
Twenty years of speedcubing (2003) - weinzierl
http://www.ws.binghamton.edu/fridrich/history.html#last
======
hawktheslayer
My favorite line of this story is _" I use the Fridrich method, too, because I
am Fridrich."_

I learned to solve the cube, albeit slowly, but my experience is the same-
people ask me to show them how to solve it but are mostly disappointed and get
bored when I show them the algorithms.

~~~
racl101
Yep, I learned that way too. I didn't know that method went by a name.

> people ask me to show them how to solve it but are mostly disappointed and
> get bored when I show them the algorithms.

I like that reaction because it helps you sort out people with some level of
grit for solving things (i.e. those who would actually attempt to learn it)
from those who have none.

~~~
hawktheslayer
I agree with you that it does help you sort out the wheat from the chaff.
Although after some reflection, I also think that the dissatisfaction is in
part due with the realization that one can solve the cube with little _spacial
awareness_ , a large motivator for Ernő when he constructed his original _"
magic cube"._

------
rwnspace
Hah, I think this was one of the first things I read when I got into
speedcubing, back in '08\. The history of the puzzle is fascinating, whether
you wish to learn to solve or not. Plenty of vintage websites to explore, too.
Cubers now refer to the method Fridrich used as CFOP, partly since it was
independently derived by a couple others around the same time.

The World Cube Association is staffed by really brilliant, wonderful people -
and the website/solveDB is open source. If you can solve, I would recommend
checking the site for upcoming competitions. You'll likely make friends.

Fun-fact: the YouTuber Badmephisto made the best tutorials back in the day
('08-'10) - nowadays he is better known as Andrej Karpathy and works at Tesla.
Users may know him for the online Stanford deep learning courses.

(I used to hold the UK single record, AMA)

~~~
namanyayg
Did not know about Badmephisto being at Tesla -- I remember having printed out
his tutorials and guides to improve my time. Good days.

Have your experiences with other cubers been similar to those of Fridrich's?
Mine definitely have -- it's curious how "cubing culture" has developed to be
very similar everywhere.

------
hota_mazi
For people wondering: the current world records are below 5 seconds. They have
been achieved with a method called CFOP which is strongly inspired from
Fridrich.

Another very different method of solving the cube is called Roux and its best
practitioners can solve the cube within 8-9 seconds. It's unclear whether that
method will be improved to reach the level of CFOP but it's very elegant and
fun to watch (lot of middle slices).

~~~
gbacon
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np2G0yr5xI0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np2G0yr5xI0)

Breakdown of a quick solve:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O2FmT_6pGc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O2FmT_6pGc)

History of records from 1982 to 2017:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w_5MQq9Aq8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w_5MQq9Aq8)

------
Zanni
I'm trying to learn to speedcube after recently relearning the slow solve
algorithms. CFOP/Fridrich is very different from the traditional layer-by-
layer method, and holding the cube "upside down," minimizing cube turns and
trying to look ahead involves a lot of unlearning. (I first learned to solve
the cube, not for time, in undergrad in '82 from a friend who had wild names
for the algorithms like the "gabingabang," the "double gabinggabang," and the
"kerflipkaflop.")

Cracking the Cube [1] is a fun and comprehensive look at the history of
speedcubing, including the author's own quest to hit a sub-20.

[1] [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29430754-cracking-the-
cu...](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29430754-cracking-the-cube)

~~~
Zanni
And Max Deutsch chronicles his 30-day quest to hit a sub-20 in his excellent
Month-to-Master series (which I was sure I first encountered here, but can't
seem to find). [1]

[1] [https://medium.com/the-mission/my-month-long-quest-to-
solve-...](https://medium.com/the-mission/my-month-long-quest-to-solve-a-
rubiks-cube-in-under-20-seconds-2b2204282575)

------
jacquesm
Cool story. I got one when visiting France on holidays in my teens just when
they came out in volume. I really don't remember _anything_ else from that
holiday.

------
bwbw223
I average ~25 seconds myself. Cool to see this here on HN!

------
ghubbard
Why is this tagged as 2003?

~~~
danparsonson
That's when it was written...

[https://web.archive.org/web/20030408125532/http://www.ws.bin...](https://web.archive.org/web/20030408125532/http://www.ws.binghamton.edu/fridrich/history.html)

~~~
joosteto
But then, why is it called "twenty years of speedcubing", if he started in
1981?

~~~
weinzierl
> Later in 1982, I changed my F2L system to the current system. [..] By 1983,
> I was consistently averaging 17 seconds. I knew three more cubers capable of
> achieving sub-20 averages consistently. We practiced together. As the cube
> rage cooled down, I stopped working on my system.

Maybe she considers 1983 as the year speedcubing was born? Maybe she just
meant round about 20 years. Maybe she wrote it in 2001 and published it in
2003?

