World Cube Association

World Cube Association
AbbreviationWCA
Formation18 October 2004 (2004-10-18)
FoundersRon van Bruchem, Tyson Mao
TypeSport Association
HeadquartersLos Angeles, California, US
MembershipFree
Official language
English
Blake Thompson, Nick Silvestri, Abdullah Gulab
Main organ
Board
Staff3 Board of Directors,

11 Committee Leaders (including Board members as a whole),

464 WCA Delegates (excluding trainees),

112 Committee Members
Websiteworldcubeassociation.org

The World Cube Association (WCA) is the worldwide non-profit organization that regulates and holds competitions for mechanical puzzles that are operated by twisting groups of pieces, commonly known as twisty puzzles (a subcategory of combination puzzles). The most famous of those puzzles is the Rubik's Cube.[1][2][3] The WCA was founded by Ron van Bruchem of the Netherlands and Tyson Mao of the United States in 2004.[4][5] The goal of the World Cube Association is to have "more competitions in more countries with more people and more fun, under fair and equal conditions."[6] In 2017, they started work to become a non-profit organization and on 20 November 2017, the state of California accepted the initial registration of the World Cube Association.

The organization is run by the board members. It assigns different teams and committees as well as delegates who can organize official competitions. The presence of a delegate is required to make the competition official.[7] As of March 2026, over 282,000 people from around the world have participated in WCA competitions,[8] and over 16,600 competitions have been held.[9]

Board

Current WCA Board Members

As of 2025[6]

The WCA Board is responsible for leading the organization as a whole, and fulfilling any duties not fulfilled by other Teams, Committees, and Councils

Member Country Board member since
Blake Thompson United States July 2022[10]
Nick Silvestri United States June 2024[11]
Abdullah Gulab Pakistan July 2025[12]

Former WCA Board Members

Member Country Term
Gilles Roux France October 2004 – November 2008[13]
Ron van Bruchem Netherlands October 2004 – July 2018[14]
Masayuki Akimoto Japan September 2005[4] – January 2012
Tyson Mao United States October 2004 – August 2013[15]
Sébastien Auroux Germany July 2012[16] – February 2014[17]
Tim Reynolds United States July 2012[16] – December 2014[18]
Natán Riggenbach Peru September 2013[19] – August 2015[20]
Olivér Perge Hungary March 2015 – February 2016, July 2017[21]
Pedro Santos Guimarães Brazil March 2015 – July 2018[14]
Ilkyoo Choi South Korea September 2013[19] – July 2017[21]
Chris Hardwick United States July 2016[22] – November 2017[23]
Luis J. Iáñez Spain July 2016[22] – July 2018[14]
Alberto Pérez de Rada Fiol Spain November 2017[23] – November 2019[24]
Chris Wright United Kingdom September 2018[25] – September 2020[26]
Bob Burton United States November 2017[23] - November 2021[27]
Henrik Buus Aagaard Denmark November 2019[24] - November 2021[27]
Saransh Grover India September 2020[28] - September 2022[29]
Callum James Goodyear United Kingdom September 2020[28] - January 2023[30]
Somya Srivastava India July 2022[10] - January 2024[31]
Michael Chai United States July 2023[32] - October 2024[33]
Ethan Pride Australia July 2019[34] - July 2025[35]
Dan Smith United States January 2025[36] - March 2026[37]
Kerrie Jarman Australia July 2023[38] - March 2026[39]

Structure of the WCA

WCA Marketing Team

The WCA Marketing Team (WMT) is responsible for managing WCA relationships with external partners as well as working closely with the WCA Brand. They are currently seeking help with WCA Merchandise, Sponsorships, and Contracts.[40]

WCA Software Team

The WCA website is an open source project on GitHub.[41]

The Software Team develops new software for various tasks within the WCA whenever needed. Thus, they created an app simplifying translating the website, to engage more people translating into their language. On 21 August 2012 the WCA Workbook assistant was released.[42]

History

Pre-history (1999-2003)

