Palo Alto Be There or Be Square-1 2026
- Date
- Dec 6, 2026
- City
- Palo Alto, California, United States
- Venue
- Address
- 780 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto, California
- Details
Bow Gym, entrance is at the Northwest corner of the parking lot, and it is south of the swimming pools.
- Contact
- Organization team
- Organizers
- Matt Mao and West Coast Cubing
- WCA Delegates
- Abhimanyu Singhal (अभिमन्यु सिंघल), Anto Kam (甘浩東), Calvin Nielson, David Karalli (داود قراعلي), Hamza Hafeez, Jaden Thompson, Jason Ostdiek, Michael Larsen, Mitchell Lane, Robert Alan Marks, Sherry Tao (陶心仪), TJ Kelly, and Wilson Li (李超雄)
- Download all the competition's details as PDF .
- Information
This competition is organized in partnership with West Coast Cubing and SpeedCubeShop.
- West Coast Cubing presents Palo Alto Be There or Be Square-1 2026, the first competition in Palo Alto!
- If we run ahead of schedule, we will start first round events no earlier than 20 minutes, so please show up at least 20 minutes before your first event.
- We will be assigning judging assignments to competitors for the group before or after their own competing groups. Please check your personal competitor cards when we assign them a week before the competition date for relevant info.
- Events
- Main event
- Competitor limit
- 150
- Number of times bookmarked
- 25
- Registration period
-
Online registration will be open from to .
- Registration requirements
-
Create a WCA account here if you don't have one.
If this is not your first competition, associate your WCA ID to your WCA account here.
Register for this competition here.
There is a competitor limit of 150 competitors.
The base registration fee for this competition is $35 (United States Dollar).
The registration fee has to be paid through Stripe here once registered.
If your registration is cancelled before you will be refunded 90% of your registration fee.
Registrants on the waiting list may be accepted onto the competitor list until .
If you are a registered competitor you may change your registered events until on the Register tab.
No on the spot registrations will be accepted.
Adding/Dropping Events
- Competitors may adjust their registration details by themselves to add or remove events BEFORE registration closes. It is also acceptable to not show up for any event you do not wish to compete in, although it is not encouraged.
- Competitors may not add events after registration closes.
Waitlist: PLEASE CHECK THE COMPETITOR TAB ON THE LEFT-HAND SIDE TO SEE HOW MANY COMPETITORS HAVE BEEN APPROVED
If Registration fills up, we will place competitors on a waitlist. In order to get on the waitlist, you must register and pay. You are not on the waitlist until you pay the registration fee. If you do not make it off of the waitlist, you will be fully refunded. If a competitor drops out, the first person on the waitlist will replace them. People can be replaced up until the registration close date indicated above. To check where you are on the waitlist, go to the Info tab on the left-hand side, and go to the "Waitlist" tab on that Info page.
Gunn Cubing Club members can register for free!
Check the Gunn cubers tab for further information and requirements!!
By car:
Gunn provides free parking right outside the venue.
By public transportation:
Competitors can arrive at the California Avenue Caltrain Station first, and then use the bus system to get to the venue.
By plane:
Competitors flying in can arrive at SFO International Airport.
Food:
If you decide to eat in the venue, please clean up after yourself.
Food options are most available near the Walmart nearby or near California Avenue.
For those of you new to cubing, WELCOME! We wanted to let you know this event is perfectly fine for cubers of any age and experience. We just ask you know a couple things before coming to compete...
- First, please be familiar with the WCA Regulations, found here: https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/regulations/
- This video will explain most of what any cuber competing for the first time will need to know: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPL3eV-A0ww
- If you have any questions in regards to the competition, we will be having a first time competitor tutorial. Please navigate to the Schedule tab of this competition to know what time the tutorial will be.
- Head over to the registration tab, if you are ready to sign-up for your first competiton! Click register, and fill out the information that it asks for. This will help you get set up into the WCA's system and one step closer to your first official solve!
Q&A:
Do I use my own cube to compete?
YES! You are responsible for your own hardware in order to compete.
What is the normal age of competitors at these events?
All ages are welcome, but in general competitors are between 10 and 20 years old. Don't let this stop you though, everyone can and should cube!
