Rubik's Cube Blindfolded!

By Datu and Jonah

Editor's Note: This month Datu and Jonah will compete in a regional Rubik's Cube competition at Cal Berkeley. How cool is that? Wish them luck!

This weekend, UC Berkeley will be holding a Rubik’s Cube competition. Cubers from all around the Bay Area will be coming there to compete, aiming to solve the puzzle as fast as possible. Among those cubers are two students from Cal Prep, Datu and Jonah. However, they will not only compete to solve a Rubik’s Cube as fast as possible; they will be attempting to solve it blindfolded.

The Rubik’s cube is the best selling puzzle in the world. Most deem the task of solving it impossible, but through little practice, it is very possible. Over time, those who know how to solve it have made a sport out of it, and the current world record sits at a brisk 3.13 seconds. However, most people are not aware of the subcategory of solving it blindfolded.

Even people who have extensive knowledge of how to solve the cube avoid solving it blindfolded, due to the increased challenge. However, similarly to solving it normally, a little practice will allow you to solve it blindfolded too. When competing in blindfolded competitions, your time will include the time it takes to look at the cube and determine what your solution will be. The first World Record in competition was set by Dror Vomberg on August 23, 2003 with a time of nearly four minutes.

Throughout the next 20 years, the times have improved and broken the 1-minute barrier and now sits at 12.78 seconds. This has happened largely because of the invention of advanced 3BLD methods like 3-Style which requires knowing hundreds of algorithms. Also, new 3BLD cubers have popped up during the COVID pandemic, as skillful cubers like Tommy Cherry were given large amounts of time to practice. Overall, the task of solving the cube blindfolded has gone from unthinkable in the 1980s to trivial for the top cubers of today.