Friday, November 28, 2008

2x2 3/5 solve average, 2x2 10/12 solve average

PB 2x2 3/5 solve average of 8.59 seconds!

This was a REALLY good average, using the Ortega method I just learned two days ago.

Statistics for 11-28-2008 11:24:08

Average: 8.59
Standard Deviation: 0.30
Best Time: 7.95
Worst Time: 9.21
Individual Times:
1. (7.95) U2 R U F' R' U R' U F2 R F R U2 R' U' R F2 U' R U2 R' U2 R' U R
2. 8.88 R' U2 F' R2 F R2 F R' F' R2 U' R F' R' U F2 R' U2 R' U F R' U R2 U
3. 8.72 R' F U' R' F2 R2 F R F R2 U2 R U' F2 R' U' F' U F2 U' R2 U R U' R'
4. (9.21) R2 U2 F' U2 R' U R U2 R2 U F' U' R2 F' U' F R F2 U2 F R' F U' F U
5. 8.18 R U F R F2 U2 R2 F2 U R U R' U' F U2 F2 R U' R F2 R U F R' F2

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PB 2x2 3/5 solve average of 7.89 seconds!

The solves were really good, but then the last one I made like 5 mistakes =D

Statistics for 11-28-2008 14:59:41

Average: 7.89
Standard Deviation: 0.60
Best Time: 6.73
Worst Time: 28.95
Individual Times:
1. 8.74 U2 F2 U2 R2 U2 F R2 U2 R F' R2 F U R F' U' R2 F R' F' R' F' R' F R2
2. 7.51 F2 R F2 R2 U R U' R2 F' R2 U R' F U2 F2 U2 R' U2 R' F' U' F' R' F' R2
3. (6.73) F' R U' F' R2 F U2 R U' R F' R2 U2 R2 F' U R' U F R' F' R2 U' R F2
4. 7.43 R2 U R2 F' R2 U F' R' U R2 U' R2 U' F' R' U' F2 R U' F R U F' R U
5. (28.95) U' F2 U R F R U' F R U F2 R' F' U' R' U2 R' F' U' F R' F' R2 U' F

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So I continued that 3/5 solve average into a 10/12 solve average and.......

PB 2x2 10/12 solve average of 9.83 seconds!

Statistics for 11-28-2008 15:00:07

Average: 9.83
Standard Deviation: 2.13
Best Time: 6.73
Worst Time: 28.95
Individual Times:
1. 8.74 U2 F2 U2 R2 U2 F R2 U2 R F' R2 F U R F' U' R2 F R' F' R' F' R' F R2
2. 7.51 F2 R F2 R2 U R U' R2 F' R2 U R' F U2 F2 U2 R' U2 R' F' U' F' R' F' R2
3. (6.73) F' R U' F' R2 F U2 R U' R F' R2 U2 R2 F' U R' U F R' F' R2 U' R F2
4. 7.43 R2 U R2 F' R2 U F' R' U R2 U' R2 U' F' R' U' F2 R U' F R U F' R U
5. (28.95) U' F2 U R F R U' F R U F2 R' F' U' R' U2 R' F' U' F R' F' R2 U' F
6. 10.34 U R2 U R' U R F U' F U F R' U2 R U2 F' U' R2 F' U2 R' U2 F2 R F
7. 9.49 U2 R2 F R' U2 R F' U F2 U F' R2 F2 U R2 U R F R U2 R' F U2 R' F
8. 10.84 F2 R' F R' F' R2 U2 F2 U2 F R U R' U2 R' F U' R F2 R' F2 R2 U F' R
9. 12.81 F' U' R2 U2 F' R' F R2 F R F' R' F R2 F' U2 F2 R2 U' F' R F R F' U2
10. 14.07 U F2 U2 F2 R U2 R U F R U2 R U R U2 F R F2 R2 U2 R' F' R' F' U'
11. 7.72 R F2 R2 U F2 R2 F R2 F2 R2 F2 U' R2 F U' F' U2 F R2 F' R2 F R U2 F'
12. 9.35 F R U R F R U F' U2 F2 U' F U2 F U F R' F R F U' F R2 F' R

For some reason, my fingers get REALLY sweaty when doing 2x2, and I have stickers on them....

