Solving cubes is child’s play for this kid

Blindfolded, Abhishek Satyanarayanan can solve the Rubik’s Cube in 3.35 minutes, using his feet in 2.32 minutes; at 13.70 seconds he is a world record holder for solving the latest Skewb Cube too!

January 04, 2014 12:52 am | Updated November 17, 2021 04:24 am IST - HYDERABAD:

Abhishek Satyanarayanan en route to creating a world record in solving the Skewb cube in Hyderabad earlier this month.

Abhishek Satyanarayanan en route to creating a world record in solving the Skewb cube in Hyderabad earlier this month.

Imagine solving the Rubik’s Cube blindfolded. Difficult? Then how about solving it with your feet?

If you find these feats improbable, Abhishek Satyanarayanan’s feats may astound, nay dumbfound, you. A class 9 student of Bhavan’s Sri Ramakrishna Vidyalaya, Abhishek accomplishes these tasks routinely.

World-record holder

What’s more, he also set a new world record for solving a new type of cube – the Skewb Cube – in 13.70 seconds flat!

The 14-year-old set the record during Telesis Open ’14, an international Rubik’s Cube competition held here a few days ago. The tournament also saw three more records being created by city students and cubers Santosh Tantravahi, M. Sunil Kumar and Adithya Kannan. A total of 40 Rubik’s Cube enthusiasts participated in the competition.

Solving cubes is helpful in learning mathematics, Abhishek said during an interaction with the media on Friday. “Solving cubes involves dealing with mathematical algorithms and hence solving mathematics becomes easy for those solving the Rubik’s Cube. Also, solving cube puzzles improves one’s concentration,” he said.

To solve a Rubik cube blindfolded, one has to first memorise the puzzle and then visualise it while solving it. This, Abhishek points out, needs a great degree of concentration and analysis. A gaming enthusiast, Abhishek, learnt solving cubes by watching online videos and later undergoing professional training.

“Beginners can learn solving the Rubik’s Cube by watching online videos,” he observed. Abhishek can also solve the Rubik’s Cube blindfolded in 3.35 minutes. His best time for solving the cube using his feet was 2.32 minutes.

While the 3x3 column Rubik’s Cube is the most commonly known variant, for professionals, there are advanced cubes that have 9x9 columns.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.