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Lars Erik Petrus (born 4 November 1960) is a Swedish accomplished speedcuber. He has been described as a Rubik's Cube icon and master. [1] [2] [3]
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Lars Erik Petrus (born 4 November 1960) is a Swedish accomplished speedcuber. He has been described as a Rubik's Cube icon and master. [1] [2] [3]
Petrus grew up in Gammelstaden just outside of Luleå. [4]
He took up speedcubing in the early 1980s, learning it over the course of a summer when he was unemployed. [5] In 1982, he became the national champion of Sweden, and went on to finish fourth overall at the first official Rubik's Cube World Championships held in Budapest, Hungary. [6] [7]
He later published his method, known as the Petrus system, on the Internet. It became a fairly popular method among intermediate and upper-level speedcubers, although its more recent use has diminished considerably due to the increased predominance of methods such as ZZ, Roux, and CFOP. Petrus won the 3x3x3 Fewest Moves category at the 2005 World Championships held in November 2005 at Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA claiming the US$500 prize. He competed in the 2006 International Rubik's Cube Competition in San Francisco. [8] He currently (since 1995) resides in SF Bay Area, California, USA, where he works as a software developer. [5]
He has also catalogues and published an explanation of Ikea product names. [9]
The Petrus System was designed as an alternative to the popular layer-based solutions of the early 1980s using 2v2v2 blocks. [10] [1] Petrus reasoned that as a solver constructs layers, further organization of the cube's remaining pieces is restricted by what one has already done. In order for a layer-based solution to continue after the first layer had been constructed, the solved portion of the cube would have to be temporarily disassembled while the desired moves were made, then reassembled afterward. Petrus sought to get around this by solving the cube outwards from one corner, leaving him with unrestricted movement on several sides of the cube as he progressed. This method is often used to solve the cube in a fewest-moves solution.
The system uses seven basic steps to solve a Rubik's Cube.
Petrus invented three simple and flexible algorithms to complete the last three steps, which he named Niklas, Sune, and Allan.
While the method stands alone as an efficient system for solving the Rubik's Cube, many modifications have been made over the years to stay on the cutting edge of competitive speedcubing. Many more algorithms have been added to shave seconds off the solution time, and steps 5+6 or 6+7 are often combined depending on the problems each case presents.
The Rubik's Cube is a 3D combination puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. Originally called the Magic Cube, the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Pentangle Puzzles in the UK in 1978, and then by Ideal Toy Corp in 1980 via businessman Tibor Laczi and Seven Towns founder Tom Kremer. The cube was released internationally in 1980 and became one of the most recognized icons in popular culture. It won the 1980 German Game of the Year special award for Best Puzzle. As of January 2024, around 500 million cubes had been sold worldwide, making it the world's bestselling puzzle game and bestselling toy. The Rubik's Cube was inducted into the US National Toy Hall of Fame in 2014.
The Rubik's Revenge is a 4×4×4 version of the Rubik's Cube. It was released in 1981. Invented by Péter Sebestény, the cube was nearly called the Sebestény Cube until a somewhat last-minute decision changed the puzzle's name to attract fans of the original Rubik's Cube. Unlike the original puzzle, it has no fixed faces: the center faces are free to move to different positions.
The Pocket Cube is a 2×2×2 combination puzzle invented in 1970 by American puzzle designer Larry D. Nichols. The cube consists of 8 pieces, all corners.
Minh Thai is a Vietnamese-American speedcuber. As a sixteen-year-old Eagles Rock High School student from Los Angeles, he won the first world championship on June 5, 1982 in Budapest by solving a Rubik's Cube in 22.95 seconds. He is also the author of the book The Winning Solution (1982), a guide to solving the cube. Later, Ortega Corners-First Solution Method for Rubik's Cube was based on Minh Thai's Winning Solution.
Speedcubing, also referred to as speedsolving, is a competitive sport centered around the rapid solving of various combination puzzles. The most prominent puzzle in this category is the 3x3x3 puzzle, commonly known as the Rubik's Cube. Participants in this sport are known as "speedcubers," who focus specifically on solving these puzzles at high speeds, or more generally as "cubers". The essential aspect of solving these puzzles typically involves executing a series of predefined algorithms in a particular sequence.
The Professor's Cube is a 5×5×5 version of the original Rubik's Cube. It has qualities in common with both the 3×3×3 Rubik's Cube and the 4×4×4 Rubik's Revenge, and solution strategies for both can be applied.
The Pyraminx is a regular tetrahedron puzzle in the style of Rubik's Cube. It was made and patented by Uwe Mèffert after the original 3 layered Rubik's Cube by Ernő Rubik, and introduced by Tomy Toys of Japan in 1981.
The Square-1 is a variant of the Rubik's Cube. Its distinguishing feature among the numerous Rubik's Cube variants is that it can change shape as it is twisted, due to the way it is cut, thus adding an extra level of challenge and difficulty. The Super Square One and Square Two puzzles have also been introduced. The Super Square One has two additional layers that can be scrambled and solved independently of the rest of the puzzle, and the Square Two has extra cuts made to the top and bottom layer, making the edge and corner wedges the same size.
