Rubik’s Cube World Championship taking place this weekend

As a youngster growing up, one of my favourite challenges was trying to do the Rubik’s Cube. A visual activity, I used to spend many an hour trying to complete the challenge, but I never really got the hang of it. Years later, the popularity of the Rubik’s Cube remains unabated and this weekend sees the world’s speed cubers descend on São Paulo, Brazil to compete in the World Championship.

If you enjoyed the Rubik’s Cube growing up, you might be amazed by what these guys get up to and the standard required to be in with a chance of winning. The following Press Release explains a little more about the competition and the British competitors who hope to pick up the title.

Rubik’s Cube World Championship to take place this weekend

This weekend (Friday 17 – Sunday 19 July), hundreds of the world’s fastest Speedcubers will congregate in Colégio Etapa, São Paulo, Brazil for the biannual Rubik’s Cube World Championship.

Speedcubing is the sport of solving a Rubik’s Cube in the fastest possible time, and elite Cubers can do this in a matter of seconds.

At the 2013 Rubik’s Cube World Championship, Australia’s Feliks Zemdegs stunned the competition, solving the Rubik’s Cube with a winning average time of 8.18 seconds, and he will be in attendance at São Paulo, looking to defend his title.

The UK is also very well represented on the world Speedcubing stage: in 2009 Paisley, Scotland-based Breandan Vallance won the Rubik’s Cube World Championship in Dusseldorf with an average time of 10.74 seconds, and achieved a new best average time of 8.32 at the 2013 Edinburgh Open, placing himself comfortably among the global Speedcubing elite.

Guildford, Surrey-based Robert Yau’s personal best average time of 8.21 seconds, fractionally faster than Breandan’s, means that he also ranks within the sport’s top ten.

Daniel Sheppard, also from Guildford, is on their heels with a personal best average of 10.48 seconds and will be looking to make an impact at this year’s event.

Competitors solve the Rubik’s Cube five times. The fastest and slowest attempts are removed and an average time is taken so it’s not always the fastest single solve that wins the competition.

The Rubik’s Cube is the world’s best-selling toy, with over 400 million sold.

Speaking ahead of the event, Breandan Vallance said, “Speedcubing has taken me around the world - I’ve been lucky enough to visit a lot of exotic places and meet a lot of great people.

“What’s especially exciting about the 2015 Rubik’s Cube World Championship is that it is taking place in South America for the first time.

“We know that there are a few Cubers in Brazil who are at the very top level, but we haven’t had the chance to compete against them yet.

“If they are as good with a Rubik’s Cube as they are with a football, we might be in trouble!”

The Rubik’s Cube World Championship was first held in Budapest in 1982 and was won by American Minh Thai with a time of 22.95 seconds. In each of the six Rubik’s Cube World Championships since then, the winning time has been faster than the one preceding it.

The event attracts over 400 competitors and there will be 18 different events at the 2015 Rubik’s Cube World Championship, including:

• 2x2 Rubik’s Cube
• 3x3 Rubik’s Cube
• 4x4 Rubik’s Cube
• 5x5 Rubik’s Cube
• One-handed 3x3 Rubik’s Cube
• Blindfolded 3x3 Rubik’s Cube
• 3x3 Rubik’s Cube (fewest moves)
• 3x3 Rubik’s Cube with feet
• 4x4 Rubik’s Cube blindfolded
• 5x5 Rubik’s Cube blindfolded
• 3x3 Rubik’s Cube multiple blindfolded

The highlight of the competition is the 3 x 3 x 3 final, which starts at 4.15PM (São Paulo local time) on Sunday July 19. The championship will be streamed live from the start of the competition and can be viewed via http://cubovelocidade.com.br/worlds/