By Heather Ruenz
SLN staff
David Broga, a sophomore at Elkhorn Area High School, recently competed in a cubing competition held at the Monte Carlo Room.
The cubes are like Rubik’s Cubes, but the competitors use other brands of cubes that turn faster and are called speed cubes, David’s mom explained.
The competition was called “Elk Cubing 2018” and was held March 18. Events included cubes that were 5 X 5, 3 X 3, 2 X 2, 4 X 4, and 3 X 3 one-handed. A traditional Rubik’s Cube is a 3 X 3 because it is 3 squares wide and 3 squares high.
Elk Cubing 2018 was David’s first competition. He competed in the 3 X 3 and 2 X 2 events. Each competitor had five tries to solve their cube. The fastest and slowest times were thrown out and the other three were averaged for the competitor’s final score.
“David’s 3 X 3 average was 48.81 seconds and his best time was 40.37 seconds. His 2 X 2 average was 16.7 seconds and his best time was 8.95 seconds,” Susan Broga said.
The best time at the Elkhorn competition for the 3 X 3 was 5.48 seconds by SeungBeom Cho, currently the world record holder for the fastest time for the 3 X 3 at 4.59 seconds. The best time at this competition for the 2 X 2 was 1.07 seconds.
According to Susan Broga, competitors drop their cube off at a station to be scrambled and are called when it’s time to sit down at a table. The judges at each table are assigned to watch a competitor to make sure all rules are followed. The judges are also fellow competitors.
The World Cube Association organizes competitions all over the United States and the world, supported by regional organizations responsible for organizing competitions in their countries.
Competitors register online and competitions generally begin with a tutorial the morning of an event in an effort to help those new to cubing. Participants are responsible for their own hardware in order to compete, however, WCA features a vendor at competitions selling cubes.
Competitions are open to people of all ages and there are no age divisions, meaning all competitors are in the same group.
The cost to compete at Elk Cubing 2018 was $20 a person and featured 130 competitors. There was no cost for spectators to attend and the entire competition last roughly nine hours.
The WCA, founded in 2004 by Tyson Mao of the United States and Ron van Bruchem of the Netherlands, governs competitions for all puzzles labeled as Rubik puzzles, and all other puzzles that are played by twisting the sides, so-called ‘twisty puzzles’. Most famous of these puzzles is the Rubik’s Cube, invented by professor Rubik from Hungary. Selections of puzzles are chosen as official events by the WCA.
For more information including results from competitions, WCA regulations and a list of upcoming events, visit worldcubeassociation.org or follow its Facebook page.