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Westchester Fall 2008, New cubes

I got home from the Weschester Fall 2008 competition!

It was a lot of fun and I brought the same three friends I brought to the Newark Open 2008.

First round was 3x3, and I did not do very good. I got a 19 second average so it was so so. I made it into the 2nd round though! The first round took a very long time, went to like 12:30 and we started at like 9:45.

Then it was 2x2. I don't know what my average was but I did bad. Like I think it was 11 seconds or something.

Then came 3x3 OH. I didn't make it even close to the qualifications (lower than 35 seconds) but I got a new PB! =(

Magic was next. I got some new PBs but then I got a +2 on one of the solves and a DNF also. So I think my average is going to be worse than the average I got at Newark Open 2008.

Finally we got to the second round of 3x3. I did worse and got like a 20 second average. Didn't make it to the finals. =(

Last came 3x3 BLD. I had yet to complete one successful solve but I learned the method, so what the heck, it doesn't hurt to try. So I tried all 3 attempts and on all of them I wasn't even close to getting a successful solve.

Because of the amount of time the first 3x3 round took, a lot of the events were cut. They were: 4x4 speed, 5x5 speed, 4x4 BLD, 5x5 BLD, 3x3 Mutli-BLD, 6x6 Unofficial. I was unhappy about 4x4 and 5x5 speed because I actually practiced a little bit and I wanted to get better times! =(

Like Newark Open 2008, I made another AWESOME trade. The same kid gave me a used white V-Cube 7, and I gave him an Eastsheen 4x4, and my storebought 3x3. LOL. And then he wanted to refund my 5x5 trade I did with him at Newark but then later he got a brand new black V5 from Dan Cohen for $40.

It was an awesome competition, but I didn't do so well as expected. =( Well now I have lots of time to improve for the next competition (which will probably be in 2009)

I also saw Drew's awesome puzzles he built, including two Teraminx's!

One last thing, Rowe Hessler got a 52 second BLD solve. Shame I didn't see one of his great solves again. =(

Sunday, November 16, 2008

4x4 single, first 2x2 BLD

PB 4x4 single solve of 2:03.72!

This was a "hand scramble."

The solve was quite faster than what I normally get. The centers took 20 seconds (usually it's 35+). I don't know how long the edges took but it was a little bit faster than normal. Then, the 3x3 phase was REALLY bad. I don't know how long it took but it was probably like 35+ seconds. I had LOTS of lockups.

Well, I'm really happy about this solve. I'm surprised I got this fast because I'm using a Rubik's 4x4 that locks up A LOT which usually slows me down. I'm going to be practicing 4x4 more to prepare for the Westchester Fall 2008. Later I will also be practicing 2x2, 3x3, 3x3 OH, 3x3 BLD, 5x5, and Magic.

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I did my first successful 2x2 BLD solve! Here is the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGhG5yu-NYI

Believe it or not, this is also my first full attempt at solving the entire 2x2 cube blindfolded!

Scrambling: 0:05
Memorization: 0:30
Solving: 1:30

Scramble:
U2 B2 L2 U2 D' B2 U L D2 U R' F2 U L2 U' F U' D L2 D L D2 L B2 D2

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Newark Open 2008, New Cubes

I went to the Newark Open 2008! I had a great time. I brought three of my friends with me too. =)

First, I got there at like 8:50 in the morning, and I saw a crowd of cubers waiting in front of the Newark Public Library. I was really excited, and sort of amazed at how many people who were already there.

About five minutes later we got in and then everybody started to set up. We were in a long room with lots of chairs and and row of tables at front. The set up took like 15-20 minutes, so it was a little boring. They needed some timers so I let them borrow my =D timer.

Finally, we started to begin. I registered, along with my friends, and then a few minutes later I was called up for the first round of 3x3 speed. Tyson Mao judged all of my solves, and I did pretty well. I think I got a 19 second average but I'm not sure because they didn't announce it.

