The FMC thread

[ChrisCuber123]

22.67 3rd place mean at US Nats 2023:

Spoiler: 1. 22

R' U' F L' U' L' B F D2 U2 B' L2 F L2 R2 F2 U R' F' U L D2 U' R' U' F
R2 F' R' // EO
U F' (F2 U' R2 B2 D B') // DR (11)
(U L2 F2 * U' F2 U' R2 U) // 3e (19)
*: (F2 L2 F2 U2 B2 R2 B2 U2) // 8-5 for 22
Comments: Hard scramble, there were a few 3 move EOs and a bunch of 4s but I couldn't find much and got bailed out by a 4qt DR in 11

Spoiler: 2. 25

R' U' F R2 B D B L2 U' R' D2 L F U2 F' L2 F' D2 F D2 R2 B' D2 R' U' F
L R' B D R' // EO
D L2 F' D2 F' B2 D // DR (12)
F L2 B2 U2 F // HTR (17)
U2 R2 F2 L2 F2 U2 L2 U2 // finish (25)
Comments: Another rough scramble, this DR gave two different 17 move HTRs but the other one was worse. The DR also gave a 24 off an 18 move HTR on inverse (iirc) but I didn't see the HTR so whatever. I also got distracted by blocks in typical Chris Chi fashion (mainly by (R' F R D B) EO) though I'm not sure if I would've found better than 25 anyway. I also missed that (F) after (R D' B L) is RZP in 5 and I have no idea how, Daniel Karnaukh found a 23 off this so rip three way tie for first oops

Spoiler: 3. 21

R' U' F R' D2 F' U' B' U2 D' R' U L2 U2 R B2 R2 B2 R B2 L D2 B' R' U' F
L2 U2 L' U // EO
(U2 R B2 D2 R F) // DR (10)
(R D2 L2 B2 L) // HTR (16)
(U D' B2 U' D F2) // finish (21)
Comments: 10 people found this 21 or some variation of it (the 3e stuff at the end can be modified), enough said

Overall thoughts: Happy to get 3rd (especially considering who was ahead of me on the podium ). After the last attempt I was mentally prepared to become the best 4th/5th place mean ever so to sneak onto WR podium was a nice surprise.

Congrats to Alexei Sinyavin and Owen Widdis on winning and getting your first national champion titles!!

 

[THE_V01DL0RD]

Who was 1st place?

 

[ProStar]

Who was 1st place?

Google is an underutilized tool.

CubingUSA Nationals 2023 | World Cube Association

The World Cube Association governs competitions for mechanical puzzles that are operated by twisting groups of pieces, commonly known as 'twisty puzzles'. The most famous of these puzzles is the Rubik's Cube, invented by professor Rubik from Hungary. A selection of these puzzles are chosen as...

www.worldcubeassociation.org

 

[ChrisCuber123]

Google is an underutilized tool.

CubingUSA Nationals 2023 | World Cube Association

The World Cube Association governs competitions for mechanical puzzles that are operated by twisting groups of pieces, commonly known as 'twisty puzzles'. The most famous of these puzzles is the Rubik's Cube, invented by professor Rubik from Hungary. A selection of these puzzles are chosen as...

www.worldcubeassociation.org

I also said who won in my post

 

[qaz]

Solutions from 26.67 mean @ PBQKY.

Spoiler: Solve 1: 30

scramble: R' U' F L D' B D' B R2 B' R D2 R' F2 B2 R D2 R U2 L2 U' R F' R' U' F

D L' D' F' // eo
R F2 U' D F2 D R // dr
(B2 D B2 D B2 U' F2 B2 U') // htr
(R2 D2 R2 U2) // leave slice

+0 to solved is pretty easy by widening all U/D moves in dr -> htr solution, but I ran out of time and had to just insert a comm at the end

Spoiler: Solve 2: 23

scramble: R' U' F U2 F R' B R2 L U' F R2 F2 U2 B2 R F2 R F2 B2 L2 D2 B R' U' F

(R2 B U2 L) // eo
(F2 U F U2 F' B R2 F2 B' U) // dr
F2 L2 U2 B' // htr
U2 R2 F2 R2 F2 // solved

I was very upset after missing the 24 in solve 1 and couldn't focus almost gave up and DNFed this a couple times, hence the garbage DR.
Then I found a 9 move finish for PR single

Spoiler: Solve 3: 27

scramble: R' U' F R2 U2 L2 U2 B' L2 B D' B' F2 L2 R D2 R' D2 U L U' R' U' F

U R F L' // eo
F2 D U2 B2 D' F' D // dr
(F2 D2 F) L2 F' R2 U2 D2 F // htr
U2 R2 (1) F2 L2 (2) // 2e+slice
(1) R2 U2 L2 U2 R2 D2 // leave slice
(2) L2 F' B D2 F B'

Good solve, but I almost DNFed again trying to find a finish after leave slice.

It's difficult to tie overall PB mean in comp and feel awful about it, but I managed to do it. Clearly I need to work on finding finishes after leave slice. I'm not really sure if I'm actually improving at DR/HTR or just getting lucky, but this definitely feels improvable considering this should have been a 24.67.

 

[ottozing]

Rubik's WCA World Championship 2023 1st place Mo3 reconstructions

22 - R’ U’ F U’ F R D’ R U2 L B U2 B L2 D2 F’ U D2 B2 U B’ R’ U’ F

R2 U F B' // EO 4/4
U D2 L B2 R' B2 D' // DR 7/11
(R U2 R U2 D2 L') // HTR 6/17
(B2 U2 R2 F2 B2) // Solved 5/22

23 - R' U' F R2 L' D2 R2 D2 B2 R2 F B2 L F D R2 U F' U' B U D2 R' U' F

(B R') R2 D L' // EO 5/5
F' R2 F2 U2 B D // DR 6/11
(D2 [F U2 F'] R2 L2 B) // HTR 7/18
(D2 B2 L2 U2 R2) // Leave slice 5/23
[] = (B L2 B') // Solved 3-3/23

22 - R' U' F R' F2 D F R2 B' U' F' L2 D R F2 U2 F' B2 R2 U2 B' D2 R' U' F

(B2 U') // EO 2/2
R F' L2 F R2 B R // DR 7/9
[B2 L2 U2 F R2 U2 F] // HTR 7/16
U2 R2 U2 L2 F2 // Leave slice 5/21
[] = B F U2 R2 F D2 R2 B // Solved 8-7/22

 

[ZZer]

HI, I heard about FMC discord server. Could you share the link ?

 

[Silky]

Scramble: U2 F R2 F R2 B F2 L2 U' R U' L2U R' U'
See if you can find the optimal solution!!

 

[xyzzy]

Got a 23 tied PR/NR2 single + tied PB2 single + DR PB single earlier, clutching possibly my last ever FMC podium.

(Will post recon whenever I get home.)

DR is a cool method, actually? Over ~6 weeks of practice, it seems my global average with DR (~28) has already surpassed my old global average (~29). Speed is still a big issue—I quite nearly DNFed a solve in today's comp because I couldn't get a reasonable HTR finish.

Spoiler: scramble 1 (29)

R' U' F L' B2 L' U2 L2 D2 R' F2 L F' L2 R' D' L2 F R2 D' F' R' B' R' U' F

(R' U' D B' @ L) // EO (5/5)
(F' B' U2 B2) // 123 + sq + pair (4/9)
(D F' U2 D R2 D B) // ab5c (7/16)

@ = L2 B' R' B # L2 B' R B // ab3c (8-2/22)
# = F2 L' B' L F2 L' B L // fin (8-1/29)

Final (29):
B' D' R2 D' U2 F D' B2 U2 B
F L B' R' B F2 L' B' L F2
L' B L' B' R B2 D' U R

Bad insertions.

