People · United States
Mike Kotch
2×2 · top 2.2% of 186,767 all-time · competing since May 2010 · 2010KOTC01
Mike Kotch has been competing for 16 years. His best event is the 2×2: a personal-best single of 1.52, set at Liberty Science Center Open 2010, puts him in the top 2.2% of the 186,767 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 888th in the United States. Until November 2008, no official 2×2 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 54 competitions since May 2010, he has put 1,831 official solves on the record across 13 events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 11% around a typical one, steadier than 91% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds. That figure sets aside his 35 DNFs. His 3×3 best has come down from 16.27 in May 2010 to 8.31, a 49% improvement. Mike has entered 54 competitions, more competitions than 99% of everyone who has ever competed.
Standing, event by event
vs everyone ever ranked| Event | PB single | PB average | All-time standing | United States | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2×2 | 1.52 | 3.13 | top 2.2% | 888 / 40,951 | |
| 3×3 | 8.31 | 11.15 | top 3.4% | 1,901 / 59,724 | |
| Pyraminx | 3.69 | 7.64 | top 6.2% | 1,600 / 28,708 | |
| 4×4 | 40.79 | 45.88 | top 13.0% | 1,933 / 19,072 | |
| 3×3 one-handed | 18.50 | 25.45 | top 16.4% | 2,126 / 15,683 | |
| Megaminx | 1:20.91 | 1:26.18 | top 22.4% | 1,543 / 7,841 | |
| 3×3 blindfolded | 1:41.08 | — | top 26.9% | 562 / 2,092 | |
| Clock | 12.27 | 14.09 | top 36.2% | 2,874 / 8,927 | |
| 3×3 Fewest Moves | 37 moves | — | top 37.3% | 810 / 2,040 | |
| 5×5 | 1:45.18 | 1:52.55 | top 39.3% | 3,159 / 9,401 | |
| Square-1 | 26.66 | 33.11 | top 42.7% | 2,772 / 6,743 | |
| 3×3 Multi-Blind | 3 of 3 cubes · 17:05 | — | early days — 2 solves | 385 / 731 | |
| 7×7 | 8:28.16 | — | early days — 1 solve | 2,945 / 3,184 |
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
- 3 Dec 2011First sub-10 3×3: 9.88 at Bridgewater Open 2011.
- 18 Jun 2011Three personal bests in one day at River Hill Spring 2011.
- 28 May 2011Three personal bests in one day at Captain's Cove competition 2011.
- 19 Feb 2011Three personal bests in one day at Washington DC Winter 2011.
- 11 Dec 2010Four personal bests in one day at River Hill Fall 2010.
- 21 Aug 2010Five personal bests in one day at Long Island 2010.
Competitions
- Christmas City Cubing PA 2025 · 4 Oct 2025
- Arcadia Summer 2019 · 22 Jun 2019 — 1 personal best set
- Lower Moreland Spring 2018 · 12 May 2018
- Incredible Pencil Mania 2018 · 10 Feb 2018
- UPenn Cube Day Fall 2017 · 22 Oct 2017
- Red Cross Cubing Open 2017 · 22 Apr 2017
- Princeton Fall 2016 · 22 Oct 2016
- Red Cross Cubing Open 2016 · 9 Jan 2016
- Liberty Science 2015 · 19 Dec 2015
- River Hill Fall 2015 · 21 Nov 2015
- Doylestown Spring 2015 · 25 Apr 2015
- Red Cross Cubing Open 2014 · 13 Dec 2014 — 1 personal best set
- Slow n Steady Fall 2014 · 9 Nov 2014 — 1 personal best set
- Starlight Open 2014 · 9 Aug 2014 — 2 personal bests set
- US Nationals 2014 · 1 Aug 2014 — 1 personal best set
- Liberty Science Center Open 2013 · 14 Dec 2013
- Starlight Open 2013 · 16 Nov 2013
- Slow 'n Steady Fall 2013 · 9 Nov 2013
- Yale Fall 2013 · 26 Oct 2013 — 1 personal best set
- Chesapeake Science Point Fall 2013 · 12 Oct 2013
- World Rubik's Cube Championship 2013 · 26 Jul 2013
- Newark Head to Head 2013 · 18 May 2013 — 1 personal best set
- Chesapeake Science Point Spring 2013 · 13 Apr 2013 — 1 personal best set
- River Hill Winter 2013 · 16 Feb 2013 — 2 personal bests set
- Monmouth County Open 2013 · 12 Jan 2013 — 1 personal best set
- Liberty Science Center Open 2012 · 15 Dec 2012 — 1 personal best set
- Chesapeake Science Point Fall 2012 · 13 Oct 2012
- Princeton Fall 2012 · 22 Sep 2012 — 1 personal best set
- Yale Fall 2012 · 8 Sep 2012 — 1 personal best set
- Jersey Shore Open 2012 · 28 Jul 2012 — 1 personal best set
- River Hill Summer 2012 · 16 Jun 2012 — 1 personal best set
- Captain's Cove competition 2012 · 26 May 2012 — 1 personal best set
- Brown Cubing Day 2012 · 19 May 2012 — 1 personal best set
- Newark Head to Head 2012 · 25 Feb 2012 — 1 personal best set
- Bridgewater Open 2011 · 3 Dec 2011 — 2 personal bests set
- Liberty Science Center Open 2011 · 5 Nov 2011
- Harvard Fall 2011 · 22 Oct 2011 — 2 personal bests set
- Princeton Fall 2011 · 24 Sep 2011 — 1 personal best set
- Yale Fall 2011 · 10 Sep 2011 — 2 personal bests set
- Hackley Summer 2011 · 30 Jul 2011 — 1 personal best set
- River Hill Spring 2011 · 18 Jun 2011 — 3 personal bests set
- Captain's Cove competition 2011 · 28 May 2011 — 3 personal bests set
- Park Ridge Open 2011 · 14 May 2011 — 1 personal best set
- Newark Head to Head 2011 · 19 Mar 2011 — 2 personal bests set
- Washington DC Winter 2011 · 19 Feb 2011 — 3 personal bests set
- Brown Cubing Day 2011 · 5 Feb 2011
- St. Joseph's College Winter 2011 · 15 Jan 2011 — 1 personal best set
- Liberty Science Center Open 2010 · 18 Dec 2010 — 2 personal bests set
- River Hill Fall 2010 · 11 Dec 2010 — 4 personal bests set
- MIT Fall 2010 · 13 Nov 2010 — 2 personal bests set
- Princeton Fall 2010 · 6 Nov 2010 — 2 personal bests set
- Long Island 2010 · 21 Aug 2010 — 5 personal bests set
- Captain's Cove competition 2010 · 29 May 2010 — 3 personal bests set
- Safe Haven competition 2010 · 1 May 2010 — 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.
- Kian Barry — met in 260 rounds, finished ahead 158 times
- Dan Selzer — met in 256 rounds, finished ahead 114 times
- Ernie Pulchny — met in 243 rounds, finished ahead 150 times
Next targets
- A sub-1 2×2 single — 1,032 people have one; it is 0.52 away.
- A sub-8 3×3 single — 7,931 people have one; it is 0.31 away.
Targets move as he improves.