Records for solving a Rubik's cube. Speedcubers and world records. The best in the business

Felix Zemdegs set the world record for solving a 3x3x3 Rubik's cube with two hands in one attempt by a person

People have long lost hope of competing with robots in the speed of solving a Rubik's cube. Thus, the absolute record among robots is 0.38 seconds, and robotic designers also boasted that they deliberately paused between movements to reduce the risk of breaking the cube.

Against this background, people’s achievements look faded, but no one is thinking of canceling the championships. After all, there are championships in checkers, chess, go, poker and other games where the computer has surpassed humans. People compete with each other and demonstrate the amazing abilities of the human mind. Although not as fast as a computer program, the homo sapiens brain is also capable of calculating options and making decisions at tremendous speed.

Another proof of this is a new record for solving a 3x3x3 Rubik's cube. The world record now stands at 4.221 seconds - and it again belongs to a 22-year-old Australian named Feliks Zemdegs, who has set records before and was also a multiple world champion.

A month later, the guy was already able to solve the puzzle in half a minute. Less than two years later, the boy won the Melbourne Cube Day 2010 championship with a world record.

In an interview Huffington Post after winning the second world championship in solving the Rubik's Cube, he said that this trick is available to everyone, it only requires practice and patience. Almost all participants in such championships learned how to solve a Rubik's cube using manuals from the Internet or on YouTube: “It just takes a little practice and patience. But once you understand the solution, everything becomes very formulaic. You understand that for the first stage you need to make these movements, then move on to the next stage and solve this part. This is kind of a beginner's method. And then, as you learn more and practice, you start to put it together more intuitively.”

“I'm always very impressed by people who have figured out a solution themselves, and I think it's incredibly difficult,” says the record holder. “I couldn’t even imagine this - it’s one of the most impressive things.”

According to the table of records, this is already the eighth record of Felix Zemdegs. He installed the very first one in 2010 (7.03 seconds). Then, over the course of two years, he improved his own achievement five times, and then the palm passed to another athlete. Finally, Felix regained his record in 2016 (4.73 seconds), then lost again, and now he has again improved the world record by 37 hundredths of a second.

Felix has one piece of advice for those who want to find a way to solve a Rubik's Cube on their own. He recommends imagining 54 colored cube squares not stickers, but fragments.

The champion also refuses to admit that he is more gifted than other competitors. He doesn’t agree that he has any talent: “Literally anyone can learn this. Obviously, to achieve a high score you need some pattern recognition abilities, spatial reasoning, and finger dexterity. I'm not sure it necessarily correlates with general intelligence, but it definitely requires spatial reasoning. And to achieve high speed, it really just takes a lot of practice and determination.”

By the way, Felix holds several other current world records in other disciplines: the record for the average of five attempts, excluding the slowest and fastest (5.99, 5.28, 5.25, 6.13 and 9.19, average 5. 80 s), as well as the world record for assembly with one hand (6.88 s, set in 2015, at

Ben Katz/YouTube

Robotics expert Ben Katz and software developer Jared Di Carlo have created a robot that can solve a Rubik's cube in 0.38 seconds. This is a record time, says Di Carlo in his blog, although at the moment it is not officially confirmed.

The Rubik's Cube was invented back in 1974, but the puzzle is still very popular. People who are interested in solving Rubik's cubes at high speed are called speedcubers, and the process itself is called speedcubing. Today's record belongs to the American Lucas Etter, who in November 2015 collected puzzle in 4.904 seconds. Similar competitions are also held among robots: until now, the robot of engineers from the company Infeon was considered the unofficial “champion”. In 2016, he solved a Rubik's cube in 0.637 seconds. However, now Katz and Di Carlo have developed a robot that improved the previous record holder's result by 40 percent.

Like all such devices, the researchers' robot uses a camera (in this case a PlayStation Eye) that transmits images of the sides of a Rubik's cube to a computer. It determines the arrangement of the puzzle pieces and then passes the data to the min2phase program, which is based on Herbert Kotzemba's two-phase algorithm. In a fraction of a second, the computer calculates the optimal solution to the problem, after which it sends a command to the robot, and it moves all the elements in the required way.

To speed up the process, Katz used Kollmorgen ServoDisk motors, which have a very high torque-to-inertia ratio. In addition, the engineer built a special controller that allows you to rotate the side of a Rubik's cube 90 degrees in just 10 milliseconds. Provided that the puzzle can be completed in, on average, 19-23 moves, Katz and Di Carlo's robot should solve the problem in 0.25 seconds. However, in reality the process takes 0.38 seconds, since the machine currently makes one movement every 15 milliseconds.

The developers are confident that in the future they will be able to improve their results. Currently, the setup process is time-consuming because debugging must be done using a high-speed camera, and errors sometimes lead to the puzzle breaking or the field-effect transistors exploding. However, a hundred different solutions required only 4 Rubik's cubes. The video below shows one of the unsuccessful attempts to assemble the puzzle:

Recently, programmer Martin Spanel developed software that allows you to solve a Rubik's cube using augmented reality glasses. In real time, it displays the desired action using an AR headset directly on top of one of the faces of the cube.