The Megaminx or Mégaminx is a dodecahedron-shaped puzzle similar to the Rubik's Cube. It has a total of 50 movable pieces to rearrange, compared to the 20 movable pieces of the Rubik's Cube.
Jessica Fridrich is a professor at Binghamton University, who specializes in data hiding applications in digital imagery. She is also known for documenting and popularizing the CFOP method, one of the most commonly used methods for speedsolving the Rubik's Cube, also known as speedcubing. She is considered one of the pioneers of speedcubing, along with Lars Petrus. Nearly all of the fastest speedcubers have based their methods on Fridrich's, usually referred to as CFOP, that is,.
The World Cube Association (WCA) is the worldwide non-profit organization that regulates and holds competitions for mechanical puzzles that are operated by twisting groups of pieces, commonly known as twisty puzzles. The most famous of those puzzles is the Rubik's Cube. Since the start of the WCA there have been over 10,000 competitions. The WCA was founded by Ron van Bruchem of the Netherlands and Tyson Mao of the United States in 2004. The goal of the World Cube Association is to have "more competitions in more countries with more people and more fun, under fair conditions." In 2017, they started work to become a non-profit organization and on November 20, 2017, the state of California accepted the initial registration of the World Cube Association.
The CFOP method, also known as the Fridrich method, is one of the most commonly used methods in speedsolving a 3×3×3 Rubik's Cube and is one of the fastest methods. This method was first developed in the early 1980s, combining innovations by a number of speed cubers. Jessica Fridrich, a Czech speed cuber and the namesake of the method, is generally credited for popularizing it by publishing it online in 1997.
Tyson Mao is a Taiwanese-American Rubik's Cube speedsolver. He is a co-founder and a former board member of the World Cube Association, an organization that holds competitive events for the Rubik's Cube. In 2005, he set the world record for 3x3x3 blindfolded. In 2006, he appeared on the CW Television Network's Beauty and the Geek as one of the participants of the second incarnation of the reality television show.
Ron van Bruchem is a Dutch speedcuber living in Hilversum. He helped create the current resurge of Rubik's Cube enthusiasm by founding the international speedcubing community and organizing international competitions. He is also a founder, delegate and former chairman of the World Cube Association, an organization aiming at the spread of speedcubing as a regulated sport. He is also the host of the website speedcubing.com.
Eric Limeback is a Canadian speedcuber. He is known for his 11/11 3x3x3 multiblindfold Canadian record solve, as well as his standard 3x3x3 blindfolded solving. Limeback was the first Canadian to record a sub-30 second official 3x3x3 blindfolded solve. Limeback began solving the Rubik's Cube in 9th grade. He graduated from Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute in 2010. He formerly held the Guinness World Record for the most 3x3x3 cubes solved in 24 hours, 5800, set from 3–4 October 2013 at Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada.
Feliks Aleksanders Zemdegs is an Australian Rubik's Cube speedsolver. He is one of the only two speedcubers ever to win the World Cube Association World Championship twice, winning in 2013 and 2015, and is widely considered the most successful and greatest speedcuber of all time. He has set more than 350 records across various speedcubing events: 121 world records, 214 continental records, and 7 national records.
Anthony Michael Brooks is an American speed cubing champion. He specializes in the 2x2 cube and classic 3x3 cube, and used to be officially ranked in the top five in the world in both categories as recognized by the World Cube Association. Since learning to solve the cube in March 2008, Brooks has become known for developing advanced speedsolving methods as well as frequently promoting speedcubing in the media. While working as the Liberty Science Center's Speedcuber-in-Residence, Brooks set the Guinness World Record for most Rubik's Cubes solved underwater in a single breath, and also led the team that currently holds the world record for solving the Groovik's Cube, the world's largest functioning Rubik's Cube. In July 2017, Brooks was featured on the debut season of FOX's Superhuman TV show.
Gilles Roux is a French speedcuber primarily known for inventing a 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube method, the Roux Method, and achieving fast times with it.
The Layer by Layer method, also known as the beginners' method, is a method of solving the 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube. Many beginners' methods use this approach, and it also forms the basis of the CFOP speedcubing technique.
Vincent Sheu is an American speedcuber or Rubik's Cube solver from Saratoga, California known for organizing World Cube Association competitions and setting world records in both the Fewest Moves event and the 2x2x2 single solve. He currently serves as a Director and Delegate for the World Cube Association (WCA) and has been an organizer of every annual US Nationals Cubing Competition since 2010. Sheu previously served as the first Chair of the WCA's Regulations Committee with Lucas Garron from 2012 to 2015, directing a complete redrafting of the official competition regulations and guidelines during his tenure. He has received media attention as the subject of several viral images and video clips at various college sporting events.