first Czech national championship May 11, 1982
- three rounds, 5 best went into the finals
- J. Fridrich won the first and second rounds; M. Goljan won the last third round
- J. Fridrich's "second time of 23.55" (out of 3 attempts) got the first place, Mirek was second trailing by ~2 sec, Ludek was third
second Czech national championship March ?, 1983
- Robert Pergl won all three rounds, with a best time of 17.04
local contest (dutch?) September 1981
- Guus R.S. was 2nd with 40 sec, Marc Waterman won with 36 sec
Dutch Championships April 29 1982 in Utrecht
- new cubes and each competitor had 3 attempts, Guus R.S. won with 29 sec, Marc Watermna got 31 (32?) sec, Daan Krammer got 3rd with 33 sec
1982 world champs, budapest, june 5
# Name Best Country Times Age Occupation
1 Minh Thai 22.95 USA 27.16 22.95 27.97 16y Student
2 Guus Razoux Schultz 24.32 Netherlands 24.32 31.51 26.15 17y Student
3 Zoltán Lábas 24.49 Hungary 24.49 27.58 28.21 26y Student
4 Lars Petrus 24.57 Sweden 35.42 33.11 24.57 21y Student
5 Ken`ichi Ueno 24.91 Japan 27.56 27.90 24.91 18y Student
6 Jerome Jean-Charles** 25.06 France 27.87 31.18 25.06 26y Journalist
7 Julian Chilvers 25.95 Great Britain 30.59 25.95 27.46 15y Student
8 Duc Trinh 26.63 Canada 37.44 26.63 36.09 14y Student
9 Giuseppe Romeo 28.11 Italy 34.23 41.75 28.11 16y Student
10 Jiri Fridrich 29.11 Czechoslovakia 31.49 29.11 33.20 17y Student
11 Eduardo Valdivia Chacon 29.62 Peru 34.91 29.62 30.01 21y Student
12 Luc Van Laethem 29.73 Belgium 32.92 34.98 29.73 25y Student
13 Jozsef Borsos 30.02 Yugoslavia 36.75 35.33 30.02 16y Student
14 Roland Brinkmann 30.59 West Germany 34.80 30.59 32.32 17y Student
15 Jari Sandqvist 31.17 Finland 31.17 DNF 31.56 21y Advertising Representative
16 Manuel Galrinho 37.11 Portugal 40.74 48.67 37.11 24y Teacher
17 Piotr Serbenski* 37.50 Poland 44.40 37.50 40.86 17y Student
18 Svilen Tenev 47.29 Bulgaria 51.88 47.29 47.35 18y Student
19 Josef Trajber 50.16 Austria 50.16 54.93 58.99 25y Computer Programmer
*misspelled in WCAdb
**Jérôme?
Trajber (Austria): Best time 29
Luc van Laethem (Bel): Best 17, won the Belgium champs with 34
Svilen Tenev (Bulgaria): Best 40
Duc Trinh (Can): Won the Canadian champs with 26
Fridrich (Cze): Won Czech champ with 23.55.
Jari Sandquist (Fin): Best 19
Jerome Jean Charles (France): Won French champ with 25.60
Julian Chilvers (Great Britain): Won British Isles Championship with 25.79
Guus Razoux Schultz (Hol): Best 18
Zoltan Labas (Hun): won champs in 36.9 sec avergae
Giuseppe Romeo (Italy): Won Italian champs with 26
Ken'ichi Ueno (Jap): Best 22, won Japanese champs with 42.30
Eduardo Valdivia Chacon (Peru): Best official time 26.80
Piotr Serbenski (Poland): Best 28.50
Lars Petrus (Swe): Recorded 24 in Swedish champs
Minh Thai (USA): On That's Incredible 26.06
Roland Brinkman (Ger): Won German champs with 19
Jozsef Borsos (Yu): Winning times in Yugoslavian champs: 43, 38, 28
Portugal master: no info provided
competition in Imperial Hotel at Tokyo Jan. 31, 1981
- sponsored by Japan Cubist Club
- 400 entries and 73 passed the qualifying round, three attempts, new cubes
- winner was 16y student Hideki Kitajima, with times of 62, 46, 49 seconds (average: 52 1/3 seconds).
