Fun with Fewest Moves in Kraków 2025

2025-04-12 ~ 2025-04-12

At this competition, I had my best official performance ever — and it came at the right moment, with the Polish scrambles. I’ve been chasing this goal ever since I got my 22.33, about a year ago — just one move away from the historic 22.00 mean of Sebastiano. In the rounds after that, I had many shots to get the NR mean, but I fell short under pressure and made many errors: - 23.00 at Optimal Solving in Povo 2024, with the super sprint scramble on A3 (80+ sub-5 EOs and 21.00 potential). - DNF mean at FMC 2024: 20–24 start, then I had the 12+2 to get 22 but forgot to check extensions (21.33 potential). Then Euros came, and Sebastiano woke the ancient one, lowering the NR mean to 21.33. That was great news for him, having tried many times to break his five-year standing record — but it meant the NR was even further away for me. Then more rounds came: - 23.33 at Slovenian FMC Nationals 2024, with a missed NISS 3-move EO and a forgotten 4c4e setup (21.33 potential). - 22.33 at FMC Italy 2024, with not enough time to find the 21 on A2, even though I had 4 different 10+4s (21.33 potential). - 22.00 at Europe FMC Friends – Winter 2024, starting with an 18, but had to deal with mid scrambles and missed a 22 on the last (21.00 potential). And then… this. I never had a potential mean under 21 moves. These scrambles had a lot to offer — all solutions came from instant RZP and quite easy HTRs (even the 7+5). Only the first solution was close to the time limit; for A2 and A3, I found the solutions quite early. 20.67 is very low, and I don’t think I’ll beat this mean without a good amount of luck. I want to thank my parents for supporting this trip abroad, the FMC community for all the love from around the world, and all the people I met in Poland for making this trip unforgettable. Especially Radomił, Wojciech, and Radosław for the great time we had together and the hospitality they showed me. A big thanks also to my Italian community and everyone who sent messages of appreciation — hopefully, we’ll have the chance to celebrate once I get back home. I don’t really know what goal to set now. I think I’ll just keep practicing and start enjoying the event for what it is.

First

#1Mean20.67NRSingle20 (20 / 20 / 22)

Attempt 1

Scramble

R' U' F L2 U D2 R2 F' L2 F R2 B2 U2 L B D F R' B U F U R' U' F

Results

R U' F' U2 D2 B' R' F R2 B L2 F2 D2 R2 B D2 F D2 F' U2

R U' // EO (2/2)
F' U2 D2 B' R' // DR, 4b5 (5/7)
F R2 F' (U2 F D2 F' D2 F') // HTR (9/16)
(U2 R2 F2 D2 B2) // finish (5/21)

... [F' B2 D2 F2 R2 U2 F] ... 

[] = B L2 F2 D2 R2 B // Rewrite (-1/20)

Solution: R U' F' U2 D2 B' R' F R2 B L2 F2 D2 R2 B D2 F D2 F' U2 (20)

6/6/4
Nice start of the mean. Obviously, this was the first DR I found, but I postponed the finishing phase because I was trying to use some extension with fewer qts.
I found a 21 from a 9+2, and then I tried some HTRs on the 4b5 — and the solution came out by itself (opt from DR). I also had some 10+1s (2e and 4e); a variation of those gave another 20, which is what Radek found.
Mallard finds a 19 from an 11+0 — findable, but you wouldn’t try to use an 11 to DR to get below 20. The scramble is 17 opt, but no sub-19 looks findable.

R U' // EO (2/2)
B' F2 L' B2 L' R2 F // DR, 4a2 (7/9)
(B2 U2 R') D2 R2 F2 L' // HTR (7/16)
F2 D2 L2 D2 // Leave slice (4/20) -> +1 for 21

R2 D2 R' U' // EO (4/4)
(F2 R2 B D2 L2 F2 R') // DR, 0c0 4e (7/11)
(F L2 R2 B') // HTR (4/15)
(D2 F2 U2 F2) // finish (4/19)

April 30, 2026 9:13 PM

Attempt 2

Scramble

R' U' F U L' F' U' R2 U R U' F' U2 F2 D2 R2 U2 B2 U2 B' R' D R' U' F

Results

F B' U B U R2 L2 D R L B2 R2 U' B2 U D R2 B2 R2 B2

F B' U B // EO (4/4)
U R2 L2 D R L // DR, 4a1 (6/10)
B2 R2 [D' // HTR (3/13)
R2 D2] R2 B2 R2 B2 // Leave slice (6/19)

[] = U' B2 U D // Slice (+1/20)

Solution: F B' U B U R2 L2 D R L B2 R2 U' B2 U D R2 B2 R2 B2 (20)

6/8/4
That’s funny.
The moment I saw this EO and the instant RZP, I smiled — and then I saw that the DR was 1qt, lmao.
I had the solution quite early; I consider it quite lucky that the slice is just +1, given that there were only two moves to work with.
I checked the rest, but nothing worth attention came up. This was the first variation I tried, and it’s optimal from EO.
The scramble is 17 optimal too, and Mallard gets 19 only with RZP in 7, so 20 is the best findable.
At this point, I just needed a 24 to secure the NR mean — the best start I’ve ever found myself in...

