SpeedBLD
SpeedBLD (variously called speed BLD, SpeedBLD, short for speed blindfolded solving) is a blindsolving Rubik's cube discipline in which unlimited memorisation time is allowed. In speedBLD only the execution time is recorded. Because memorisation time is not an issue, it is possible to use a standard speedcubing method such as Fridrich to maximise execution speed. SpeedBLD has never been a WCA official event.
Early Attempts
In 1998, Geir Ugelstad used speedBLD to become the first person to officially (pre-WCA) solve 2 and 3 cubes blindfolded. Dan Knights's first successful blindfolded solve was using Fridrich in 1999 (He later used a more standard blindfold solving method).[1]
It is not known whether the other early blindfold solvers, such as John White and Ralf Laue, used speedBLD. It is also not known whether Gaétan Guimond used speedBLD.
History
The first major exposure for speedBLD came in May 2004, when Chris Hardwick used Fridrich to solve a cube in 18.50 seconds.[2][3] His attempt was famously parodied by the Axe Deodorant's Get A Girlfriend commercial campaign. At World Championships 2005 in Orlando, Florida, Geir Ugelstad demonstrated speedBLD using Fridrich. The rising popularity of BLD led to the inclusion of multi-BLD, but not speedBLD, as a WCA official event in 2006. As a result, there have been recurrent yet limited interest in speedBLD.[4][5]
Since 2006, Lucas Garron has been one of the most prominent advocates of speedBLD. Well-known blindfold solvers such as Mike Hughey, Shelley Chang, and Stefan Pochmann have expressed interested in or have practiced speedBLD. There have been attempts to standardize speedBLD, at least unofficially.[6]
More recently, Alexander Lau and Rami Sbahi have attempted SpeedBLD and have been successful. Rami currently holds the UWR for this, in a time of 6.469 seconds.
Future
With 3-Style giving insane execution times , like about 11 seconds for a 10 alg scramble, it is just a matter of time before , a good 6-alg solve is done within 6 seconds by a top BLDer like Ishaan Agarwal or Jeff Park.
