UK Championship 2014

So I remember Mollerz saying to Ben Towers that they averaged 'pretty much exactly the same' on 5x5 yesterday and today their averages differed by 0.13. I'm impressed
 
So I remember Mollerz saying to Ben Towers that they averaged 'pretty much exactly the same' on 5x5 yesterday and today their averages differed by 0.13. I'm impressed

Judged Mollerz's last 5x5 solve in the finals, he had two sub 90s. Think he might beat Ben... maybe.

Ciarán got 2:54.04 on 7x7, obviously Irish NR, 10th in the world.
 
DYK?
-Got into second round of 3x3, the last person that qualified
-Beat all previous official averages
-Went shopping for a present for mum in town and found a shop full of rubiks cube plushies
-Lau actually isn't in his mid-20s
-Feet smell and you actually judge feet with your face right next to the feet, as I found out when the camera men wanted me to judge feet
-The cake was, infact, a lie. It was made from polystyrene.
-I forgot how to solve skewb in my first attempt, which meant I took nearly a minute.
-Everyone was awesome, and I got free food!
 
1)One word for my 2x2:

DNF

2)Summary for 2x2 solvers:

little kids who get good through relying on the fact that you can get so many solves done and not using any higher-order mental skills

3)Summary for my 3x3:

Situation + rage at 2) increased my average by 7 seconds

4)Some words for my 4x4:

Arrogant judge basically told me to [p i s s o f f] after solve 2, unceremoniously lobing my cube in my direction.

I thought that competitions were supposed to embrace a collective spirit and all should be welcomed regardless of ability, yet not making cutoff on one solve and the judge hence refusing to take my puzzle and being very rude defies that. When I sat to be judged, no-one would take any notice, the manifestation of unprofessionality being the way lower-ranking competitors were treated. I felt like it was a "Yeah, get on with your solves, hurry up and get out of here so that I can continue to mess around for my own benefit with my bandwagon of organisers". Perhaps next time I will think twice before entering a competition after having the worst experience in a competitive event ever.
 
While I am not a organizer...

Arrogant judge basically told me to [p i s s o f f] after solve 2, unceremoniously lobing my cube in my direction.

Did you raise this issue with a delegate/organizer at the time when it happened? Raising this issue a day or so later and after the comp hardly seems worthwhile.

I thought that competitions were supposed to embrace a collective spirit and all should be welcomed regardless of ability, yet not making cutoff on one solve and the judge hence refusing to take my puzzle and being very rude defies that. When I sat to be judged, no-one would take any notice, the manifestation of unprofessionality being the way lower-ranking competitors were treated. I felt like it was a "Yeah, get on with your solves, hurry up and get out of here so that I can continue to mess around for my own benefit with my bandwagon of organisers".

This is not, or has ever been, my experience with any comp of any kind. The only reason I can think of for any judge taking that attitude is if the competition is behind schedule because of a lack of judges or runners willing to volunteer their services after their particular group has finished.

Even then, it is outrageous to lump in the organizers into the same category, for without them you would not have a competition to attend at all. Every competition requires a degree of give and take in order to go smoothly (or happen at all, for that matter) so I can only hope that you contributed your fair share as well.
 
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Judged Mollerz's last 5x5 solve in the finals, he had two sub 90s. Think he might beat Ben... maybe.

Ciarán got 2:54.04 on 7x7, obviously Irish NR, 10th in the world.

yup I fluffed 5x5 final, messed up on edges too many times :/

EDIT: Just noticed James got the same average in the 5x5 final that he got in the 1st round :O

I was sitting next to Ciaran and I had just finished my 7x7 solve when I saw he was on 3x3 stage at 2:4x. I thought "Yeah that's normal, he's crazy fast" then I saw his reaction when he got the single :O

I asked him after what his home PB was and he said ~3:10. Crazy stuff, congrats to him!

DYK:
- istilldontcareabouttwobytwo
- Aochuangs are everywhere
- I can solve a 9x9
- Why were there ~100 Rubik's brand cubes at the back?
- I finally got sub-1 at 4x4 and somehow a sub-50 single, but completely failed the next round.
- I can still do BLD, despite having not practiced for almost a year
- No fire alarm this year.
- Aolong's are really good
- So are Aosu's
- So are Rubik's Professors for warming up on 5x5
- Being the sole runner for an entire group of 3x3 is no fun
- Somehow I hit all the targets I was aiming for. Even in my bad 3x3 round I got a comp PB single
- Aria and Johan are really cool - The Swedish National Anthem walk-on for 3x3 final was extremely funny.
- Hearing people pronounce the "J" in Johan was also quite amusing.
- Breandan can sub-3 the worst 5x5 ever made.
- Adam does not get hungover.
- Rajiv's 6x6 is worst 6x6.
- I was sad nobody played Darude Sandstorm as a walk-on song.
- And the next Irish National Record......... :P
- And the next Cyprus National Record........... :PP
- Awkward hand-shakes at awards, especially for Edward.
- That giant Rubik's cube at the back of the room was a cake, I did not realize this until near the end of the second day.
- I have no idea where the rest of it went???!?
- Another great UK comp, and I PROMISE (looking at you Adam), that I will make more next year :)

Cya guys later

Ben
 
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Arrogant judge basically told me to [p i s s o f f] after solve 2, unceremoniously lobing my cube in my direction.

