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People · United States

Kobe Balin

Skewb · top 0.9% of 73,281 all-time · competing since February 2012 · 2012BALI01

Kobe Balin has been competing for 15 years. His best event is the Skewb: a personal-best single of 1.79, set at WCA World Championship 2019, puts him in the top 0.9% of the 73,281 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 138th in the United States. Until July 2015, no official Skewb solve in the world had been that fast. Across 90 competitions since February 2012, he has put 3,729 official solves on the record across 15 events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 15% around a typical one; 81% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds hold a tighter spread. His 3×3 best has come down from 26.84 in June 2012 to 6.97, a 74% improvement. Kobe has entered 90 competitions, more competitions than 99% of everyone who has ever competed.

Skewb
best event — top 0.9% of 73,281 all-time
1.79
signature single · WCA World Championship 2019
3,729
official solves on the record
15%
solve-to-solve spread · wider than 81% of the field

Standing, event by event

vs everyone ever ranked
EventPB singlePB averageAll-time standingUnited States
Skewb1.793.69
top 0.9%138 / 18,907
3×36.978.62
top 1.3%794 / 59,724
3×3 one-handed10.6717.27
top 1.5%247 / 15,683
2×21.683.16
top 3.0%1,160 / 40,951
4×433.9637.15
top 5.8%893 / 19,072
Pyraminx3.916.63
top 7.2%1,849 / 28,708
5×51:03.921:10.11
top 7.7%608 / 9,401
6×61:56.092:15.84
top 9.5%335 / 4,196
7×73:16.503:23.16
top 15.2%427 / 3,184
Clock8.8512.44
top 19.2%1,465 / 8,927
Square-116.7527.10
top 20.4%1,371 / 6,743
Megaminx1:18.421:24.85
top 20.7%1,429 / 7,841
3×3 Fewest Moves33 moves37.67
top 23.4%507 / 2,040
3×3 Multi-Blind2 of 2 cubes · 14:48—
early days — 3 solves520 / 731
3×3 blindfolded4:30.22—
top 74.5%1,548 / 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

River Hill Summer 2012: 26.84Jersey Shore Open 2012: 24.94Chesapeake Science Point Fall 2012: 21.08Levittown Open 2012: 19.05River Hill Winter 2013: 15.72Chesapeake Science Point Spring 2013: 16.05World Rubik's Cube Championship 2013: 13.98Chesapeake Science Point Fall 2013: 16.83Slow 'n Steady Fall 2013: 14.75Carnegie Mellon Fall 2013: 11.52River Hill Winter 2014: 13.28Virginia Open Spring 2014: 13.08US Nationals 2014: 12.48Starlight Open 2014: 12.54Slow n Steady Fall 2014: 11.41Red Cross Cubing Open 2014: 10.73River Hill Winter 2015: 10.58Johns Hopkins Winter 2015: 10.37Virginia Open Spring 2015: 9.86Doylestown Spring 2015: 10.04Chesapeake Science Point Spring 2015: 11.07Slow n Steady Spring 2015: 10.46US Nationals 2015: 10.04Slow n Steady Fall 2015: 11.75Virginia Open Fall 2015: 10.73River Hill Fall 2015: 10.32Red Cross Cubing Open 2016: 10.10Slow N Steady Winter 2016: 8.43Virginia Open Spring 2016: 9.51Severna Park Spring 2016: 9.49Slow N Steady Spring 2016: 8.98US Nationals 2016: 13.11Slow N Steady Fall 2016: 10.43Slow N Steady Spring 2017: 8.93Slow N Steady Summer 2017: 8.55CubingUSA Nationals 2017: 10.23Severna Park Summer 2017: 9.98Slow N Steady Winter 2018: 8.35River Hill Spring 2018: 9.45Maryland 2018: 8.94First State 2018: 10.30CubingUSA Nationals 2018: 10.35Pennsylvania 2018: 8.64Upstate Cubing 2019: 9.54River Hill Spring 2019: 8.41WCA World Championship 2019: 8.87CubingUSA Nationals 2019: 9.71Canandaigua Winter 2020: 9.43CubingUSA Northeast Championship 2022: 8.19Owings Mills Summer 2022: 9.12Pretzel Mania 2022: 8.33Lake Erie Cubing Clash 2022: 8.94Pretzel Mania 2023: 7.81Slow N Steady Spring 2023: 9.98CubingUSA Nationals 2023: 9.62Pretzel Mania Dallas 2023: 8.91Pretzel Mania Summer 2023: 8.52Square-Fun in Bloomsburg 2023: 7.66Slow N Steady Fall 2023: 8.31Cumberland County Cubing 2023: 9.20River Hill Fall 2023: 7.97CubingUSA Rocky Mountain Championship 2023: 6.97Virginia Championship 2023: 9.10Cubes on the Bayside 2023: 9.33New York New Year 2024: 9.21Cubing in the Lion's Den 2024: 8.63UMBC Winter 2024: 8.63Cubes on the Bayside Spring 2024: 7.78Slow N Steady Spring 2024: 7.95Alabama Championship 2024: 9.51Pretzel Mania Denver 2024: 8.31Cubes on the Bayside Summer 2024: 8.47Pennsylvania Championship 2024: 7.80Rubik's WCA North American Championship 2024: 8.70Pretzel Mania Summer 2024: 8.76Slow N Steady UMD Fall 2024: 8.89River Hill Fall 2024: 8.58Rutgers Winter 2025: 8.11Cubing with the Cougars WV 2025: 7.78PA-retzel Mania Winter 2025: 7.90River Hill Spring 2025: 7.91UMBC Spring 2025: 8.17Rubik's WCA World Championship 2025: 8.10Slow N Steady UMD Fall 2025: 8.80River Hill Fall 2025: 7.73UMBC Winter 2026: 8.60TJHSST Winter 2026: 7.95Welcome to Washington D.C. 2026: 7.766.9726.8416 Jun 201225 Apr 2026

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-1 Skewb single — 35 people have one; it is 0.79 away.
  • A sub-6 3×3 single — 1,376 people have one; it is 0.97 away.

Targets move as he improves.