This article only references primary sources.(March 2023) |
Abbreviation | WCA |
---|---|
Formation | 18 October 2004 |
Founders | Ron van Bruchem, Tyson Mao |
Type | Sport Association |
Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, USA |
Membership | Free |
Official language | English |
Ethan Pride, Blake Thompson, Kerrie Jarman, Nick Silvestri | |
Main organ | board |
Staff | 4 Board of Directors, 13 Committee Leaders (including Board members as a whole), Contents
464 WCA Delegates (excluding trainees), 112 Committee Members |
Website | worldcubeassociation |
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 (a subcategory of combination puzzles). The most famous of those puzzles is the Rubik's Cube. Since the start of the WCA there have been over 11,700 competitions. The WCA was founded by Ron van Bruchem of the Netherlands and Tyson Mao of the United States in 2004. [1] The goal of the World Cube Association is to have "more competitions in more countries with more people and more fun, under fair and equal conditions." [2] 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 organization is run by the board members. It assigns different teams and committees as well as delegates who can organize official competitions. The presence of a delegate is required to make the competition official. As of June 2024 [update] , over 230,000 people from around the world have participated in WCA competitions [3] and over 11,700 competitions have been held. [4]
Member | Country | Board member since |
---|---|---|
Blake Thompson | United States | July 2022 [5] |
Ethan Pride | Australia | July 2019 [6] |
Kerrie Jarman | Australia | July 2023 [7] |
Nick Silvestri | United States | June 2024 [8] |
Member | Country | Term |
---|---|---|
Gilles Roux | France | October 2004 – November 2008 [9] |
Ron van Bruchem | Netherlands | October 2004 – July 2018 [10] |
Masayuki Akimoto | Japan | September 2005 [1] – January 2012 |
Tyson Mao | United States | October 2004 – August 2013 [11] |
Sébastien Auroux | Germany | July 2012 [12] – February 2014 [13] |
Tim Reynolds | United States | July 2012 [12] – December 2014 [14] |
Natán Riggenbach | Peru | September 2013 [15] – August 2015 [16] |
Olivér Perge | Hungary | March 2015 – February 2016, July 2017 [17] |
Pedro Santos Guimarães | Brazil | March 2015 – July 2018 [10] |
Ilkyoo Choi | South Korea | September 2013 [15] – July 2017 [17] |
Chris Hardwick | United States | July 2016 [18] – November 2017 [19] |
Luis J. Iáñez | Spain | July 2016 [18] – July 2018 [10] |
Alberto Pérez de Rada Fiol | Spain | November 2017 [19] – November 2019 [20] |
Chris Wright | United Kingdom | September 2018 [21] – September 2020 [22] |
Bob Burton | United States | November 2017 [19] - November 2021 [23] |
Henrik Buus Aagaard | Denmark | November 2019 [20] - November 2021 [23] |
Saransh Grover | India | September 2020 [24] - September 2022 [25] |
Callum James Goodyear | United Kingdom | September 2020 [24] - January 2023 [26] |
Somya Srivastava | India | July 2022 [5] - January 2024 [27] |
The WCA Board of Directors (or simply WCA Board) is the leadership team of the WCA and its highest authority. WCA Directors are Officers of the WCA and also have the role of Full Delegate. The WCA Board is responsible for the WCA organization as a whole. They discuss issues that affect the WCA and advise the committees. The WCA Board oversees that the applications to hold WCA Competitions meet fair conditions to ensure equality throughout the World, and finally it approves and announces the competitions accordingly. After competitions, they read reports from the WCA delegates about competitions to be up to date on the WCA activity worldwide and take part in the discussion of any incidents that occur.
The Board is also responsible for helping the WCA fulfill its mission of “more competitions in more countries with more people and more fun, under fair and equal conditions.”
WCA Appeals Committee
The WCA Appeals Committee (WAC) is responsible for reviewing and resolving appeals regarding decisions made by other WCA Staff. The WAC provides an independent and impartial review process to ensure that decisions are fair, reasonable, and in accordance with WCA policies and regulations.
