How to solve a 3x3 cube behind your back?

MasterCubeGuy said:
Unsure what you mean because im new to solving.

Ok thanks
I will watch.
Click to expand...
bld refers to any event where you memorise a cube/cubes and then attempt to solve them blindfolded. 3bld is short for 3 blind which is short for 3x3 blindfolded which is short for 3x3x3 blindfolded (if you ask the wca)
 
MasterCubeGuy said:
So is it just a memory?
Click to expand...
you tend to memorise letters for each piece and group those letters into words, which allows you to use specific memory techniques - you tend to memorise corners then edges, and then solve edges first. most people memorise corners using images and edges using audio, but whatever works for you is fine.
 
Blindfolded solving is basically “memorize the scrambled cube, then execute a pre-planned sequence of moves without looking.”

However, you don't memorize the entire cube as it is... Instead, you identify where the individual pieces need to go. You memorize the piece locations using letters. Each sticker/position is assigned to a letter. You look at a corner sticker for example, and realize that specific sticker needs to go to position B. Then you look at that corner sticker in position B, and realize it needs to go to position D. The corner sticker in position D needs to go to position M. And so on, going through a so called "cycle", until you reach back to your original position.

B → D → M → ...

You'll end up roughly 8 letters for corners, and 12 letters for edges. You turn those letters into words or a little story, because that's much easier to remember than colors. For example if you convert each PAIRS of letters into words, you need to memorize only about 10 words! And that's ALL you need to remember.

Let's say these are the letters that encode how the stickers need to cycle around:
BD MJ EP FS KU RT (edges)
AH RG PF BV (corners)

You have to remember these letters, but it's easier if you turn them into words:
Bed, Michael Jackson, EpiPen, Fish, Kuala Lumpur, rot, Anthony Hopkins, rug, pirate flag, beaver.
And let's wrap it into a neat story to make it even more easier to remember!
"In the bed lays Michael Jackson with an EpiPen. A Fish from Kuala Lumpur rot. Anthony Hopkins stands on a rug, holding a pirate flag and a beaver."

This is actually what you keep repeating until you memorize it. You put on your blindfold, and have to be able to recall the letter sequence.

Then you solve using algorithms that swap pieces around. Rather than doing your normal beginner/CFOP solve, blindfolded methods use special algorithms that essentially say "Take the piece at position A and put it at position B, while leaving everything else mostly intact." You repeatedly execute these algorithms according to the letter sequence you memorized.

Each letter became a single, well defined algorithm. You DON'T have to remember what was before that letter, or what comes after it.

One letter = one specific algorithm.

Recall the story. First word was bed, so first letter is B (then D).
B = [edge algorithm of B]
D = [edge algorithm of D]
...and so on, until you reach the word beaver:
B = [corner algorithm of B]
V = [corner algorithm of V]
And at this point the solving is done!

You don't actually need to know where you are visually. Your memorized sequence tells you what to do, and eventually every piece is in its correct position, and you take off the blindfold.

The really clever part is that you can learn algorithms that manipulate one piece at a time. Once you understand that mechanism, blindfold solving becomes much less mysterious.

There are plenty of youtube tutorials of various methods. I recommend to look up "Old Pochmann", as it is a very beginner-friendly blindfold method, and you only have to learn about 5 algorithms (each letter is basically just a minor, trivial variation of one of these algorithms). There are more advanced methods, which can make things a bit more complicated, but in exchange they can make the memorization and/or execution much shorter.

EDIT: minor additions.
 
Last edited:
MasterCubeGuy said:
I really want to learn how to solve a 3x3 behind my back. How do I learn?
What's the secret?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
My 3-style exec gets quite slower when my arms are twisted in the back position.

I prefer solving above my head. I generally do 3blind like that when I forget my blindfold to any party and want to demonstrate quickly.
 
abunickabhi said:
My 3-style exec gets quite slower when my arms are twisted in the back position.

I prefer solving above my head. I generally do 3blind like that when I forget my blindfold to any party and want to demonstrate quickly.
Click to expand...

In these cases I prefer to hold the cube normally, close to my body, and tilt my head back, watching the ceiling or the sky.
 
Renslay said:
Blindfolded solving is basically “memorize the scrambled cube, then execute a pre-planned sequence of moves without looking.”

However, you don't memorize the entire cube as it is... Instead, you identify where the individual pieces need to go. You memorize the piece locations using letters. Each sticker/position is assigned to a letter. You look at a corner sticker for example, and realize that specific sticker needs to go to position B. Then you look at that corner sticker in position B, and realize it needs to go to position D. The corner sticker in position D needs to go to position M. And so on, going through a so called "cycle", until you reach back to your original position.