In 1999, speedcubers gathered on the Internet via Rubik's Games, a computer game with an electronic version of the Rubik's Cube. Chris Hardwick from Raleigh, NC founded the Yahoo! Group "Speedsolvingrubikscube" and the Unofficial World Records, a place where cubers could post their personal best times. Ron van Bruchem started speedcubing.com together with his friend Ton Dennenbroek, an avid puzzle collector.[43]

Founding (2003-2004)

Because the cubers were living all over the world, they wanted to organize a competition at which they could all meet. In 2001, plans to organise a World Championship in New York were underway but it had to be called off due to safety concerns at the time. In 2003, under the guidance of Dan Gosbee, they successfully organized the Rubik's Cube World Championship in Toronto.[43] This first modern-age Rubik's Cube competition was a success, but there were many issues, largely due to the lack of any regulations. After the World Championship, van Bruchem and Tyson Mao started organizing competitions in the Netherlands and Germany, as well as at Caltech in the United States. In 2004, they started the World Cube Association, which today has held competitions in more than 100 countries.[43]

After the founding of the WCA, most competitions in the United States happened in prestigious colleges, though many happened in smaller high schools, middle schools, hotels, malls, amusement parks and other venues internationally. Some of the first official events included most current ones (see Events). However, 6x6, 7x7, and Skewb weren't events when the organization was founded, whereas Magic, Master Magic, and 3x3 with Feet were but are no longer events.[44]

Events

Currently, the WCA offers competitions in 17 events. Not all of them are offered at every competition, but they are usually all offered at national, continental, and global championships. The events are:[45][7]

Additionally, some events have had their official WCA event status removed. They are:[44][46]

World Records

The following are the official speedcubing world records approved by the WCA as of 7 March 2026.[47]

Note: For averages of 5 solves, the best time and the worst time are dropped, and the mean of the remaining 3 solves is taken. For events where only 3 solves are done, the mean of all 3 is taken.