The WCA Communication Team (WCT) is in charge of overseeing and supporting communications. This includes answering general requests that are submitted via the WCA website and maintaining the WCA's social media accounts. The team responds to multiple emails a day regarding starting cubing competitions in new areas, what to do for people's first competition, big media requests about competitive speedcubing, and many other issues. Many requests are also forwarded to the appropriate WCA Team or Delegate if they are regarding a particular competition or region.
The WCA Competition Announcement Team (WCAT) is responsible for approving and announcing WCA Competitions. They review and announce competition submissions to the WCA.
The WCA Executive Assistants Team (WEAT) assists the WCA Board of Directors with administrative tasks.
The WCA Financial Committee (WFC) is responsible for everything regarding finances within the WCA. As an Advisory Committee, they manage the finances and accounts of the WCA by an approved annual budget proposal, which is also their work to provide regularly. Similarly, the Financial Committee pays invoices and taxes that are directed to the WCA, after consultation and with permission of the WCA Board. Every quarter, they report and advise the WCA Board on all finances of the WCA to give them a summary of the scope of financial possibilities and options that the WCA has. The WCA Treasurer is a member of the Financial Committee.
WCA Integrity Committee
The WCA Integrity Committee (WIC) performs independent investigations regarding WCA community members and incidents during WCA Competitions or on official, online WCA platforms. These incidents are alleged violations of the Spirit, Code of Conduct, Code of Ethics and/or Regulations of the WCA.
They can be contacted by WCA officials or community members to be made aware of possible violations at WCA competitions. Initial contact with the team is usually through emails or directly from any competitor or Delegate. If the Team Leader agrees that this case falls under the WIC's jurisdiction, a WIC case is initiated. The team attempts to correspond with everyone involved to provide an independent report for the investigation. Once a decision is made, they inform all relevant persons of any actions and make a public announcement if necessary.
The WCA Marketing Team (WMT) is responsible for managing WCA relationships with external partners as well as working closely with the WCA Brand. They are currently seeking help with WCA Merchandise, Sponsorships, and Contracts. [28]
The WCA Quality Assurance Committee (WQAC) is responsible for quality improvement.
The WCA Regulations Committee (WRC) was founded to support the WCA Board in maintaining the WCA Regulations in 2011. Over the years, their area of responsibility has been broadened, they currently handle all issues which are related to the application, improvement, and development of the WCA Regulations. They support Delegates on any kind of procedural matters happening at competitions and decide on unresolved and uncovered incidents. The WRC regularly publishes WCA internal reports to help all Delegates and improve their knowledge of the Regulations. This includes regulation changes based on feedback from the WCA staff and the community, while also taking into account their insights and reports of incidents that occur during WCA competitions. New versions of the Regulations are published yearly or bi-yearly. Another part of their work is to encourage members of the WCA community to create and maintain translations of the Regulations.
The WCA Results Team (WRT) is responsible for managing all data in the databases of the WCA, especially competition results and personal data.
The biggest regular task of the WCA Results Team is posting results of WCA competitions to the WCA website, once the Delegate of the competition has reported them. They check if the results were submitted correctly and if so, transfer them into the WCA results database. This work of the Results Team assures the data quality of the databases of the WCA. Each such posting procedure is ended by creating a public post on the WCA website, which are visible on the frontpage of the WCA website.
Apart from posting competition results, the WCA Results Team is also responsible for making corrections to competition results if necessary and they are in charge of administering all WCA profile pages. This includes changing user data, like dates of birth, according to verified requests and managing profile picture requests.
The WCA website is an open source project on GitHub. [29] The WCA Software Team (WST) is responsible for bringing continuous improvements to the website frequently, to allow all of the community members to easily access and enjoy WCA content. Recently internationalization was implemented, so now people can use the WCA website in their native language. Other important milestones are the development of the registration system, and especially payments. The team keeps an eye on the website all the time to ensure it is permanently available and they react quickly whenever something is wrong.
