There are 43 quintillion possible permutations on a Rubik's cube – that's 43 billion BILLION! But for some, solving a cube is child's play, as correspondent David Pogue discovered when he met with some speed cubers – including a pair of remarkable world-record holders who are only eight years old.

The world of competitive Rubik's Cube speed cubing has seen a surge in young talent, with eight-year-olds Xuanyi Gong and Qixian Cao holding the men's and women's world records, respectively. Xuanyi set a record time of 3.05 seconds, while Qixian achieved 4.09 seconds. Both traveled from China to compete at the World Championships, highlighting the global appeal and youthful energy of the sport.

Rubik's Cube, invented in 1974, has evolved from a popular puzzle to a sophisticated competition, with modern cubes featuring advanced technology such as magnets and adjustable tensions. The championships include a variety of events, including blindfolded solving, and attract participants of all ages. While financial rewards are limited, the community values the experience and camaraderie, providing a welcoming environment for enthusiasts worldwide.

The world of Rubik's speed cubing

David Pogue now has the story of an unlikely competitive battleground. We came to this Seattle playground to film the men's and women's Rubik's Cube World Speed Champions. But nobody was there but a couple of eight-year-olds. Unless... No! Yes! Xuanyi Gong and Qixian Cao are the men's and women's speed champions. Earlier this year, Xuanyi set the record, 3.05 seconds, and Qixian set the female record, 4.09 seconds. Do you spend all your time practicing? So he currently has three major things he's doing, which is to read books, to study, and to practice Rubik's Cubes. Is anybody upset if you don't win? She says she wouldn't be too upset over it, and she would just practice more when she goes back to home. They flew here from China for the 2025 World Championships, which are taking place this very weekend. And China's going to close it out. Hungarian architecture professor Erno Rubik invented the cube in 1974. By 1983, crazed fans had bought 200 million of them, trying to unscramble its 43 quintillion permutations, 43 billion billion. But eventually, the fad cooled, until the internet inspired a comeback. The modern world championships began in 2003. At its simplest form, it's just solving the Rubik's Cube as fast as you can. Kevin Hayes is part of the organizing committee for this year's championships. He's a mean speed cuber himself. I was the world champion in the 6x6 in 2013, 2015, and 2017. Wow, do these people here know who you are? I was like their star back in the day, but now I'm very old. 31 is very old. 31 is ancient in the Rubik's Cube land. I mean, the new superstars are like 8 to 13. Put it down, put your hands back down on the timer, and then that records your time. 19-year-old Luke Garrett holds the world record for his average time unscrambling one-handed. Yes! 7.72 seconds. Now, these are not your father's cubes. They're a lot faster. They use a lot more technology inside them. They have smoother pieces, rounded edges. They have magnets inside of them. You can adjust the tensions. What do the magnets do for you? They can help the cube align itself so it stops where you want it to. Also, the pros memorize hundreds of cube patterns and the moves they need to solve them. I know what to do with my fingers that will take this from being like this to being solved. Garrett is competing in 13 of the 17 championship events, and he's the highest-ranked cuber in the world across all events. Let's see, 4x4, 5x5, 6x6, 7x7, pyraminx, pyramid, cube. There's even a blindfolded solving event. So the way you do it, it's easier than it looks. It's actually not. It involves imagining a letter on each surface and then memorizing pairs of letters as words for something. So F-O, so that's like, I imagine like foe, like fighting somebody. And then I have to go to K-B, I imagine kibble, like dog kibble. That makes sense, right? There we go. Insane. You don't make much money on the competitive circuit. For Luke Garrett, it's more about the experience and the friends. If you had to characterize the people at one of these tournaments? A lot of people who have a bit of trouble socializing, myself included. You know, I've had a lot of struggles in the past with that. But it's cool to see people who kind of break out of their shell when they go to a competition because they see people who are interested in the same thing they are. As for Xuan Yi and Qi Xian, they're just getting started. Can you guys do one-handed? Yeah, they both know how to play a one-handed. Can you do it upside down? Oh, he says he still doesn't know how to do a handstand yet. Can you do it asleep? I sometimes dream that I'm playing Rubik's Cube. She says she sometimes dreams about her playing Rubik's Cube.

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