Should stickerless cubes be allowed in WCA competition?

[Bob]

Of course it does. Unless all the stickers on every cube at every comp you've been to are pristine, you can use chips, cuts or marks to distinguish one piece from another.

Okay, let me revise my statement. If a cube has any easily distinguishable marks or damages, I don't allow it. The cube pictured is way too damaged. However, if a cube has just a couple of nicks and cuts, it would be fine. If colors are more worn than others or do not resemble the same shade as the rest, they are not allowed either. Even at Brown, which only had 32 competitors, we sent back a number of puzzles because they violated some rule(s) in Article 3.

 

[CubeRoots]

Of course it does. Unless all the stickers on every cube at every comp you've been to are pristine, you can use chips, cuts or marks to distinguish one piece from another.

For these reasons i think that stickerless cubes should not only be allowed but be encouraged (especially for bld). if being able to determine what a piece is easier is a problem then everyone should have perfect stickers and the whole idea of having an "acceptable" cube would jut descend into petty nonsense.

 

[Czery]

Okay, let me revise my statement. If a cube has any easily distinguishable marks or damages, I don't allow it. The cube pictured is way too damaged. However, if a cube has just a couple of nicks and cuts, it would be fine. If colors are more worn than others or do not resemble the same shade as the rest, they are not allowed either. Even at Brown, which only had 32 competitors, we sent back a number of puzzles because they violated some rule(s) in Article 3.

How are you suppose to determine if a cube is damaged enough?
I've seen competitors compete with stickers that don't even cover half the face. I'm pretty sure they can identify specific pieces based on the shape of the chips.

 

[Julian]

My speedcube, which I competed with yesterday:

What do you think, Bob? That one sticker did not give me any advantage, and even though it could, it would be much slower than finding out the information the "fair" way.

 

[Kirjava]

Okay, let me revise my statement.

So you're just using your interpretation of the rules instead of following them by the word.

 

[kinch2002]

It doesn't get violated at the ones I go to. Sounds to me like Daniel isn't doing his job.

Of course I allow cubes with small chips on the stickers. It would be silly not to. I'm sure you can't say you don't allow any chips whatsoever. Anyway, I distinctly remember not letting Ben use a cube at the last comp because the stickers weren't in a good enough state so I am aware of that rule. A line has to be drawn somewhere, but certainly not at the point where there is no leeway. If that means a change in the regs is needed then so be it.

 

[MalusDB]

So you're just using your interpretation of the rules instead of following them by the word.

What I was just going to say as well. I like the idea that the "threshold of acceptability" nonsense is iradicated by coloured cubes also. I say that there is no problem, or potential for a problem for that matter, that could arise from allowing them. And to respond to an asumption made by Vincents,(I guess I could have been clearer) the example of the fastest cubers was mostly to raise the point that it holds no potential for anybody to overshoot their potential as a cuber illegally. They will not be any faster ever because of this "advantage", mainly due to the fact that it is simply not utilisable at warp-6 (the fact that people can track pieces at that speed amazes me, nevermind spotting a tiny little bit of colour through a gap during a turn). Honestly I can't believe that there are any more than 0 people who think that it really is something that we should be making an effort to stop this.

 

[applemobile]

Surely if you are to go by the rules word for word most cubes would be banned because you can perform an illegal move by rotating the corners.

 

[MalusDB]

Surely if you are to go by the rules word for word most cubes would be banned because you can perform an illegal move by rotating the corners.

True that. Nevermind banning coloured zhanchis, ban the whole frikkin lot of 'em.

 

[Bob]

My speedcube, which I competed with yesterday:

Spoiler: image

What do you think, Bob? That one sticker did not give me any advantage, and even though it could, it would be much slower than finding out the information the "fair" way.

Honestly, I probably would have made you resticker it.

Of course I allow cubes with small chips on the stickers. It would be silly not to. I'm sure you can't say you don't allow any chips whatsoever. Anyway, I distinctly remember not letting Ben use a cube at the last comp because the stickers weren't in a good enough state so I am aware of that rule. A line has to be drawn somewhere, but certainly not at the point where there is no leeway. If that means a change in the regs is needed then so be it.

