Sitka High School Rianna Bergman was showing her Rubik’s cube collection. She has several.
“The action I’m doing — which is the official cubing term used for these kinds of moves — is known as a ‘Sexy Movement. ‘” Bergman said. She laughed when she turned over the face of the cube repeatedly in her hands. “It’s only six pieces and it will always return the puzzle to its completed state.”
Then, she completed the puzzle. This is because Bergman is a speedcuber.
“I solve Rubik’s cubes extremely quick,” she said. “An average of around 15 minutes, depending on the difficulty.”
Bergman claims to have had a breakthrough in solving her first cube more than anything, out of out of.
“We did have an exchange students who was staying at our house in Austria,” Bergman said. “And my brother was playing the Rubik’s Cube that he would throw up and then leave throughout the house. The exchange student would solve it. One day the exchange student walked out and my brother had left a puzzle that was not solved on the counter, the open, and it was so bothersome to me that I decided to take it home.”
She brought the cube to school and persuaded one of her classmates to show the student how to work on a particular side. After that, she returned home and listened to a video tutorial. She solved her first puzzle in just over an hour. This is when Bergman decided she was looking to speed up her work.
“My brain was thinking”You could probably accomplish it with less effort. and probably without the video. We’ll try again”” Bergman said. She took the cube wherever she went.
“I used to go for walks with my mom, or I’d do errands in the town. I carried around a small notepad that had these algorithms that I had written down in case didn’t remember the rules,” Bergman said. “We strolled through Totem Park a few times and I was using my notebook, just cubbling while we were walking.”
It was five years ago. Today, she has 15 cubes, and has the ability to solve various types of. Bergman is fiercely competitive, but not with herself. It’s all about reducing time to decrease her solve times.
“The the more sophisticated you become and the more efficient you advance, generally the more algorithms you’ll learn. As of right now I’m probably familiar with around 30 or 40 algorithmic concepts,” Bergman said. “But I’m going to study another 50 algorithms to master this particular part, and it will bring me down to 12 seconds or less average, ideally.”
As with a race car cubes need to be maintained and adjusted to the individual’s needs.
“There’s a myriad of speed cubes. One I like is known as”the X- Man Tornado V3. It features adjustable magnets, a spring, and lots of cool things similar to this,” Bergman said. “Yes there’s the speed cube lube. It is a product that is available,” she laughs. “The one I’m using is referred to as ‘Martian’. It makes my cube move faster, however there are other ones that slow it down.”
In April, at the beginning, Bergman traveled to Anchorage for her first speed cubing contest. Around 80 cubs from Alaska as well as the lower 48, and some international cubers participated in a variety of competitions. Bergman said that just three or four participants were female. Speedcubing is an overwhelmingly male-dominated sport.
“I certainly had lots of anxiety going into the contest,” Bergman said. “I did not know anyone who I really wanted to get to know them. Then, I sort of realized they were speedcubers. These are people who ‘cuber. It’s not like I’m meeting someone I don’t know and we’re unlikely to have anything in common. We’re all together because we all have something in common.”
Bergman found the community was very warm and helpful. She hopes to advance to the next round of competitions for the 3×3 cube category. It’s among more competitive divisions in which almost every cube entered.
“I put on a hoodie and for all my activities I carried warm handwarmers in my pocket” Bergman said. “Those hand warmers last for 12 hours and I was extremely satisfied with their endurance. Before I could even think of a solution I simply put my hands into my pocket and warmed the hands a bit. Then I came up with a solution.”
Bergman beat her expectationsshe made it through the third round of 3×3 where she placed 12th overall.
She’ll continue working to solve her puzzles however she’s not sure whether she’ll be able to pursue a career in cubing in the near future. She plans on cubing throughout college, and perhaps even create a club and would like to help others enjoy her puzzle that she’s so fascinated with.
“The creator of the puzzle is an architect. The name he used was Erno Rubik. It took him several months to work out the puzzle, as there are 43 quintillion different possible combinations that it could be solved,” Bergman said.
“It’s an extremely difficult to solve,” she said. “But this isn’t nearly as terrifying as it appears.”
In the final analysis for Bergman it’s not only about speed or figuring out the problem.
“If you discover something that you like, or love, do this,” Bergman said. “Even even if you don’t believe you’re as skilled than others or as good as you’d like to be, try your best and give it a shot, because you’re likely to enjoy yourself in any way.”