Kristina Ulasovich

At the Australian Cup, which was held at the University of Melbourne, 14-year-old Australian Feliks Zemdegs managed to complete the Rubik's Cube in just 6.77 seconds. Thanks to this achievement, the Australian teenager was included in the Guinness Book of Records.

The previous world record for the speed of solving a Rubik's cube was set by Dutchman Erik Akkersdijk in 2008.

But the most amazing thing is that on the same day when the Australian Feliks Zemdegs set a new world record, the same competition took place in the state of Massachusetts as in the University of Melbourne. And at the competition in Massachusetts, 19-year-old competitor Rowe Hessler also broke the Dutch world record! But he was just 0.17 seconds short of overtaking the 14-year-old Australian.
Rowe Hessler accepted his defeat with dignity and is convinced that the Australian teenager's record will stand for a very long time. Rowe Hessler considers it a shame for himself that he solved the Rubik's cube in 6.94 seconds, literally a couple of hours later than Feliks Zemdegs. The 19-year-old contestant also believes that the Australian has honestly earned the right to be a record holder and deserves to be the God of all Rubik's cubes, because he has tremendous speed and extraordinary reflexes.

The record holder's father is now very proud of his son. Only now did he understand why his son spent hours solving a Rubik's cube at home. His training was long and daily, but his efforts and perseverance were not in vain.

Here's a video of Felix solving a Rubik's cube:

Speedcubers, who are they? A speedcuber is a person who solves a Rubik's cube at speed. And in fact, anyone who times themselves while solving a Rubik's cube is a speedcuber. And even if his result is 40 minutes, this person is still a speedcuber.

However, any novice speedcuber is able to assemble this puzzle in less time. But what are real pros capable of in this matter? Do you know anything about them?

The first world record was set by 16-year-old Vietnamese-American student Minh Thai, who was able to solve the puzzle in 22.95 seconds. This happened at the world's first speedcubing championship - World Rubik's Cube Championship 1982. This is especially impressive considering that the record was not set on a modern speed cube with magnets, but on one of the first versions of the Rubik's cube, which had a very mediocre torsion.

After this there was a lull. Not because there were no tournaments, but because there was no organization that could organize the results of all participants.

In 2004, this place was taken by the WCA - World Cube Association. From that moment on, the results of all participants are saved in the database.

Since those distant times, records have been updated more than once. The rules and dice changed, new disciplines were added, and, of course, new record holders appeared.

The best in the business

One of the best speedcubers of this decade, the record holder among record holders is Felix Zemdegs. This young Australian has already set 117 world records and holds the current world record in the 3x3x3 cube - 4.22 seconds for a single attempt and 5.8 seconds for the average of five solves, in 4x4 and 5x5 cubes, in solving a Rubik's cube with one hand.

His results are impressive, although he started out like all speedcubers. In 2008, when he was 12 years old, he became interested in speedcubing and began training. By January 2010, he was the first in the world to solve a Rubik's cube in less than 10 seconds. Since then he has won everything and won competitions. And at the age of 17, at the World Championships, Felix proved that he was the best speedcuber in the world.

It may seem that Felix Zemdegs does not meet competition at tournaments, but this is by no means the case. It has many competitors from different countries.

One of its main competitors is Max Park. The American athlete already holds 12 world records. Of course, after Felix's results, this is not all that impressive, but if you dig deeper, each of them is amazing.

What is his record for the average time of five solving a Rubik's cube with one hand? He was the first in the world to do this in less than 10 seconds. He also holds records in solving 6x6 and 7x7 cubes, both in a single assembly and in the average time of five assemblies, as well as in the average time on a 4x4 cube.

And the next record holder is known not only for his records - Mats Falk (this is how his last name is read in Dutch). His name began to be mentioned many times more often after he signed a contract with QiYi MoFangGe, one of the world's main brands. Their flagship model was named after him, you all know everything about this cube - it is now one of the best.

Mats was able to set 5 world records. But the most offensive situation happened to him at the Jawa Timur Open 2016. It was there that he set a world record of 4.74 seconds, but not for long. A little later, at the same competition, Felix Zemdegs cleared 4.73 and broke Mats' record.

And Max Park took all the records from Kevin Hayes, not only world ones, but also national ones, because they are both from the USA. But still, Kevin was the first person in the world who was able to solve a 7x7 cube in less than 2 minutes, and he was already able to set 20 world records.

Moreover, the Yuxin company cooperates with the American. They want to name a 7x7 cube after him, and maybe even a whole series of large cubes. And since Yuxin knows how to make quick and high-quality puzzles, the series will undoubtedly turn out great.

It may seem that all the best speedcubers are abroad, but this is not the case. There are many worthy speedcubers in our country.

For example, Dmitry Dobryakov. It is he who holds the Russian record for solving a Rubik's cube both in a single attempt and in average time. And it is he who will represent Russia at the Red Bull Rubik's Cube World Championship in Boston.

And in due time the whole world learned the name of Vladislav Shavelsky, who set two world records in such a discipline as solving a 7x7x7 cube. He also set 13 European records and 27 Russian records in disciplines from 4x4x4 to 7x7x7. He still holds the Russian records for assembling 5x5x5 and 7x7x7 cubes.

