2014 is the 40th anniversary
of the invention of the Rubik's Cube, the world's most popular toy, with over
350 million cubes sold since it was invented. There are no statistics on the
number of cubes that were purchased and remained forever unsolved, but solving
the cube is far from impossible. The world record holders can do it in under six seconds, and children as young as three can solve it.
To celebrate four decades of
the Rubik’s Cube there have been over 443 official cube competitions happening
around the world (from Ankara to Zonhoven). Speedcubes has now added South
Africa to that list and will host two official competitions, first in
Johannesburg at the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre on Sunday, 23rd
November (9am to 5pm) and then at the Science Centre in Cape Town on Sunday, 30th
November (9am to 5pm). R20 000-00 worth of prize money is up-for-grabs,
including for the youngest and oldest competitor at each event.
Feliks Zemdegs from
Melbourne and Mats Valk from Amsterdam are the current Speedcube world
champions and are both travelling to South Africa to compete at the
Johannesburg and Cape Town events. Feliks currently holds the world record for
solving the cube with an average time of 6.54 seconds, and Mats holds the record
for the fastest single time of 5.55 seconds. Both are absolutely passionate
about their craft and watching them ‘perform’ will be one of the highlights for
the two competitions.
Since the launch of the original
Rubik’s more complex versions have been invented. “We have over 40 different
cubes aside from the standard 3x3 cube. The most complex cube is the 11x11which
takes at least half an hour to solve, if you know what you are doing”, says Kim
Katz from Speedcubes. For those that love the standard 3x3, here are some of
the more interesting stats: world record for solving the cube with feet is
25.14 seconds; one-handed is 9.03s seconds and blindfolded is 23.19 seconds.
Join the world champions to
share the joy and competitiveness of cubing. The events are about each
participant reaching their personal best and having their time recorded with
the World Cube Association. The Cape Town Science Centre and Sci-Bono Discovery
Centre will be waiving entrance fees to the centres for the day to promote the
learning made possible by engaging with a timeless toy.
The South African events
are hosted by Speedcubes in partnership with Cybersmart, SACAP (The South
African College of Applied Psychology), 10X Investments and Eighty20.
Youtube links
Competitions
Johannesburg 23 November 2014
Sci-Bono Discovery Centre
Corner of Miriam Makeba
& President Street
Johannesburg
9am - 5pm
Cape Town 30 November 2014
Cape Town Science Centre
370B Main Road
Observatory
9am - 5pm
Issued on behalf of: Speedcubes
Issued by: liquidlingo
Communications
Contact: Jackie
Busch
082
376 4446
