Speedcubing

Speedcubing (also known as speedsolving) is the activity of solving a variety of twisty puzzles, the most famous being the Rubik's Cube, as quickly as possible. For most puzzles, solving entails performing a series of moves that alters a scrambled puzzle into a state in which every face of the puzzle is a single, solid color. Some puzzles have different requirements to be considered solved, such as the Clock, for which all the dials must be moved into the 12 'o clock position.

Most cubes are sold commercially in variations of 2×2×2, 3×3×3, 4×4×4, 5×5×5, 6×6×6, and 7×7×7, although variations of the puzzle have been designed with as many as 22 layers, although not mass produced for the public. The current record for a single solve is held by Feliks Zemdegs, who presented a 4.73 second solve at the POPS Open 2016 in December 2016. Feliks Zemdegs also holds the world record for the average of five solves at 6.45 seconds, which he set in July 2016 at the WLS Lato 2016 competition.

Speedcubing is a popular activity among the international Rubik's Cube community, or cubers. Members come together to hold competitions, work to develop new solving methods, and seek to perfect their technique. As a part of the community, puzzle builders and modders try to invent new forms of combination puzzles.

The Rubik's Cube was invented in 1974 by Hungarian professor of architecture, Ernő Rubik. A widespread international interest in the cube began in 1980, which soon developed into a global craze. On June 5, 1982, the first world championship was held in Budapest, Hungary. 19 people competed in the event and the American Minh Thai won with a single solve time of 22.95 seconds. Other notable attendees include Jessica Fridrich and Lars Petrus, two people who would later be influential in the development of solving methods and the speedcubing community. The height of the Rubik's Cube craze began to fade away after 1983, but with the advent of the Internet, sites relating to speedcubing began to surface. Simultaneously spreading effective speedsolving methods and teaching people new to the cube to solve it for the first time, these sites brought in a new generation of cubers, created a growing international online community, and raised the profile of the art. People prominent in this online community, such as Ron Van Bruchem, Tyson Mao, Chris Hardwick, and Ton Dennenbroek, eventually wanted to meet in person and compete, so twenty years after the first world championship they orchestrated a second one in Toronto in 2003, and another smaller competition in the Netherlands later that same year. This revival of competition sparked a new wave of organized speedcubing events, which include regular national and international competitions. There were twelve competitions in 2004, 58 more from 2005 to 2006, over 100 in 2008, and over 450 in 2014, with more happening every year. There have been seven more World Championships since Budapest's 1982 competition, which are traditionally held every other year, with the most recent in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2015. This new wave of speedcubing competitions have been and still are organised by the World Cube Association (WCA), founded by Ron van Bruchem.

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