Rubik's Tutorial

Most people solve the cube layer by layer. This is a simple way for the human mind to approach the problem, but it is useless for speed cubing. No matter how good you are, you will use more than 100 moves. Going for speed, I use 60 moves on average. Going for few moves, I average 45.

In the final of the Swedish championship, 8 of 11 competitors used a vanilla layer-by-layer method. The other 3 of us finished 1, 2 and 3!

The basic problem with the layer method is a big one, and it's obvious once you realize it. When you have completed the first layer, you can do nothing without breaking it up. So you break it, do something useful, then restore it. Break it, do something, restore it. Again and again. In a good solution you do something useful all the time. The first layer is in the way of the solution, not a part of it!

Step 1

For the beginner it is often easiest to pick a corner that you will always start with. This makes it easy to find the pieces you need. We will use the blue-yellow-orange corner. This means that the three edges are the blue-orange, the orange-yellow, and the blue-yellow.

First find the 4 pieces you need, and then try to build the 2x2x2. It's not really hard, but it can take a while if you're a rookie. It's best to try yourself for a while, to get a feel for it, but if it still doesn't work out, look at the description below.

There are many special cases, but this is the basic way I solve it. Remember, we're trying to join up 1 corner, 3 edges and 3 centers.

1. Pair up the corner with an edge.
2. Pair up another edge with a center.
3. Join the pairs from 1 & 2 to make a 2x2x1 block.
4. Join the remaining edge with the 2 remaining centers.
5. Put it all together in the final move.

This animation shows a concrete example

1. Pair corner with blue-orange edge. [Turn 1]
2. Pair up orange-yellow edge with orange center. [Turn 2]
3. Join. [Turn 3-4]
4. Blue-yellow edge fitted between blue and yellow center.[Turn 5-7]
5. All done! [Turn 8]

Step 2

After step 1, we have a solved part of the cube, and we have three sides that we can move freely, without breaking what we have accomplished. Not bad!

In step 2 we expand what we have to a 2x2x3 block. That is, we add one corner and two edges to the solved block, going from 4 to 7 solved pieces of 20.

Choose one of the three possible corners to expand to. We will use the green-yellow-orange corner, and of course the yellow-green and green-orange edges.

This is quite similar to how you work in step 1, join the corner with one of the edges and work from there. When you're familiar with step 1 you should have no problem.

But be sure not to break up the 2x2x2 block! You need to be aware where it is at all times. Otherwise it's back to step 1...

Step 3

Step 3

The basic idea of the method is to solve the entire cube from here by just turning the 2 free sides. But if you try to do that, you soon discover that some edges are always twisted the wrong way. We call those the "bad" edges. We need to fix that before we move on. Step 3 is this fix.

Step 3 can seem incomprehensible before you "get" it, but it is really the simplest step in the method.

If you don't like the beginner instructions, take a look at the intermediate ones. You may like that approach more.

Basically, we need to do 2 things in step 3.

1. Identify the bad edges.
There are 7 edges not part of the 2x2x3. Pick any one of them, say the red/blue one. Using only the 2 free layers (that is, not breaking up the 2x2x3), place it between the red and blue center pieces. If it's twisted right, it's good. Otherwise it's bad. That's all. Make a (mental or on paper) note of it, and check the next edge. When checking the second and later edges, do not try to keep the previous edges in place. It is not only extremely difficult, but also completely unnecessary. Once you know if an edge is good or bad, you know.

2. Turn bad edges into good edges.
There are always an even number of bad edges. You can make them good in pairs. The simplest way is the 3 move sequence shown to the right. Just place two bad edges in the positions of the colored edges, and do it. Check that your edges actually became good the first times, to be sure you're doing it right.

Continue until you're sure all edges are good.

Step 4

Back to adding solved pieces! In step 4 we go from 7 to 12 solved pieces out of 20.

This is clearly the hardest step. Not that it's all that hard. You could also say that the other steps are really easy!

Beginner

What you do in step 4 is pretty much the same thing that you do in step 1 and 2. But here you have one hand tied behind your back. You have only two sides you can turn, and halfway through the step you can't even do many of those moves, since they would destroy what you already built in the step.

From the piece perspective, the goal of step 4 is to add 2 corners and 3 edges to the 2x2x3 block, to make it into a 2x3x3 block (2 full layers).

You have a choice of two ways to expand, either leaving the red or the white layer for last. In the examples we will leave red, expanding with the white-green-orange and white-blue-orange corners and the white-blue, white-green and white-orange edges.

