British Rubik’s Cube champion squares up to world cup

A reigning Rubik’s Cube world champion has spoken of his passion for the sport ahead of representing the UK at this year’s world cup.

Speaking ahead of the Red Bull Rubik’s Cube World Cup, Chris Mills, 19, said he was first inspired to learn speed-cubing after watching a video of the 2013 world championships as a 12-year-old.

The dual UK and New Zealand citizen told the PA news agency: “I just thought it was awesome. I saw a competition that was reasonably close to me… that was just a few months away, so I signed up for that.

“I was the kind of kid who would pick up a hobby and do it for a few weeks and then drop it and move on to something new, (but) after my first competition I knew I really liked it, I was like ‘When’s the next one? I want to go to the next one’.”

Mr Mills is now the UK’s national record holder in the traditional three-by-three solve and reigning world champion in the rescramble event.

The rescramble gives competitors a solved cube and asks them to match the pattern on a randomly scrambled one, which Mr Mills managed in just 17.6 seconds to beat his German opponent Ricky Meiler in the 2020 tournament.

Despite last year’s success, Mr Mills said: “There’s always more stuff to learn.

“There’s more techniques, there’s more algorithms, there’s more tricks.

“At competitions, it’s not hostile at all. If you look at the top guys in speed-cubing, they’re all like great mates. They’ll chat to each other online… give each other tips.

“I think it’s great… it’s such a convenient sport. It’s pretty cheap and you can take it anywhere.

“I always have one in my bag with me. You can just get a timer on your phone and you’re good to go.”

Mr Mills moved to New Zealand from Sussex in January, but will continue to represent the UK.

This year’s Red Bull Rubik’s Cube World Cup will take place on Friday and Saturday and see cubers from around the world compete online in a virtual tournament.

The cube was created by Hungarian inventor Erno Rubik in 1974, who developed it with coloured faces which could twist without falling apart.

In 2020, streaming service Netflix released a documentary following speed-cubing champions Max Park and Feliks Zemdegs.

To find out more about this year’s event, visit www.redbull.com/gb-en/event-series/rubiks-world-cup.