The World Cube Association governs competitions for mechanical puzzles operated by twisting groups of pieces, commonly referred to as ‘twisty puzzles’. These include the Rubik’s Cube, invented by Professor Erno Rubik of Hungary.

WCA-sanctioned competitions are the ones that determine World and Continental champions each year. These major competitions require a lot of preparation by volunteers and are expensive to run.

What is a WCA Competition?

A WCA competition is an event where people compete to see who can solve the most twisty puzzles. Most competitions are held for the most common event, the Rubik’s Cube, but many other events are also present.

The World Cube Association (WCA) sets the rules for all of these events. These rules are called the WCA Regulations, and they govern all competitions worldwide.

If you’re a cuber who wants to try and compete in a WCA competition, here are a few things you need to know:

First, you need to register with the WCA. You can do this online via our website.

Second, you’ll need to pick a date and time for the competition. Then, you need to contact your local WCA Delegate to organize the event.

Once the event is complete, all of your results will be uploaded onto WCALive. This can take up to an hour, but please be patient! If you have any questions, please get in touch with the Senior Delegate for your area.

How to Participate in a WCA Competition

Taking part in a competition is a great way to meet new people, test your cubing skills and set personal bests. You can find local events near you on the World Cube Association website.

The competitions are held over two to three days. There are primitive rounds, semi-finals and finals.

To participate in a WCA competition, you need to register on the relevant event page on the World Cube Association website. Once you’ve registered, you’ll be able to view your status as well as see other competitors who have qualified for the event.

Once the first round starts, you can submit your cube to the designated submission desk and wait for your turn to scramble it. After your cube is scrambled, a runner will take it to a solving station.

After completing your solve, you must confirm the time that your judge wrote down and sign the scorecard. Then you can go back to the waiting area and repeat this process for the next five solves.

How to Get the Best Out of a WCA Competition

Whether you are new to speed cubing or have been playing for years, competitions are a great way to challenge yourself and set new personal bests. They also offer a chance to socialise and make friends.

The people in the cubing community are very friendly and encouraging, so WCA competitions are a healthy environment for anyone to get involved with. In fact, many speedcubers are best friends!

A great way to get involved in a competition is by volunteering. Judging is usually a good place to start, but if you don't know much about judging or the rules, there are many tutorials available at the venue.

You can also be a runner, helping to move between the competitor and the scrambling table. It's a lot less work than judging and can help to run the competition smoothly.

What to Expect at a WCA Competition

A WCA competition should provide an enjoyable experience for all involved. For this reason, the WCA has created a set of Guidelines that supplement the Regulations.

These Guidelines can be referred to in the event of any confusion, or as a reminder of how a particular rule is intended to work. The WCA has also made these Guidelines available as PDFs, so that you can easily download them and read them before a competition.

ADDITION

The competition must be announced at least 28 days before the start of the competition (see Competition Requirements). This is usually enough time to get the WCA Delegate’s approval, but if this is not possible, you should give yourself sufficient time to organize your competition and make sure that it meets all the rules.

CLARIFICATION

An attempt may be disqualified if a scramble signature is missing after the beginning of the solve. However, this is not a mandatory penalty for an attempted puzzle.