Familiarizing With The Cube
Before we begin let's first understand some basics. As in any country, industry, club or game, there are certain jargons that you will need to learn in order to understand what expert solvers are talking about. So, we will begin with some basic language lessons. You need to understand how to read this document and what we are talking about.
Cube The entire cube itself with all 6 faces and 27 pieces
Cubelet individual unit / piece that makes the cube
Moves each twist you make on the cube
Algorithm a sequence of moves put together to produce a certain result
Center The center pieces sits in the middle of each face.
Edge The edge pieces have two visible faces and are located in between 2 corners.
Corner the corner pieces have three visible faces and are located at the corners of the cube.
Upper This is the top face of the cube.
Front This denotes the front side of the cube or the colour that is facing you.
Right This is the colour or side on your right hand.
Left This is the colour or side on your left hand.
Down This is the colour at the bottom of the cube or the colour opposing the Upper
Each algorithm comes with a series of moves or twists. Each move is denoted with an alphabet and is automatically moving in clockwise direction. The cube has 6 faces: Upper (U), Down (D), Left (L), Right (R), Front (F) and Back (B). See diagram below.
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U-layer (Upper) | D-layer (Down) | L-layer (Left) | ||
R-layer (Right) | F-layer (Front) | B-layer (Back) |
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E-layer (Equator) | M-layer (Middle layer) | S-layer (Standing layer) |
Moves
Now that you are familiar with each section of the cube you can start to make some moves.
Stay North
Before you begin solving the cube you first have to know where you are and where you are heading by identifying which colour sits on which side. One of the most common problems a beginner has in solving the cube is in not knowing which direction he/she is facing.
The Rubik's cube, as in any cube, has 6 faces. The center faces on a standard 3x3x3 cube never move. This simply means that by looking at the center face you will know which colour goes on that face. For instance, if the White is on top and the Red is facing you, Blue will be on your right and Green on your left. You will also notice that the White face is on the opposite of the Yellow face, which means you will never have a white tile next to a yellow tile. This is the same for the Blue against the Green face and the Orange against the Red. Knowing this will help you better coordinate and find directions. So the first thing you will need to do is pick your Rubik's cube up and just look at each face and the colour on the centre of it.
Another problem you will face is what is known as Cube Rotation. As a beginner, you will find it very difficult to solve the cube if you keep turning it in all directions. Before you know it you are solving 6 colours at the same time, and even experts don't do this. Cube Rotations are to be avoided as much as possible. As a beginner you will find this hard but this will help you better understand what you are doing with the cube. Always maintain the colours in the same position as much as possible; somewhat like a starting marker or keeping north like a compass. In this document you will begin with the White on the top and the Blue facing you. Which means you cannot see the Green. As much as possible, start and end each algorithm in this position.
Holding the Cube
Start by positioning the white face of the cube in the U position and the Blue face in the F position. Now place you left thumb on the centre cubelet of the Blue and your left middle finger on the centre cubelet of the Green face. Using your right hand turn the R clockwise and back. Then use your right hand and turn the U clockwise and back again. This is basically how you will be holding and moving the cube.
For each layer, there are three possible moves:
- Twist the layer 90 degrees clockwise
- Twist the layer 90 degrees counter clockwise
- Twist the layer 180 degrees (direction doesn't matter)
A 'clockwise' turn means clockwise when looking at that face. For the Back layer, this looks like a counter clockwise move from the perspective of the person holding the cube. It will take some getting used to.
A clockwise move of a layer is represented by the letter that corresponds to that layer.
Example: U would mean a 90 degree clockwise turn of the U layer.
A counter clockwise move of a layer is represented by the letter that corresponds to that layer, followed by an apostrophe or what we call a 'Prime'.
Example: U' would mean a 90 degree counter clockwise turn of the U layer.
A 180 degree
turn would be is represented by the letter that corresponds to that layer, followed by a 2. In this case it really doesn't matter which direction you go.
Example: U2 would mean a 180 degree turn of the U layer (in any direction)
Double layer turns
Lowercase letters represent 'double layer turns'. For example, the 'u' move is a move of the two top-layers of the cube, following the same direction as U. In other words, it's a U move, combined with an E' move.
