Personal Cubing Records

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Last updated: 1/9/10

* (min:sec.centisec), PB = personal best, SD = standard deviation, (x) = slowest/fastest time of an average, dropped, LL = last layer

Yellow highlight = New!

Puzzle	Name	Category	Result*	Comments/Details	Set on:
	Pyramorphix	Single Solve	15.55	This puzzle shatters very easily. People who play with it break it 95% of the time. I have probably reassembled this puzzle over 500 times. I can do so in less than a minute.	13-Oct-05
	Pyramorphix	Average	26.96	20.70, 25.53, 31.07, 33.97, 38.66, 22.92, 30.96, (18.65), 21.63, (46.90), 24.01+, 20.17 + = 2 second penalty for misaligned face. Though there is no clear-cut definition for a Pyramorphix as to what one turn away is, the Pyramorphix was closer to being one turn away than to being solved, so I gave myself a penalty.	31-Dec-05
	2x2x2	Single Solve (super lucky)	0.60	After applying the computer-generated scramble, the cube was one turn away from solved. Can't wait to get a scramble that yields a solved cube ;-).	-
	2x2x2	Single Solve (lucky)	1.64	Scramble: R' D F' R2 U2 R2 B' L' B' R' B' L U2 R' D' Solution: y U2 L U2	1-Jan-06
	2x2x2	Average	5.66	5.94, 3.75, 5.68, 6.64, (11.22), 4.43, 3.75, 6.55, 6.36, 8.54, (3.73), 4.98 rolling average	25-May-08
	2x2x2	Blindfolded Solve	44.84	Scramble: U2 B' D' L2 D2 F R D L' U2 F2 D' B D2 F D' L2 U2 F2 R2 U B D R' B2	20-Sep-07
	2x2x2	Fastest Assembly	5:31.77	Done with a Rubik's 2x2x2 (which I lost), not with an Eastsheen as shown in picture	5-Sep-05
	3x3x3	Single Solve (lucky)	9.61	This is my first and only sub-10 solve. I recorded this time on a StackMat timer when doing practice solves at the Da Vinci Science Center 2008 competition. Had a OLL skip and a J permutation.	14-Jun-08
	3x3x3	Single Solve (non-lucky)	10.86*	Scramble: B' F R B2 L R2 B2 F L' R2 F2 U2 L' R' B2 D' U' L' R2 F U R B' F2 U' had a G perm Not really a "new" record as far as the date achieved, but newly posted.	22-Oct-08
	3x3x3	Average	14.67	14.61, 14.07, (12.92), 15.05, 13.75, (18.40), 17.32, 15.69, 13.37, 14.20, 15.22, 13.43 (rolling average) For over 1.25 years, I could not break my 3x3x3 average record, and I finally broke it this summer with a 14.93 average in June, and then this average a month later.	23-Jul-08
	3x3x3	First Sub-30 Second Average	29.406	28.34, 32.29, 27.9, 32.51, 29.33, 30.43, (34.16), 26.58, 29.93, (25.75), 29.32, 27.46	11-Dec-04
	3x3x3	First Sub-20 Second Average	19.93	Perhaps the most euphoric moment of my speed cubing career.	27-Jun-05
	3x3x3	First Non-Rolling Sub-20 Second Average	19.40	18.28, 20.86, 19.05, 16.79, 19.52, 20.69, 19.31, (21.31), 21.18, (15.50), 18.46, 19.84 Achieved after conducting a record 4x4x4 average	9-Oct-05
	3x3x3	One-Handed (right) Solve	40.44	Scramble: L2 U B' F' U' B U' D F2 B' U' F' B2 L B' R2 F2 B R' B' L2 D' F' D B'	6-Jan-06
	3x3x3	One-Handed (right) Average	50.31	50.87, 51.09, 51.86, 49.60, 43.72, 48.06, (1:03.03), 58.54, 45.16, 49.64, 54.59, (40.44) Non-rolling.	6-Jan-06
	3x3x3	One-Handed (left) Solve (lucky)	24.22	3-turn step 1, 2 bad edges, Sune LL	-
	3x3x3	One-Handed (left) Average	31.47	33.31, 28.30, (25.16), 28.31, 34.07, 34.73, 32.46, (38.31), 27.74, 31.59, 30.87, 33.32 (non-rolling)	28-Jul-08
	3x3x3	Single Feet Solve	2:13.37	Scramble: D2 L' U' R2 B' U F2 D' R U' L B R' U2 R' U L2 B' U D2 F' L U L' U PLL skip	25-Dec-06
