People · Canada
Charlie Zhao
3×3 · top 1.7% of 284,439 all-time · competing since August 2023 · 2023ZHAO16
Charlie Zhao has been competing for 3 years. His best event is the 3×3: a personal-best single of 7.28, set at Waterloo Winter 2025, puts him in the top 1.7% of the 284,439 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 172nd in Canada. Until July 2008, no official 3×3 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 12 competitions since August 2023, he has put 188 official solves on the record across five events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 14% around a typical one; 62% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds hold a tighter spread. His 3×3 best has come down from 9.44 in August 2023 to 7.28, a 23% improvement. Charlie has entered twelve competitions, more competitions than 94% of everyone who has ever competed.
Standing, event by event
vs everyone ever ranked| Event | PB single | PB average | All-time standing | Canada | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3×3 | 7.28 | 8.59 | top 1.7% | 172 / 10,392 | |
| 3×3 one-handed | 15.29 | 19.09 | top 8.7% | 193 / 2,620 | |
| 2×2 | 2.76 | 4.73 | top 11.6% | 762 / 7,173 | |
| 4×4 | 1:03.66 | 1:08.27 | top 40.3% | 1,084 / 3,118 | |
| 5×5 | 2:21.06 | — | early days — 2 solves | 812 / 1,499 |
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
- 19 Oct 2024Three personal bests in one day at Kitchener Mini Afternoon 2024.
- 13 Aug 2023First competition: Appleby Summer B 2023. A 9.44 3×3 single to start from.
Competitions
- Pickering NxNxN Winter 2026 · 31 Jan 2026
- Kawartha Fall 2025 · 22 Nov 2025
- Pickering Favourites Fall 2025 · 1 Nov 2025 — 1 personal best set
- Mississauga Newcomers A 2025 · 15 Mar 2025
- Greater Toronto 2025 · 9 Mar 2025
- Waterloo Winter 2025 · 25 Jan 2025 — 1 personal best set
- Kitchener Mini Afternoon 2024 · 19 Oct 2024 — 3 personal bests set
- Pickering Mini Morning 2024 · 21 Sep 2024 — 1 personal best set
- Greater Toronto 2024 · 18 Feb 2024 — 1 personal best set
- Scarborough Fall A 2023 · 18 Nov 2023 — 2 personal bests set
- Appleby Fall A 2023 · 23 Sep 2023
- Appleby Summer B 2023 · 13 Aug 2023
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.
- Michael Yuan — met in 31 rounds, finished ahead 24 times
- Matthew Lee — met in 28 rounds, never finished ahead
- Abdullah Gulab — met in 24 rounds, finished ahead 23 times
Next targets
- A sub-6 3×3 single — 1,376 people have one; it is 1.28 away.
- A sub-15 3×3 one-handed single — 5,987 people have one; it is 0.29 away.
Targets move as he improves.