Like all the other notation symbols, these lowercase letters can be followed by a 2 or an apostrophe denoting a double twist or a counter clockwise twist respectively.
Cube Rotations
Earlier I mentioned that you should not rotated your cube, however there are advance algorithms that require you to rotate your cube. The letters x, y and z are used to represent rotations of the whole cube. This is similar to a graph where x is the horizontal axis facing you and y is the vertical axis. The z axis is the third dimension of the cube.
The following pictures show how a 'Nomal cube' looks like after applying x, or y, or z respectively:
- x is a cube rotation which follows the direction of the R-face.
- y is a cube rotation which follows the direction of the U-face.
- z is a cube rotation which follows the direction of the F-face.
Like all the other notation symbols, these letters can be followed by a 2 or a Prime. The move x is basically the R move, but with the whole cube. For this reason, some websites might use the notation Rc instead of x.
Now, if you think you have got a hang of the basics you can start cubing.
The Technique
I will be showing you two techniques. The first one is a simple easy to follow guide that will get you to solving the cube. It is not a fast method; however you will be able to solve the Rubik's cube and showoff to some friends. The second technique is a combination technique but largely relying on a method called the Fridrich Method.
If you really want to solve the cube fast, you will need to learn how to speedcube. The most common technique used for speed cubing is the Fridrich Method. Other methods out there are the VH (Vandenbergh-Harris) System, ZB (Zborowski- Bruchem) System, and the Lars Petrus Method.
Most systems / methods do solve the cube either layer by layer or blocks of 2x2 but always finishing with solving the First 2 Layers (F2L). The final 2 steps are Orienting the Last Layer (OLL) and Permutations of the Last Layer (PLL), which will be explained in detail later on. The most common methods employ the CFOP system which is the Cross, F2L, OLL and PLL.
I will mainly cover the Fridrich and Petrus Methods because I use them the most. In fact I use a combination of both to solve the cube. I currently take just over 3 minutes to solve.
Solving the Cube for Beginners
One thing that often disheartens beginners is the inability to see themselves solving the cube and this often results with an early quit. So, I will show you all the steps required for you to solve the cube, however this is probably the slowest method I know of. It is repetitious and uses extra algorithms, but you will be able to solve the cube about 90% of the time in the beginning and 100% with lots of practice. I believe the method used here is actually good practice for beginners particularly to familiarize with the Rubik's Cube and how to move its cubelets about. We'll start by getting the corners together first as I find that this helps beginners to familiarize with the colour seating. However, once you can do this reasonably well, I would suggest that you use the CFOP system.
The X
We will start by working on the White face. So, position the White face on top. Now look for all the 4 corners that have a White on it. Take note of its location.
- Begin by turning one white corner to the white face. Then note the 2 colours on its side.
- You next step is to match the next corner with one of these colours. The illustration (a) shows how two corners (Blue-Orange) have been placed. Notice the White is on top. The Blue-Orange corner was positioned first, followed by the Blue-Red Corner. By building it this way, you would eventually end up with all four corners in the correct positions.
- Finally turn the top layer so that the corner colours match the centres of all 4 sides. Illustration (b) shows how the four corners should be positioned and matched.
(a) |
(b) |
Completing the First Layer
The next step is completing the white face.
The first step is to locate all the white edges.
Then position them in between the appropriate corners. This process will form a T on each face.
You may rotate your cube but only on the y-axis, which means you must constantly maintain the white face on top and the yellow face at the bottom.
Following are 5 basic situations you may encounter in moving the edges to the fist layer and their solutions. Of course there are other situations but you should be able to orientate the selected edge piece to one of the positions below by rotating E, E' D and D'.
For now you can ignore which direction the white face is at. As long as you don't move the white corners off, you may turn it till you get all the edges in and then you can place it back to its correct face.The examples below demonstrate the white-orange edge.
E R' E' R |
S D S' |
R E2 R' |
M' D M S D2 S' |
D M S D2 S' |
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If you were to get a white on top but not in the right place, just move it out and you will find yourself in one of the above situations. The following illustrates how to do this.
| S D S' | |
First 2 Layers
Now that you have completed the First Layer you can proceed to complete the second layer. There are only 2 algorithms for you to remember.
