Dear WCA Community,

We hope that the beginning of 2023 is going well for you. Below you can find a summary of some notable WDC cases from the past three months.

1. Earlier in the year, the WDC investigated a case of a high profile competitor cheating in 3x3x3 Multi-Blind by peeking under the blindfold. The WDC concluded that the competitor had cheated, and that this cheating extends to several prior competitions as well. A full public report on this case has been made available, which can be found here.
2. A similar case of blind cheating was caught where a competitor took advantage of their judge’s poorly placed sight blocker, in order to peek at their cube and fix several mistakes. This cheating extended to several attempts at the competition in question, including two national record averages. After several exchanges with the WDC, the competitor admitted to cheating, and apologized for their behavior. The competitor was issued a 9 month ban, and the affected solves have been changed to DNF.
3. A competitor was caught with the 4x4 OLL parity algorithm written down on their leg. After being confronted, the competitor quickly admitted they had not memorized the algorithm, and that they didn’t know doing so was against regulations. The affected results were changed to DNF and a formal warning was given to the competitor, along with a reminder to be familiar with the WCA regulations.
4. A young competitor who achieved several unusually fast times was suspected to be making turns to their cube underneath the table cube during inspection. The guardian of the competitor initially admitted that they had done this, however the WDC doubted that claim, instead believing that the competitor had switched the cube they were using under the table for one with a predetermined scramble. After reaching out to the competitor, they were quick to confirm the WDC’s theory and apologized for their mistakes. The competitor was issued a formal warning and the results in question were DNFed.
5. Recently, the WDC has received a number of harassment cases from several different countries, some of which involving WCA staff. We would like to remind everyone to be respectful of others, and ensure that you are upholding the WCA Code of Conduct.

The WDC would also like to remind all judges to give their full attention to performing their duties as a judge, particularly holding the blindfolded sight blocker correctly, and not distracting themselves or the competitor. We would also like to remind all judges to not hesitate in speaking to their competition’s delegate if they have questions or notice any suspicious behavior.

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.