People · United States
James Liu
3×3 · top 2.6% of 288,433 all-time · competing since July 2022 · 2022LIUJ04
James Liu has been competing for 4 years. His best event is the 3×3: a personal-best single of 7.89, set at Pretzel Mania Summer 2023, puts him in the top 2.6% of the 288,433 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 1,550th in the United States. Until July 2008, no official 3×3 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 9 competitions since July 2022, he has put 227 official solves on the record across nine events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 13% around a typical one; 52% of the 36,406 competitors with ten or more counted rounds hold a tighter spread. His 3×3 best has come down from 16.03 in July 2022 to 7.89, a 51% improvement. James 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 | 7.89 | 10.27 | top 2.6% | 1,550 / 60,666 | |
| 2×2 | 3.27 | 4.17 | top 17.5% | 6,941 / 41,674 | |
| Pyraminx | 6.89 | 11.51 | top 27.0% | 7,504 / 29,168 | |
| 4×4 | 54.25 | 59.71 | top 29.9% | 4,742 / 19,354 | |
| Skewb | 6.77 | 8.68 | top 31.9% | 5,376 / 19,164 | |
| 3×3 one-handed | 26.35 | 32.12 | top 37.9% | 5,103 / 15,900 | |
| Square-1 | 27.03 | 46.92 | top 43.6% | 2,881 / 6,846 | |
| 5×5 | 2:17.92 | — | top 60.0% | 5,226 / 9,537 | |
| Clock | 25.96 | 30.60 | top 78.4% | 7,095 / 9,172 |
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
- 2 Sep 2023Five personal bests in one day at Pretzel Mania Summer 2023.
- 18 Mar 2023First sub-10 3×3: 9.26 at NJIT Spring 2023.
- 18 Mar 2023Three personal bests in one day at NJIT Spring 2023.
- 3 Dec 2022Four personal bests in one day at New York Yopen 2022.
- 18 Sep 2022First sub-15 3×3: 13.44 at Babylon Summer 2022.
- 18 Sep 2022Four personal bests in one day at Babylon Summer 2022.
Competitions
- PBs in Palisades 2024 · 17 Feb 2024 — 2 personal bests set
- Cubes on the Bayside Winter 2024 · 14 Jan 2024 — 2 personal bests set
- Cubes on the Bayside 2023 · 18 Nov 2023 — 1 personal best set
- Pretzel Mania Summer 2023 · 2 Sep 2023 — 5 personal bests set
- NJIT Spring 2023 · 18 Mar 2023 — 3 personal bests set
- West Chester Fall 2022 · 10 Dec 2022 — 1 personal best set
- New York Yopen 2022 · 3 Dec 2022 — 4 personal bests set
- Babylon Summer 2022 · 18 Sep 2022 — 4 personal bests set
- Flower City Cube Fest 2022 · 30 Jul 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.
- Carter Williams — met in 43 rounds, finished ahead once
- Ayden Dincher — met in 43 rounds, finished ahead once
- Evan Liu — met in 43 rounds, never finished ahead
Next targets
- A sub-6 3×3 single — 1,419 people have one; it is 1.89 away.
- A sub-3 2×2 single — 27,049 people have one; it is 0.27 away.
Targets move as he improves.