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People · United States

Phil Yu

3×3 one-handed · top 1.1% of 73,695 all-time · competing since August 2010 · 2010YUPH01

Phil Yu has been competing for 16 years. His best event is the 3×3 one-handed: a personal-best single of 10.07, set at Cube4Cam 2016, puts him in the top 1.1% of the 73,695 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 174th in the United States. Until December 2011, no official 3×3 one-handed solve in the world had been that fast. Across 87 competitions since August 2010, he has put 2,020 official solves on the record across five events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 14% around a typical one; 76% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds hold a tighter spread. His 3×3 best has come down from 15.41 in August 2010 to 7.59, a 51% improvement. Phil has entered 87 competitions, more competitions than 99% of everyone who has ever competed.

3×3 one-handed
best event — top 1.1% of 73,695 all-time
10.07
signature single · Cube4Cam 2016
2,020
official solves on the record
14%
solve-to-solve spread · wider than 76% of the field

Standing, event by event

vs everyone ever ranked
EventPB singlePB averageAll-time standingUnited States
3×3 one-handed10.0713.37
top 1.1%174 / 15,683
3×37.599.82
top 2.1%1,257 / 59,724
2×22.143.57
top 5.7%2,292 / 40,951
4×443.7150.97
top 16.7%2,525 / 19,072
Pyraminx6.339.94
top 22.5%6,058 / 28,708

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

United States Rubik's Cube Championships 2010: 15.41Shanghai Open 2010: 13.63Princeton Fall 2010: 12.56Liberty Science Center Open 2010: 12.43St. Joseph's College Winter 2011: 13.83Washington DC Winter 2011: 11.09Cornell Spring 2011: 12.86Park Ridge Open 2011: 11.28River Hill Spring 2011: 11.30Hackley Summer 2011: 10.55United States National Championships 2011: 11.55Yale Fall 2011: 12.03Princeton Fall 2011: 11.50Harvard Fall 2011: 11.52Liberty Science Center Open 2011: 11.11MIT Fall 2011: 10.80MIT Spring 2012: 10.44Newark Head to Head 2012: 11.13St. Joseph's College Winter 2012: 11.03Cornell Open Spring 2012: 9.88Yale Spring 2012: 8.94Brown Cubing Day 2012: 12.02Captain's Cove competition 2012: 11.18River Hill Summer 2012: 9.77Jersey Shore Open 2012: 11.53United States National Championships 2012: 9.93St. Joseph's College Summer 2012: 10.22Monmouth County Open 2013: 11.15MIT Spring 2013: 9.97Princeton Spring 2013: 10.66Newark Head to Head 2013: 10.81World Rubik's Cube Championship 2013: 9.41Starlight Open 2013: 9.82Princeton Winter 2014: 9.91CCFC BLD Day 2014: 14.57US Nationals 2014: 9.73Starlight Open 2014: 12.09Red Cross Cubing Open 2014: 10.17Norwich Summer 2015: 8.93Slow n Steady Fall 2015: 10.22Phillips Exeter Cube Day 2015: 10.31Cubing at SkillCon 2015: 9.74Manhasset Fall 2015: 9.25Liberty Science 2015: 9.65Red Cross Cubing Open 2016: 10.83Princeton Winter 2016: 10.09Big Apple Cube Clash 2016: 9.81Michigan Cubing Club Alpha 2016: 10.73Manhasset Spring 2016: 9.76Big Apple Spring 2016: 10.77Cube For A Cure Spring 2016: 9.65Cube4Cam 2016: 9.97US Nationals 2016: 9.91New York City Summer 2016: 9.35Princeton Fall 2016: 10.17Hudson Valley Open Fall 2016: 9.26Red Cross Cubing Open 2017: 7.60CubingUSA Nationals 2017: 10.19Hudson Valley Open 2018: 9.23Rutgers Spring 2018: 9.62New York City Spring 2018: 10.73North Plainfield Open 2018: 7.59CubingUSA Northeast Championship 2018: 9.21Brooklyn 2018: 8.72CubingUSA Nationals 2018: 8.65CubingUSA New Jersey Championship 2018: 9.39CubingUSA Northeast Championship 2022: 8.97New York Championship 2022: 8.31East Brunswick Open 2022: 9.89Princeton Fall 2022: 9.95New York Yopen 2022: 8.71PBs in Palisades 2023: 7.81Kisco Cubing 2025: 9.43Pop Off Princeton 2025: 8.76PBs in Palisades Open 2025: 9.31PBs in Palisades Winter 2025: 9.04PBs in Palisades Spring 2025: 10.21American Dream NJ 2025: 8.05Worlds Prep in Palisades 2025: 8.84Cubing in the Ocean County 2025: 8.58CubingUSA Mid-Atlantic Championship 2025: 8.58Liberty Science Center Fall A 2025: 8.03PBs in Palisades Open 2026: 10.75NAC Prep in Palisades 2026: 9.54Mid-Atlantic Warm-Up 2026: 9.39Mid-Atlantic Speedcubing Championship 2026: 8.667.5915.416 Aug 201014 Aug 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-10 3×3 one-handed single — 779 people have one; it is 0.07 away.
  • A sub-6 3×3 single — 1,376 people have one; it is 1.59 away.

Targets move as he improves.