CFOP method
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CFOP (Cross, F2L, OLL, PLL, pronounced C-F-O-P or C-fop) is a 3x3 speedsolving method proposed by several cubers around 1981. It is also known as the Fridrich Method after its popularizer, Jessica Fridrich. In part due to Fridrich's publication of the method on her website in 1995, CFOP has been the most dominant 3x3 speedcubing method since around 2000, with it and its variants used by the vast majority of the top speedcubers. In particular, every speedcuber ranked in the top 10 by 3x3 average at any point since 2005 has used a variant of CFOP.
Origin and Naming Dispute
Jessica Fridrich is often erroneously solely credited with the invention of CFOP. In reality, developments made in the early 80's by other cubers have contributed to the method in its current form. The constituent techniques and their original proposers are as follows:
- Cross: David Singmaster
- F2L (4x corner + edge pairs): Ren Schoof and possibly others
- OLL/PLL: Hans Dockhorn, Anneke Treep, with many algorithms developed by Jessica Fridrich
During the resurgence in speedcubing's popularity in the late 90s and early 2000s, there was a general lack of information on the sport. Fridrich's website offered a vast wealth of information for those entering the sport, including a full description of CFOP with complete lists of algorithms. As a result, many who learned from her website began to call this method "the Fridrich Method," which explains the common use of the term today.
Several high-profile cubers have long disputed this terminology; Ron van Bruchem, famously, has publicly written that he will never call CFOP "the Fridrich Method." The issue became well-advertised in the community around 2008. The term "CFOP" has since seen increasing usage, also in part motivated by efforts to standardize terminology in method classification, and is now seen as commonly as "Fridrich Method."
While some cubers still insist on the term "CFOP," Fridrich's contribution to the popularization of the method is undeniable, and many others accept the term "Fridrich Method" as established terminology and a perfectly valid synonym for "CFOP."
The Steps
CFOP can be viewed as an advanced version of a Layer-By-Layer method. In particular, it combines some steps of the said method into one by using many more algorithms.
1. Cross
First, make a cross on any side of the cube. This entails solving all of the edges with a given color to their proper positions.
2. F2L (First Two Layers)
In this step you fill in the slots where the corners of the cross are missing. For each insertion, a corner and an edge are placed simultaneously. There are 41 basic cases for this step, but it can be learned intuitively.
3. OLL (Orient the Last Layer)
Next, you make the entire top side of the cube a solid color. This requires 57 algorithms, but can be broken down into two steps (2 Look OLL), which only requires 9 algorithms.
4. PLL (Permute the Last Layer)
Finally, you finish the cube by permuting the top layer of the cube. There are 21 algorithms to learn, but this step can be done into two steps, (2 Look PLL), which includes just 6 algorithms.
Pros
This method is relatively easy to understand when compared to other methods. Therefore, it is the most tested and most popular method used. It has a reasonable number of algorithms to learn, and sub 15 second averages are definitely possible. This method has been used to set many world records. It takes less thinking than block-building methods because it's more algorithm based.
Cons
Learning all of the algorithms takes some time, and it requires a lot of practice to solve the F2L consistently in 10 seconds or less. Also, it has a slightly higher move count when compared to block building methods.
See Also
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F2L |
| Permutations of corners only |
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| Permutations of edges only |
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| Permutations of corners and edges |
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External Links
- Joël van Noort's tutorial
- Erik Akkersdijk's tutorial
- Shotaro Makisumi's tutorial
- Jessica's Homepage
- Badmephisto's Intuitive F2L Tutorial
- Speedsolving.com: Fridrich Method - info on its origin.
