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Jim Mertens

2×2 · top 11.5% of 186,767 all-time · competing since March 2006 · 2006MERT01

Jim Mertens has been competing for 20 years. His best event is the 2×2: a personal-best single of 2.75, set at Howland High Spring 2017, puts him in the top 11.5% of the 186,767 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 4,506th in the United States. Across 53 competitions since March 2006, he has put 1,293 official solves on the record across nine events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 11% around a typical one, steadier than 89% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds. His 3×3 best has come down from 22.11 in March 2006 to 11.43, a 48% improvement. Jim has entered 53 competitions, more competitions than 99% of everyone who has ever competed.

2×2
best event — top 11.5% of 186,767 all-time
2.75
signature single · Howland High Spring 2017
1,293
official solves on the record
11%
solve-to-solve spread · steadier than 89% of the field

Standing, event by event

vs everyone ever ranked
EventPB singlePB averageAll-time standingUnited States
2×22.755.69
top 11.5%4,506 / 40,951
3×311.4313.98
top 11.9%6,410 / 59,724
Pyraminx6.6312.84
top 24.9%6,789 / 28,708
3×3 Fewest Moves34 moves40.67
top 26.7%586 / 2,040
3×3 one-handed22.9326.92
top 28.6%3,686 / 15,683
4×41:10.721:21.33
top 47.6%7,932 / 19,072
Clock18.2523.23
top 59.5%5,004 / 8,927
5×52:50.803:32.75
top 74.9%6,686 / 9,401
3×3 blindfolded5:29.65—
early days — 2 solves1,718 / 2,092

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

Chattahoochee Spring competition 2006: 22.11Caltech Winter competition 2007: 16.49EPGY California Open 2008: 14.27Cornell Spring competition 2008: 13.61Lexington Fall Open 2008: 13.18Indiana Winter Open 2008: 13.81Ohio Open 2009: 14.19Motor City Open 2009: 13.91Indiana Summer Open 2009: 12.18US Nationals 2009: 14.00Carnegie Mellon Fall 2009: 13.36Chicago Open 2010: 15.21Indiana Winter 2010: 14.33Carnegie Mellon Spring 2010: 16.59Ohio Open 2010: 14.31Battle of Lexington 2010: 12.34Cat and Mouse 2010: 11.43United States Rubik's Cube Championships 2010: 14.36DeVry University Open 2010: 14.86Dayton Open 2010: 13.91UIUC Spring 2011: 14.34Dayton Blind 2011: 12.83UIndy Open 2011: 11.93Ohio Open 2011: 14.65United States National Championships 2011: 15.03Appalachia 2011: 13.75Dayton Fall 2011: 14.06Ohio Fall 2011: 15.09Carnegie Mellon Spring 2012: 14.66New Albany 2012: 15.93United States National Championships 2012: 16.44Battle of Appalachia 2012: 13.30Dayton Fall 2012: 13.40Carnegie Mellon Spring 2013: 13.50New Albany 2013: 13.59Tree Town 2013: 15.88World Rubik's Cube Championship 2013: 15.25Indiana 2013: 13.94Carnegie Mellon Fall 2013: 12.37Holy Toledo Winter 2014: 12.95Michigan 2014: 14.27US Nationals 2014: 14.60Carnegie Mellon Winter 2014: 13.86Great Lakes Cubing Competition 2015: 12.96US Nationals 2015: 15.38Shaker Heights 2016: 13.81Shaker Fall 2016: 13.70Howland High Spring 2017: 13.22Shaker Spring 2017: 13.76Appleby Winter B 2023: 12.3511.4322.1111 Mar 20068 Jan 2023

Best single per competition, 3×3. Faster is higher — the axis is the right way up.

The story so far

Competitions

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.

Next targets

  • A sub-2 2×2 single — 8,848 people have one; it is 0.75 away.
  • A sub-10 3×3 single — 21,172 people have one; it is 1.43 away.

Targets move as he improves.