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The Middle Three
People → Japan → Kazutaka Watanabe (渡部和孝)

People · Japan

Kazutaka Watanabe (渡部和孝)

3×3 · top 7.5% of 284,439 all-time · competing since May 2016 · 2016WATA01

Kazutaka Watanabe (渡部和孝) has been competing for 10 years. His best event is the 3×3: a personal-best single of 10.02, set at Shonan PM 2024, puts him in the top 7.5% of the 284,439 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 329th in Japan. Until May 2007, no official 3×3 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 24 competitions since May 2016, he has put 444 official solves on the record across 14 events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 13% around a typical one; 60% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds hold a tighter spread. His 3×3 best has come down from 16.16 in May 2016 to 10.02, a 38% improvement. Kazutaka has entered 24 competitions, more competitions than 97% of everyone who has ever competed.

3×3
best event — top 7.5% of 284,439 all-time
10.02
signature single · Shonan PM 2024
444
official solves on the record
13%
solve-to-solve spread · wider than 60% of the field

Standing, event by event

vs everyone ever ranked
EventPB singlePB averageAll-time standingJapan
3×310.0213.23
top 7.5%329 / 3,329
Pyraminx4.055.79
top 7.9%101 / 688
4×438.0944.09
top 9.9%96 / 667
3×3 Multi-Blind12 of 12 cubes · 58:14—
early days — 2 solves20 / 128
3×3 blindfolded1:14.151:27.72
top 17.4%78 / 282
2×23.654.94
top 22.1%276 / 1,021
5×51:26.121:29.84
top 24.2%145 / 420
Megaminx1:35.442:11.28
top 31.7%170 / 313
3×3 one-handed24.3129.31
top 32.3%266 / 529
Clock12.9516.87
top 39.4%142 / 263
Skewb8.5511.79
top 45.4%208 / 338
Square-129.1850.77
top 47.9%149 / 245
6×63:19.953:22.60
top 50.5%123 / 209
7×75:18.305:22.31
top 56.3%119 / 188

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

Kawasaki Spring 2016: 16.16Japan Open 2016: 14.93Circles Open Spring 2017: 13.40Tohoku Open 2017: 13.12Tokyo Pyraminx Open 2017: 12.52Japan Open 2017: 13.61TMU Open 2018: 10.92YRCC Open 2018: 13.65Tribox Open Spring 2018: 14.39Omiya Bigs 2018: 13.92Tohoku 2018: 12.32Tokyo Pyraminx Returns 2018: 11.79Ayase 2019: 13.57Tribox Open Spring 2019: 12.32Reiwa Anniversary 2019: 10.49Tohoku 2019: 12.93Japan Championship 2019: 12.94Ayase 2020: 12.73Kanazawa Challenge Spring PM 2023: 12.27Shonan PM 2024: 10.02Kanto Summer PM 2025: 12.6910.0216.168 May 201630 Aug 2025

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-10 3×3 single — 21,172 people have one; it is 0.02 away.
  • A sub-4 Pyraminx single — 9,892 people have one; it is 0.05 away.

Targets move as he improves.