The Software Team develops new software for various tasks within the WCA whenever needed. Thus, they created an app simplifying translating the website, to engage more people translating into their language. On 21 August 2012 the WCA Workbook assistant has released, [30] which is used by all delegates to submit the competition results to the WCA Results Team. The Software Team also updates the official WCA Scrambler, TNoodle, which is currently on version 1.2.2 as of February 27, 2024, according to data provided by the WCA Regulations Committee if changes are needed. Additionally, they maintain and develop administrative tools for various Delegates, Committees, and board members on the WCA website.
The WCA Archive Team (WAT) is an Advisory Committee of the WCA. This team has the role to oversee and support the development of an archive of the organization.
As of 2024 [31]
Team, Committee or Council | Leader | Senior members | Other members |
---|---|---|---|
Appeals Committee | Stone Amsbaugh (United States) | Arthur Garcin (France), Chris Wright (United Kingdom), Ekaterina Kaneva (Russia), Georel Ulangkaya (Philippines), Oliver Wheat (United Kingdom), Sebastiano Tronto (Italy) | |
Archive Team | William Gan Wei Ren (Malaysia) | Anton Piau (France), Braden Richards (United States), Hippolyte Moreau (France), John Edison Ubaldo (Philippines), Louis Meunier (United States), Sherry Tao (United States), Stanislaw Ulbrych (Republic of Ireland) | |
Communication Team | Zain Ali Behzaad (India) | Chenxi Chan (China), Ryan Simpson (United Kingdom), Tianyu Zhao (China) | Alejandro Restrepo Echeverri (Colombia), Baha Alshwaiki (Jordan), Carter Thomas (United States), Hayden Ng (Australia), Juan M. Gerardo (United States), Marcus Laurantzon (Sweden), Ram Thakkar (India), Sherry Tao (United States), Thu Phuong Ngo (Canada), Trishan Gupta (India), Ziyi Chen (China) |
Competition Announcement Team | Zeke Mackay (United States) | Daniel Vædele Egdal (Denmark), Lars Johan Folde (Denmark), Roman Wofford (United States), Shain Papalotl Longbehn (United States), Wilson Alvis (Indonesia) | Chris Martin (United States), Joyce Peh (Malaysia), Modest Podzolkin (Ukraine), Nevins Chan Pak Hoong (Malaysia), Ng Kang Zhe (Singapore), Peter Preston (United States), Sofía Guerrero Neto (Spain) |
Executive Assistants Team | Lisa Kucala (United States), Peri Le Dain (Australia), Vicki Otsu (Australia) | ||
Financial Committee | Raymond Goslow (United States) | Edward Hollingdale (Australia) | Dana Londot (United States), Daniel M. James (India), James Chan Weng Yan (Singapore), Nantenaina Ralambomahay (Madagascar), Yinte Dik (Netherlands) |
Integrity Committee | Shain Papalotl Longbehn (United States) | Carter Kucala (United States), Franklin Pham (United States), Josete Sánchez (Spain), Maria Beausang (Republic of Ireland), Matteo Dummar (Italy), Nicholas McKee (Canada), | Abdullah Gulab (Pakistan), Amir Hossein Nafisi (Iran) Cade Beck (United States), Cass Hopkins (Australia), Ekaterina Kaneva (Russia), Glenn Koster Jr. (United States), Glib Vedmid (Ukraine), Ignacio Naval (Argentina), Jonas Balsfulland (Germany), Joshua Christian Marais (South Africa), Lars Johan Folde (Norway), Mihnea Andrei Panţu (Romania), Nate Minkevich (United States), Rich Casey (United Kingdom), Saeed Mostafavi Layegh (Iran), Swami Srinivasan (Australia) |
Marketing Team | Saransh Grover (India) | Aidan Blackett (United Kingdom), Hariprasad CM (India), Hayden Ng (Australia), Katie Hinkley (United States), Victoria Opperman | |
Quality Assurance Committee | Deni Mintsaev (Russia) | Daniel Vædele Egdal (Denmark), Dan Smith (United States), Gennaro Monetti (Uruguay), João Vinícius de A. Santos (Brazil) | Albert Garriga Gea (Spain), Calvin Nielson (United States), Jode Brewster (Australia) |