B → D → M → ...

You'll end up roughly 8 letters for corners, and 12 letters for edges. You turn those letters into words or a little story, because that's much easier to remember than colors. For example if you convert each PAIRS of letters into words, you need to memorize only about 10 words! And that's ALL you need to remember.

Let's say these are the letters that encode how the stickers need to cycle around:
BD MJ EP FS KU RT (edges)
AH RG PF BV (corners)

You have to remember these letters, but it's easier if you turn them into words:
Bed, Michael Jackson, EpiPen, Fish, Kuala Lumpur, rot, Anthony Hopkins, rug, pirate flag, beaver.
And let's wrap it into a neat story to make it even more easier to remember!
"In the bed lays Michael Jackson with an EpiPen. A Fish from Kuala Lumpur rot. Anthony Hopkins stands on a rug, holding a pirate flag and a beaver."

This is actually what you keep repeating until you memorize it. You put on your blindfold, and have to be able to recall the letter sequence.

Then you solve using algorithms that swap pieces around. Rather than doing your normal beginner/CFOP solve, blindfolded methods use special algorithms that essentially say "Take the piece at position A and put it at position B, while leaving everything else mostly intact." You repeatedly execute these algorithms according to the letter sequence you memorized.

Each letter became a single, well defined algorithm. You DON'T have to remember what was before that letter, or what comes after it.

One letter = one specific algorithm.

Recall the story. First word was bed, so first letter is B (then D).
B = [edge algorithm of B]
D = [edge algorithm of D]
...and so on, until you reach the word beaver:
B = [corner algorithm of B]
V = [corner algorithm of V]
And at this point the solving is done!

You don't actually need to know where you are visually. Your memorized sequence tells you what to do, and eventually every piece is in its correct position, and you take off the blindfold.

The really clever part is that you can learn algorithms that manipulate one piece at a time. Once you understand that mechanism, blindfold solving becomes much less mysterious.

There are plenty of youtube tutorials of various methods. I recommend to look up "Old Pochmann", as it is a very beginner-friendly blindfold method, and you only have to learn about 5 algorithms (each letter is basically just a minor, trivial variation of one of these algorithms). There are more advanced methods, which can make things a bit more complicated, but in exchange they can make the memorization and/or execution much shorter.

EDIT: minor additions.
Click to expand...
So how would you know specific pieces?
 
MasterCubeGuy said:
So how would you know specific pieces?
Click to expand...

You have to know by heart a lettering scheme: each corner sticker must have an assigned letter (and similarly, each edge sticker need an assigned letter too).

Speffz is such a lettering scheme, but you can use anything you wish. The key is that you use it all the time, no matter what the actual scramble is.

750px-Speffz-333-western.webp



Let's go with Speffz for the example, and let's consider only the corners for this example. In Old Pochmann, when you're dealing with the corners, you always start from letter A.
Now let's look at this scramble:
U B2 L2 R2 U R2 U' L2 B2 D' R B2 D R2 D' R2 B2 D R U'
 Twizzle link 
 Setup 
U B2 L2 R2 U R2 U' L2 B2 D' R B2 D R2 D' R2 B2 D R U'
 Moves 

(I deliberately created an easy scramble for this example, and only the corners are scrambled - because in blindfold solving we handle the corners and edges separately.)

You always start the same way: take a look what lies at letter A, also known as the top part of the top-back-left place. You can see the red color of the red-yellow-green corner. Where does this sticker belongs to? Where should be the red of the red-yellow-green on a solved cube? It should be on the right side of the bottom-right-front place. Which belongs to which letter?
P.
That is your first letter to memorize.
Then you continue from here: what lies at letter P? I see the orange of the orange-green-yellow corner. And where should this orange sticker go? To the position marked with letter G (left side of the left-bottom-front place).

So far this is what we have: PG, but we convert into a word: pig.

We continue from G: here we can see the blue of blue-yellow-red. This belongs to T (back of back-bottom-right).
At T, we see orange of orange-white-green. This has to go to F (left of top-left-front).
So the next letter pair is TF. We can chose Tie Fighter to encode them.

From F we go to the next corner, which should be O.
After O we go to the next corner, which should be H.
Next letter pair is OH. One-handed solve!

At position H (left of left-bottom-back position) we see the white of white-orange-blue. This would bring us back to position A, but we don't need to put this into our memo queue. We are done memorizing the corners!

