Honestly, if you haven’t seen the video, you’re missing out on one of the most intense three seconds in human history. It happened in Long Beach, California. June 2023. Pride in Long Beach 2023, to be exact. Max Park sits down. He’s got this focus that looks almost like a trance. He inspects the scrambled 3x3x3 cube. He drops it. He starts the timer. Then, in a blur of plastic and clicking sounds that honestly shouldn't be possible for human fingers, it’s over. 3.13 seconds. That is the current Rubik's cube quickest solve ever recorded in a World Cube Association (WCA) competition.
It’s fast. Ridiculously fast. To put that in perspective, you probably just spent more time reading this paragraph than Max spent solving a puzzle with quintillions of possible combinations.
The 3.13 Second Barrier and Why It Matters
Before Max Park hit that 3.13, the record was held by Yusheng Du at 3.47 seconds. That record stood for ages. People thought we’d hit a physical plateau. Speedcubing isn't just about moving your hands; it’s about your brain processing patterns at a rate that outpaces most computers' refresh rates. When we talk about the Rubik's cube quickest solve, we aren't just talking about a hobby. We are talking about the "Sub-3" dream.
Max didn't just break the record; he annihilated the tension surrounding it. For years, the community watched the "decimal wars" where records were broken by hundredths of a second. Jumping from 3.47 down to 3.13 is a massive leap in this sport. It’s like someone running a three-minute mile. It feels wrong. It feels like physics should have stepped in and said, "Hey, wait a minute, the friction of the plastic alone should prevent this."
But the hardware has caught up. Back in the 80s, if you tried to turn a cube that fast, it would have exploded into twenty pieces of cheap jagged plastic. Today, cubes have adjustable magnets, dual-tensioning systems, and core-to-corner magnetic pull. They are high-performance machines.
What Actually Happens During a 3.13?
You’ve gotta understand the "luck" factor. In speedcubing, every solve starts with a scramble generated by a computer. Some scrambles are just better. They have "pairs" already made or an easy "cross." But even with a "lucky" scramble, you need the skill to see the most efficient path. Max used the CFOP method. It’s the gold standard.
- Cross: You build a cross on the bottom.
- F2L (First Two Layers): You slot in corners and edges simultaneously. This is where Max is a god. His look-ahead—the ability to see the next move while doing the current one—is basically precognition.
- OLL (Orientation of the Last Layer): Making the top face all one color.
- PLL (Permutation of the Last Layer): Swapping the last pieces into place.
In that 3.13 solve, Max got what's called a "PLL Skip." This means the cube was solved immediately after the OLL step. It’s rare. It’s the holy grail of competition timing. If he’d had to do that last step, we’d probably be looking at a 3.8 or a 4.0. But he didn't. The stars aligned, and his fingers didn't lock up.
The Evolution of Speed: From Minutes to Milliseconds
It’s kinda wild to look back at 1982. The first world championship. Minh Thai won it with a time of 22.95 seconds. At the time, that was mind-blowing. People thought he was a wizard. Today, a 22-second solve wouldn't even get you into the finals of a local middle school competition.
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Why the change? Information sharing.
In the 80s and 90s, you had to figure out algorithms yourself or find some obscure book. Now? You have YouTube. You have J Perm. You have databases with every single algorithm for every possible case. The "knowledge floor" has been raised. Everyone knows the best way to move. Now, the differentiator is raw physical TPS (Turns Per Second).
Max Park averages around 8 to 10 turns per second. Think about that. Ten distinct finger movements every single second, accurately, without over-rotating or catching a corner.
The Hardware Arms Race
You can't get the Rubik's cube quickest solve with a store-bought cube from a pharmacy. You just can't. Those things are basically bricks.
Modern speedcubes, like the MoYu WeiLong or the GAN 14, are engineered like F1 cars. They use "corner cutting," which allows a layer to turn even if the other layers aren't perfectly aligned. They have "MagLev" technology, replacing traditional metal springs with opposing magnets to reduce friction. This makes the cube feel like it's floating.