Spoiler: scramble 2 (30)

R' U' F R U2 B' U D R2 B R2 U' L2 U' L2 U2 L2 B2 U' B D F R' U' F

(L R D2 B' R) // EO (5/5)
(U2 F) // 3c2e (2/7)
U2 B2 R2 F' D' F' // DR 3q (6/13) (without the B2 it's a 5q DR)
U' B2 D (U2 R2 F2 D') // HTR (7/20)
L2 B2 L2 B2 R2 U2 L2 U' D B2 U D' // ew (12-2/30)

Final (30):
U2 B2 R2 F' D' F' U' B2 D L2
B2 L2 B2 R2 U2 L2 U' D B2 U
F2 R2 U2 F' U2 R' B D2 R' L'

I don't think I managed to find short DRs from some of the 6-move DR-4c4e starts. Whatever.

Spoiler: scramble 3 (23)

R' U' F R2 F R' F' D' L2 D L D' F2 D2 R2 B' L2 B' D2 B U2 D R' U' F

(L B U2 F' R) // EO, 3c2e (5/5)
D' U' F U' F // DR (5/10)
U' R2 B2 L2 B2 D' // HTR (6/16)
L2 D2 F' B L2 F' B // fin (7/23)

Final (not) (23):
Uw' Dw' Bw Rw' Uw Fw' Uw2 Lw2 Uw2 Rw2
Bw' Lw2 Fw2 Uw' Dw Lw2 Dw' Uw Lw' Fw
Rw2 Fw' Lw'

(I did not have the guts to submit this because I knew podiuming was going to be iffy and I didn't want to waste time on memes, but I did technically finish writing that out (+ checking it once) less than a minute before time ran out.)

Actual final (23):
D' U' F U' F U' R2 B2 L2 B2
D' L2 D2 F' B L2 F' B R' F
U2 B' L'

 

[porkynator]

I have worked out how to insert 3 slice moves (like E E E2) to simplify a DR-sequence. I posted it on my website for ease of formatting and possible future updates: https://sebastiano.tronto.net/speedcubing/slice-theory

tl;dr​

You can insert 3 slices in one of the following ways:

• E (I) E (I or D) E2
• E (I) E2 (I) E
• E (D) E2 (D) E

Where (I) denotes a “neutral” sequence like R2 R2 or R2 F2 L2 and (D) denotes a “diagonal swap” sequence like R2 F2 R2. The list above is complete up to inverses and mirrors.

 

[Silky]

Scramble: R' U' F D R2 U2 B2 U F2 L2 D' U' B2 F2 R B' U2 B2 U F D2 B R2U R' U' F

Method: Heise

y' F' D' F B' L2 B' U R' U L2 U Lw2 // EO + 2x2x3 (12)
z R' U R' U' R2 U2 R U' // Heise Step 3 (8/20)
L D2 L' U' L D2 // COMM-1 (6/26)
F' L' F R2 F' L F R2 L' // COMM-2 (9/35)

Tied PB single Question, is COMM-1 considered an insert ? Inserts is the thing I'd like to learn next.

Edit: L4C optimal solution was 14 moves, where mine was 16.. pretty good imo

 

[Silky]

Does anyone have reconstruction of previous FMC WRs? Curious to see Mirek Goljan's and Tomoaki Okayama's solves and how they vary from what we have today.

 

[1973486]

I don't remember if Mirek's exist. All the others should be on this forum. There's several linked here for a start.

