Speedcubing – It sounds like something you might do in a kitchen, but it’s actually all about manipulating a classic Rubik’s cube, at speeds that defy imagination.
Christchurch recently played host to the South Island Speedcubing championships, drawing a large crowd of contestants and supporters.
Dywane Ramos helped organise the event.. but also got to compete.
"Speed-cubing is essentially just the act of solving twisty puzzles. You use a Rubik’s cube which you have to solve as fast as possible. That’s why it's called speedcubing." Ramos said.
Held in Cashmere High School’s gymnasium, the three-day event attracted a large crowd of contestants and onlookers.
The event included a variety of twisty puzzle contests, the bulk of which were based on the classic Rubik’s Cube.
Ramos said the pressure on the individuals participating was immense.
The solves need to be done in just seconds and require the memorization of the large number of permutations and combinations possible to complete the task.
"Some person may know like 20 algorithms to solve a Rubik's Cube, but you know, people like the best in the world ... they know like over 500 just for a single step," Ramos said.
- John Spurdle, Public Interest Journalism Fund