What is the competition like?
Competitions are a bunch of tables where nerds like us get to sit and discuss our favorite thing, Cubes! Of course in addition there is competing, which will occupy one side of the competition hall, where you will see lots of timers flickering with contestants new personal bests. Most competitions have a break for lunch, and the competing is split up into groups, as to better organize who competes when. (Check the Groups tab and listen at the competition for more info on this.)
How do I find results?
All results are posted on the WCA page a couple of days after the competition finishes. However, for the day of competing, search "WCA Live" (https://live.worldcubeassociation.org) to find information about current events. This is also where you will find information about 2nd and 3rd rounds of events.
Why am I not on the registration list yet?
Make sure you pay your registration fee in order to be automatically placed on the registered list, which will also guarantee you a spot in the competition. If payment may be any issue, or you are not sure if you can attend, use the contact button to talk to us, and see if we can work out another payment strategy, or have you pay on arrival at the compeition. No matter what situation you may be however, please register online. It is much easier for us to have you register now and pay later, then to have to input information at another time. After you pay, please allow up to 48 hours for your registration to be accepted, as we do accept all registrations manually.
Are there age divisions?
Nope! All cometitors compete in the same group.
Can I have fun at this event?
HECK YES! Cubing is amazing, and we sincerely hope you enjoy the competition!
Groups will be available on https://competitiongroups.com.
If you go to Gunn and wants to attend, you can actually compete for free! Two requirements:
1. You must email gunncubing@gmail.com about this competition WITH YOUR PAUSD STUDENT EMAIL ACCOUNT. Alternatively, you can talk in person to one of the club officers.
2. You must have attended at least one Cubing Club meeting. We will cross-check your student ID with our attendance records. There will be no exceptions!
If you fulfill the above two requirements, you must first register and pay the registration fee to be on the competitior list. You will be reimbursed later.
If you have any questions, please email gunncubing@gmail.com.
Want to stay connected with the West Coast community? Join the West Coast Cubing Community Discord Server! Speak with other competitors from NorCal, SoCal, Nevada, Hawaii, and Tijuana and keep in touch with fellow competitors and meet new ones! Find out about competition discussion as it happens in real time, and even announcements for competitions before registration opens!
Click here to be directly taken to the Discord Server!
We also have a NorCal Cubing Community Facebook group, WCA Forum thread for California, and the West Coast Cubing website.!
This competition will be sponsored by SpeedCubeShop! They will be providing gift-card prizes for this competition. They will not be selling puzzles onsite.
Waitlist has not begun yet as registration is not full!
Our competitor limit of 150 competitors has been met. Every registered and paid competitor up until this point will be placed on the waitlist, shown here. If a registered competitor must cancel their registration, the first person on the waitlist will be added to the list of approved competitors. Waitlisted competitors are eligible to be added to the waitlist up until 11/27 4:00 PM PST.
The waitlist is as follows (last names have been truncated for privacy):
We are looking for dedicated staff members for this competition!
Please fill out this form by Friday, November 27, 2026 at 4:00 PM PST to apply for staff.
While we will ask staff members to judge, staff members should also expect to be assigned other tasks (namely running, scrambling, and/or data entry). If chosen as staff, you are expected to stay throughout the competition, fulfill all of your assigned staff duties, and provide help when needed.
Staff benefits include:
- Staff lunch (undecided)
- Full registration fee refund of $35!
- Get to know your fellow staffers
The staff registration fee reimbursement will be given after the competition is over. We reserve the right to deny any reimbursement and staff benefits if you don't fullfill your staff duties.
Time limit
If you reach the time limit during your solve, the judge will stop you and your result will be DNF (see Regulation A1a4).
Cutoff
The result to beat to proceed to the second phase of a cutoff round (see Regulation 9g).
Format
The format describes how to determine the ranking of competitors based on their results. The list of allowed formats per event is described in Regulation 9b. See Regulation 9f for a description of each format.
Advancement Condition
The number of competitors shown as advancing to the next round is the planned maximum. The actual number may be lower if there are fewer competitors than expected, or if there are ties at the boundary.