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People · New Zealand

Ben Kirby

3×3 · top 0.19% of 284,439 all-time · competing since March 2017 · 2017KIRB01

Ben Kirby has been competing for 10 years. His best event is the 3×3: a personal-best single of 5.32, set at Lyttelton Spring 2021, puts him in the top 0.19% of the 284,439 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 11th in New Zealand. Until April 2015, no official 3×3 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 31 competitions since March 2017, he has put 2,115 official solves on the record across 13 events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 14% around a typical one; 70% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds hold a tighter spread. His 3×3 best has come down from 9.32 in March 2017 to 5.32, a 43% improvement. Ben has entered 31 competitions, more competitions than 98% of everyone who has ever competed.

3×3
best event — top 0.19% of 284,439 all-time
5.32
signature single · Lyttelton Spring 2021
2,115
official solves on the record
14%
solve-to-solve spread · wider than 70% of the field

Standing, event by event

vs everyone ever ranked
EventPB singlePB averageAll-time standingNew Zealand
3×35.326.98
top 0.19%11 / 2,095
4×423.2127.04
top 0.36%8 / 722
Pyraminx2.044.18
top 1.2%34 / 1,141
5×548.7751.71
top 1.4%11 / 355
3×3 one-handed10.9314.16
top 1.8%21 / 600
2×21.482.02
top 2.1%68 / 1,615
6×61:37.681:46.53
top 3.5%10 / 149
Skewb2.995.50
top 4.9%47 / 666
7×72:38.822:51.41
top 5.3%8 / 126
3×3 Fewest Moves26 moves36.33
top 6.2%11 / 111
Megaminx53.5159.27
top 6.7%30 / 283
Square-113.4519.84
top 12.9%41 / 251
3×3 blindfolded3:28.99—
top 60.7%68 / 86

Percentile against all competitors ever ranked in each event, a fairer measure than raw rank, because the pools differ by a factor of ten.

The line so far

SNZ Southern 2017: 9.32Supreme South Open 2017: 9.37New Zealand Nationals 2017: 8.57SNZ Southern 2018: 9.18Wellington Winter 2018: 8.30Supreme South Open 2018: 6.35New Zealand Nationals 2018: 7.58Koalafication Palmy 2019: 6.79Oceania 10th Anniversary 2019: 6.80WCA World Championship 2019: 7.61New Zealand Nationals 2019: 7.57Auckland Summer Open 2020: 7.21Welcome Back Wellington 2020: 6.89New Zealand Nationals 2020: 6.37Wellington Mind Games 2021: 6.95Twisty Taranaki 2021: 6.85NZ South Island Championship 2021: 6.60Palmerston North 2021: 5.59NZ North Island Championship 2021: 6.63Lyttelton Spring 2021: 5.32Palmerston North 2022: 5.37Puzzling Porirua 2022: 6.33NZ South Island Championship 2022: 5.65NZ North Island Championship 2022: 5.95Opawa Open 2022: 5.80Lyttelton Spring 2022: 6.56New Zealand Nationals 2022: 6.25New Zealand Nationals 2023: 5.75Quick Solving at Cobham 2024: 6.38Rubik's UK Championship 2025: 5.885.329.3718 Mar 201722 Aug 2025

Best single per competition, 3×3. Faster is higher — the axis is the right way up.

The story so far

Competitions

Reading this page: a single is one solve's time · an average is the middle three of five solves, best and worst discarded · a PB is a personal best · a DNF (did not finish) is an attempt with no valid result: a popped piece, an unsolved face, an over-limit memorisation · top X% compares against everyone ever ranked in that event, which is fairer than raw rank because event pools differ tenfold.

The circuit

The people whose scorecards keep turning up next to his.

Next targets

  • A sub-5 3×3 single — 344 people have one; it is 0.32 away.
  • A sub-20 4×4 single — 42 people have one; it is 3.21 away.

Targets move as he improves.