It's best for the beginner to think of this step as two separate steps, 4a and 4b.

Step 4a

First focus on getting one corner and it's two adjacent edges in position. The same techniques you use in step 1 and 2 can be used, but since you can only turn two sides, more manouvering is needed. To do what you want, you first have to move the pieces in a position where the desired turns can be made on the two free sides.

Make sure to only turn the two unsolved sides! It can be easy to get lost and start turning other sides. Keep a firm grip around the 2x2x3 with one hand.

Note that you now have two completed 2x2x3 blocks! Remember which of them you started with. If you accidentally start using the other, bad edges will reappear, and you have to go back to Step 3. A firm grip of the 2x2x3 is at its most important now! You can also use tape to make it temporarily unmovable.

Step 4b

Putting the final 2 pieces in place without breaking anything is almost claustrophobic (there are a few other options (explained below)). Since you can't break up the 2x2x1 block you made in 4a, you have no choices in how to move the white layer. You must wiggle it back and forth, 1/4 turn each time. So your only degree of freedom is to choose one of three possible turns with the red layer every other turn!

The normal way of doing this is to join the two pieces in the upper layer, and then put the pair in place, as in these examples (which are the continuations of the examples above).

A good thing about step 4 is that the (sometimes many) turns can be done blindingly fast, since we only turn two sides, and never need to change grip.

Intermediate

If you can place the final corner by itself, that is often good.

There are easy ways to place the final edge, by very briefly breaking up our previous achievements. For the mirrored positions, almost identical sequences apply. Note that the second one is a variation of Allan™ from step 7!

Step 5

Now we're at the final layer. Here we do not think as much. We recognise patterns and apply rules.

When starting this step, you should have only one layer remain unsolved, and the edges in it already correctly twisted ("forming a cross"). In this step we will place the top corners correctly, nothing else. That means the red/blue/white corner should be between the red, blue and white centers, but it's red sticker does not have to be facing the red center. The corners normally look pretty unsolved after completing step 5, you have to inspect them to know they're right.

To do this we need a tool that moves the top corners without twisting the top edges. This tool is Niklas™, and you can see it to the right.

In the example, don't worry about how the corners get twisted, just note that the two white cornes swap position. (Turn 8 is just to align the corners to the centers to show clearly how the corners move. Niklas is a 7 turn sequence.)

Beginner

These are the odds:
1/6 of the time, the corners will already be correct. You can go to step 6.
1/6 of the time, two corners diagonally opposed will have switched positions.
4/6 of the time, two adjacent corners will have switched positions.

First we need to find which two corners (if any) that have switched positions. That's easy. Just turn the top layer until two corners are in correct positions. The two others are either correct or need swapping. There are only four positions to check.

Niklas™ will swap the two corners opposite the layer where you make its first move. For the diagonal case, two Niklas™es are needed. You can start with any Niklas™, and that will give you the adjacent case.

You can do this by just looking at the top layer corners, but I find it much easier to turn it so the colors match up with the rest of the cube. You waste a move but gain time.

Step 6

Beginner

So far we have the top edges twisted right, and the top corners placed right. The next step is twisting the corners right. This can be done using only the one simple move sequence below. I call it Sune™. It twists three of the four top corners. It also moves top edges, but we don't care about that yet.

The two animations shows both "mirrored" versions of Sune™. As you can see they're the same moves, just "mirrored". You need both. Note the the big X. That is the target sticker of the Sune™ (explained below).

Rule 1: With one correct corner, target as shown in the beginner section. This solves the corners and completes step 6!

Rule 2: With two correct corners, target one of the two non red stickers of a twisted corner. After the Sune™, there will be one correct corner. Use Rule 1 to solve it.

Rule 3: Three correct corners is impossible

Rule 4: Four correct corners is already solved.

Step 7

Only 12 possible positions remain. 1 of them is the solved case. Here is how to solve the 11 others:

Beginner

8 of the 12 have this position with three permutated edges (or it's mirror image). You have to learn the solution on the left (and its mirror image). For historical reasons, it is called Allan™.

If you get one of the other positions, you can just do Allan™, and you will be in a "single Allan™" position.

(An Allan™ can actually be done using only 2 Sune™, as seen to the right, if you really don't want to learn many move sequences).

Block building patterns

The core of this method is to build blocks. It is what steps 1, 2 and 4 are all about. This can be done intuitively, but with experience you will pick up some patterns you can immediately recognize, which is one of the keys to doing this fast.

Here are some of my favorite patterns. I hope they can be of help. I'll add some more when I think of good ones.