Speedcubing refers to solving the Rubik’s cube and a variety of other combinations and twisty puzzles in the fastest time possible. It’s described as an art, science, and sport and is sometimes called speedsolving. It entails performing a series of moves to alter a scrambled puzzle into a state where every face of the puzzle is a single solid color.
A speed cube is a type of Rubik’s cube made specifically for those who want to complete the puzzle as quickly as possible. It features a redesigned internal mechanism that allows the puzzle pieces to move faster and smoother. While the 3x3x3 remains the most famous cube among speedcubers, speedsolving events are also dedicated to cubes from 2x2x2 to 7x7x7. Speedcubing also involves solving the Rubik’s cube single-handedly, blindfolded, or with feet!
Let’s explore how the Rubik’s cube came about and various speedcubing methods and facts you need to know.
History of the Rubik’s cube
The Rubik’s cube’s invention dates back to 1974 when Erno Rubik, a Hungarian architecture professor, set out to find a way to model three-dimensional movements for his students. He spent months tinkering with cube blocks made from paper and wood and held together by glue, rubber bands, and paper clips. He finally created the 3x3x3 cube that was called the Magic Cube or ‘Buvos kocka.’ It soon became the most popular toy in the world and was renamed the Rubik’s cube.
By 2018, over 350 million Rubik’s cubes had been sold. The Rubik’s cube has inspired countless films and artworks together with the competitive sport of speedcubing. Today, many brands design and manufacture cubes specifically for speedcubing. They’re looser, more robust, and feature better designs and technology, enabling solving in less than 4 seconds! Most speed solvers use brands other than Rubik’s, and the puzzle is often called a 3×3 instead of a Rubik’s cube.
The use of speed cubes has proved much more convenient than a regular Rubik’s cube, especially in speed-solving competitions. The speed cube may feel very loose, and you may not enjoy it if you don’t wish to complete it as quickly as possible because of the internal mechanism.
Speedcubing Solving Methods
First-time solvers may prefer basic methods that require very few algorithms, but they’re challenging to get fast times with. Beginner methods like the layer-by-layer method aren’t suitable speedcubing methods because they’re slow and don’t allow much improvement.
However, learning the sequences of moves in the layer-by-layer method makes it easier to learn the advanced speedcubing methods you’ll need to get faster. Here are the most popular
The CFOP Method
The CFOP method, an abbreviation for Cross-F2L-OLL-PLL, is the most popular speedcubing method. It’s also called the Fridrich method after Jessica Fridrich, one of its inventors who was second in the 2003 Rubik’s Cube World Championships. However, David Singmaster is credited with the origin of the CFOP method. He was the first to publish a layer-by-layer approach, while Guus Razoux Schultz built upon this and developed a more efficient strategy to solve the first two layers (F2L). Jessica Fridrich finished developing the method and was very influential in the revival of competitive speedcubing when she published it online in 1997. Let’s explore each step of the CFOP method:
Cross
The cross is the first step in the CFOP method. You need to start by solving four edge pieces on the bottom layer of the cube to form a cross. Beginners often prefer solving the cross on the white side, but as you advance, you’ll be able to solve it on any of the six sides. The cross is the easiest step of the method, and you’ll be solving it intuitively in no time.
F2L
The consecutive step in the CFOP method is theF2L, standing for the First 2 Layers. It’s called F2L because the first two layers of the cube should be solved once you’ve completed this step. In the beginner’s method, you solve the first layers in two steps where you first insert all the corners in the correct slot and then insert the accurate edges. With F2L, the steps are combined, and you insert the edge and corner piece simultaneously by pairing the edge and corner together in the top layer and inserting the pair into the correct slot. While there are 41 possible cases, most of them are very similar. They’ll solve similarly and soon become very intuitive. You can solve each case differently depending on the available slots and the orientation of the cube. You can solve the F2L using algorithms or intuitively. If you’re a beginner, the intuitive method is recommended to understand the cube better.