You are allowed to rotate your cube to find the pieces, but only on the y-axis. This means that you will constantly maintain the White face on top and the Yellow face at the bottom. The following are the basic situations you would face with the Blue-Orange face and their solutions.
Step one is to find the Blue that sits on the bottom layer with the blue facing one of the sides. Turn that blue to form a long T with the Blue face. This will create one of 2 situations. Look at the bottom to decide which one you have. This will tell you if you need to move the edge piece into the left or right side of the T, then simply deploy the appropriate algorithm.
D' (R' D R D) F D' F' |
D (L D' L' D') F' D F |
If the both the cubelets (Blue-Orange and Blue-Red) have the Blue at the bottom, just use the Orange or Red faces and make the same moves.
Occasionally you will face a situation where the edge piece in the right place but not in the right angle. If it is on the left side (as in the picture) then you execute the first algorithm above. This will place that edge piece at the back and on the bottom layer.
You can then add a D2 move and repeat the same algorithm. This will place the edge piece into its place properly.
You may also execute the following algorithm:
[D' (R' D R D) F D' F'] D [(R' D R D) F D' F']
The Yellow Cross
You have now successfully completed the F2L or First 2 Layers. Now rotate the cube on its x-axis twice. This will place the yellow face on the top and the white face on the bottom. You wouldn't need to do this if you were employing the Fridrich Method or most other systems because you would be solving the white face as the bottom layer.
The next step is making a cross on the yellow face (see picture on the left). In the Fridrich Method you wouldn't even go through this step, but you would have to memorize 57 algorithms. For the purpose of assisting a beginner in solving the cube, this step will be divided into 2 algorithms.
Note: If you already have the Cross like so, then you can skip this step completely and just proceed to the next step.
You should see one of the following patterns. Rotate the cube so that it faces you as in the diagrams below. Take note of only the yellow colours. Then execute this algorithm repeatedly until you get the cross. Refer to the diagrams below after each execution.
F (R U R' U') F'
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The Corner Alignment – Niklas Algorithm
This step is also skipped in the Fridrich Method. The objective is to place the edges in the right places. So, first find 2 corners with matching colours then rotate them next to its face.
Here you see the same cube from 2 angles. All the corners and edges now have one yellow face. So, ignore the yellow for now and just focus on the other colours. You will notice that the Blue-Orange corner is in the right position and so is the Blue-Red corner.
The Green-Red and The Green-Orange however is not. So, you will need to fix this.
Next, place the face with the correct corners on your left. With the example above, that would be the blue, making the Red your Front. Actually, you don't need to worry which colour is facing you at this point. You simply want to switch the two corners on your right hand. Now execute the following algorithm : L U' R' U L' U' R U2
This should set all the corners to the right positions and you should still see the Cross.
Sometimes you may encounter the pattern on the right. If this occurs, Place it like in the diagram and execute the Corner Alignment twice. Once again this is not the fastest algorithm but it will get you the result without much confusion.
Orienting the Last Layer (OLL) – The Sune
This step brings all the yellows to the top. They may not all be in the right positions yet though. Once again, position the cross like in the diagram below. and execute the following algorithm: R U R' U R U2 R' U2
This algorithm is called the Sune. You may have to perform the Sune up to 4 times before you see all yellows on the top face.
Permutation of the Last Layer (PLL)
This is the final step.
By now you should have one completed side and all corners in the right places. If no edges on the last layer is in the right position, then simply execute the algorithm and that should solve the problem. This algorithm actually rotates 3 edges. Now, place the completed side on your left hand and execute the following algorithm:
| R2 U F B' R2 R' B U R2 |
| R2 U' F B' R2 R' B U' R2 |
Your cube is solved!
You have finally solved the cube. The best way to improve is Practice! Practice! Practice!
If you have a good cube you should be able to solve it in less than 4 minutes, after loads of practice. The best is to play each algorithm and understand how the pieces move about the cube. You next step is Speedcubing. If you wish to learn how to speedcube, master the Sune and the two PLL above first. However, memorising the algorithms is not enough. It is important for you to understand how they work and what they do to each cubelet.
