Invented in 1974 by a Hungarian architect and sculptor Erno Rubik, the magnetic rubik's cube  has been gaining popularity ever since. It has turned into an icon of an intellectual game, which is widely known all over the world. People of any nationality can play this game, as it doesn't require the knowledge of any specific language. Besides, it has a handy and bright design. Amazingly, but according to the statistic figures, more than 350 million Rubik Cubes have been sold since the start of the mass production. This toy always finds its place among the bestsellers and never falls out of the fashion.

 

 

Speedcubing is an international game that has no boundaries. The mature players can participate in regular world and local contests. There is no age or gender limit for the competitors - anyone can participate in the championships. There has been established the World Cube Association, which holds various speedcubing competitions. The first championship was held in 1982 in Budapest. Nowadays, it takes the true masters only several seconds to solve the Cube puzzle. The top three champions in 2011 according to the WCA are Feliks Zemdegs from Australia, Mats Valk from the Netherlands, and Nipat Charoenpholphant from Thailand.

 

 

The Rubik's Cube Variations

 

 

The 2x2x2 Cube (also known as Pocket or Junior Cube) contains 8 corner pieces and has more than 3,5 million positions. Christian Kaserer is the world champion who solved this kind of Cube in 0.69 seconds in 2011.

 

 

The standard speed magnetic rubik's cube has 6 centres, 12 edges, and 8 corners and can have more than 4.3x10*19 positions. The holder of the world record in the 3x3x3 Cube solving is Feliks Zemdegs.


 

 

The 4x4x4 Cube (also known as Master Cube) comprises 24 centre pieces, 24 edge pieces, and 8 corners. It has 7.4x10*45 positions and there are no fixed centres in its structure. Mats Valk (the Netherlands) is a holder of a world record (30.02 sec.) set in 2011.

 

 

The 5x5x5 Cube (also known as Professor's Cube) has 6 fixed centres, 48 centre and 36 edge pieces, and 8 corners. This variant of Cube has 2.8x10*74 positions. The abovementioned champion F.Zemdegs solved this Cube in 56.22 seconds in 2011.

 

 

The Pyraminx is shaped in a form of a tetrahedron. It has 4 axial and 6 edge pieces, and 4 trivial tips. It can have more than 900 thousand positions. In 2011 Yohei Oka (Japan) solved the Pyraminx in 1.93 seconds.

 

 

The Megaminx is shaped in a form of a dodecahedron. It contains 12 face centre pieces, 20 corner pieces, and 30 edge pieces. The number of positions escapes the imagination. The Swedish genius Simon Westlund solved the Megaminx in 42.28 seconds (2011).

 

 

The master solvers can take part in the so called blind competitions, where the puzzle is solved by memory. Moreover, the Cube puzzle can be solved not only with the help of fingers but also with the help of toes. There are even special contests among the people who can do it in such an extraordinary way.

 

 

As you can see the tendency of world record setting reveals that every year there appear Cube players who can solve the puzzle faster than their forerunners.