Some time ago I organized a cubing-event in the quarter and presented the ‘algorithms’ – how move-sequences are called in the cuber-scene – to solve the rubik’s cube using the corners first method based on information provided by Victor Ortega. Here I present the material I developed in order to teach the people this method.
Why yet another method to solve the cube?
You might wonder what would be the motivation to learn this / another method to solving the cube. The main objective of this corner’s first method is to learn a method, which allows you to solve the cube in much shorter times than possible using the ‘Spiegel-Method’ which has been initially published by the german magazine ‘Der Speigel’ back in 1980. Most people solve the cube using this or derivived methods, which solve the cube layer by layer.
The price you pay when applying one of these methods which do not take the cube’s geometry into account (mathematical topology) is that you will need about 120 or more moves to solve the cube instead of 60-80, since solving the last layer you need long repetitive sequences just to permutate or swap edges or corners while simultaneously prevent already solved previous layers from being scrambled.
You have two options here:
- learn an algorithm taking into account cube geometry and end up with around 80 moves to solve the cube: learn the corners first method
- learn a layer-by-layer method where you have to apply moves repeatedly to permutate possible positions and/or orientations while accepting an average of 120: learn a LBL-method, i.e. the hamburger method, as presented below
One could still speed up LBL-methods by learning specific moves for specific constellations. My motivation was to learn as few as possible and to see how far I could get with the .
After practicing the corners first method for about some months for 1-2 hours per week I managed to solve the cube within 48 seconds. This is dead slow compared to real cracks, who can solve any cube within 3-4 seconds. And still, the limit I reached was not induced by the algorithm itself but rather by my halve-baked motivity. I think that with this algorithm and good coordination one could probably solve any cuve within about 30 seconds.
Of course, if you intend to become a speed-cuber, you won’t have a chance without learning hundreds or even thousands of sequences by heart. But if you, as I do, just want to learn a method which is fairly fast with the lowest learning-efforts, the corners first solution might be the method of your choice.
Corners First Solution
Here comes the documentation of the Method as a PDF:
Here in addition I have a powerpoint presentation which I used to step through the different phases of solving the cube. However, all information required to solve the cube using corners first is also contained in the PDF above.
Additional information can be found here.
Hamburger Solution
During corona lockdown my kids, 5 & 7 at age, learned to solve the cube using this method. It was here, whenI realized, that this method is easier to learn and memorize than the corners first method, especially for people who are inexperienced with the cube. Philipp, a friend of mine, produced an exceptional good video- and PDF-tutorial for this method and provides good mnemonics to help you memorize the moves.
The PDF containing the moves can be downloaded here:
https://gress.ly/rubik/rubik.pdf
The video tutorial can be seen here: