Hong Kong Cube Day 2023

As far as I know you usually even have to judge.

I was only at one competiton so far but there you could just sit at a table and then they sent a competitor to you.
Or if a table had no judge, the called out for some judges and then you could choose a competitor to judge.

They always needed some judges, so you could also judge more than you had to.
There are different rounds with different scrambles and you can't judge your own round.

I found that a really good experience, because you could watch different solves from very close and meet a lot of people.
You could even get assigned to one of the Top Pros.
It makes sense that I can't judge my own round as I will be supposed to act as a competitor instead of a judge when it comes to my own round.

I think I just don't mind judging at all as I really want to learn from other cubers.

What I know about judging WCA comps is that I will have to ask the competitor if he is ready before he start. If the competitor replied that he is ready, I got to remove the cube cover. Then, I will have to time the inspection time at the same time, and say "8s" when 8s has passed and "12s" when 12s has passed. If the cuber didn't start after 15s, its a +2 and if it passed 17s, its a DNF. And after he finished his solves and stopped the timer, I will have to jot down his time on the paper and hand the paper to him and he'll sign on it. In case its a clear +2, mark down +2 on the paper. In case it is a marginal +2, I may have to ask the WCA delegate to come over and check if that's a +2.

Is that correct, and are there anything else that I will have to know before going to my very first comp? Also am I allowed to listen to some white music or whatever with my earphone when I'm doing official solves? (I'm asking this just because I see Tymon is always wearing his headphone in comps solving the cubes) Also will that make me not able to hear the judge saying "8s" or "12s" and potentially making it a +2 or even a DNF?
 
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That will be my first comp ever too!

I think I will enroll in 2x2, 3x3, skewb, pyraminx and clock, but I'm not sure if I will do square-1 or 3x3 OH as well since the cut off for both are 30s while I average 50s on square-1 and I'm sub 45 on 3x3 OH (for reference I average 25s on 3x3). Is it possible for me to get an official ao5 for both of these events, and also should I enroll in square-1 and 3x3 OH?

I also know the intermediate method for megaminx, yau 4x4 and I can do 5x5 as well, but I'm like more than 30s behind the cut off for these events, so I'm not sure if I should attempt in these events.

Or should I just learn 3x3 blind instead as I'm kind of mid-way through learning it, that I have learnt 2x2 blind from J perm's tutorial and I can do sub 1:30 on 2x2 blind, and the cut off for 3x3 blind is 5:00, which seems to be achievable for me once I have learnt it.
learn 3x3bld:)
 
It makes sense that I can't judge my own round as I will be supposed to act as a competitor instead of a judge when it comes to my own round.

I think I just don't mind judging at all as I really want to learn from other cubers.

What I know about judging WCA comps is that I will have to ask the competitor if he is ready before he start. If the competitor replied that he is ready, I got to remove the cube cover. Then, I will have to time the inspection time at the same time, and say "8s" when 8s has passed and "12s" when 12s has passed. If the cuber didn't start after 15s, its a +2 and if it passed 17s, its a DNF. And after he finished his solves and stopped the timer, I will have to jot down his time on the paper and hand the paper to him and he'll sign on it. In case its a clear +2, mark down +2 on the paper. In case it is a marginal +2, I may have to ask the WCA delegate to come over and check if that's a +2.

Is that correct, and are there anything else that I will have to know before going to my very first comp? Also am I allowed to listen to some white music or whatever with my earphone when I'm doing official solves? (I'm asking this just because I see Tymon is always wearing his headphone in comps solving the cubes) Also will that make me not able to hear the judge saying "8s" or "12s" and potentially making it a +2 or even a DNF?
It might also be good to know that during BLD solves, the competitor has to remove the cover himself, after starting the timer. The judge can't do that.
 
Yes, you can wear passive noise protection but no electronic devices (even if they are unplugged or turned off)

 
Yes, you can wear passive noise protection but no electronic devices (even if they are unplugged or turned off)

So noice cancelling air pods pro are not allowed? Actually I was asking this just because I was curious about Tymon wearing headphones 😂
 
I will be resting from magnetising non-wca puzzles for a month so as to prepare for my very first comp in March (but I would still magnetise some wca puzzles that I'm planning to use in comp). For the puzzles working in progress, I have already figured out the way to magnetise the puzzle and have already magnetised the first few pieces. For the puzzles I'm planning to magnetise, I still don't have the puzzle yet but I'm planning on getting one and attempt to magnetize the puzzle. The comp I am going to is Hong Kong Cube Day 2023, and if you are interested in trying out any of these puzzles and you are going to the same comp as well, feel free to tell me which puzzles you would like to try out and I will probably bring them to the comp.

Non-wca puzzles that I'm most proud of magnetising at the moment:
1. MoYu Rediminx
2. MoYu Puppet Cube v1
3. QiYi Clover Cube Plus
4. YuXin Gigaminx
5. DaYan Gem 5
6. ShengShou Pentahedron
7. Dayan Tangram Cube
8. LeFun Time Machine
9. FanXin Orange 3x3
10. YiSheng 3x3x4
Some self-magnetised non-wca puzzles that I may bring to the comp and let other cubers try out:
- YuXin Gigaminx
- YuXin Earth 2x2
- ShengShou Phoenix Megaminx
- ShengShou Crazy 2x2
- ShengShou 5x5 Jing Pyraminx
- QiYi Kibiminx
- QiYi 3x3x2
- YiSheng 3x3x4
- Dayan Tangram Cube
- LanLan FTO
- MoYu Puppet Cube v1
- QiYi Clover Cube Plus
- DaYan Dino Skewb
- FanXin Orange 3x3
- QiYi 2x2x3
- QiYi Dino Cube
- DaYan Gem 5
- ShengShou Pentahedron
- MoYu Rediminx
- ShengShou 6x6 Jing Pyraminx
- ShengShou Crazy Magic Tower

Obviously I won't be able to bring every one of them to the comp as I will also have to bring my WCA mains and backups, so if you are interested in trying out any of these self-magnetised puzzles and you are coming to this comp as well, feel free to tell me which puzzles you would like me to bring to the comp and let you try out.
 
