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People · United States

William Chen

3×3 · top 31.6% of 284,439 all-time · competing since July 2008 · 2008CHEN04

William Chen has been competing for 18 years. His best event is the 3×3: a personal-best single of 17.19, set at MIT Spring 2011, puts him in the top 31.6% of the 284,439 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 17,460th in the United States. Across 14 competitions since July 2008, he has put 119 official solves on the record across five events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 17% around a typical one; 96% of the 35,811 competitors with ten or more counted rounds hold a tighter spread. His 3×3 best has come down from 37.79 in July 2008 to 17.19, a 55% improvement. William has entered 14 competitions, more competitions than 95% of everyone who has ever competed.

3×3
best event — top 31.6% of 284,439 all-time
17.19
signature single · MIT Spring 2011
119
official solves on the record
17%
solve-to-solve spread · wider than 96% of the field

Standing, event by event

vs everyone ever ranked
EventPB singlePB averageAll-time standingUnited States
3×317.1922.64
top 31.6%17,460 / 59,724
2×25.477.37
top 45.0%18,153 / 40,951
Pyraminx9.9118.73
top 52.3%15,236 / 28,708
3×3 one-handed50.191:06.34
top 76.9%11,225 / 15,683
4×42:10.66
top 86.0%16,247 / 19,072

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

UCSD Summer competition 2008: 37.79San Francisco Open 2009: 24.01EPGY Stanford Winter 2009: 25.55Berkeley Summer competition 2009: 20.19Stanford Spring 2010: 19.06Harvard Fall 2010: 21.27MIT Fall 2010: 25.41MIT Spring 2011: 17.19Stanford Spring 2011: 19.06Berkeley Summer 2013: 22.68Bay Area Speedcubin' Summer 2013: 26.81SPCS Stanford Spring 2015: 23.0317.1937.7912 Jul 200819 Apr 2015

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.

  • Bob Burton — met in 16 rounds, finished ahead 5 times
  • Edward Lin — met in 14 rounds, never finished ahead
  • Tim Reynolds — met in 13 rounds, never finished ahead

Next targets

  • A sub-15 3×3 single — 69,493 people have one; it is 2.19 away.
  • A sub-5 2×2 single — 73,413 people have one; it is 0.47 away.

Targets move as he improves.