World Rubik's Cube Championship 2009

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World Rubik's Cube
Championship 2009
Location: Düsseldorf, Germany
Date(s): 2009 October 9–11
Preceded by: WC2007
Succeeded by: WC2011

World Rubik's Games Championship 2009 (usually called World Championship 2009, abbreviated to WC2009) was a speedcubing World Championship held at the Burg-Wächter Castello in Düsseldorf, Germany on Oct 9-11, 2009. It was the fourth World Championship of the modern speedcubing era and the third after the creation of the WCA.

Competition

The tournament took place in the Burg-Wächter Castello, an impressive sounding name for what is in fact a sports arena. The official hotel was the Düsseldorf Youth Hostel. Excluding the qualification rounds, 327 competitors took part in the competition, of which 85 were from Germany. Two new events had been added since WC2007: 6x6x6 and 7x7x7 Cube. V-Cube had begun selling these two new cubes in 2008.

As at WC2007, Friday was mostly devoted to qualification events. However, the finals of some major events also took place on Friday: Pyraminx, 3x3 Multi-blindfold, 4x4 Blindfold, and 5x5 Blindfold. An Opening Ceremony (a ribbon cut and welcome) was conducted on the Saturday morning. There was also a party on Saturday evening in the Youth hostel. The final event of the tournament was the 3x3 final on Sunday between 3:30 and 4:30 pm followed by "prize awards and closing ceremony". There was another party ("informal meeting") in the evening at the Youth hostel.[1]

The winner of the 3x3 speedsolve won €5000 with winners of most other events winning €500 to €1000. The winners of the 6x6 and 7x7 events won €250 and a V-Cube 7x7. As had happened in the previous two world championships, the winners of Megaminx, Pyraminx, Clock, Square 1, and Magic events only won trophies.[2]

Winners

The 3x3 championship was won by Breandan Vallance of the United Kingdom. His final average was 10.74 seconds. The second place went to Erik Akkersdijk (11.52), the third to Tomasz Zolnowski (11.64).

World Records Set

Unofficial events

Mosaic building

The mosaic event was a challenge to design and build a mosaic of 250 Rubik's Cubes in the time of 1 hour. Teams with a maximum of three persons were allowed. The event took place on Saturday in the Main Hall. A total of 21 teams tried the challenge, and designs included Yellow Smiley Face, Bart Simpson, Spongebob, Yellow Brown Man, Mario Brothers, Lion in Car, and Barack Obama.[3] The winners were judged to be Frank and Anja Provoost from the Netherlands with their "Düsseldorf Globe". (Photo)

Rubik's 360

A Rubik's 360 event took place on Friday evening.

Touch Cube

Taking place over three days was the "Joker Touch Cube" event. The Touch Cube, designed by Joker AG, was an electronic Rubik's Cube consisting of six touchscreen displays. A swipe over one of the touchscreens twisted the virtual sides. There was one solve allowed per person.

Rule changes

Unlike the 2007 Championships when only "legal puzzle brands" were allowed,[4] the 2009 World Championships were the first World Championships in which the rules stated that "all puzzle and sticker brands are allowed".[5]

Media

External Links