Twist, Turn and Solve: Inside India’s speedcubing community  

For some, solving a Rubik’s Cube is simply a hobby, but for Medhansh Seth, solving this crippled of twists and turns means a batch much than conscionable a pastime.  

The crippled of colours and patterns brings retired the assured aforesaid successful the 17-year-old from Noida. 

Medhansh was introduced to cubing erstwhile helium was conscionable 9 and has ne'er looked backmost since.  

“My parent wanted maine to bash good successful each activities. She enactment maine successful each benignant of people she could find, and I astir apt went done 25-30 classes of skating and basketball. But 1 people that truly stood retired for maine was the Rubik’s Cube session,” says the people XII student. 

 “And what I noticed was that it was 1 happening that I didn’t privation to discontinue successful a month. And I dilatory started racing with different kids successful my people and it conscionable became a large passionateness of mine.” 

Over the years, Medhansh has earned implicit 150 podium finishes, adjacent becoming a four-time consecutive Delhi State Champion. He had besides tried his luck successful the Guinness World Records and an India Book of Records events.  

The creation of speedcubing 

While it was his parent who nudged him into taking babe steps into the satellite of Rubik’s Cube, it was chap teenage prodigy Leo Borromeo from the Philippines who inspired Medhansh to beryllium a maestro astatine it. 

 “He was astir my property erstwhile I saw his videos connected YouTube for the archetypal time. He was overmuch faster than I was astatine the time. This motivated maine truthful overmuch that it was thing I truly wanted to achieve.” 

 “And I ever wanted to conscionable him. But the accidental ne'er came,” says Medhansh.  

Speed cubing is fundamentally what its sanction suggests: solving the Rubik’s Cube arsenic rapidly arsenic possible. This niche portion of the crippled has been gaining traction successful India arsenic well.   

The speedcubing contention present is governed by the World Cube Association (WCA) with the assistance of judges, scramblers (computer programs that nutrient unsocial sets of moves for a Rubik’s Cube, ensuring that each competitors commencement with just and unpredictable cube configurations) and runners (volunteers who present scrambled cubes to competitors). The players are lone allowed to inspect the cube for a maximum of 15 seconds earlier trying to lick it.  

Medhansh started focusing connected it successful 2016. He clinched a bronze medal 3 years aboriginal erstwhile helium took portion successful his archetypal contention (in New Delhi) successful the speedcubing category.  

Then came the COVID-19 pandemic.  

“The champion happening that lockdown could ever springiness maine was my 13-14 hr sessions of conscionable cubing. This came to the constituent wherever my parents were acrophobic that I mightiness get addicted to it,” helium chuckles. 

 “But I deliberation that helped maine driblet from [solving the cube] successful 30 seconds to 10 seconds.”  

Thanks to his speedcubing skills, Medhansh’s spatial reasoning – quality to visualise and recognize objects successful 2 oregon 3 dimensions - was 100 percentile successful an aptitude trial conducted by his school. 

Just similar Medhansh, Ammar Shahid, a 21-year-old instrumentality pupil from Uttar Pradesh, developed his emotion for Rubik’s Cube implicit time.   

“At 1 constituent successful time, everyone successful my schoolhouse had it (Rubik’s Cube). There were lone a fistful of radical who really knew however to lick it, and I loved however they did it wrong 1.5 minutes. I was amazed by their speedy fingers and the admiration they were getting from our classmates and seniors. So, I bought a cube from the section store and started learning from YouTube.”  

With perseverance, Ammar, who archetypal dabbled successful the crippled successful 2015, began knowing the complexities progressive successful solving the cube.  

“It took maine a period to larn Rubik’s Cube, but I kept improving done YouTube videos,” recalls Ammar.  

“When we larn to lick the cube, it’s conscionable signifier designation and learning a acceptable of moves. When we yet get a bent of these, we make our ain sets of moves to lick a pattern.”   

Another facet which has helped Ammar to lick the cube efficiently was learning the method of “look-ahead”. This is erstwhile the subordinate doesn’t look astatine the pieces they are solving but identifies the pieces they are astir to solve.  

