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Rubik's Cube Devotees Square Off In Hungary

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By PABLO GORONDI, The Associated Press

Published: October 6, 2007

BUDAPEST, Hungary - After 25 years, the cube has come home.

Hundreds of competitors met for the fourth Rubik's Cube world championship on Friday in Budapest, a three-day event offering prizes for solving the puzzle with two hands, one hand, and even their feet.

The mechanical puzzle, invented in 1974 by engineer Erno Rubik, sparked a global craze in the early 1980s. An estimated 9 million cubes were sold last year, taking the all-time total to more than 300 million units.

Organizers said 263 competitors from 33 countries were expected to take part in the three-day event. The first was held in the Hungarian capital in 1982.

Prizes will be awarded in 17 categories, as experts try to solve the classic 3x3 cube and its variations while blindfolded, with one hand, or with their feet.

The current world record for solving the 3x3 cube - which has six sides of a different color with nine tiles each on each side - is 9.86 seconds, set by Thibaut Jacquinot of France in May at the Spanish Open.
British champion Dan Harris, 22, from Norwich, England, said he practiced for up to four hours a day before the Budapest event. He said the Internet had been key to reviving the cube's popularity.

'In the '80s you were on your own, while now you can check what everyone else is doing,' said Harris, a meteorologist, whose personal best in competition is 13.06 seconds.

'There's a lot of cube literature on the Internet, with people sharing moves and techniques.'

The United States is expected to have the biggest delegation of nearly 40 competitors; dozens of cube solvers have come from Poland, Japan and France. The participants' average age is 24 and organizers said there was an overwhelming majority of men.

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