	3x3x3	Feet Average	3:31.68	4:01.87, 3:06.29, 4:05.59, (4:34.37), 3:06.46, 4:20.71, (2:13.37), 3:12.00, 3:18.28, 3:37.78, 3:00.15, 3:27.65 Non-rolling, first ever attempt	25-Dec-06
	3x3x3	Blindfolded Solve	1:48.67	Scramble: L' R' F' R' U B2 L' R2 U' B' F R2 D2 L' B2 F' L2 F L R D2 U' B F U' This is the scramble of the former 3x3x3 blindfolded WR of 1:15.60 set by Chris Krueger at the Canadian Open 2007.	25-May-07
	3x3x3	Most Successful Consecutive Blindfolded Solves	8	4:13.21, 6:44.30, 6:26.84, 5:33.84, 6:46.45, 9:54.35, 6:36.94, 5:49.38	1-Aug-05
	3x3x3	Most Consecutive Sub-20 Solves	57	Part of a 16.02 average of 100.	14-Jun-08
	3x3x3	Fastest Complete Stick (R,U × 105 = 210 turns)	25.56	About 8.216 turns/second	15-Jul-07
	3x3x3	Fastest Cubing Marathon (42 cubes)	19:15.27	About 27.5 per cube, scrambled by Ken Kawamoto (Thanks!) Could easily beat this now, just haven't gotten any opportunities to do this recently.	-
	3x3x3	Fastest 100 Cubes	47:35.46	About 28.55 per cube, scrambled by Ken Kawamoto (What would I do without you? Thank you so much!) I could easily beat this record now if I just had someone to scramble...	-
	3x3x3	Fastest Execution of All 21 PLL Algorithms in a Row	42.59	About 2.028 seconds/PLL. Executed in alphabetical order: A2, A1, E, F, G1, G2, G3, G4, H, J1, J2, N1, N2, R1, R2, T, U2, U1, V, Y, Z This is really fun and addicting! My goal is to break 42 seconds (<2sec/PLL). My next best attempt is 45.21 seconds - a huge difference!	28-Feb-08
	3x3x3	Fewest Moves Solve	37	This is fun to do. Anything under 50 is good for me.	29-Jun-05
	4x4x4	Single Solve	1:01.18	This summer, motivated by the Big Cubes Summer 2009 competition (which did not have any 3x3 events!), I actually practiced 4x4 for a little for like the first time ever in my cubing career. As a result, my 4x4 times dropped significantly, from 1:30ish to 1:15ish.	24-Jul-09
	4x4x4	Average	1:17.96	(1:04.58), 1:17.05, 1:13.55, 1:21.54, 1:29.48, 1:10.12, (1:34.35), 1:15.27, 1:20.68, 1:22.62, 1:14.19, 1:15.10 rolling average	24-Jul-09
	4x4x4	Blindfolded	22:10.07	I finally learned how to solve a 4x4 blindfolded this summer, motivated by the Big Cubes Summer 2009 competition. As of today (8/2/09), I have only solved a 4x4 blindfolded successfully 11 times in my life, including my one successful official solve.	23-Jul-09
	4x4x4	Fastest Assembly	4:01.93	Done on Valentine's Day! Right now, I have no sweetheart besides the cube.	14-Feb-08
	5x5x5	First Ever Solve	46:09.72	No assistance, no solution guide, no lubrication. I unpackaged the 5x5x5, scrambled it with an algorithm from JNetCube, and began solving it.	13-Nov-05
	5x5x5	Single Solve	1:42.25	Sune LL	1/8/10
	5x5x5	Average	2:47.76	2:01.77, 1:56.72, 2:01.05, 2:12.39, 1:57.98, 1:47.50, 1:57.29, (2:14.12), 1:57.48, 2:11.26, (1:43.99), 1:45.25 (rolling average)	1/9/10
	5x5x5	Fastest Assembly (Rubik's 5x5)	7:20.48	This is intense. And very fun. But the setup - arranging all the pieces in front of you - takes forever.	6-Jul-07
	Square-1	Single Solve	1:01.78	When this record was set, I used a total of three algorithms: an edge swap, the J perm (see Stefan Pochmann's video), and the parity fix.	16-May-09
	Square-1	Average	1:38.01	1:44.29, 1:42.29, 1:27.41, 2:04.05, 1:17.97, 1:55.67, 1:31.62, 2:05.95, 1:05.36, (1:01.78), 1:25.44, (2:10.37)	16-May-09