The first round took a long time - more than an hour. I think it might have even taken two hours. I felt bad for my friends because it was their first competition so they had to wait for more than an hour until they were called up. The first one averages about a minute, second around 1:20, and the third around 1:40. I did some judging and it was nice to see my friends officially solve their cube. I was really bored during the first round so I also ate my lunch during that time.

After a long time of waiting 3x3 OH was next. I just signed up for the fun of it, as I don't really do OH. They announced that you needed to get under 35 seconds within your first two solves or you couldn't continue. Well, I don't really do OH so I average like 2-3 minutes. Actually I didn't even solve the cube both times, kept on messing up on the U perms on the both solves, and just gave up and had DNFs.

Then, we had the 2x2 round. The first solve for me was 5 seconds, which is pretty good. The first layer was really easy, anti-sune, and PLL skip. The other solves I just got my average times - around 10 seconds.

Then I had the second round of 3x3 speed. My friends didn't make it in the second round so I was all alone. =D I didn't do so well, and my average was like 20 seconds or so. Didn't make it into the 3rd round =( Also, Rowe Hessler got a 8.9x solve for 3x3. Unfortunately I didn't get to see it but the audience reaction was huge. My friend claims he was judging Rowe Hessler on that solve though....

Then, some people were doing 4x4 BLD and I was judging Tim Reynolds. Unfortunately, everybody got DNFs.... =(

I signed up for 3x3 BLD a few days ago, guessing I would learn to memorize the cube by now, but I didn't, so I didn't do 3x3 BLD. I "unregistered" and got my $2 back =D. The fastest time was 1:01.xx by Alex Yu.

Then came 4x4. Like 3x3 OH, I was doing it for fun, and they had the same qualification 2 solves thingy, because the library was closing soon. I averaged like 2:45 or something, and since you had to get a single of 1:15 or lower, I was going to be done after 2 solves. I got like 2:53 and 2:35 or something like that. The second solve was actually my 4x4 PB =D

Then came the 3x3 Final Round and the awards ceromony. There wasn't anything too special except in the awards ceronomy, most of the winners got called up multiple times. The "prizes" were medals and certificates.

During the competition, I met a lot of people. Some people I know that I met from this forum are Stachuk1992, Patrick Jameson, waffle=ijm, Jason Baum, Tyson Mao, and some other people I didn't get the names of. I also got an autograph from Tyson Mao. =(

Jason Baum can do U perms in less than a second, and he showed me how he did his clockwise U perm when the solved edge is in the back. I'm not fast at it yet, but I can see it's very fast potential. Rowe Hessler showed me him doing a T perm in less than a second! He has a REALLY fast cube and does the fingertricks most people use so he can do it very fast.

Also during the competition I made an awesome trade. This kid wanted my Easthsheen 5x5, because he "just liked it." He already had an V5 and another Easthsheen 5x5 so it was kind of weird that he wanted mine. After many times of me declining his offers, we finally decided on one. It was a very good deal for me but not really so much for him.

He offered:
  • Used White V-Cube 5
  • Used Old Rubik's Brand 4x4
  • Barely Used Famwealth 3x3 Cube
In turn I gave him:
  • Barely Used Black Eastsheen 5x5
  • Barely Used Painted Version Type E DIY
It was kind of shocking how he offered this offer. He says the V-Cube 5 is too big for his hands (his hands are tiny) and he really wanted my Eastsheen 5x5. The offer was good so I said ok and I'm happy! =)

My friend bought a White Type A 3rd Model (not tabs) for $10 for a good. It's amazing at corning cutting, pretty smooth, and turns pretty fast. I think it's a very good cube, and I would like to buy one for myself later. The cube already had skidproof stickers on them, but I don't really like them too much - it feels weird.

Lastly, that day was the first time I tried V-Cubes. To my surprise, they were a little bit heavy, but they're turn pretty well. This competition was awesome and I can't wait until Westchester! =)