School Year: 2022 – 2023
Both tournaments were held simultaneously in the Junior High School library, starting around 1:15 pm. The room was filled with silent cheers from the audience and the nervous heartbeats of the contestants.
The Rubik’s Cube competition had seventeen participants from grades 7 to 12. It consisted of three rounds: qualifying, semi-finals, and finals. In the qualifying round, contestants competed in pairs to achieve the fastest time in solving the Rubik’s Cube. The winners advanced to the second part of the competition, where they competed against other winners. Eventually, only four participants made it to the semi-finals, where they raced to be the first to solve three Rubik’s Cubes. In the end, Mr. Michael Solde and Ms. Percciloise Gabriel emerged as the finalists, challenged to solve four Rubik’s Cubes. Mr. Michael Solde ultimately finished first, becoming the Math Week 2023 Rubik’s Cube Tournament champion.
The Tower of Hanoi tournament offered a unique and interesting puzzle. Contestants had to transfer rings between towers, resembling a game of building blocks. The tournament was intense, with visible signs of nervousness, such as the contestants’ hands shaking and their rings falling out of rush.
Like the Rubik’s Cube tournament, the Tower of Hanoi tournament comprised three rounds. In the qualifying and semi-finals, participants engaged in truels and duels, aiming to be the first to transfer the entire tower of seven rings. For the final round, Mr. Justin Kenneth Soriano, Ms. Jazmine Corbito, and Mr. Daniel Francis Mateo competed in tackling an eight-ringed tower. The finalists were noticeably nervous due to the increased difficulty, but once the timer started, they put on their game mode. The battle of intellect and unwavering determination unfolded, with some rings flying and frustrations visible among the contestants. In the end, Justin Kenneth Soriano emerged as the champion of the Tower of Hanoi Tournament, with Jazmine Corbito closely behind, leaving only seven moves remaining.
The day concluded with congratulatory greetings and expressions of gratitude from the Mathrix Club officers to all the contestants who participated and emerged victorious in the Rubik’s Cube and Tower of Hanoi tournaments.
