The Rubik’s Cube still turns heads!

First introduced in the 1980s, the Rubik’s Cube – which was thought to have fallen out of favour – now attracts more than 300,000 ‘cubers’ across the world. Every month, between 150 and 200 competitions are held across the globe, with national and international rankings up for grabs. In these competitions, concentration is at its peak and, around the tables, hands move at breakneck speed whilst eyes remain fixed on the small, multicoloured cubes. In this very particular world, algorithms reign supreme, and mastery of them is measured in fractions of a second.
But the original small cube, consisting of nine squares per face, has undergone a major transformation and now comes in hundreds of different models, shapes and levels of difficulty. Alongside the traditional 2×2 and 3×3 cubes, there are now the Megaminx, the Pyraminx and the Square-1, amongst others. The principle, however, remains the same: to arrange the colours on each face in the shortest possible time. Some even take the challenge a step further by solving the cube with just one hand or whilst blindfolded.

A passion turned into a competition

It was at the age of just 14 that Aimé Harnais Pettie founded Asso Cube in Guadeloupe, driven by his passion. The association now has around twenty members, and his mother, Angélique, has become its treasurer after she, too, fell in love with the famous puzzle. Both particularly appreciate the spirit of mutual support that prevails amongst the participants: everyone shares their algorithms and techniques to help others improve, but ultimately it remains, above all, a competition against oneself.
The association organises classes twice a month and also visits schools and toy shops, where it puts on demonstrations to introduce people to the discipline – for let’s not forget that the Rubik’s Cube, named after its inventor, Erno Rubik, was originally conceived to explore the movements of a three-dimensional structure, and later to help architecture students understand three-dimensional space. Beyond the timed challenge, the activity also calls upon memory, logic, spatial visualisation and the learning of precise sequences.
It was therefore as a mother-and-son duo that they organised this first competition on their home island.
On Saturday, at the vocational college, ten competitors went head-to-head, and the enthusiasm for the sport knew no bounds: four Americans had made the trip to face four Saint-Martinians, and of course Aimé and Angélique didn’t miss the chance to compete themselves.
They had to solve various versions of the Rubik’s Cube across seven events in the French section and six in the Dutch section. As there was only one participant in the blind 3×3 event – the American Mason Langenderfer – the round was ultimately presented as a demonstration. An impressive performance nonetheless: the cube was solved in 22.32 seconds. Impressive, but it’s true that the American dominated almost all the events!   

Results from the French side   

• 3×3 cube:
1st/ Mason Langenderfer (9.68 s)
2nd/ Javier Gonzalez-Napoleoni (10.42 s)
3rd/ Aimé Harnais-Pettie (15.83 s)
• 2×2 cube:
1st – Mason Langenderfer (2.66 s)
2nd – Aimé Harnais-Pettie (3.55 s)
3rd – Javier Gonzalez-Napoleoni (4.15 s)
• Square-1:
1/ Mason Langenderfer (16.97 s)
2/ Javier Gonzalez-Napoleoni (22.89 s)
3/ Aimé Harnais-Pettie (40.03 s)
• Megaminx:
1/ Javier Gonzalez-Napoleoni (54.19 s)
2/ Mason Langenderfer (55.65 s)
3/ Aimé Harnais-Pettie (2 min 19.21 s)
• 3×3 Cube (one-handed):
1/ Mason Langenderfer (13.78 s)
2/ Aimé Harnais-Pettie (31.69 s)
3/ Javier Gonzalez-Napoleoni (37.22 s)
• Pyraminx:
1/ Angelo Melgar (3.47 s)
2/ Mason Langenderfer (4.58 s)
3/ Aimé Harnais-Pettie (7.64 s)