Of course. I think Thom is just being pedantic for the sake of arguing with somebody. The regulation cannot be followed to the letter because almost any cube you look at (even straight from the manufacturer) is going to have some way that the pieces can be distinguished--whether it be that stickers have imperfections or are not evenly spaced on the plastic or whatever. The idea is that if a piece is obviously damaged or different to the point that it is obvious with immediate inspection, the cube should not be permitted. I think it would be very difficult to quantify this, but for puzzles like the one pyjam showed, it's pretty clear.

 

[TMOY]

I'm pretty sure these are officially legal, though (notice especially the green on the right of the first pic):

Spoiler: image

I've actually seen a cuber compete with such a cube in an official competition. We tried to convince him to use a better cube, because that one just sucks for speedsolving, but he insisted on using it because of the color scheme (he was used to the japanese color scheme, and the normal one just confused him)..

 

[Kian]

So you're just using your interpretation of the rules instead of following them by the word.

A delegate needs to determine what sort of marking allows someone to "distinguish", as the regulation states, one piece from another in a speedsolve.

For the record I would also have had Julian resticker his cube.

 

[Joël]

I voted "No, they should not be allowed". I think the regulations are fine the way they are (on this specific issue).

 

[Godmil]

Yeah, it's not like that rule gets violated at every competition I ever go to.

What is it you're saying exactly? I can't decide if you're suggesting
1) Because a rule sometimes gets broken, then the rule should be ignored.
2) There should be a quantified level of acceptable damage to stickers (like 5%).
3) The regulations should be written to reflect that the level of damage shouldn't be "immediately apparent".
4) Other.

 

[CubeRoots]

I voted "No, they should not be allowed". I think the regulations are fine the way they are (on this specific issue).

writing your opinion is pointless unless you exxplain why you feel that way. Why should they not be allowed?

 

[samchoochiu]

writing your opinion is pointless unless you exxplain why you feel that way. Why should they not be allowed?

Because there is an advantage, that I'm sure you are aware of. May not be a big one but nevertheless its an advantage, period. Personally I think this should not be such a big issue, I have no idea why people are having problems with white or black dayan cubes.

 

[tx789]

are there any stickless cube that are legal to use and don't have the colours on the egde?
still there are very few tpyes stickerless cube so I think that there nothing wrong about dayanstickerless being illeagal

 

[scotzbhoy]

I personally don't see what's wrong with them. I understand the regulation and the reasoning behind it, but I don't think that it gives you a real advantage, since when you're turning that fast you're unlikely to be able to pick up on the colours of the unseen pieces anyway. Any advantage you get is going to be negligible. Besides, it's not like they give you an advantage that no-one else can have.

 

[Pyjam]

I voted "No, they should not be allowed". I think the regulations are fine the way they are (on this specific issue).

Advanced fingertricks should not be allowed.
They're unfair because the average cuber can't perform them on the official Rubik's cube.
Yes, corner cutting enhances the basic concept of the puzzle and should not be allowed !
You see my point, I suppose.

 

[Godmil]

are there any stickless cube that are legal to use and don't have the colours on the egde?

I think one of the Gans cubes and maybe a C4U one, but nothing actually good.

I was curious about all the comments that say it doesn't actually give an advantage. I know I'm a slow cuber and I also do slow turning during the F2L, so I'm not going to break any WR's, but I just tried looking at the RB and LB edges while doing F2L and I could clearly see a flash of colour that was enough for me to know what piece it was. It was a little strange cause I wouldn't normally look there, but with a bit of practice I bet I could get quite good at knowing what pieces are there. Now if it turns out that fast people are also able to do that, and practice to take advantage of it... then everyone will feel compelled to use Colourless cubes, and be practicing back face edge recognition to feel like they're able to compete fairly.
It just doesn't feel right to me.