Rainer Seitz organised a Guiness Book of Records bash in Munich on 6-13 March 81 at the Olympia Shopping Centre. The Centre is connected with the German publisher of the Guiness Book). The best times were 38 seconds, again due to new cubes, achieved by Ronald Brinkmann and Jury Fröschl, an 18 year old Munich boy.
Ideal has begun a world championship, though it hasn't yet received much attention in the UK, where the Daily Mirror is co-sponsoring it. Mal Davies (of whom more later) has kindly passed on the first four (of eight) regional results.
Edinburgh - Alex McNair, Edinburgh 48.85 sec
Manchester - Edgar Whitley, Colwyn Bay 39.98
York - Brian Storey, Sunderland 41.76
Midlands - Nicolas Hammond, Nottingham 35.38
Bristol - Julian Bush, Bristol 52.09
Great Yarmouth - Julian Chilvers 38.67
Southampton - Christopher Lennon, Portsmouth 55.35
London (1st trial) -Ben Jones, St Nicholas-at-Wade 46.12
(In third position was Debbie Wade, fastest girl at 49.57; and in the lead at lunch time with 61.71 sec was Benjamin Ealovega of Haslemere, Surrey, age 9, who says he won't subscribe to Cubic Circular unless this is mentioned!)
The rules allow a 15 second look at the Cube on a table. An automatic timer records the time from when it is picked up to when it is set down. Only one trial is allowed in the regionals, but there will be three trials at the final which will be on 12 December in London. New Cubes are used which are described as randomised by a computer and contestants pick one from a bin full. There will be a world championship in Monte Carlo next year.
The French national finals were held recently and Jérôme Jean-Charles won with a time of 25.6 seconds. The New England regional was won by a 9 year old boy named Jonathan Cheyer in 48.31 seconds.
Lars Petrus says:
BTW, you should have seen the cubes for the Swedish 1981 competition.
I won that one in over 40 seconds!!
Julian Chilvers, age 15, from Norwich, won the UK Championship on 12 December. He clocked 25.79 seconds, a world record, on his third and final trial. He also had the second best time, 28.36 seconds, on the second trial. He reports that he uses ordinary car grease as a lubricant. He does the corners first, then completes most of the top and bottom, then the middle. One contestant's cube flew apart. Another said he didn't like Vaseline as it ran out when his cube 'got hot'. How fast was he turning it?? One contestant had sweatbands on his arms, but he confessed it was mostly to frighten the opposition. Nial Ferguson, the Irish champion, was, at age 20, the oldest competitor. He wore gloves between trials to keep his hands warm.
The US Championship was done on a TV show "That's Incredible", recorded on 13 November and broadcast on 7 December. Minh Thai, a Vietnamese refugee, age 16, won in a time of 26.04 seconds. The first prize was $2000 plus the trip to the World Championships. Second place went to Jeffrey Varasano with a time of 28.96 seconds. Jeffrey holds the US record with a time of 24.67 seconds in the Eastern Regional Competition.
The Hungarian Championship was held on 27 September 1981. A local elimination round gave 300 competitors and a second round on 20 September left 128, classified as under 15, 15 to 18, over 18, containing 58, 31 and 39 competitors. Three trials were made and the average time taken. The best five in each class then formed a three trials, average time, final. Zoltán Lábas won the over 18 class with an average of 37.1 sec and the final with 36.9 sec.
The Czech competition, held on 11 May, had three categories: children up to 10 years; women and girls; men and boys. In the semifinals they had seven trials and the middle five were averaged, but the finals were for best time out of three trials. Jiri Fridrich, 17, of Ostrava-Poruba, was first in the semifinals with an average of 32.24 seconds and in the finals with a best time of 23.55 seconds.
I have only heard of one Rubik's Revenge (= 43) Competition. This was organised by the Daily Star, a UK newspaper, on 25 June 1983. Julian Chilvers, the UK Rubik's Cube Champion, was best with a time of 119 sec. He won a Ford Fiesta 950 painted all over with cubes. Unfortunately, he's too young to drive and so he sold it.