Regulations Committee | Carter Kucala (United States) | Antonio Kam (Hong Kong, China), Ekaterina Kaneva (Russia), Gennaro Monetti (Uruguay), | Agus Wals (Spain), Akshaansh Chilakapati (India), Anas Jethva (India), Andrew Tyberg (United States), Celine Tran (Norway), Han Wu (Chinese Taipei), Ishaan Lal (United States), Jonas Balsfulland (Germany), Kyle Kayden Hayles (United Kingdom), Nguyễn Hải Dương (Vietnam), Oliver Hexter (United Kingdom), Oliver Wheat (United Kingdom), Patrick Ponce (United States), Rubén López de Juan (Spain), Ryan Durette (United States) |
Results Team | Callum James Goodyear (United Kingdom) | Daniel M. James (India), Jacob Ambrose (United States), Oliver Hexter (United Kingdom), Sébastien Auroux (Germany) | Brandon Reichman (United States), Eleanor Sinnott (United Kingdom), Ivan Ros Godia (Spain), James Holdsworth (Australia), Modest Podzolkin (Ukraine), Philippe Virouleau (France), Sam Spendla (United Kingdom), Simon Kellum (United States), Sukesh Kumar (India) |
Software Team | Gregor Billing (Germany) | Alexandre Henrique Afonso Campos (Brazil), Duncan Hobbs (South Africa), Finn Ickler (Germany), Jonatan Kłosko (Poland) | Cailyn Hoover (United States), Daniel M. James (India), Joseph Coppin (United Kingdom), Kevin Matthews (Canada), Meenakshi D. Nair (India), Richard Jiankun Peng (India), Simon Kelly (Republic of Ireland) |
Sports Organization Team | Ethan Pride (Australia) | Chris Mills (New Zealand), Sam Spendla (United Kingdom), Sean Moran (United Kingdom), Soma Török (Hungary) |
WCA Delegates are members of the WCA who are responsible for making sure that all WCA competitions are run according to the mission, regulations, and spirit of the WCA. This means that a WCA Delegate needs to be present at every competition for it to be considered official. The WCA has four different types of delegates: WCA Senior Delegates, WCA Delegates, WCA Junior Delegates, and WCA Trainee Delegates. Beyond the duties of a WCA Delegate, a WCA Senior Delegate is responsible for managing the delegates in their area and should also be contacted by the community for regional matters. They are available to mentor the delegates in their area – especially when new communities are being developed. New delegates are listed as WCA Trainee Delegates at first and need to show their ability to manage competitions successfully before being listed as a WCA Junior Delegate. WCA Trainee Delegates will delegate their first competitions alongside more experienced delegates to get the hang of all responsibilities connected to delegate a WCA competition. WCA Junior Delegates can be promoted to a WCA Delegate after at least 1 year of successful work as a WCA Junior Delegate.
All acknowledged WCA Delegates, Junior Delegates and Senior Delegates can be found on their official Website. [32]
In 1999, the first modern age speedcubers found each other on the Internet via Rubik's Games, a computer game with an electronic version of the Rubik's Cube. Chris Hardwick from Raleigh, NC founded the Yahoo! Group "Speedsolvingrubikscube" and the Unofficial World Records, a place where cubers could post their personal best times. Ron van Bruchem started speedcubing.com together with his friend Ton Dennenbroek, an avid puzzle collector.
Because the cubers were living all over the world, they wanted to organize a competition at which they could all meet. In 2003, under the guidance of Dan Gosbee, they organized the Rubik's Cube World Championship in Toronto. This first modern-age Rubik's Cube competition was a huge success, but there were many issues, largely due to the lack of any regulations. After the World Championship, van Bruchem and Tyson Mao started organizing competitions in the Netherlands and Germany, as well as at Caltech in the United States. In 2004, they started the World Cube Association, which today has held competitions in more than 100 countries.
