People · United States
Carl Tsai
3×3 · top 3.5% of 284,439 all-time · competing since November 2017 · 2017TSAI05
Carl Tsai has been competing for 9 years. His best event is the 3×3: a personal-best single of 8.38, set at Berkeley Spring 2025, puts him in the top 3.5% of the 284,439 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 1,981st in the United States. Until July 2008, no official 3×3 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 18 competitions since November 2017, he has put 407 official solves on the record across nine events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 15% around a typical one; 79% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds hold a tighter spread. His 3×3 best has come down from 21.54 in November 2017 to 8.38, a 61% improvement. Carl has entered 18 competitions, more competitions than 96% of everyone who has ever competed.
Standing, event by event
vs everyone ever ranked| Event | PB single | PB average | All-time standing | United States | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3×3 | 8.38 | 10.89 | top 3.5% | 1,981 / 59,724 | |
| 3×3 one-handed | 15.14 | 19.05 | top 8.4% | 1,115 / 15,683 | |
| 4×4 | 40.06 | 44.94 | top 12.2% | 1,802 / 19,072 | |
| 5×5 | 1:13.89 | 1:25.15 | top 14.5% | 1,113 / 9,401 | |
| 3×3 Fewest Moves | 34 moves | — | early days — 2 solves | 586 / 2,040 | |
| Megaminx | 1:36.41 | 1:55.68 | top 32.3% | 2,286 / 7,841 | |
| 2×2 | 4.81 | 6.36 | top 36.9% | 14,748 / 40,951 | |
| 6×6 | 2:55.75 | 3:01.54 | top 39.0% | 1,418 / 4,196 | |
| 7×7 | 5:08.29 | 5:27.48 | top 53.2% | 1,561 / 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
Best single per competition, 3×3. Faster is higher — the axis is the right way up.
The story so far
- 22 Jun 2024Three personal bests in one day at Bay Area Speedcubin' 63 - Atherton 2024.
- 22 Jun 2019First sub-10 3×3: 9.45 at CubingUSA Western Championship 2019.
- 16 Feb 2019First sub-15 3×3: 13.20 at UCSD Winter 2019.
- 16 Feb 2019Five personal bests in one day at UCSD Winter 2019.
- 12 May 2018Three personal bests in one day at Thanks for the InFive 2018.
- 13 Jan 2018First sub-20 3×3: 16.95 at Thanks Four The Invite 2018.
Competitions
- West Coast Cubing Tour: Berkeley 2025 · 25 Jun 2025 — 2 personal bests set
- Berkeley Spring 2025 · 2 Mar 2025 — 1 personal best set
- Bay Area Slowcubin' 2025 · 22 Feb 2025 — 1 personal best set
- Bay Area Speedcubin' 63 - Atherton 2024 · 22 Jun 2024 — 3 personal bests set
- UCSD Summer 2023 · 5 Aug 2023 — 2 personal bests set
- CubingUSA Western Championship 2023 · 30 Jun 2023 — 1 personal best set
- UCSD Spring 2023 · 2 Apr 2023 — 2 personal bests set
- SacCubing XIII 2023 · 14 Jan 2023 — 2 personal bests set
- Bay Area Speedcubin' 40 - San Ramon 2022 · 4 Dec 2022 — 2 personal bests set
- WCC Western Championship 2022 · 7 Oct 2022 — 2 personal bests set
- Bay Area Speedcubin' 29 PM 2022 · 3 Apr 2022 — 1 personal best set
- Bay Area Speedcubin' 20 2019 · 12 Oct 2019 — 1 personal best set
- CubingUSA Western Championship 2019 · 22 Jun 2019 — 2 personal bests set
- UCSD Winter 2019 · 16 Feb 2019 — 5 personal bests set
- West Coast Cubing Tour - Cupertino 2018 · 15 Jul 2018
- Thanks for the InFive 2018 · 12 May 2018 — 3 personal bests set
- Thanks Four The Invite 2018 · 13 Jan 2018 — 1 personal best set
- TF3I San Diego 2017 · 5 Nov 2017
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.
- Paul Mahvi — met in 77 rounds, finished ahead once
- Chris Martin — met in 55 rounds, finished ahead 48 times
- Nico Harper (李有為) — met in 55 rounds, finished ahead twice
Next targets
- A sub-8 3×3 single — 7,931 people have one; it is 0.38 away.
- A sub-15 3×3 one-handed single — 5,987 people have one; it is 0.14 away.
Targets move as he improves.