Do you think I should learn 3x3 blind within this month so that I can compete in it? It’s the only event that I can’t do in this comp, and in the other events that I am weak at like 4x4, 5x5 amd mega I can still comfortably make the time limit even though I won’t be able to make the cut off
Yeah obviously you can try! Just sign up for 3BLD, and if you are still incapable of doing 3BLD the 21st of february, which btw I don't think will happen, you can still remove it from your events list (possible till that date).
learn 3x3bld:)
I have been listing out what algs, finger tricks or anything else I have to learn before the comp, and I found that it is impossible for me to learn 3bld from now if I want to improve in every other events as well. For 2x2, I have just finished learning full ortega OLL and I am sub-5. For 3x3, have just finished learning full OCLL and I’m sub-25. For 4x4 I learnt yau4 but I’m not sure if I should learn yau5 as well but I just don’t think I can make the cutoff anyway. For megaminx, I have just learnt 4 look LL but I still don’t think I can make the cut off. For pyraminx, I have just finished learning all 5 algs for the last layer using LBL, but I do think that there are still huge room for improvement in this event but I’m not sure what should I learn next. Even pyraminx finger tricks can be worth learning for me considering that the tips can take me over a second and I am not even sub-10 (sub-5 pb and sub-11 average). I really hope to be sub-10 on pyraminx but I’m not sure what to do. For skewb, it’s my main event. I use Sarah’s intermediate, I can finger trick pretty well and I average sub-6. I have just updated my H-perm but I’m not sure if I should learn Sarah’s advanced. For Square-1, I will have to memorise the parity alg once again as I have pretty much forgotten it. For clock, I don’t have a pin order and I don’t know how it works, but I’m still sub-16. Not sure if I should learn that. For OH, I average sub-45 with a sub-40 pb. I think I will at least have to learn OH H perm & Z perm.

The question is, other than learning square-1 parity alg and OH H perm & Z perm, what else should I learn before the comp? Should I learn having a pin order on clock and if yes how it works? Also if I want to be sub-10 on pyraminx, what should I learn?
 
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For pyraminx, I have just finished learning all 5 algs for the last layer using LBL, but I do think that there are still huge room for improvement in this event but I’m not sure what should I learn next. Even pyraminx finger tricks can be worth learning for me considering that the tips can take me over a second and I am not even sub-10 (sub-5 pb and sub-11 average). I really hope to be sub-10 on pyraminx but I’m not sure what to do.
I average almost sub-7 with LBL, and here's my tips. I usually solve centers and tips within 2 seconds usually turning the centers and tips on pickup. Try to preserve all the blocks on the color you're solving for first layer. And look ahead to see what case last layer will be. I usually turn the last tip while doing last layer auf, if the tip not on your first layer is twisted. Please let me know if there's anything that didn't make sense or something I can give more tips on
 
I have been listing out what algs, finger tricks or anything else I have to learn before the comp, and I found that it is impossible for me to learn 3bld from now if I want to improve in every other events as well. For 2x2, I have just finished learning full ortega OLL and I am sub-5. For 3x3, have just finished learning full OCLL and I’m sub-25. For 4x4 I learnt yau4 but I’m not sure if I should learn yau5 as well but I just don’t think I can make the cutoff anyway. For megaminx, I have just learnt 4 look LL but I still don’t think I can make the cut off. For pyraminx, I have just finished learning all 5 algs for the last layer using LBL, but I do think that there are still huge room for improvement in this event but I’m not sure what should I learn next. Even pyraminx finger tricks can be worth learning for me considering that the tips can take me over a second and I am not even sub-10 (sub-5 pb and sub-11 average). I really hope to be sub-10 on pyraminx but I’m not sure what to do. For skewb, it’s my main event. I use Sarah’s intermediate, I can finger trick pretty well and I average sub-6. I have just updated my H-perm but I’m not sure if I should learn Sarah’s advanced. For Square-1, I will have to memorise the parity alg once again as I have pretty much forgotten it. For clock, I don’t have a pin order and I don’t know how it works, but I’m still sub-16. Not sure if I should learn that. For OH, I average sub-45 with a sub-40 pb. I think I will at least have to learn OH H perm & Z perm.

The question is, other than learning square-1 parity alg and OH H perm & Z perm, what else should I learn before the comp? Should I learn having a pin order on clock and if yes how it works? Also if I want to be sub-10 on pyraminx, what should I learn?
Forgot to mention that for 3x3 PLL, I got E, R, V, N & G perms left. Should I learn all of them or just R, V & G perms where they have higher probability to appear during solves?
I average almost sub-7 with LBL, and here's my tips. I usually solve centers and tips within 2 seconds usually turning the centers and tips on pickup. Try to preserve all the blocks on the color you're solving for first layer. And look ahead to see what case last layer will be. I usually turn the last tip while doing last layer auf, if the tip not on your first layer is twisted. Please let me know if there's anything that didn't make sense or something I can give more tips on
This is very helpful! I will try after I get my weilong pyraminx.
 
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