Hello, everyone.

Cubic (Leonardo) from London, England, here. I am completely new to the world of speed solving, but not to solving the cube. My first cube was bought then they were released the first time round (no logo on the white centre in those days!)

I was taught to solve it by a classmate in the school playground using a typical beginner's method - firs one side, then the middle row, and finally the last side. I learned to solve from the top down, not the bottom up, so it's been a shock to see I've been solving the not only the slow way, but the 'wrong' way! Typically it takes me around 2 minutes to solve. Part of the reason is that the algorithms I was taught are not very efficient... So I decided I would try to become faster. I also decided to fish out all my other Rubik's Cube Puzzles - Rubik's Revenge (4x4x4) and Rubik's Challenge (two fused 3x3x3 cubes). I can solve the Revenge (very slowly), but have never been able to complete the Challenge as the algorithm's I know are not suitable. So I began to investigate other methods.

And that what when I came across the realm of speed solving, and decided to give it a try. I bought myself three cubes to take away on holiday - a Lun Hui, GuHong+ (purple stickers), and ZhanChi - from a UK company (not the cheapest, but next day delivery, and they answered my emails at 10:30p.m.) I printed off a guide on the Fridrich method, and gave up after four days! Completing the F2L is relatively easy (tIhough 'm still very slow), but all those algorithms for OLL and PLL is too much for me. Instead I've moved to the Petrus method which I find much more intuitive and I like the way I orient the edge pieces before completing the F2L. Plus, there are fewer algorithms!

So that's my journey... Incidentally, I'm not nearer to solving the Rubik's Challenge! On the upside, I have learned to solve the cube using the beginner's method upside down and starting with the white face (though my preference is for green)

Looking forward to reaching sub-60 once I've mastered Petrus.

Cubic (Leonardo)