing that it is the judge’s responsibility to ensure that there is an opaque sight blocker as per Regulation B4c, in addition to the fact that the competitor was established as trustworthy and did not appear to have taken advantage of the situation, the original result was allowed to stand under Guideline B4c++.
10. Post-competition, a competitor found that two attempts of their average had been incorrectly scrambled by the same scrambler using a different orientation than the standard green-front, white-top. Events potentially affected by a z2 scrambling error (including 3×3) are not usually orientation dependent, because most of these events have their vast majority of competitors as dual-color neutral. The WRC found that since most competitors are able to start their attempts on opposite colors, the attempt would be allowed to stand seeing as there was no significant advantage or disadvantage posed to the competitor.

If you have any questions for the WRC, feel free to reach out to us via email or on the WCA Forum!

Source:: worldcubeassociation

Dear WCA Community,

In the last three months, the WDC has opened 17 cases and closed 17, with some closed cases originating in late 2023. Of the closed cases, two have resulted in a ban and seven have resulted in formal warnings. Some of the details of the cases can be found below.

• An anonymized, public report was written about a competitor turning during inspection over a long period of time. The competitor was banned for 2-years and 6-months from competing. The details can be found here.
• A young competitor was found repeatedly using portions of the inverse scramble when competing in FMC, while deliberately trying to cover their solution with rotations. The competitor was given a formal warning and the delegates were advised to check future attempts carefully.
• A couple cases related to touching, poking, and/or hugging other competitors without asking permission. The WDC would like to remind everyone to respect personal spaces and boundaries, and to always ask before touching another person.
• A competitor contacted a delegate confessing to two past episodes of cheating. These included insisting on a faster result for an ambiguously written time, and applying a move after stopping the timer. Given the context of the situation and advice from the delegate, the WDC decided that no further action was necessary.
• The WDC has opened several cases recently of competitors stopping the timer early and peaking under the blindfold. These incidents can be avoided by attentive judging and sufficient judge training. The WDC would like to remind judges to stay focused during a solve and to hold sight blockers appropriately, as well as remind delegates to further emphasize the importance of attentive judging at their competitions.

In February, a vote among Senior Delegates and Committee Leaders was held to select a new leader for the WDC following the end of Sebastiano Tronto’s term. I, Shain Papalotl Longbehn, was elected as the new WDC leader. I am grateful for the opportunity to lead this team of passionate and intelligent individuals. Thank you once again to Sebastiano for his commitment to the team the last three years.

Do you have questions for the WDC? Feel free to send us an email, or ask your question in the Disciplinary section of the WCA forum.

Source:: worldcubeassociation

The WCA Ethics Committee is seeking new members! The applications are open to everyone; it’s not a requirement to hold a current position in the WCA to apply.

What does the WEC do?

This committee’s role is to ensure that all WCA Staff abide by the Code of Ethics, maintain the Code of Ethics, and to perform investigations if the conduct of any of these members is not compliant with the Code of Ethics. The WEC is a confidant for Registered Speedcubers who may report concerns and request an investigation. This committee also functions as the board of appeal if anyone involved disagrees with a decision made by the WCA Disciplinary Committee.

Expectations/Requirements for Candidates:

• Time commitment of at least 4 hours per week.
• Proficiency in English
• Trustworthiness with sensitive information
• Maintain activity over email/Slack
• Clear background
• At least 16 years of age

Additionally, the following qualities are not required but would a plus on an application:

• Understanding of GitHub
• Professional writing abilities
• Project management skills
• Extensive familiarity with WCA competitions and procedures

Candidacy documents should be in PDF format, and must include:

• A brief personal introduction
• Summary of activities done within the cubing community
• Motivation for applying to WEC
• Other relevant skills/experience

Applications should be sent to samsbaugh@worldcubeassociation.org from now until Saturday, April 20th, 2024, 23:59 UTC to be considered.

Applicants can expect a reply to confirm the receipt of the application, and may later receive a request to be interviewed. If you have any questions related to the application process, then do not hesitate to reach out first.

Thank you for your interest in the WEC and the WCA!

Source:: worldcubeassociation

Dear WCA Community,

The Disciplinary Committee has concluded an investigation on a case of cheating by a well-known competitor in multiple events spanning several competitions in 2022 and 2023. As a result, they have been banned for 2-years and 6-months from competing, ending on June 24th, 2026.

The WDC allowed the competitor to submit footage for review. Any result that the WDC could not determine as valid has been disqualified. As specified in Regulation 9t, if there was any change where the competitor would not have advanced to the next round, all results of the competitor for those subsequent rounds were removed.

Since this competitor is well-known in the community and is still a record holder, the WDC decided to make the report for this investigation public. The intention is to explain the reasons behind our decision and provide insight on how the Committee works.

The WDC has elected to fully anonymize this report and the video evidence due to the age of the accused competitor. The WDC strongly discourages the community from publicizing the name of the accused competitor for this reason. The full report can be found here.

Best regards,
Shain Longbehn (WDC Leader)
On behalf of the WCA Disciplinary Committee

Source:: worldcubeassociation