Ideal Toys held the first UK competition in 1981 less than a year after the cube was launched (sponsored by the Daily Mirror). The following times were recorded in the regional championships;
Edinburgh heat - Alex McNair from Edinburgh in 48.85 secs, Manchester heat - Edgar Whitley from Colwyn Bay in 39.98 secs, York heat - Brian Storey from Sunderland in 41.76 secs, Midlands heat Nicolas Hammond from Nottingham in 35.38 secs, Bristol heat - Julian Bush from Bristol in 52.09 secs, Great Yarmouth heat - Julian Chilvers from Great Yarmouth in 38.67 secs, Southampton heat - Christopher Lennon from Portsmouth in 55.35 secs, London heat - Ben Jones from St Nicholas-at-Wade in 46.12 secs.
<+Kirjava> 12 december 1981; Julian Chilvers, 15 does a greased Rubik.s cube in 25.79 seconds
United States cube contest results:
Results of the First Rubik Cube-A-Thon National Finals
------------------------------------------------------
Los Angeles, California on Nov. 13, 1981
Broadcast on "That's Incredible" TV show on Dec. 7, 1981
1981 National Championships Final Standings & Times
1. Minh Thai Los Angeles, CA 26.04 s
2. Jeff Varasano Bronx, NY 28.96 s
3. Lance Ahrens Massapequa Park, NY 30.83 s
4. Michael Mandell Oak Park, IL 34.11 s
5. Kris Wunderlich DeKalb, IL 35.30 s
6. Holden Thorpe Fayetteville, NC 52.05 s
7. Tom Nierman Columbia, IL 55.39 s
8. Jonathan Cheyer Sharon, MA DNF in 60 s
9. David Conrady Denton, TX DNF in 60 s
Results of the First Regional Cube-A-Thon (Top 3)
-------------------------------------------------
Place Name Age Hometown Time
----- ---- --- -------- ----
Boston MA July 25, 1981
(Boston contest was unique in being divided into 2 age groups)
1. Jonathan Cheyer 9 Sharon Mass. 48.31
2. Jeff Varasano 15 Bronx NY 51.16
3. Peter Pezaris 11 Winchester Mass. 51.59
1. Holden Thorpe 17 Fayetteville NC 1:09.64
2. Charles Haines -- Lexington Mass. 1:09.83
3. Rick Miranda -- Bedford Mass. 1:17.26
Chicago IL Sept. 26, 1981
1. Kris Wunderlich 16 DeKalb IL 37.72
2. Dave Naehring 17 Naperville IL 51.52
3. Kent Johnson 18 Wheaton IL 53.81
New Jersey Oct. 3, 1981
1. Jeffrey Varasano 15 Bronx NY 24.67
2. Robert Jen 15 Monroe CT 27.41
3. Lance Ahrens 15 Massaqequa Park, NY 37.34
Atlanta GA Oct. 10, 1981
1. Michael Mandel 13 Oak Park MI 43.48
2. Edward Earl 17 Spartanburg SC 52.64
3. James Nygaard 15 Atlanta GA 57.51
St. Louis MO Oct. 17, 1981
1. Tom Nierman 16 Columbia IL 36.80
2. Shelden Levenstein 19 Glenwood IL 46.77
3. Roger Schlafin 25 Alton IL 54.77
Houston TX Oct. 25, 1981
1. Lance Ahrens 15 Massapequa Park, NY 33.48
2. Brian Graham 15 Houston TX 38.52
3. Paul Schliesing 16 Houston TX 39.80
Dallas TX Oct. 24, 1981
1. David Conrady 19 Denton TX 57.06
2. Lee Pomerantz 16 Dallas TX 59.44
3. Alex Zocchi 15 Dallas TX 1:06.41
Los Angeles CA Oct. 31, 1981
1. Minh Thai 16 Los Angeles CA 39.40
2. Brad Pavia 17 Malibu CA 40.25
3. Curtis Smith 23 Fresno CA 44.50