Yeah, I know I have a lot of strange categories for records. But it makes me feel really good whenever I can break a personal record, no matter how obscure the category ^_^.

My Official Cubing Records
These records were all set at an official, WCA- (World Cubing Association) recognized cubing competition. For more details, see my information in the WCA database here.
* (min:sec.centisec), no comments/details about which round means that there was only one round for that event

Category	Result*	Comments/Details	Competition	Date
2x2x2 Speedsolve	3.55	4th solve; former world record, currently North and South American record.	Trumbull Spring 2006	27-May-06
2x2x2 Speedsolve Average	6.59	7.30, (10.06), 6.04, (3.55), 6.44 Former North and South American record.	Trumbull Spring 2006	27-May-06
3x3x3 Speedsolve	11.19	first round, 4th solve	Rutgers Spring 2007	22-Apr-07
3x3x3 Speedsolve Average	14.60	14.51, 13.28, (12.84), 16.00, (16.52) second round	Rutgers Spring 2007	22-Apr-07
3x3x3 One-Handed Solve	26.21	3rd attempt	Princeton Open 2008	22-Mar-08
3x3x3 One-Handed Average	29.84*	28.41, (28.03), (31.69), 30.22, 30.90	Connecticut Summer 2009	1-Aug-09
3x3x3 Blindfolded Solve	2:17.39	2nd attempt	Princeton Open 2008	22-Mar-08
3x3x3 Multiple Blindfolded	2/2	Done in 13:58.	Princeton Open 2008	22-Mar-08
3x3x3 Fewest Moves	41	First and only participation in this event. I won this event at the competition.	Princeton Open 2008	22-Mar-08
4x4x4 Speedsolve	1:05.61	At Big Cubes Summer 2009 competition, I completely obliterated my 4x4 records - my new average record was faster than my old single solve record by over 5 seconds. The following weekend, at the Connecticut Summer 2009 competition, my average was crappy again (largely due to a DNF pop where a center piece snapped), but I broke my official single solve PR.	Connecticut Summer 2009	1-Aug-09
4x4x4 Speedsolve Average	1:12.57	(1:18.86), 1:12.80, (1:07.84), 1:11.94, 1:12.97 Many thanks to Dan Cohen for hosting the Big Cubes competition, which motivated me to practice big cubing, leading to a significant improvement of my 4x4 times.	Big Cubes Summer 2009	26-Jul-09
4x4x4 Blindfolded	27:49.00	Motivated by the Big Cubes competition, I started learning how to solve a 4x4 blindfolded about 3 weeks before this competition. After a few days of doing solves while looking at notes, I finally did a true blindfolded solve (no notes). I attempted 4x4 blindfolded at the Big Cubes competition, but devastatingly, two dedge pieces were swapped at the end. This wasn't an error in execution; I simply had not accounted for this 2-cycle during memorization, so it was untouched during execution. Because I had already taken 25 minutes, I wasn't allowed another attempt. Fortunately, the following weekend, there was another competition - the Connecticut Summer 2009. I emailed the organizer and he was kind enough to squeeze in 4x4 blindfolded, and finally, I got my first successful official 4x4 blindfolded solve of 27:49.00, the 29th person worldwide to officially do this. This success was my 11th successful 4x4 blindfolded solve in my life. A video of the last two minutes is available here.	Connecticut Summer 2009	1-Aug-09
5x5x5 Speedsolve	2:27.17	I have never beaten this time, not even in unofficial practice!	Rutgers Spring competition 2007	22-Apr-07
5x5x5 Speedsolve Average	3:01.17	3:08.17, 2:57.42, (3:09.05), (2:31.28), 2:57.93	Captain's Cove competition 2007	26-May-07
6x6x6 Speedsolve	6:25.55	Heh, didn't have a 6x6 at the time, so I just borrowed someone's cube and did one solve with it. Beforehand, I had already solved cubes up to a 10x10x10 at hi-games.net.	Big Cubes Summer 2009	26-Jul-09
Pyraminx Single Solve	1:30.81	Didn't bring a Pyraminx with me, but I borrowed someone's and did two solves with it. Pitifully, I had a hard time figuring out how to do the last few pieces and didn't even manage to solve the puzzle under one minute. To give you an idea of how slow anything over a minute is for the Pyraminx, look at this page. Of the 750+ people who have ever solved a Pyraminx in competition, only 10, myself included, have a fastest single solve over one minute.	Big Cubes Summer 2009	26-Jul-09
Magic Single Solve	1.83	Mine is broken right now. I usually borrow someone's to use at a competition.	Da Vinci Science Center 2008	14-Jun-08
Magic Average	2.00	2.08, 1.96, 1.97, (1.90), (2.34) Previous record: 2.05 = 2.09, 2.04, 2.01, 1.96, 2.49	Connecticut Summer 2009	1-Aug-09
Master Magic Single Solve	9.97	The event had started, I asked someone to teach me, I learned in a few minutes, and then I competed. This is completely just for fun.	Da Vinci Science Center 2008	14-Jun-08
Master Magic Average	11.33	Going for sub-10 in my next attempt!	Da Vinci Science Center 2008	14-Jun-08
Square-1	1:12.77	I used precisely three algorithms for my Square-1 solves up to this date: an algorithm that swaps an edge in the top layer with an edge in the bottom layer, Stefan Pochmann's last layer algorithm (which I call the turn-left-turn-right-turn-left-turn-right algorithm), and the parity algorithm.	Connecticut Summer 2009	1-Aug-09

Competitions I've attended: Yellow highlight = New!