April 30, 2026 9:13 PM

Attempt 3

Scramble

R' U' F R' F2 D' R2 B2 F2 R2 F D L2 U' R B2 R' U2 B2 R' U' F

Results

D F2 D L2 B' R2 U2 B2 D' R2 B2 U2 F2 U2 F2 L2 F2 D L' B2 L2 U'

(U L2 B2 L) // EO (4/4)
D F2 D L2 B' // DR, 4a2 (5/9)
(D') R2 U2 B2 D' // HTR (5/14)
R2 B2 U2 F2 U2 F2 L2 F2 // finish (8/22)

Solution: D F2 D L2 B' R2 U2 B2 D' R2 B2 U2 F2 U2 F2 L2 F2 D L' B2 L2 U' (22)

4/4/6
That’s it. I decided to switch straightaway to this RZP in 4, and it gave the DR I needed.
22 is optimal from DR.
The finish was not obvious, but after about half an hour, I had it, and I felt such relief.
In the last part of the attempt, I tried working on a 9+4, only to discover it was a 9+5 — lol.
Mallard finds a 19 from a niss 5-mover into a 7c8e trigger, but probably the best result you could’ve gotten is a 21 from something I didn’t try enough.

(L B2 U L') // EO (4/4) -> instant rzp on FB
D // DR-3c2e (1/5)
B' L2 D' F' D // DR, 4a1 2e (5/10)
B (D2 F' R2 L2 B') // HTR (6/16)
(U2 D2 L2) // Leave slice (3/19) -> +2 opt

April 30, 2026 9:14 PM

Final

#1Mean22.67Single21 (21 / 22 / 25)

Attempt 1

Scramble

R' U' F R' D R2 F2 U' F2 D2 B2 L F2 L2 U L2 B2 F L' U' B2 R' U' F

Results

D L2 F2 U2 R2 U2 R2 U2 B2 R2 D R D F2 R2 U L' F R' F D'

(D F' R F') // EO (4/4)
(L) // DR-4c4e (1/5)
(U' R2 F2 D' R') // DR, 4b2 4e (5/10)
D' (D') // HTR (2/12)
(R2 B2 U2 R2 F2 L2 &) // AB2e2e (6/18)

& = (L2 F2 U2 R2 U2 F2 L2 D2) // 2e2e (8-5/21)

Crazy work with these finishes. I had an early 23 from this DR and I found a way to reduce it to 23, then I saw that it was HTR in 12 and tried a lot of stuff.
In the end +11 is optimal for the DR. Krzysztof found a 20 on this scramble, not sure from which DR.
In the last minutes I was working on a 9+4 which was also 21 optimal.

April 30, 2026 9:30 PM

Attempt 2

Scramble

R' U' F D' F2 U' D2 L2 F' U' B' U' R L' B2 D2 L2 U' R2 U' R2 D R' U' F

Results

L2 B U' R' L2 F L D2 L2 B' U2 F2 L2 F' D2 F2 L2 U2 L2 U2 R U'

(U) L2 B U' // EO (4/4)
(R') // DR-7c8e (1/5)
L2 R' F L // DR, 4a2 (4/9)
D2 L2 B' U2 F2 L2 F' // HTR (7/16)
D2 F2 L2 U2 L2 U2 // finish (6/22)

Looks like I have a sub for 4a2 DRs... It is 21 opt with double slice. 
Also the 9+4 from the same eo was 21 opt so probably left a move there.

(U) L2 B U' // EO (4/4)
(R') // DR-7c8e (1/5)
L2 R' F L // DR, 4a2 (4/9)
D2 R2 B U2 B2 L2 F // HTR (7/16)
U2 F2 R L' B2 L' R' // finish (7-2/21)

April 30, 2026 9:33 PM

Attempt 3

Scramble

R' U' F D' R2 L B D' R' U D' L2 B' R2 B2 U2 L B2 U2 R B2 F' R' U' F

Results

B U D' L' F L' F L' F2 D2 L2 U2 R2 F2 D2 F2 L' B2 R' F2 U2 R2 F' B' L

B U D' // EO (3/3)
(L' F B) // DR-3c2e (3/6)
L' F L' F // DR, 4a3 (4/10)
R (L2 D2 B2 R F2 R) // HTR (7/17)
(D2 B2 D2 R2 F2 L2 B2 D2) // Leave slice (8/25)

Solved in +0 (don't want to write it).

Worst scramble of the day but mallard still gives 21 from a findable thing. 
This DR had 22 potential by using RLUD hackery, I tried it but not enough.
With normal techniques it was 23 opt, missed that (I was just stanco).
It is a sort of panic solution, I should have looked better into the first variations.

B U D' // EO (3/3)
(L' F B') // DR-3c2e (3/6)
L' F L' F // DR, 4a3 (4/10)
(F' B R' L) F' B R' L // hackery (8-6/12)
F2 R2 B' U2 F2 L2 F' // HTR (7/19)
U2 R2 // finish (2/21)

B U D' // EO (3/3)
(L' F B') // DR-3c2e (3/6)
L' F L' F // DR, 4a3 (4/10)
L' (L2 D2 B2 L' D2 R) // HTR (7/17)
(F2 U2 B2 D2 R2 B2) // finish (6/23)

B' F2 D U' // EO (4/4)
B // DR-8c8e (1/5)
(U2 L' B F') // DR, 4b2 4e (4/9)
(D2 R) D2 F2 U2 B2 L // HTR (7/16)
D2 L2 B2 R2 B2 // finish (5/21)

April 30, 2026 10:10 PM