People · United States
Daniel Y. Liu
3×3 · top 8.6% of 284,439 all-time · competing since October 2023 · 2023LIUD04
Daniel Y. Liu has been competing for 3 years. His best event is the 3×3: a personal-best single of 10.40, set at Cool Down Berkeley 2025, puts him in the top 8.6% of the 284,439 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 4,753rd in the United States. Until February 2007, no official 3×3 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 9 competitions since October 2023, he has put 169 official solves on the record across seven events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 18% around a typical one; 97% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds hold a tighter spread. His 3×3 best has come down from 17.25 in October 2023 to 10.40, a 40% improvement. Daniel has entered nine competitions, more competitions than 91% 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 | 10.40 | 13.98 | top 8.6% | 4,753 / 59,724 | |
| 2×2 | 3.38 | 5.34 | top 18.7% | 7,342 / 40,951 | |
| Pyraminx | 7.48 | 10.85 | top 31.8% | 8,895 / 28,708 | |
| 3×3 one-handed | 24.31 | 38.72 | top 32.3% | 4,230 / 15,683 | |
| Skewb | 8.25 | 13.82 | top 43.2% | 7,580 / 18,907 | |
| Megaminx | 2:03.59 | 2:45.95 | top 47.8% | 3,546 / 7,841 | |
| 4×4 | 1:48.49 | — | top 75.8% | 13,868 / 19,072 |
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
- 13 Oct 2024First sub-15 3×3: 14.27 at Berkeley Fall 2024.
- 14 Oct 2023First competition: Bay Area Speedcubin' 53 - Berkeley 2023. A 17.25 3×3 single to start from.
Competitions
- Vegas Cubing Cup Fall 2025 · 8 Nov 2025 — 2 personal bests set
- Cool Down Berkeley 2025 · 2 Nov 2025 — 1 personal best set
- San Ramon Fall 2025 · 20 Sep 2025 — 1 personal best set
- Benicia Open 2025 · 13 Sep 2025 — 2 personal bests set
- Cool Down Berkeley 2024 · 3 Nov 2024 — 2 personal bests set
- Berkeley Fall 2024 · 13 Oct 2024 — 2 personal bests set
- Bay Area Speedcubin' 61 - San Jose 2024 · 27 Apr 2024 — 1 personal best set
- Berkeley Fall 2023 · 18 Nov 2023 — 2 personal bests set
- Bay Area Speedcubin' 53 - Berkeley 2023 · 14 Oct 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.
- Sebastian Stone — met in 35 rounds, never finished ahead
- Mitchell Lane — met in 32 rounds, never finished ahead
- Jonathan Rutenberg — met in 31 rounds, finished ahead once
Next targets
- A sub-10 3×3 single — 21,172 people have one; it is 0.40 away.
- A sub-3 2×2 single — 26,570 people have one; it is 0.38 away.
Targets move as he improves.