"A pig sitting in a Tie Fighter, doing one-handed solves."
Which we can easily turn back into our letter sequence: PG TF OH.

(At this point, we could actually put on the blindfold and start the solve! However, I'm not gonna detail how to construct the specific swap-algorithm for each letter)

Note that in this scramble we only looked at the corners. In a regular scramble, we have to do something similar with the edges too. If you use Old Pochmann for the edges too, you'd start at the sticker-position up-right (with Speffz notation, that's the letter B). You jump around in a similar way, and memorize the letter sequence (more precisely, the words and scenery you use to encode the letter pairs).

There a couple of extra things you have to know for a proper, full blindfold solve; like what is a "cycle-break" and what is a "parity". I don't want to write a full BLD guide here; again, look for a proper beginner tutorial for blindfold solving, it's easier to show and explain these things on video.

Hope this helped clear things up!
 
Renslay said:
You have to know by heart a lettering scheme: each corner sticker must have an assigned letter (and similarly, each edge sticker need an assigned letter too).

Speffz is such a lettering scheme, but you can use anything you wish. The key is that you use it all the time, no matter what the actual scramble is.

View attachment 51037


Let's go with Speffz for the example, and let's consider only the corners for this example. In Old Pochmann, when you're dealing with the corners, you always start from letter A.
Now let's look at this scramble:
U B2 L2 R2 U R2 U' L2 B2 D' R B2 D R2 D' R2 B2 D R U'
 Twizzle link 
 Setup 
U B2 L2 R2 U R2 U' L2 B2 D' R B2 D R2 D' R2 B2 D R U'
 Moves 


(I deliberately created an easy scramble for this example, and only the corners are scrambled - because in blindfold solving we handle the corners and edges separately.)

You always start the same way: take a look what lies at letter A, also known as the top part of the top-back-left place. You can see the red color of the red-yellow-green corner. Where does this sticker belongs to? Where should be the red of the red-yellow-green on a solved cube? It should be on the right side of the bottom-right-front place. Which belongs to which letter?
P.
That is your first letter to memorize.
Then you continue from here: what lies at letter P? I see the orange of the orange-green-yellow corner. And where should this orange sticker go? To the position marked with letter G (left side of the left-bottom-front place).

So far this is what we have: PG, but we convert into a word: pig.

We continue from G: here we can see the blue of blue-yellow-red. This belongs to T (back of back-bottom-right).
At T, we see orange of orange-white-green. This has to go to F (left of top-left-front).
So the next letter pair is TF. We can chose Tie Fighter to encode them.

From F we go to the next corner, which should be O.
After O we go to the next corner, which should be H.
Next letter pair is OH. One-handed solve!

At position H (left of left-bottom-back position) we see the white of white-orange-blue. This would bring us back to position A, but we don't need to put this into our memo queue. We are done memorizing the corners!

"A pig sitting in a Tie Fighter, doing one-handed solves."
Which we can easily turn back into our letter sequence: PG TF OH.

(At this point, we could actually put on the blindfold and start the solve! However, I'm not gonna detail how to construct the specific swap-algorithm for each letter)

Note that in this scramble we only looked at the corners. In a regular scramble, we have to do something similar with the edges too. If you use Old Pochmann for the edges too, you'd start at the sticker-position up-right (with Speffz notation, that's the letter B). You jump around in a similar way, and memorize the letter sequence (more precisely, the words and scenery you use to encode the letter pairs).

There a couple of extra things you have to know for a proper, full blindfold solve; like what is a "cycle-break" and what is a "parity". I don't want to write a full BLD guide here; again, look for a proper beginner tutorial for blindfold solving, it's easier to show and explain these things on video.

Hope this helped clear things up!
Click to expand...
This is very helpful!
Thanks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

AK51
The possibility of solving a 3x3 Rubik's Cube under 2 seconds - Optimizing block building
Replies
1
Views
275
abunickabhi
abunickabhi
AK51
The possibility of solving a 3x3 Rubik's Cube under 2 seconds - Optimizing block building
Replies
0
Views
244
AK51
AK51
nethons
Is there a competition to solve 3x3 cube using only Kociemba's Algorithm?
Replies
1
Views
309
bcube
B
JackTriton
[3x3x3] JLA Method Tutorial is Out!
Replies
5
Views
651
Ralph Laurence
Ralph Laurence
puzzlespoilers
New Video Guide: How To Solve Rubik’s Cube: 3x3 Tutorial for New Beginners - Simple and Slow
Replies
1
Views
5,346
TheSpeedSkewber
TheSpeedSkewber
Back
Top