People · China
Daniel Chen
2×2 · top 2.6% of 189,179 all-time · competing since August 2022 · 2022CHEN54
Daniel Chen has been competing for 4 years. His best event is the 2×2: a personal-best single of 1.60, set at Phillips Exeter Cube Day 2025, puts him in the top 2.6% of the 189,179 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 314th in China. Until November 2008, no official 2×2 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 6 competitions since August 2022, he has put 138 official solves on the record across six events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 10% around a typical one, steadier than 96% of the 36,406 competitors with ten or more counted rounds. His 3×3 best has come down from 14.72 in August 2022 to 10.14, a 31% improvement. Daniel has entered six competitions, more competitions than 86% of everyone who has ever competed.
Standing, event by event
vs everyone ever ranked| Event | PB single | PB average | All-time standing | China | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2×2 | 1.60 | 4.35 | top 2.6% | 314 / 15,939 | |
| 3×3 | 10.14 | 11.06 | top 7.9% | 3,150 / 28,499 | |
| Pyraminx | 6.35 | 10.73 | top 22.7% | 2,615 / 10,269 | |
| 4×4 | 52.47 | 1:00.93 | top 27.9% | 2,954 / 5,999 | |
| 3×3 one-handed | 25.28 | 29.79 | top 35.1% | 3,374 / 5,994 | |
| Clock | 14.19 | 19.91 | top 44.6% | 1,074 / 1,887 |
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
- 17 Feb 2024Six personal bests in one day at Naticube 2024.
- 31 Dec 2022Three personal bests in one day at San Diego's Final Cube-Down 2022.
- 6 Aug 2022First competition: Circle City Summer 2022. A 15.32 3×3 single to start from.
- 6 Aug 2022First sub-15 3×3: 14.72 at Circle City Summer 2022.
Competitions
- Phillips Exeter Cube Day 2025 · 19 Oct 2025 — 1 personal best set
- Naticube 2024 · 17 Feb 2024 — 6 personal bests set
- San Diego's Final Cube-Down 2022 · 31 Dec 2022 — 3 personal bests set
- Diamond Bar September 2022 · 17 Sep 2022
- Marshall Middle Slice 2022 · 27 Aug 2022 — 1 personal best set
- Circle City Summer 2022 · 6 Aug 2022 — 1 personal best set
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.
- Hsiang-Kuang Zhuang (莊翔光) — met in 15 rounds, never finished ahead
- Derek Hsieh — met in 15 rounds, never finished ahead
- Eric Jingze Dai (戴竞择) — met in 14 rounds, finished ahead 4 times
Next targets
- A sub-1 2×2 single — 1,050 people have one; it is 0.60 away.
- A sub-10 3×3 single — 21,606 people have one; it is 0.14 away.
Targets move as he improves.