 

[Silky]

Can someone walk me through the intuitive solution for this?
R' D L2 D2 R2 B R B' R D2 L' F L' D' R

 

[guysensei1]

wr recons

20.00 WR recons (FMC Johor Bahru 2023)

20.00 recons, I guess, but honestly how many people actually try posted recons? 1)R' U' F D2 R2 F' L2 D2 F' L U' B U' D' F2 B2 L2 D F2 U2 D R' U' F (18 optimal scramble) F' (L' F2 L' F)//EO (5/5) (L D2 R' U)//DR, 4qt 2c (4/9) [R’ F2 L D2 L'] B2 L//HTR (7/16) B2 L2 D2 F2//M slice (4/20) []->L'...

docs.google.com

 

[xyzzy]

Can someone walk me through the intuitive solution for this?
R' D L2 D2 R2 B R B' R D2 L' F L' D' R

Actually, the D and D' in the thing you wrote are useless; you can remove them and the alg would still do the same thing:
R' L2 D2 R2 B R B' R D2 L' F L' R

This is a 1-move setup to a J perm, and you can shorten it by 1 more move if you use an optimal J perm instead of whatever that thing is.

 

[Silky]

Actually, the D and D' in the thing you wrote are useless; you can remove them and the alg would still do the same thing:
R' L2 D2 R2 B R B' R D2 L' F L' R

This is a 1-move setup to a J perm, and you can shorten it by 1 more move if you use an optimal J perm instead of whatever that thing is.

Are all 2c2e just setups into J-Perm?

 

[xyzzy]

Are all 2c2e just setups into J-Perm?

Most of the time, when there's a good 2c2e insertion, it's a J perm variant. This includes cyclic shifts, which may not be so obvious.

 Twizzle link 

B2 R D' R D R2 B2 L U L'

 Twizzle link 

D' R D R2 B2 L U L' B2 R

This does not mean that the best 2c2e insertion on a specific skeleton will always be related to a J perm. I've used these before, albeit in final solutions that weren't that good (30-35 moves). Most of the time, longer insertions ⇒ worse results; you should try looking for a better skeleton instead.

 Twizzle link 

// old V perm with first/last moves removed
U R' d' R' F' R2 U' R' U R' F R y'

 Twizzle link 

R' U R U' B L' B L B2 R B' R' B U

 

[Lord_Oscar]

So I started FMC 2 weeks ago because of the forum competition, and it's the funnest (note: not funniest) thing in cubing for me by far and nothing comes close (well, maybe big cubes BLD, which I've quit )

But being a noob and all in FMC (only 6 attempts so far), I couldn't find a place on this forum for me to ask questions about FMC. I believe many would agree that too many speedcubing questions are over-asked in this forum, but I've only ever seen a handful of threads about FMC, hence this thread.

I'd love to read and learn from a lot of good and elegant solutions from the pros here.

----------

I'll start off with a question I hope the experts here can help me with:

Scramble: U2 R F2 D2 B2 D2 F2 L2 R F2 L U2 B U' B' U2 L2 F' L2 B U2 (21f)

Premove + (Scramble)': D' + U2 B' L2 F L2 U2 B U B' U2 L' F2 R' L2 F2 D2 B2 D2 F2 R' U2
2x2x2: R L' D' (3/3)
Triple x-cross: R' U' B D B2 D2 R2 D B R' (10/13) (EO skip)

13 moves at this stage is very good for me, so I don't want to give up this good start. But, now what?

I see a few ways to end this, but none of them are nice:

Permute remaining edges: (cancelled: R) U2 R' U R U' R' (6/18)
OLL: L' U R U' L U R' (7/25)
PLL: B2 L2 B R B' L2 B R' B (9/34)
Undo premove: D' (1/35)

or

(Different) triple x-cross: R' U' B D B2 D' B R' B' R B (11/14) (EO skip)
Permute remaining edges: U' F' U2 F (4/18)
Remaining corners suck

or

(Different) triple x-cross: R' U' B D B2 D' B R' B' R B (11/14) (EO skip)
Finish off F2L: U F' U' F U' F' U F (8/22) (OLL skip)
PLL + AUF: L2 U F' B L2 F B' U L2 U2 (10/32)
Undo premove: D' (1/33)

So, how would YOU end this? I'd like to see how you guys handle this bad ending.

How do you even do fmc?

 

[Silky]

How do you even do fmc?

Solve the cube. Get better.