OLL
Once you’ve solved the first two layers, you move to the last layer, solved in two steps, and OLL is the first. OLL stands for orienting the last layer, and once completed, all the pieces of the last layer are oriented with the last layer color on top. If you start solving on the white side, all the yellow pieces on the last layer will be correctly oriented after OLL. The orientation of the last layer includes a total of 57 possible cases. You need to learn all 57 algorithms to complete OLL in one step. You’ll learn some of these algorithms in the beginner method while others can be memorized by patterns, a standard process of memorizing algorithms. Many algorithms with similar moves can be grouped, making it fast and easy to learn them.
PLL
PLL is the final step and the second last layer step of the CFOP method. PLL refers to the permutation of the last layer, which involves putting all the pieces in their correct place. To solve PLL in a single step, you’ll need to learn 21 algorithms because there are 21 possible PLL cases. Unlike OLL algorithms, PLL algorithms are much longer, meaning they’ll take you longer to learn. However, because PLL has fewer algorithms, most people learn all PLL cases before knowing all the OLL algorithms.
Beginner-Friendly CFOP
As a beginner, the thought of learning 57 OLL and 21 PLL algorithms can be intimidating. Luckily, a much easier way to solve the last layer is available, known as the four-look last layer (4LLL). One additional step is added onto both OLL and PLL. These intermediate steps reduce the number of algorithms needed to solve OLL and PLL by 10 and 6, respectively. Compared to learning 78 algorithms, 16 is a lot more doable. The vast resources in the speedcubing community that improve and teach on CFOP have made it very popular. It’s also easy to learn and transitions well from the beginner’s method.
The Roux Method
Named after its inventor Gilles Roux, the Roux method is based on corners first and block building methods. It’s notable for its lack of rotations, low move counts, adaptability to one-hand solving, and the heavy use of M moves in the last step. The first step involves forming a 3x2x1 block usually placed in the left layer’s lower portion. The next step is creating another 3x2x1 block on the opposite side such that each block shares a bottom color.
There should be two blocks on each side, leaving the M slice and U slice free to move. You can then solve the remaining four corners using algorithms referred to as the corners of the last layer without regard to the M slice (CMLL). You’ll be left with four centers and six edges that can be solved in the last step, known as the last six edges (LSE or L6E). Unlike the CFOP method, the Roux method isn’t dependent on algorithm memorization.
All expect the third step is done through intuition instead of algorithms. You can perform it without any rotations because of the frequent use of M moves, making it easy to look ahead where you can solve a collection of pieces while simultaneously looking for the next step’s solution.
Who is the fastest speedcuber in the world?
Yusheng Du from China is the current world record holder for the fastest solving of the Rubik’s cube in the world. Yusheng began competing in 2015 and has inspired many speedcubers. While competing at the Wuhu Open on 24 November 2018, he broke the world record by completing the 3x3x3 Rubik’s cube in the shortest time at only 3.47 seconds. He beat former world champion Feliks Zemdegs’s record of 4.22 by o.75 seconds! It’s worth noting that a robot solved the Rubik’s cube at an impressive 0.38 seconds. Feliks Zemdegs also holds the world record for the fastest one-handed solve at 6.88 seconds, while Jakub Kipam holds the fastest solve with feet at 20.57 seconds.
Meet Rubik’s Speedcubers
One of the most well-known and famous speedcubers in the world is Feliks Zemdegs. Feliks has broken more records at world championships than any other cuber with an impressive 121 total world records. He’s credited with making speedcubing as popular and competitive as it is today. Feliks popularity extends to a documentary about his friendship with Max Park, who has broken many of his records, especially with giant cubes like 4×4-7×7. Max Park. When Max was diagnosed with autism at a young age, his parents introduced him to cubing to grow communication and social skills. Soon, he was improving his finger dexterity and social skills while becoming one of the best speedcubers the world had ever seen.
Where do speedcubers compete?