When Max broke the record, he was using a Tornado V3 M. It wasn't even the most expensive cube on the market at the time, which goes to show that while hardware matters, the person holding it matters more.
Is There a Limit?
Scientists and mathematicians have debated "God's Number" for decades. We know that any 3x3x3 cube can be solved in 20 moves or fewer. If a human could perfectly see that 20-move solution every time, we’d be seeing solves under one second.
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But humans can't do that. We use "algorithms"—pre-memorized sequences that solve specific patterns but aren't necessarily the "shortest" path. A typical CFOP solve takes about 55 to 60 moves. To get a 3-second solve, you’re either doing 15 turns per second (impossible?) or you’re getting a very short solution of around 30 to 40 moves.
Max’s 3.13 was a 32-move solve. That’s incredibly efficient. It’s "near-optimal."
The Psychology of the Solve
Max Park’s story is actually pretty incredible beyond just the numbers. He was diagnosed with autism as a child, and his parents originally used cubing as a way to help him develop fine motor skills and social cues. It wasn't about the records. It was about therapy.
It turned out he was a prodigy.
The cubing community is one of the few places where "neurodivergence" isn't just accepted; it’s almost a superpower. The ability to hyper-focus on patterns and repeat a motion ten thousand times until it's muscle memory is exactly what the Rubik's cube quickest solve requires.
When Max broke the record, the entire room erupted. If you watch the footage, you see other top-tier cubers—his direct rivals—screaming and jumping for him. There’s a weird lack of ego in the top ranks. Everyone just wants to see how far the human limit can be pushed.
Beyond the 3x3: Other Quickest Solves
While the 3x3 is the "main event," it’s worth looking at the other records because they are equally insane.
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- 2x2x2: Teodor Zajder recently hit a 0.43-second solve. That’s not a typo. Under half a second. It’s basically two flicks of the wrist.
- 4x4x4: Max Park holds this too (obviously) at 15.71 seconds.
- One-Handed: Max Park again. 6.20 seconds. Some people can’t solve it with two hands in sixty seconds; he does it with one in six.
- Blindfolded: Charlie Eggins solved a 3x3 blindfolded in 12.10 seconds. That includes the time to memorize the cube.
How You Can Get Faster
If you're sitting there with a 45-second average wondering how to get closer to that Rubik's cube quickest solve territory, it’s not just about learning more algorithms. It’s about "Look-Ahead."
Most people solve a pair, stop, look for the next piece, then solve that. Those pauses are what kill your time. The pros never stop moving. While their fingers are executing one move, their eyes are already tracking the pieces for the next one. It’s a continuous flow.
Another tip? Slow down.
That sounds counterintuitive. But if you turn at 50% of your max speed, you can see the pieces moving. You stop "searching" and start "knowing." Eventually, your 50% speed becomes faster than your old 100% speed because you’ve eliminated the pauses.
Actionable Next Steps to Improve Your Time
If you want to chase a personal record, here is exactly what you should do today:
- Upgrade your hardware: If you are still using a non-magnetic cube, buy a budget magnetic cube like the RS3M V5. The magnets "click" the layers into place, preventing the cube from locking up during fast turns.
- Film your solves: Record yourself from a top-down angle. When you watch it back, you’ll be shocked at how much time you spend just rotating the cube looking for a specific edge piece. Those "Y rotations" are time-wasters.
- Learn Full PLL: If you are still using "Two-Look PLL," you're adding 2-4 seconds to every solve. There are only 21 algorithms. Learn one a day. In three weeks, you'll be significantly faster.
- Use a dedicated timer: Stop using your phone's stopwatch. Use a site like CSTimer. It gives you official WCA scrambles, which ensures you aren't accidentally giving yourself "easy" scrambles that mask your real weaknesses.
The 3.13 mark might be out of reach for 99.9% of the population, but the beauty of the Rubik's cube is that you're really only racing against your own previous best. Max Park didn't start at 3 seconds; he started at minutes, just like everyone else.