Event Type Result Person Competition (Date(s)) Round Results
3x3x3 Cube Single 2.76 Teodor Zajder GLS Big Cubes Gdańsk 2026 (7-8 February) 4.99 / 5.36 / (5.76) / (2.76) / 5.34
Average 3.84 Xuanyi Geng (耿暄一) Beijing Winter 2026 (10-11 January) (5.09) / 3.96 / 3.71 / 3.84 / (3.37)
2x2x2 Cube Single 0.39 Ziyu Ye (叶梓渝) Hefei Open 2025 (25 October) (1.94) / 1.31 / 1.38 / 1.46 / (0.39)
Average 0.86 Sujan Feist Kids America Christmas Clash OH 2025 (13 December) 0.86 / 1.02 / (0.56) / (1.42) / 0.70
4x4x4 Cube Single 15.18 Tymon Kolasiński Spanish Championship 2025 (6-8 December) 20.27 / (22.54) / 19.57 / (15.18) / 20.34
Average 18.56 Seoul Winter 2026 (17-18 January) 19.16 / 18.01 / 18.51 / (21.64) / (16.09)
5x5x5 Cube Single 30.45 Rubik's WCA Asian Championship 2024 (1-4 November) 35.94 / (42.62) / 36.67 / 40.82 / (30.45)
Average 34.31 Rubik's WCA World Championship 2025 (3-6 July) 36.46 / (36.67) / (31.67) / 33.11 / 33.36
6x6x6 Cube Single 57.69 Max Park Burbank Big Cubes 2025 (26 April) 57.69 / 1:11.14 / 1:09.39
Mean 1:05.04 Nub Open Trabuco Hills Fall 2025 (4 October) 1:04.60 / 1:04.80 / 1:05.73
7x7x7 Cube Single 1:33.48 Nub Open Trabuco Hills Fall 2025 (4 October) 1:33.48 / 1:41.36 / 1:35.75
Mean 1:36.86 Nub Open Trabuco Hills Fall 2025 (4 October) 1:33.48 / 1:41.36 / 1:35.75
3x3x3 Blindfolded Single 11.67 Charlie Eggins Cubing at The Cube 2026 (9-11 January) 14.34 / (DNF) / 13.95 / 13.85 / (11.67)
Mean 14.05 Tommy Cherry Rubik's WCA European Championship 2024 (25-28 July) 13.48 / 14.42 / 14.24
Charlie Eggins Cubing at The Cube 2026 (9-11 January) 14.34 / (DNF) / 13.95 / 13.85 / (11.67)
3x3x3 Fewest Moves Single 16 Sebastiano Tronto FMC 2019 (15–16 June) 16 / 26 / 24
Aedan Bryant Ashfield Summer Challenge 2024 (23 June) 26 / 16 / 26
Levi Gibson 26 / 16 / 24
Jacob Sherwen Brown Rubik's UK Championship FMC 2024 (26 October) 33 / 31 / 16
Mean 19.67 Radomił Baran 5BLD Masters Opole 2025 (1-2 March) 22 / 20 / 17
3x3x3 One-Handed Single 5.66 Dhruva Sai Meruva Swiss Nationals 2024 (4-6 October) (12.25) / 9.77 / 10.02 / (5.66) / 8.93
Average 7.72 Luke Garrett Chicagoland Newcomers 2025 (9 March) 8.57 / 7.13 / (6.82) / 7.45 / (12.80)
Clock Single 1.53 Lachlan Gibson Hasty Hastings 2025 (27 September) 3.52 / 2.33 / (7.02) / (1.53) / 3.08
Average 2.24 Brendyn Dunagan Temecula Valley Winter 2025 (13 December) 2.02 / 3.27 / 1.93 / 2.27 / 2.43
Megaminx Single 21.99 Timofei Tarasenko Tashkent Open 2025 (6-7 December) (21.99) / (27.44) / 23.81 / 23.67 / 25.65
Average 24.38
Pyraminx Single 0.73 Simon Kellum Middleton Meetup Thursday 2023 (21 December) 4.94 / 2.36 / 1.76 / (0.73) / (DNF)
Average 1.14 Lingkun Jiang (姜凌坤) Zhengzhou Zest 2025 (27 December) 1.04 / (3.22) / (0.97) / 1.21 / 1.16
Skewb Single 0.73 Vojtěch Grohmann Głuszyca Open 2026 (7-8 March) (3.25) / 1.57 / 1.70 / (0.73) / 1.56
Average 1.37 Ignacy Samselski Cube Factory League Justynów 2025 (14-15 June) 1.22 / 1.43 / (1.16) / 1.46 / (2.93)
Square-1 Single 3.40 Hassan Khanani Steel City Sprint PA 2026 (24 January) 7.11 / 5.98 / (3.40) / (8.61) / 7.70
Average 4.63 Sameer Aggarwal Cubing in Southern Oregon 2025 (1 February) (8.08) / 6.20 / (3.42) / 3.81 / 3.88
4x4x4 Blindfolded Single 51.96 Stanley Chapel 4BLD in a Madison Hall 2023 (28-29 January) 1:17.62 / DNF / 51.96
Mean 59.39 New York Multimate PBQ II 2025 (13-15 June) 57.83 / 1:04.79 / 55.54
5x5x5 Blindfolded Single 1:58.59 Multi Mayhem VA 2026 (2-4 January) DNF / DNF / 2:02.28
Mean 2:27.63 Michigan Cubing Club Epsilon 2019 (14 December) 2:32.48 / 2:28.80 / 2:21.62
3x3x3 Multi-Blind Single 63/65 58:23 Graham Siggins Please Be Quiet Reno 2025 (18 October) 63/65 58:23 / 58/68 1:00:00

World Championships

Every two years starting from 2003, the WCA holds the Rubik's Cube World Championships. The Championship ultimately determines the world champion of the puzzle. Every official event is held at the Championship. The Rubik's Cube World Championship requires extremely careful planning by several volunteers, as well as a large financial commitment to reserve the venue and make necessary preparations.[6] The latest championship was held in Seattle, United States from 3 to 6 July 2025. The next Championship is scheduled to be held in Uppsala, Sweden from 22 to 25 July 2027.[48] The 2021 World Championship was to be held in Almere, Amsterdam from 28 to 31 December 2021, already delayed[49] from its initial July dates due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before being ultimately cancelled by the association in August 2021.[50]