“I built this accomplishment done dilatory solving of the cube truthful that my eyes could way the presumption of pieces erstwhile solving an algorithm. Most importantly, signifier matters, but successful the areas wherever 1 is inefficient,” the instrumentality pupil explains. 

However, competing was a far-fetched imagination for Ammar arsenic they were being organised lone successful places similar Delhi and Bengaluru.  

“After 2 years, I could lick it successful nether 15 seconds and that was erstwhile I decided to enactment successful my archetypal contention successful Delhi,” helium says.  

Mastering speedcubing took Ammar astir 2 years.  

“The explanation of ‘mastering it’ tin beryllium antithetic for antithetic people. Nowadays, it’s truthful evolved that solving it adjacent nether 10 seconds is simply a small excessively common. I got nether 10 seconds successful 4 years. So, I conjecture you tin adjacent accidental it took maine four,” says Ammar. 

The nationalist Rubik’s Cube rival has secured 2 silvers and 2 bronze medals successful tournaments conducted by the WCA.   

Cubing connected planetary stage 

It would beryllium a just remark to accidental that the crippled of chess and Rubik’s Cube are akin successful much ways than one. Both necessitate a definite level of strategical thinking, signifier recognition, and the quality to visualise solutions. However, the benignant of vulnerability and popularity the champion chess players and the champion Rubik’s Cube players get is obscurity comparable.  

“This tin beryllium explained by the information that Rubik’s Cube was invented successful 1974 arsenic a children’s toy. It lone gained popularity arsenic a full-fledged athletics successful the aboriginal 2010s. Whereas chess became a worldwide athletics during the Cold War. American and Soviet players battled for supremacy connected the chess board. Hence, a batch of media coverage,” Ammar explains.  

“I deliberation the main origin successful this is that cubing is beneficial for children and they tin predominate it. So, what we spot is that successful India, cubing is dominated by 18-year-olds and 20-year-olds. However, connected the satellite stage, it is dominated by 8 to 10-year-olds. Once each the satellite champions turn up and get a job, they cannot financially enactment themselves by conscionable participating successful cubing competitions,” Medhansh explains.  

“The champion happening we tin bash is item the benefits of solving Rubik’s Cube.” 

Medhansh besides explains wherefore adding property brackets to the contention conducted by the WCA is simply a indispensable step. 

“If a 14-year-old is amended than a six-year-old, helium volition get the trophy. This tin origin a deficiency of information among children. This is what I’ve noticed.”  

On the different hand, Ammar opines that the Indian champions person a cloudy future. 

“For Indians, it inactive serves arsenic a bully hobby. Opportunities to vie and excel are ever-increasing, but the athletics is inactive constricted to precise fewer participants arsenic compared to different sports.  

“Eventually, for immoderate athletics to flourish, it has to beryllium converted into a marketable concern with an assemblage consenting to ticker the champion athletes competing astatine the highest level,” helium adds.  

Coaching scenario 

Preeti Raja, a Chennai-based coach, has been teaching Rubik’s Cube astatine her coaching centre since 2016.  

She teaches implicit 35 antithetic types of three-dimensional puzzles from assorted forms of Rubik’s Cubes, specified arsenic megaminx, skewb, pyraminx, speedcubing techniques and besides blindfold techniques.  

What began arsenic offline, face-to-face sessions aboriginal expanded to see online classes during and aft the pandemic.  

“Teaching Rubik’s Cube online does travel with its ain acceptable of challenges. One large contented is that the surface often shows a mirrored representation to the students, which tin origin confusion. To flooded this, I usage 2 cameras — 1 from the laptop and different mounted supra my hands — truthful that students get a wide and close presumption of the cube without immoderate distortion,” she explains.  

Medhansh, too, has stepped into the relation of a manager rather efficaciously done his online institution AceCubing. 

“The champion happening I tin bash for my young students is to springiness them online courses. But I marque definite that I harvester each the antithetic types of methods that are determination to springiness them the champion acquisition and exposure,” helium adds. 

Catch a glimpse of Medhansh Seth solving Rubik’s Cubes.