Everyone knows such a puzzle as the Rubik's Cube. The assembly record was sought by many. But who did this succeed? This will be discussed. But first things first.
The sculptor Ernö Rubik invented the famous puzzle in 1974, all this time it was gaining popularity and became the best-selling toy in the world. In different parts of the world, Ernø's invention is called differently, in most countries it is called the Rubik's Cube, although the author originally called it the Magic Cube. This name is firmly attached to the toy in China, Germany and Portugal.
Varieties of the Rubik's Cube
There are many varieties of the Rubik's Cube. Some of them differ in the number of cells in the face: in a standard puzzle, each of the six faces consists of 9 cells, but 2x2x2 cubes and to a lesser extent other types, for example 7x7x7, are also common. There is a known case of creating a cube with dimensions 17x17x17. Obviously, the more elements a single face forms, the more difficult it is to assemble such a cube.
Some types of puzzles have a completely different shape, such as the octahedron, dodecahedron, and so on. It is worth noting that the so-called Moldovan pyramid, or the Meffert pyramid, was invented earlier than the Rubik's cube.
World record for assembling the Magic Cube
Everyone knows the Rubik's Cube puzzle. They tried to set the assembly record in many countries of the world. Enthusiasts involved in assembling the Rubik's Cube for a while are called speedcubers. Until 2014, official records were updated quite often, but to beat the best results over time becomes more difficult.
To date, the official world record: the Rubik's Cube is assembled in just five and a half seconds. This result was issued by Mats Wolf, having displaced Felix Zemdegs, who assembled the puzzle in 5.66 seconds.
It is worth noting that the ex-champion recorded a video on which he set a new assembly record. He collected the Rubik's Cube in just 4.21 seconds, but this fact is not official, and some even dispute this result. Another unofficial record belongs to the CubeStormer-3 robot, which was designed by two enthusiasts. As you can guess by the name of the robot, the designers have already tried to create a mechanism that can assemble the puzzle faster than humans, but they succeeded only in March 2014. World record: CubeStormer-3 collected Rubik's cube in 3.25 seconds, finally overtaking Felix Zemdegs.
Puzzle in the world
In the world there are constantly many competitions related to this puzzle. In addition to assembling various variations of the cube for a while, even competitions are held to collect the Rubik's cube blindfolded. Yes, few can even assemble the Rubik's Cube with their eyes open in less than a minute. Blind assembly world record is 26 seconds! It belongs to Marshell Andrew, an enthusiast from Hungary.
Rubik's Cube in Russia
In Russia, this puzzle is also widespread, almost every student knows the standard Rubik's Cube. And the older generation knows the Rubik's Cube. They tried to set the assembly record in competitions dedicated to this. The first serious competition related to the Magic Cube took place in our country in early 2009, since then open assembly championships have been periodically organized. It is worth noting that among the programs at all-Russian tournaments there are various types of puzzles with face sizes from two to seven.
Rubik's Cube: assembly record in Russia
The most famous speedcuber in Russia is Sergey Ryabko. Fame brought him victory in many international competitions related to the famous puzzle. Sergey is also a two-time European champion in this kind of activity. Ryabko began his professional career as a speedcuber in 2010. At that time, an open championship for the assembly of the Magic Cube was held in Moscow, dedicated to the thirtieth anniversary of the puzzle. At these competitions Sergey became the winner in two categories. It is worth noting that at that time the speedcuber was only 15 years old.
In the same year, Ryabko removed the current European champion during the international championship in Budapest. The second time became the European champion in 2012, taking the place of Michal Pleskovich from Poland.
Sergey repeatedly won all-Russian competitions, was often invited by the organizers of such tournaments abroad. This speedcuber is also able to collect some varieties of the Rubik's Cube blindly.
In 2009, Ern Rubik came up with another puzzle - the Rubik sphere. During the assembly of this invention, more complex hand movements are needed, and the process is complicated by the fact that gravity must be considered for success.