Championship Year Host Date(s) Nations Puzzles Events 3x3 Winner Average Ref
I 1982 Budapest 5 June 19 1 1 Minh Thai 22.95[note 1] [51]
II 2003 Toronto 23–24 August 15 9 14 Dan Knights 20.00 [52]
III 2005 Lake Buena Vista 5–6 November 16 9 15 Jean Pons 15.10 [53]
IV 2007 Budapest 5–7 October 28 10 17 Yu Nakajima 12.46 [54]
V 2009 Düsseldorf 9–11 October 32 12 19 Breandan Vallance 10.74 [55]
VI 2011 Bangkok 14–16 October 35 12 19 Michał Pleskowicz 8.65 [56]
VII 2013 Las Vegas 26–28 July 35 10 17 Feliks Zemdegs 8.18 [57]
VIII 2015 São Paulo 17–19 July 37 11 18 Feliks Zemdegs 7.56 [58]
IX 2017 Paris 13–16 July 64 11 18 Max Park 6.85 [59]
X 2019 Melbourne 11–14 July 52 11 18 Philipp Weyer 6.74 [60]
- 2021 Almere Cancelled - 11 17 - - [61]
XI 2023 Incheon 12–15 August 57 11 17 Max Park 5.31 [62]
XII 2025 Seattle 3–6 July 74 11 17 Yiheng Wang 4.23 [63]
XIII 2027 Uppsala 22–25 July - - - - - [64]
  1. ^ The 1982 World Championship used a Best Of 3 method to determine the winner, so Minh Thai's winning time is actually a single time.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Bowman, Emma (20 June 2023). "He once had motor skill challenges. Now he's the world's fastest Rubik's cube solver". NPR. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  2. ^ Walrath-Holdridge, Mary. "Seeking therapy, they found a Rubik's Cube community instead. It saved their son's life". USA TODAY. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  3. ^ Branch, John (15 August 2018). "Children of the Cube". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  4. ^ a b "New WCA board member". World Cube Association. 24 September 2005. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  5. ^ "The 3 Best Speed Cubes (And Why the Rubik's Cube Isn't One)". The New York Times. 19 November 2025. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  6. ^ a b c "About the WCA". World Cube Association. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
  7. ^ a b "WCA Regulations". Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  8. ^ "WCA database export". World Cube Association. Retrieved 5 January 2026. See in table "Persons". Multiply the page count by 10, as there are 10 competitors per page.
  9. ^ "Number of Competitions". WCA Statistics. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  10. ^ a b "Changes in the Board of Directors – July 2022". World Cube Association. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  11. ^ Ali Behzaad, Zain (1 June 2024). "Changes in the WCA Board of Directors (June 2024)". World Cube Association.
  12. ^ "Changes in the WCA Board of Directors (June 2025)". World Cube Association. 6 June 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  13. ^ "Gilles Roux retires as member of WCA Board". World Cube Association. 15 October 2008. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  14. ^ a b c "Changes in the WCA Board". World Cube Association. 1 July 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  15. ^ "Tyson Mao retires as member of WCA Board". World Cube Association. 1 August 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  16. ^ a b "Tim Reynolds and Sébastien Auroux in WCA Board". World Cube Association. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  17. ^ "Sébastien Auroux retires as WCA board member". World Cube Association. 24 February 2014. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  18. ^ "Tim Reynolds retires as WCA Board Member". World Cube Association. 19 December 2014. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  19. ^ a b "New WCA Board Members". World Cube Association. 19 September 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  20. ^ "Natán Riggenbach resigns from the WCA Board". World Cube Association. 5 August 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  21. ^ a b "Changes in the Board of Directors (WCA Board)". World Cube Association. 1 July 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  22. ^ a b "New WCA Board Members". World Cube Association. 4 July 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  23. ^ a b c "Changes in the Board of Directors – November 2017". World Cube Association. 10 November 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  24. ^ a b "Changes in the Board of Directors (November 2019) | World Cube Association". www.worldcubeassociation.org. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  25. ^ "Changes in the Board of Directors – September 2018". World Cube Association. 2 September 2018. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  26. ^ "Changes in the Board of Directors – September 2020". World Cube Association. 1 September 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  27. ^ a b Clement, Lauren (9 November 2021). "Changes in the Board of Directors (November 2021)". World Cube Association.
  28. ^ a b Reis, Rui (1 September 2020). "Changes in the WCA Board of Directors". World Cube Association.
