With many cubers heading back to school, the first weekend of September brings a lighter schedule of major competitions.
The calendar is short on quantity, but not on championship stakes.
Timothy Lawrance will chase his third straight African FMC title, while Florida prepares to crown its first official state champions.
Florida will also feature a 3x3 Blindfolded rematch between world record holder Tommy Cherry and North American Championship runner-up Noah Swor.
Welcome back to the Speedcuber’s Digest Weekend Preview, where we look ahead at the potential storylines going into the weekend.
Timothy Lawrance Goes for a Third Straight African FMC Title
WCA African FMC Championship 2026 takes place September 5.
The competition page lists four locations across South Africa and Angola: Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria and Luanda.
Only 3x3 Fewest Moves will be held. Competitors will have three separate one-hour attempts, with all three results counting toward their final mean.
The event is part of the 2026 African Championship, but it is being held three weeks before the main competition begins in Cape Town.
Timothy Lawrance enters as the two-time defending African champion.
He won the 2022 championship outright with a 31.00 mean, finishing ahead of Germany’s Linus Buck and South Africa’s Osman Badroodin.
Two years later, international competitors took the top two places overall. Argentina’s Guido Dipietro won with a 23.00 mean, while Finland’s Niko Ronkainen finished second at 27.33.
Timothy also recorded a 27.33 mean, placing third overall and finishing as the top African competitor. The result was an African record at the time and gave him his second straight continental title.
He returns with the fastest personal-best mean in this year’s field.
Timothy leads the psych sheet at 27.33, followed by Ruben Grobler at 29.33 and Osman Badroodin at 31.67.
Daniel Rush, the reigning African 3x3 champion, enters fourth at 32.67.
Timothy is the favorite, but only 1.60 moves separate him from Ruben by personal-best mean. In an event where one solution can create a several-move swing, that is not an overwhelming gap.
All three attempts also matter. One DNF would prevent a competitor from recording a valid mean, leaving little room for a mistake across three hours of solving.
Timothy has been Africa’s top FMC competitor at each of the last two championships. On Saturday, Ruben, Osman and the rest of the field will try to end that run.
Florida Prepares to Crown Its First State Champions
Florida Championship 2026 runs September 5-6 at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center in Tallahassee.
It is the first official championship in Florida cubing history.
Eligible Florida residents can earn the inaugural state title in each event, even if an out-of-state competitor finishes higher in the overall standings.
Nicolás Sánchez leads the overall 3x3 psych sheet with a 6.06 personal-best average.
Tommy Cherry is next at 6.38 and enters as the fastest Florida competitor in the field.
Owen Brooks follows at 6.71, while Noah Swor enters at 6.99.
Tommy Cherry and Noah Swor Meet Again in 3x3 Blindfolded
Florida’s strongest individual matchup may come in 3x3 Blindfolded.
Tommy holds both world records at 11.56 single and 13.97 average.
He set the single in June before lowering the average to 13.97 at Hefei August Open 2026. His five solves in that record average were 13.68, 14.48, 13.60, 13.75 and 15.87.
Noah owns the second-fastest American single at 13.86. He is ranked No. 10 in the world by single and also holds a 16.39 personal-best average.
The two Florida competitors finished first and second at the North American Championship in July.
Tommy won with a 14.19 single, while Noah finished second at 15.74.
This time, they will meet for the first Florida 3x3 Blindfolded title.
Tommy enters as the world record holder and reigning North American champion. Noah enters as the closest American challenger by single and the last competitor to stand beside him on a major championship podium.
One of them will leave Tallahassee as Florida’s first 3x3 Blindfolded champion.