I thought that competitions were supposed to embrace a collective spirit and all should be welcomed regardless of ability, yet not making cutoff on one solve and the judge hence refusing to take my puzzle and being very rude defies that. When I sat to be judged, no-one would take any notice, the manifestation of unprofessionality being the way lower-ranking competitors were treated. I felt like it was a "Yeah, get on with your solves, hurry up and get out of here so that I can continue to mess around for my own benefit with my bandwagon of organisers". Perhaps next time I will think twice before entering a competition after having the worst experience in a competitive event ever.

I'm really sorry to hear this. My experience has been very different: I'm *much* slower than you are, and I've never had any rudeness from judges or felt like I was being discriminated against or treated without respect as a result of being so slow. In fact, I've experienced the opposite most of the time with judges either congratulating me on getting a PB or offering me advice or just making friendly banter.

I'm not sure what you meant when you said "When I sat to be judged, no-one would take any notice"?

Anyway, I hope the experience you had doesn't put you off: I think the cubing community is one of the friendliest, most welcoming and tolerant groups of people I've ever had the pleasure to mix with.
 
Did you notice me solving with Hoya in the 4x4 finals? Because you use Hoya don't you?
I missed out on 4x4 finals by one place :( I don't use Hoya for 4x4 though; I use Hoya5 for 5x5.

Great first day for me - I think I was very close (within one or two places) to Mollerz in almost everything (except 2x2/Mega) that day. I also think I now know what everyone looks like, yay.

Goals, which I thought would be too hard to get:
3x3: sub-14 average, sub-11 single (maybe sub-10?) not even sub-12 :(
4x4: sub-55 average, sub-50 single (maybe sub-48?) did much better than expected
5x5: sub-2:20 average, sub-2 single (probably sub-2:10 is more realistic) very happy with what I got
2x2: sub-4.5 average, sub-2.5 single (maybe sub-2?) Just about got the average, didn't get a decent single. Also made finals and didn't come last...
3BLD: sub-3 single, although one success is unlikely close with the BLD single... also failed at not getting a success - I somehow got 2!
OH: sub-25 average, sub-20 single single was too close... missed finals by one place
Mega: idc failed to not care because I got a PB and beat my friend who is the same speed as me
Pyra: my official PBs are almost my normal PBs so I don't think I'll beat them... I don't really care about pyra anyway PB Ao5 (all counting solves were below my previous PB Ao5), but I definitely succeeded in not caring
Square-1: make cutoff (i.e. don't get unlucky with parity) Two good singles, three bad ones. Tried to sub-1 the last single, +2ed it
Skewb: sub-10 average, sub-7 single 10.59 average, sub-6 single
6x6: i don't even know what i average i still don't even know what i average
 
DYK

DYK:

  • Great competition, as always. Very fun. And kudos to the organisers: everything ran smoothly, as far as I could tell.
  • I just cannot BLD. Apart from at home. And on the train. But not in a competition.
  • I was wrong to think that having no hair would make me streamlined, and therefore faster.
  • But I did get PBs in 3x3 and Pyra, so maybe it did work after all.
  • Zak does good drunk shadow dancing.
  • I want my own Cube-stormer now.
  • Andrew getting *very* excited about football on the phone left everyone in suspense for an unfeasibly long time.
  • Adam is a good OLL teacher.
  • Mollerz's sub-10 got +2ed
  • Well done Alex.
  • It was nice to see Leslie again, who I guess must be our oldest competitor.
  • He drives about 100 miles to get to the competition just for 3x3 and then drives back home again afterwards. That's dedication.
 
2)Summary for 2x2 solvers:

little kids who get good through relying on the fact that you can get so many solves done and not using any higher-order mental skills
apart from TVN, the youngest other finalist was luke hubbard who i wouldnt describe as a 'kid'. TVN is good at loads of other events so your argument is flawed there too
2x2 can require skill at the highest level can require a lot of skill, have you ever tried to 1-look a 2x2 with only 15s inspection?
If it's so easy why don't you just practice loads like all the kids do and win?
 
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