Speedcubers hone and train their skills all year round to ensure efficiency when completing the Rubik’s cube in various competitions like:
World Cube Association (WCA)
The WCA governs competitions for all twisty puzzles, including speed cubes. Its goal is to have more contests in more countries with more people and fun under fair conditions. The WCA World Championship is held every two years. The previous WCA competition took place in 2019 in Melbourne, Australia, but this year’s championship had to be canceled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
What is the role of the World Cube Association? The World Cube Association (WCA) is the foremost authority globally for Rubik’s cubes competitions. Rubik’s cube competitions must have permission from the WCA together with the presence of a delegate assigned by WCA to be considered official. Ron Van Bruchem created the WCA, and it has its headquarters in Los Angeles. A board of members runs the WCA, and they assign committees, delegates, and teams the mandate to organize official speedcubing competitions.
The objective of the WCA is to ensure fairness in events while encouraging the uptake of Rubik’s cube competitions across the world. Before, there were disagreements about regulations and rules. There was no standardized adjudication resulting in frequent disputes with claims to breaking records. A set of rules introduced by the WCA aimed to address these problems. The organization is also responsible for maintaining world record histories. Since their inception, more than 142,000 participants have competed in officially sanctioned competitions.
Event verification processes are carried out. The process begins by splitting competitors into groups and giving those in the same group similar computer-generated scrambled cubes to solve. The delegates determine winners by calculating the average time of the middle three attempts of a group of five. They record the best time of the competitors, and upon completion of the speedcubing event, the delegates collect the results and relay them to the WCA. The WCA then verifies the results, publishes them, and updates the profiles of the competitors.
Rubik’s Cube World Championships
Speedcubing competitions like the Rubik’s cube world championships are held with thousands of competitors worldwide. Speedcubing competitions range from small localized events to large opens. Max Park was crowned champion in the 2017 Rubik’s Cube World Championships held in Paris. Read more about this exciting event and follow the dates for upcoming events and championships.
When was the first-ever speedcubing competition?
The first-ever speedcubing competition was organized and hosted by the Guinness Book of World records in Munich. The event happened on 13 March 1981, and Jury Froeshi emerged victorious after solving the cube in a record 38 seconds. After this competition, the first international speedcubing competition took place in Budapest, Hungary, on 5 June 1982. Minh Thai, a Vietnamese national and student from Los Angeles, won the competition after only solving the cube in 22.95 seconds.
The key to becoming a speedcuber
Anyone can improve the time taken to complete the Rubik’s cube with constant learning and practice. To increase your chances of competing at official events and breaking records, you should practice regularly, focus on learning different strategies, and network with other players. Most people learning to complete the iconic puzzle take anywhere between 5 and 10 minutes to solve the cube successfully. With practice, you can reduce this to five minutes. As you practice, it’s vital to focus on learning the patterns and algorithms applicable instead of concentrating on hand speed.
Some hard work and extra dedication can have you competing at speedcubing championships across the world. If you get stuck or need some help, countless online forums and tutorials with step-by-step Rubik’s solving methods and strategies can provide guidance and direction. Once you start completing the cube in under 2 minutes, you should learn new techniques and methods to improve your completion time further. Failure to do this will have you stagnating at this point. Advanced technique and pattern recognition are critical strategies for improving completion times.
Undoubtedly the most crucial strategy to help you get better at speedsolving is constant practice. Some will not consider you a speedcuber unless you consistently complete the puzzle between 25 and 30 seconds. Others put the threshold at under 50 seconds.
The best speedcubing method
The CFOP method is considered the best and most popular speedcubing method. It’s easy to learn and transitions well from the beginner’s method. It has also been the dominant speedcubing method for 15 years, and its developed more than any other method. There are plenty of resources for learning CFOP techniques, and there are lots of techniques to learn. You’re guaranteed a clear improvement path, and the method’s structured process leads to the possibility of fast improvements to very high levels. The best part is that you can learn everything you’ll need to be world-class from online tutorials.
Who is the fasted kid speedcuber?
In March 2021, eight-year-old Arthava R Bhat set the world record for simultaneously solving three Rubik’s cubes using hands and feet. The boy from Bangalore, India, solved three rotating 3×3 puzzles simultaneously in one minute and 29 seconds. Chinese teenager Jianyu Que previously held the record before Athava beat it by six seconds. He’s always loved puzzles, and after meeting a multiple speedcubing Guinness World Record (GWR) holder in 2017, he became inspired to take up speedcubing.