  29. ^ Clement, Lauren (10 September 2022). "Changes in the Board of Directors (September 2022)". World Cube Association.
  30. ^ Garriga Gea, Albert (2 February 2023). "Changes in the Board of Directors (January 2023)". World Cube Association.
  31. ^ Ali Behzaad, Zain (25 January 2024). "Changes to the WCA Board of Directors (January 2024)". World Cube Association.
  32. ^ "Changes in the WCA Board of Directors (July 2023) | World Cube Association". www.worldcubeassociation.org. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  33. ^ Ali Behzaad, Zain (22 October 2024). "Changes to the WCA Board of Directors (October 2024)". World Cube Association.
  34. ^ Reis, Rui (3 July 2019). "Changes to the Board of Directors (July 2019)". World Cube Association.
  35. ^ Renatus, Kyle Kayden (6 June 2025). "Changes to the WCA Board of Directors (July 2025)". World Cube Association.
  36. ^ Ali Behzaad, Zain (4 January 2025). "Changes in the WCA Board of Directors (January 2025)". World Cube Association. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  37. ^ Renatus, Kyle Kayden (10 March 2026). "Dan Smith Appointed Chief Operating Officer of the World Cube Association". World Cube Association. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  38. ^ "Changes in the WCA Board of Directors (July 2023)". World Cube Association. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  39. ^ Tao, Sherry (15 March 2026). "Changes in the Board of Directors (March 2026)". World Cube Association. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  40. ^ "WCA Marketing Team Appliances & About". World Cube Association. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  41. ^ "WCA Github Repository". World Cube Association. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  42. ^ "WCA Workbook Assistant versions". World Cube Association. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  43. ^ a b c "History‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌Speedcubing‌ ‌Community‌ ‌&‌ ‌WCA‌ | World Cube Association". www.worldcubeassociation.org. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  44. ^ a b "WCA Regulations History". World Cube Association. Retrieved 1 May 2021. WCA Updated Regulations Page
  45. ^ "How to Find Rubik's Cube Competitions | Intro to WCA Competitions". SpeedCubeShop. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  46. ^ "World Cube Association Competition regulations, history of changes". Archived from the original on 13 July 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2021. Final version for 2007: Article 9a/d
  47. ^ "Records | World Cube Association". www.worldcubeassociation.org. Retrieved 7 March 2026.
  48. ^ "WCA World Championship 2027 Host City Announcement (July 2025) | World Cube Association". www.worldcubeassociation.org. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  49. ^ "Postponement of WCA World Championship 2021 (December 2020) | World Cube Association".
  50. ^ "WCA World Championship 2021 Cancellation | World Cube Association".
  51. ^ "World Rubik's Cube Championship 1982". World Cube Association. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  52. ^ "World Rubik's Games Championship 2003". World Cube Association. Archived from the original on 25 January 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  53. ^ "Rubik's World Championship 2005". World Cube Association. Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  54. ^ "World Rubik's Cube Championship 2007". World Cube Association. Archived from the original on 14 December 2007. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  55. ^ "World Rubik's Cube Championship 2009". World Cube Association. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  56. ^ "World Rubik's Cube Championship 2011". World Cube Association. Archived from the original on 22 December 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  57. ^ "World Rubik's Cube Championship 2013". World Cube Association. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  58. ^ "World Rubik's Cube Championship 2015". World Cube Association. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  59. ^ "World Rubik's Cube Championship 2017". World Cube Association. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  60. ^ "WCA World Championship 2019". World Cube Association. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  61. ^ "WCA World Championship 2021 Cancellation". World Cube Association. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  62. ^ "Rubik's WCA World Championship 2023". World Cube Association. 28 June 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  63. ^ "Rubik's WCA World Championship 2025". World Cube Association. 20 August 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  64. ^ "WCA World Championship 2027 Host City Announcement (July 2025)". World Cube Association. 6 July 2025. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
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