14.78. That is the average time that Ernesto Cristo González from Lanzarote took to finish a Rubik's Cube in the first championship of this discipline held in the Canary Islands. And we are not talking about minutes, but seconds. The event took place at the Elder Museum in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria last Saturday and had the participation of about 40 people. This 17-year-old managed to be the fastest of them all and conquered the podium in 4 of the 5 categories.
And this Canarias Open 2016 was not only a competition to see who was the fastest in completing the classic Rubik's Cube, the 3x3 (it is in this modality that González took an average of 14.78 seconds). There was also a competition to see who would be the fastest in finishing a 2x2, a Pyramid modality, and, to make it more difficult, in completing the classic cube with one hand and blindfolded. González was on the podium in the first four, and because he did not participate in the blindfolded category, since, as he explains, it is a modality that he does not practice.
In the 2x2 modality, this young man from Lanzarote also came first and took just over 4 seconds to find the correct position of the pieces. While in the 3x3 category about 40 people participated, the challenge of being the fastest in finishing the cube with one hand was taken on by only 6 people. Among them, González managed to be the second fastest, as in the Pyramid category.
The trick is to "research"
Thus, González brought back 4 medals to Lanzarote. These are the first prizes he has won, but not the first time he has competed. This was the third Rubik's championship he has attended. He had previously participated in a competition in Guernica and also in the national championship, which was held last October in Granada.
Also then he took an average of 15 seconds to complete the cube, after the 15 seconds maximum that each contestant has for the "inspection" or, in other words, to think with what series of movements he can finish the cube and do it as quickly as possible. Those few seconds, however, were not enough in the state championship. In that test, "there is a high level", González explains to La Voz. That 'high level' is such that to get on the podium "you have to do it in under 9 seconds".
This young man explains that he attended the competition expectantly, the first of these characteristics to be held in the archipelago. "I am from Lanzarote and to compete I had gone for example to Granada. I discovered that I was always the only Canary Islander. I thought: I'm sure I'm the only one who is going to compete", he says amused. However, as the deadline to register approached, the list of participants was increasing, until it reached forty. González admits that he "freaked out" when he discovered it. "I didn't know there were so many people who practiced". But once that question was cleared, another doubt assailed him, whether he would be "faster" than the rest. "It turned out that there were more people, but I was a little faster".
Regarding the complexity of this discipline, González admits that "solving it by logic is very difficult". Aware that many when they try end up "smashing it against the wall", this champion says that the trick is to "research". Thus, "even if it is through Youtube", the key is to soak up the techniques to be able to put them into practice. "When you start to research you can start to solve it by logic. Otherwise, it is between very difficult and impossible".
