Edge pairing
Edge Pairing is the substep of reduction methods for big cubes in which edges are paired, completing the reduction to 3x3 (plus possible parities).
3-2-3 edge pairing
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6-2 edge pairing
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Freeslice edge pairing
Freeslice is a technique used on big cubes ranging from 4x4 and up in which the slices between the U and D layers do not have to be re-solved immediately after an edge pair is formed. Rather, the slices are re-solved after 8 edges are paired and when there are only 4 edges are remaining to be paired.
Essentially all world-class big cube solvers use this technique for 5x5x5+ to some extent.
AvG edge pairing
AvG Edge Pairing (named after Arnaud van Galen), also called '2 edges at a time pairing, is an edge pairing method for the 5x5. Notable users of it are Arnaud van Galen, Erik Akkersdijk and Durben Virtucio.
Big Cubes edge pairing
Big Cubes edge pairing is an edge pairing method for the 5x5 and bigger cubes, popularized by BIGcubes.com. Together with AvG edge pairing, it is the main edge pairing method for 5x5. For bigger cubes, Big Cubes edge pairing is by far the most popular method among top cubers. Notable users of it are Dan Cohen, Kevin Hays, Feliks Zemdegs, Mats Valk, Max Park and Seung Hyuk Nahm.
UEF8E
UEF8E is a method for pairing the first eight edges on big cubes. By using U2, the solver can avoid cube rotation and using flipping algorithms like F' L F U L2 U'. While it reduces the move set (<L, Lw, 3Lw, U, R>-gen on 6x6x6 and <L, Lw, 3Lw, 4Lw, U, R>-gen on 7x7x7), the solver has to memorize four useless wings.
See also
External Links
- YouTube: Explanation of 3-2-3 and 6-2 edge pairing
- Speedsolving.com: Durben Virtucio 5x5 1:16.58 (2 Edges at a time)
- Speedsolving.com: 5x5 Edges; AvG vs. Big Cubes Method
- UEF8E example solve
- UEF8E thread with algorithms (Chinese)