After the founding of the WCA, most competitions in the United States happened in prestigious colleges, though many happened in smaller high schools, middle schools, hotels, malls, amusement parks and other venues internationally. Some of the first official events included most current ones (see Events). However, 6x6, 7x7, and Skewb weren't events when the organization was founded, whereas Magic, Master Magic, and 3x3 with Feet were but are no longer events. [33]
Currently, the WCA offers competitions in 17 events. Not all of them are offered at every competition, but they are usually all offered at national, continental, and global championships. The events are: [34]
Additionally, some events have had their official WCA event status removed. They are: [33] [35]
Some events also have held unofficial status at WCA events and no records were ever kept of them. [36]
The following are the current official speedcubing world records approved by the WCA. [37]
Note: For averages of 5 solves, the best time and the worst time are dropped, and the mean of the remaining 3 solves is taken. For events where only 3 solves are done, the mean of all 3 is taken.
Event | Type | Result | Person | Competition (Date(s)) | Result details |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
3x3x3 Cube | Single | 3.13 | Max Park | Pride in Long Beach 2023 (11 June) | — |
Average | 4.05 | Yiheng Wang (王艺衡) | Zhengzhou Open 2024 (8 December) | (3.84) / (4.25) / 4.14 / 4.13 / 3.87 | |
2x2x2 Cube | Single | 0.43 | Teodor Zajder | Warsaw Cube Masters 2023 (5 November) | — |
Average | 0.92 | Yiheng Wang (王艺衡) | Johor Cube Open 2024 (22 June) | (0.81) / (1.81) / 0.82 / 0.97 / 0.97 | |
Zayn Khanani | New-Cumberland County 2024 | 0.84 / (2.69) / (0.71) / 1.04 / 0.88 | |||
4x4x4 Cube | Single | 15.71 | Max Park | Colorado Mountain Tour - Evergreen 2024 (8 June) | — |
Average | 19.38 | Max Park | Arizona Speedcubing Spring 2023 (19 March) | (17.60) / 18.49 / 19.37 / (23.80) / 20.28 | |
5x5x5 Cube | Single | 30.45 | Tymon Kolasinski | Rubik's WCA Asian Championship 2024 (1-4 November | — |
Average | 34.76 | Max Park | Rubik’s WCA North American Championship 2024 (18-21 July) | (39.71) / 35.10 / 33.55 / 35.44 / (33.75) | |
6x6x6 Cube | Single | 58.03 | Max Park | CubingUSA Western Championship 2024 (2-4 August) | — |
Average | 1:05.66 | Max Park | CubingUSA Western Championship 2024 (2-4 August) | 1:09.34 / 1:09.61 / 58.03 | |
7x7x7 Cube | Single | 1:34.15 | Max Park | Rubik’s WCA North American Championship 2024 (18-21 July) | — |
Average | 1:39.68 | Max Park | Nub Open Yucaipa 2024 (20 April) | 1:36.19 / 1:38.19 / 1:44.65 | |
3x3x3 Blindfolded | Single | 12.00 | Tommy Cherry | Triton Tricubealon 2024 (11 February) | — |
Mean | 14.05 | Tommy Cherry | Rubik's WCA European Championship 2024 (25-28 July) | 13.48 / 14.42 / 14.24 | |
3x3x3 Fewest Moves | Single | 16 | Sebastiano Tronto | FMC 2019 (15–16 June) | — |
Aedan Bryant | Ashfield Summer Challenge 2024 (23 June) | ||||
Levi Gibson | |||||
Jacob Sherwen Brown | Rubik's UK Championship FMC 2024 (26 October) | ||||
Mean | 20.00 | Wong Chong Wen | FMC Johor Bahru 2023 (17 September) | 20 / 21 / 19 | |
FMC West Melbourne 2024 (14 April) | 23 / 18 / 19 | ||||
Radomił Baran | FMC Europe 2024 (23 November) | 21 / 20 / 19 | |||
3x3x3 One-Handed | Single | 5.66 | Dhruva Sai Meruva | Swiss Nationals 2024 (4-6 October) | — |
Average | 8.09 | Sean Patrick Villanueva | Quezon City Open II 2024 (25-26 May) | 8.94 / (9.38) / 7.71 / (6.60) / 7.63 | |
Clock | Single | 1.97 | Brendyn Dunagan | La La Land 2024 (31 August-1 September) | — |
Average | 2.39 | Volodymyr Kapustianskyi | Grand Forks 2024 (14 September) | (2.96) / 2.46 / (2.24) / 2.29 / 2.43 | |
Megaminx | Single | 23.18 | Leandro Martín López | Di Tella Inspira 2024 (13 April) | — |
Average | 26.84 | Leandro Martín López | Nacionales Argentinas 2023 (1-3 September) | (25.22) / 26.31 / 26.55 / 27.67 / (28.15) | |