Horace Mann Spring 2005 - 28-May-05 - my first competition
Caltech Dallas Summer 2005 - 13-Aug-05 - The cubing competition was a good excuse for my dad, brother, and me to go to Dallas to do some sight-seeing as well.
Rutgers Fall 2005 - 10-Dec-05 - I was only able to compete in the 3x3x3 blindfolded category because I had area band auditions in the morning and early afternoon. I placed 2nd in 3x3x3 blindfolded, behind current WR holder Leyan Lo.
Rutgers Spring 2006 - 29-Apr-06 - I won the 3x3x3 speedsolve and blindfolded events. I came in 2nd in the 3x3x3 one-handed, 4x4x4, and 5x5x5.
Trumbull Spring 2006 - 27-May-06 - I set the 2x2x2 WR on my 4th solve and also won the 2x2x2 event. I came in 2nd in the 3x3x3 speedsolve, behind Canadian record holder Matt Walter. I also came in 2nd in 3x3x3 blindfolded, behind Canadian record holder Craig Bouchard. I came in 3rd in the 4x4x4 and 3x3x3 one-handed events. Here are the pictures and videos my dad took.
Rutgers Fall 2006 - 18-Dec-06 - I broke many of my official records here. I came in 3rd for 4x4x4 and 5x5x5, 2nd for 2x2x2 and 3x3x3, and first for 3x3x3 blindfolded. Though I came late due to a math competition, a fortuitous behind-schedule start of the competition allowed me to still compete in all events I wanted.
Cornell Spring 2007 - 31-Mar-07 - Hosted by the Cornell Cubing Club (They also have a DDR club!). I met Jessica Fridrich and Mirek Goljan and got Fridrich to sign a cube of mine. It's still on my shelf for display. The two of them had to leave early and told me to kick the other competitors' butts as they were leaving. I ending up winning the competition :-).
Rutgers Spring 2007 - 22-Apr-07 - I was disappointed to lose the main event in the finals after winning the first and second rounds. My 5x5x5 average could have been much better were it not for two massive pops on solves 3 and 4. I was very proud of my 3x3x3 blindfolded victory on my third attempt. Probably my last victory over Rowe - now he's waay ahead of me and has blindfolded WR-setting potential.
Captain's Cove 2007 - 26-May-07 - Very beautiful setting! Food and restrooms nearby. I loved the giant cube decorations. Was hot and sunny, but the competition area was under a tent. Later in the day, it was slightly difficult to see. Amusingly, I got second in every event I competed in except the main event, which I got first in. I am disappointed with my 4x4x4 performance - I can do better. I should've broken my 4x4x4 official records.
Kearny Kardinal 2008 - 16-Feb-08. Perhaps the last competition I will ever win the 3x3x3 speedsolve event at.
Princeton Open 2008 - 22-Mar-08. I did fewest moves and Square-1 for the first time.
Da Vinci Science Center 2008 - 14-Jun-08. I did Master Magic for the first time. I did not place 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in any event I competed in, but I only competed the first day of the two-day competition.
Big Cubes Summer 2009 - 26-Jul-09. This competition was a lot of firsts: first competition in a backyard, first competition with no 3x3 events but big cube events, first competition with a rain delay (!). I am very grateful that this competition focused on big cubes because it motivated me to learn 4x4 blindfolded and practice my big cubes, improving my 4x4 and 5x5 times significantly.
Connecticut Summer 2009 - 1-Aug-09. In the six days between the big cubes competition and this one, I started my internship at Pink OTC Markets, which occupies 13+ hours a day including commuting time. So I haven't had much time to practice and just did a few solves of each puzzle on Friday night before going to sleep. I was very happy with how I performed considering my lack of practice, and über-happy that the organizer, Gavin Nelson, squeezed in a 4x4 blindfolded event, just for me (though I convinced Tim Reynolds to do it, too, since originally we thought you needed a minimum of 2 competitors for an event). The most satisfying part of this competition was successfully solving a 4x4 blindfolded.

Last Updated: 1/9/10.

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