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The Middle Three
People → United States → Brandon Kao

People · United States

Brandon Kao

3×3 · top 7.4% of 284,439 all-time · competing since December 2018 · 2018KAOB01

Brandon Kao has been competing for 8 years. His best event is the 3×3: a personal-best single of 9.99, set at Irvine Summer 2022, puts him in the top 7.4% of the 284,439 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 4,080th in the United States. Until May 2007, no official 3×3 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 13 competitions since December 2018, he has put 256 official solves on the record across eleven events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 12% around a typical one, steadier than 80% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds. His 3×3 best has come down from 18.38 in December 2018 to 9.99, a 46% improvement. Brandon has entered 13 competitions, more competitions than 94% of everyone who has ever competed.

3×3
best event — top 7.4% of 284,439 all-time
9.99
signature single · Irvine Summer 2022
256
official solves on the record
12%
solve-to-solve spread · steadier than 80% of the field

Standing, event by event

vs everyone ever ranked
EventPB singlePB averageAll-time standingUnited States
3×39.9912.50
top 7.4%4,080 / 59,724
2×23.214.85
top 16.7%6,555 / 40,951
4×455.551:03.25
top 31.4%4,956 / 19,072
3×3 one-handed24.5630.52
top 33.0%4,324 / 15,683
Pyraminx8.419.78
top 39.8%11,374 / 28,708
Megaminx2:06.48
top 49.4%3,668 / 7,841
5×52:03.312:23.60
top 51.3%4,301 / 9,401
Skewb10.2012.67
top 56.1%10,206 / 18,907
6×64:23.89
early days — 2 solves2,883 / 4,196
Square-11:02.16
top 84.9%5,698 / 6,743
7×78:50.60
early days — 1 solve3,010 / 3,184

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

CubeChella 2018: 18.38Mudd Winter 2019: 18.96West LA Spring 2019: 14.30CubingUSA Western Championship 2019: 12.20Nisei Week 2019: 14.21Mudd Fall 2019: 13.28UCSD Winter 2020: 12.77Mudd Winter 2020: 11.22Anaheim Winter B 2022: 12.18A Bruin Cube Day 2022: 10.64Irvine Summer 2022: 9.99Diamond Bar September 2022: 12.21WCC Western Championship 2022: 11.249.9918.9622 Dec 20187 Oct 2022

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-8 3×3 single — 7,931 people have one; it is 1.99 away.
  • A sub-3 2×2 single — 26,570 people have one; it is 0.21 away.

Targets move as he improves.