Six-year-old speedcuber Lian Yunzhi of Chengdu broke the women’s 3×3 Rubik’s Cube average world record twice in three days at World Cube Association competitions in Wuhan and Guangzhou.
She recorded averages of 4.52 seconds and 4.27 seconds, becoming the first female speedcuber to average under 4.5 seconds.
She first learned about cubing in an extracurricular class. Later, her mother encouraged her to focus on cubing to help develop a range of skills. Lian has learned over 1,300 solving algorithms and practices with her parents for two to three hours every day.
The World Cube Association reports that she has taken part in 33 competitions across China and completed 569 official solves. Her best single time for a 3x3x3 cube is 3.54 seconds, and 2.15 seconds for a 2x2x2 cube.
“Solving a Rubik’s Cube improves focus, memory, logical thinking, spatial awareness, and helps develop a healthy mindset toward winning and losing,” Lin said.
“It’s not just about blindly memorizing formulas, but using logical reasoning to find optimal solutions,” she added.
Before Lian, Qixian Cao held the record. He started cubing at age three and reached an average time of 5.97 seconds in 2023, also at age six.