Or Roman Strakhov, who has repeatedly set world and European records for solving a 5x5x5 Rubik's cube blindly. He is now ranked third in the world in this discipline.

Russian speedcubing also knows the name of Dmitry Kryuzban, who set 60 Russian records and even a European record.

Every year we discover new names and faces that bring Russian speedcubing to the world level. Some of them are close to national records or have already achieved them: Alexey Zharikov, Artem Ganzha, Andrey Che and many others.

How to reach a professional level in speedcubing?

But how to achieve such results? Is it even possible to catch up with such speedcubing mastodons? And how to do this?

Of course, such results are achieved after many years of training. But everyone has different abilities and approaches to training, so there is no universal method.

There are so many different assembly methods: the Jessica Friedrich method, the Roux method, the ZZ method and many others. Try different formulas, training methods and you will find the one that suits you.

And no matter how many formulas you know, don’t stop. Each new formula improves your skills.

But no matter what method you use, you definitely need to study the Look ahead technique, literally “look ahead.” The point is to think through all your moves in advance.

To train it, you need to use a type of training called slow turn, that is, specifically collect the cube slowly and see all the movements of the elements.

For the first time, the popular mechanical puzzle called the Rubik's Cube (very often mistakenly called the Rubik's cube) became known in 1974, when the Hungarian sculptor Erne Rubik presented his creation to the world. In the original (classic) version, the puzzle consisted of three rows of multi-colored cubes, consisting of 24 elements with 54 color faces. For this reason the puzzle was called 3x3x3. All parts are made of plastic and can rotate around their axis.

Each visible side of such a cube consists of 9 faces of the same color, which in their initial state are chaotic. In the future, he needs to rotate the cube around the axes until all the colors on one side come together. The game is over when all 6 sides of the cube are composed of elements of the same color.

It is worth noting that today the Rubik's Cube is considered one of the most popular toys. Over the entire period since its creation, over 350 million of these products have been sold worldwide.

It is important to note that later the Rubik's Cube received some improvements and variations. Today modifications are known from 2x2x2 (when you need to add only 2 faces on each side) to 17x17x17 (this is more of a computer puzzle). Toys in the form of trapezoids, pyramids, gigaminxes and other varieties are also produced. But the classic 3x3x3 version remains the most popular.

World records for Rubik's Cube 3x3x3

It is not surprising that the appearance of this puzzle and a huge number of such toys in the hands of teenagers provoked an unprecedented excitement and gave impetus to competitions between them. Initially (at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries), such competitions had a relatively formal format. But with the advent of the global network, when it became possible to actually record your results live and share them with other cubers, work with this puzzle has accelerated significantly. Even informally, a time limit was set for a real super champion - namely, he must solve the classic version of the Rubik's Cube in a time interval not exceeding 10 seconds.

This milestone was first surpassed in May 2007 by the Frenchman Thibaut Jacqulineau. During assembly, he managed to complete the task in a record time - it took only 9.86 seconds for all the edges of the puzzle to be painted the same colors. It is important to note that this record did not last long. He was beaten twice in 2007 and 2008, and later almost sensational moments began to arise in cubing. Thus, already in July 2008, Erik Akkersdijk established the phenomenal speed of assembling the magic cube in the classic version at that time - it took the cuber only 7.08 seconds to complete the full assembly cycle. What an unprecedented result at that time. True, this record did not last long. They managed to surpass it already in 2010 with a new result of 6.77 seconds. And this is not the limit either.

Of course, 3x3x3 is the most commonly used puzzle variant in competitions, but other variants are also beginning to gradually develop today. Already today, records are officially being recorded in the categories of high-speed puzzle assembly with parameters 2x2x2, 4x4x4, puzzles 5x5x5, as well as 6x6x6, and with them 7x7x7 are gaining momentum. At the same time, computer development does not stand aside, when the assembly of puzzles is entrusted to “artificial” intelligence.

To understand what stage the competitive process is at today, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with several officially recorded records to date.

Rubik's Cube records 2x2x2

• In January 2014, the unsurpassed Australian cuber Felix Zembegs was able to please his fans with another unprecedented result in the speed of solving the Rubik's Cube - he managed to correctly set the colors on all its sides in just 0.88 seconds.
• Another quite impressive record for the speed of solving a Rubik's Cube with 2x2x2 parameters at the world championship in September 2015 was set by Lukas Etter, which took place in Nashville. It took him only 1.51 seconds to do this.
• In 2016, a new world record for solving a 2x2x2 Rubik's Cube was achieved by Pole Maciej Czapiewski, who needed only 0.49 seconds to align all the faces!

Rubik's Cube records 4x4x4

• In 2014, the fastest time to solve a 4x4x4 Rubik's Cube was recorded by German cuber Sebastian Weyer, who took just 21.97 seconds, a record at that time.
• Later, already in 2015, 19-year-old Australian Felix Zembegs, at a competition held in China, managed to solve a 4x4x4 Rubik's Cube in just 4.9 seconds.