Pyraminx | Single | 0.73 | Simon Kellum | Middleton Meetup Thursday 2023 (21 December) | — |
Average | 1.15 | Sebastian Lee | Maitland Spring 2024 (23 November) | 1.15 / (1.53) / 1.22 / (1.01) / 1.09 | |
Skewb | Single | 0.75 | Carter Kucala | Going Fast in Grandview 2024 (23 March) | — |
Average | 1.52 | Carter Kucala | CubingUSA Heartland Championship 2024 (7-9 June) | 1.65 / 1.45 / (2.57) / (1.37) / 1.45 | |
Square-1 | Single | 3.41 | Ryan Pilat | Wichita Family ArtVenture 2024 (2 March) | — |
Average | 4.81 | Dylan Baumbach | Cube More in Ardmore 2024 (21 September) | (4.19) / 4.40 / 5.13 / 4.89 / (DNF) | |
4x4x4 Blindfolded | Single | 51.96 | Stanley Chapel | 4BLD in a Madison Hall 2023 (28-29 January) | — |
Average | 1:06.46 | Stanley Chapel | PBQ and a Little Eggstra Oxford 2024 (30-31 March) | 1:01.14 / 1:04.03 / 1:14.20 | |
5x5x5 Blindfolded | Single | 2:04.41 | Stanley Chapel | Virginia Championship 2023 (10-12 November) | — |
Average | 2:27.63 | Stanley Chapel | Michigan Cubing Club Epsilon 2019 (14 December) | 2:32.48 / 2:28.80 / 2:21.62 | |
3x3x3 Multi-Blind | Single | 62/65 57:47 | Graham Siggins | Blind Is Back LA 2022 (26 June) | — |
Every two years starting from 2003, the WCA holds the Rubik's Cube World Championships. The Championship ultimately determines the world champion of the puzzle. Every official event is held at the Championship. The Rubik's Cube World Championship requires extremely careful planning by several volunteers, as well as a large financial commitment to reserve the venue and make necessary preparations. [2] The latest championship was held in Incheon, South Korea from 12 to 15 August 2023. The next Championship is scheduled to be held in Seattle, United States in 2025. The 2021 World Championship was to be held in Almere, Amsterdam from 28 to 31 December 2021, already delayed [38] from its initial July dates due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before being ultimately cancelled by the association in August 2021. [39]
Championship | Year | Host | Date(s) | Nations | Puzzles | Events | 3x3 Winner | Average | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
I | 1982 | Budapest | 5 June | 19 | 1 | 1 | Minh Thai | 22.95 [note 1] | [40] |
II | 2003 | Toronto | 23–24 August | 15 | 9 | 14 | Dan Knights | 20.00 | [41] |
III | 2005 | Lake Buena Vista | 5–6 November | 16 | 9 | 15 | Jean Pons | 15.10 | [42] |
IV | 2007 | Budapest | 5–7 October | 28 | 10 | 17 | Yu Nakajima | 12.46 | [43] |
V | 2009 | Düsseldorf | 9–11 October | 32 | 12 | 19 | Breandan Vallance | 10.74 | [44] |
VI | 2011 | Bangkok | 14–16 October | 35 | 12 | 19 | Michał Pleskowicz | 8.65 | [45] |
VII | 2013 | Las Vegas | 26–28 July | 35 | 10 | 17 | Feliks Zemdegs | 8.18 | [46] |
VIII | 2015 | São Paulo | 17–19 July | 37 | 11 | 18 | Feliks Zemdegs | 7.56 | [47] |
IX | 2017 | Paris | 13–16 July | 64 | 11 | 18 | Max Park | 6.85 | [48] |
X | 2019 | Melbourne | 11–14 July | 52 | 11 | 18 | Philipp Weyer | 6.74 | [49] |
XI | 2021 | Almere | Cancelled | - | 11 | 17 | - | - | [50] |
XII | 2023 | Incheon | 12–15 August | 57 | 11 | 17 | Max Park | 5.31 | [51] |
XIII | 2025 | Seattle | 3–6 July | - | - | - | - | - | [52] |
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 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, which are 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 mind sport centered around the rapid solving of various combination puzzles. The most prominent puzzle in this category is the 3×3×3 puzzle, commonly known as the Rubik's Cube. Participants in this sport are called "speedcubers", who focus specifically on solving these puzzles at high speeds to get low clock times. The essential aspect of solving these puzzles typically involves executing a series of predefined algorithms in a particular sequence with eidetic prediction and finger tricks.
