An embodiment includes (CR) gate having a first control qubit coupled with a first target qubit, and a second CR gate having a second control qubit coupled with a second target qubit and the first control qubit. The embodiment also includes controller circuitry for performing operations including first and second iterations of: during a first time period, directing respective CR pulses to the first and second control qubits; during a second time period, directing respective single qubit pulses to the first control qubit and to the second target qubit; during a third time period, directing respective CR pulses to the first and second control qubits; and during a fourth time period, directing respective single qubit pulses to the second control qubit and to the first target qubit.