Who is the greatest speedcuber of all time?

So... who do you think takes the crown of the greatest speedcuber of all time?

I think the best speedcuber overall Erik Akkersdijk. I first noticed him with his 9.77 second solve. For single solves 9th in the world for the 3x3, 3rd in the World For the 4x4, and 1st in the world for the 5x5. For averages it is even better, 7th in the 3x3, the top in the 4x4, and for the 5x5 he is second only to Takayuki Ookusa. He is far and away the top in the world in the Megaminx in both single solve and average (someday soon he will get a sub-minute solve)

Specifically for the 3x3 it would definitely be Yu Nakajima. 8.72 (twice), and an 11.28 average of 5. (Not to mention that his 11.28 average did NOT contain either one of his 8.72 solves.)

Who do you guys think is the best?

EDIT: I hear alot of people talking about the founders and influences of the speedcubing community rather than the fastest contenders. This is perfectly fine.

In this sport, the turnover rate is so high that it's hard to crown a greatest speedcuber of all time. Several years ago I would have said Macky, no question, but faster cubers have since broken his records. Wait a few more years and the current stars will be has-beens as even faster kids catch up and overtake them.

No doubt, it's me.

There are more ways to measure 'the greatest' than simply ability and speed.

Who has influenced the sport the most etc?

How about Jessica Fridrich and Lars Petrus?

Todd said:

There are more ways to measure 'the greatest' than simply ability and speed.

Who has influenced the sport the most etc?

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Harris Chan is no doubt the best in that manner.
Harris Chan > Yu Nakajima.
Why?
He may not have official times faster than Yu, but he very friendly and actually is on the internet, while Yu does not reply to comments often or post here often. But this is getting off topic. I still respect Yu though xD

Influenced the sport? How about the founders of the WCA, the people who brought competitive speedcubing back? Without them everyone would just be sitting at home solving cubes.

Too many names to mention. For me the most influential cubers of all time to our sport are Ron van Bruchem and Tyson Mao. I mean seriously, would our sport/hobby be anywhere near as popular or as big as it is today without those guys?

--edit--
Shelley you posted between the time I read this thread, and typed my post! Beaten to the punch!
--edit--

On a more personal level, the most influential speedcubers to my speedcubing are Jessica Fridrich and Dan Knights. Jessica for inventing her method and for responding to all my noob questions about speedcubing when I first started ;-) Also Dan Knights for really turning the Fridrich method into a modern speedcubing method, and inspiring me to improve my own times, as well as putting up with numerous noob questions from me ;-)

Chris

yeah, i think the pioneers and those who are instrumental to the development of cubing in general and the like should be recognized more than those who are fast...

hawkmp4 said:

How about Jessica Fridrich and Lars Petrus?

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I agree - I would also say Tyson / Toby Mao for bring the sport to a wider audience with various TV shows and the movie The Pursuit of Happyness - many people wouldnt even know it was a sport if it wasnt for this.

Lotsofsloths said:

He may not have official times faster than Yu, but he very friendly and actually is on the internet, while Yu does not reply to comments often or post here often. But this is getting off topic. I still respect Yu though xD

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There is a very good reason why Yu doesn't post here very often - he doesn't speak much english! I'm sure he is very friendly with all his Japanese buddies.

Lotsofsloths said:

Todd said:

There are more ways to measure 'the greatest' than simply ability and speed.

Who has influenced the sport the most etc?

Click to expand...

Harris Chan is no doubt the best in that manner.
Harris Chan > Yu Nakajima.
Why?
He may not have official times faster than Yu, but he very friendly and actually is on the internet, while Yu does not reply to comments often or post here often. But this is getting off topic. I still respect Yu though xD

Click to expand...

Because he doesn't know much english. You ever notice how he has to use a translator to put up video descriptions? Plus, who cares about us enough to create a website. Look at Harris, he tries to start one every summer but gives up.

Erik A. influenced me the most. When I fisrt saw his sub-10 and how cool he was on the forums, I immediately started looking up to him.

the person who had the greatest influence on me was *sigh* Matyas Kuti.

however i agree that those who have had the greatest influence on speedcubing as a whole are Tyson and Toby Mao, RVB, and everyone who organized/attended WC 2003.

"Greatest" is such a vague word :S It can mean countless, important/significant, absolute/profound, famous/eminent/distinguished/impressive.

pcharles93 said:

Lotsofsloths said:

Todd said:

There are more ways to measure 'the greatest' than simply ability and speed.

Who has influenced the sport the most etc?

Click to expand...

Harris Chan is no doubt the best in that manner.
Harris Chan > Yu Nakajima.
Why?
He may not have official times faster than Yu, but he very friendly and actually is on the internet, while Yu does not reply to comments often or post here often. But this is getting off topic. I still respect Yu though xD

Click to expand...

Because he doesn't know much english. You ever notice how he has to use a translator to put up video descriptions? Plus, who cares about us enough to create a website. Look at Harris, he tries to start one every summer but gives up.

Click to expand...

Fine, then I shall finish it for once! I find that the reason that I didn't finish is that all the algos I use is quite typical (well, may be one or two that aren't too common but it's not that great anyway). But I am writing an article to be published on the canadiancubing.com, hopefully before summer ends, and after NOS.

And you have to realize, a lot of the algos Nakajima uses/has on his site came from Katsu too, but may be no one realized it (if you take a look at Katsu's PLL time attack videos, you'll find he uses quite similar fingertricks too). I think it's more of popularizing things that are already out there, sort of like an endorsement to some level.

Or maybe Yu spends his time practicing instead... haha.

Erik A. has influenced me in many ways as well as Dan Harris and his Cubestation. Macky was the one who got me into cubing.

Tyson, Ron, and the rest of the WCA organization team has worked very hard to promote the sport, so they deserve the most credit.

The person who had the most influence on me was... someone who now works on an organic vegetable farm and will most likely never solve the cube again.

most influential ?

The one who invented the word "speedcubing" ....that is Ron and Chris and Ron for starting the speedcubing community

most influential method?
for sure F2L, many cubers invented a F2L in parrallel and is considered the most easy to learn fast method.

well...what about Erno Rubik?
all of these people that have been mentioned wouldn't be the speedcubers they are today without him. He's the visionary that made speedcubing possible.

Greatest is a vague term. Most influential is, to me, "greater" than simply fast.

Jessica, Mark, Guus, Morwen, Herbert, Lars (both of them), Zbigniew, Tyson, Chris, Ton, Peter (both), Stefan (I spelled it right this time), Macky, Ron, Gilles, Erik, Yu, Harris, Jason, Frank, Dan (all), Edouard, Thibaut... the list is immense, they're all awesome in their own right.

I'm going to cast my vote for Ernő.



Edit: Possible new thread...

Who got the worst shaft? Terutoshi Ishigi. Google it.