Shotaro Makisumi is best known for setting several world records for speedcubing, or quickly solving the Rubik's Cube.
Bob Burton is an American speedcuber, most famous for competing in and organizing competitions all over the world and his former world records on the Rubik's Magic and Rubik's Master Magic.
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.
Cubing may refer to:
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.
Rowe Hessler is a two-time former speedcubing U.S. Champion, runner-up World Champion in 2011, and runner-up North American Champion in 2024. He held the North American record for the average of 5 Rubik's Cube solves almost continuously from 2009 to 2014, during which time the record dropped from 11.11 seconds to 8.27 seconds. As of August 2024, his 3x3x3 Multi-Blind personal record of 61/66 cubes in 58:29 ranks him 2nd in the world. Hessler is also known for his past expertise in the 2x2x2 event, having set the former world record in 2009 with an average time of 2.45 seconds. In October 2009, he was crowned World Champion in the 2x2x2 event. Rowe is also an expert in other blindfolded events, being ranked 31st for 3x3x3 Blindfolded, 26th for 4x4x4 Blindfolded, and 22nd for 5x5x5 Blindfolded, all as of August 2024.
Feliks Aleksanders Zemdegs is an Australian Rubik's Cube speedsolver. He is one of 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.
Mats Valk is a Dutch Rubik's Cube speedsolver. He broke the Rubik's cube single solve world record twice with times of 5.55 seconds in 2013 and 4.74 seconds in 2016. He won the Rubik's Cube European Championship in 2018 and was runner-up for 3x3x3 at the Rubik's Cube World Championships in 2013 and 2015.
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.
Kevin Hays is an American Rubik's Cube speedcuber. Recognized as an expert at solving big cubes, he has won 6 world championship titles and set 21 world records across the three events. He has also set 47 North American records and won 21 US National titles.
Max Park is an American Rubik's Cube speedsolver. Widely regarded as one of the greatest speedcubers of all time, Park is one of only two speedcubers ever to win the World Cube Association World Championship twice, winning in 2017 and 2023. He currently holds the world record for the fastest 3×3×3 single solve, set in June of 2023 at 3.134 seconds, in addition to the world records for the 4×4×4, 6×6×6, and 7×7×7 solves, as well as the 5×5×5 mean record.
Sean Patrick Villanueva is a Filipino speedcuber who is the reigning World Cube Association 3×3×3 one-handed world champion who won the title in Incheon, South Korea in August 2023 with an average time of 9.42 seconds. He previously held the Asian Record for 3x3x3 one-handed average at 8.64 seconds, which he set at Santa Cruz Speedcubing 2024 in Santa Cruz, Laguna on January 28, 2024. He currently holds the 3x3x3 one-handed world record average with a time of 8.09 seconds, set on May 26, 2024 at Quezon City Open II 2024 in Quezon City, Philippines.
Yiheng Wang is a Chinese competitive speedcuber. He currently holds the Rubik's Cube world record average of 4.05 seconds and third fastest 3×3×3 single of 3.27 seconds.