Two Days to Go Until Rubik’s Cube World Championship

Over one thousand competitors from 67 countries around the world are in the final week of preparations for the Rubik’s Cube World Championship in Paris, which take place Thursday 13 to Sunday 16 July 2017.

With a field over twice as large as the previous World Championship in Sao Paolo, Brazil, and all of the world’s best speedcubers in attendance, the 2017 Rubik’s Cube World Championship will be the biggest-ever celebration of the iconic toy.

Australian Feliks Zemdegs has held the world title since winning in 2013 with an average solve time of 8.18 seconds. He successfully defended it in 2015 with an average solve time of 7.56 seconds.

Feliks Zemdegs holds the world record for the fastest single solve of the 3 x 3 cube in an eye-watering 4.73 seconds, although the Netherlands’ Mats Valk is fractionally behind with a best solve of 4.74 seconds.

However, the competition’s rules mean that entrants solve the Rubik’s Cube five times. The fastest and slowest attempts are removed and an average time is taken so the competitor with the fastest single solve does not always win.

Again, Feliks Zemdegs holds the world record for the best average solve time after smashing the record of Max Park, who set an average solve time of 6.39 seconds in April this year. Feliks’ 5.97 average – recorded in Columbia in June 2017 – puts him back in first place.

At the London Open, held Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 July 2017, Feliks warmed up for the Rubik’s Cube World Championship by breaking two world records and winning the 3 x 3 Rubik’s Cube event with a lightning fast average solve time of 6.70 seconds.