Shropshire schoolboy heads to National Speedcubing Championship

James Ireland, 11, picked up a Rubix cube from a local store just under 12 months ago and quickly learned algorithms to solve the cube and soon found himself venturing into the elite art of Speedcubing recently made more famous by the Netflix documentary "The Speed Cubers" featuring World champions Max Park and Felix Zemdegs.

James, who lives near Shrewsbury, attended his first ever official UK Cubing Association competition at Cheltenham in June, where he gained his first records with the world cubing association. James achieved the fastest single-solve time of just 25.97 seconds for the 3x3 cube and 8.95 seconds for the 2x2 cube setting his first personal best timings officially registered with the World Cubing Association.

Last month saw James head to Droitwich Spa for his second UK Cubing Association competition where he managed to make it all the way to the final for the 2x2 with a new personal best of just 2.61 seconds, a huge improvement which at the time placed him 213th in the UK, this has now moved to a still very respectable 217th. James also gained a new WCA personal best record with a best single-solve time of 1m 52 seconds for the 4x4.

This month James is heading to the Coventry Building Society to compete in the UK Cubing championships where he has qualified to enter into the 3x3, 2x2, 4x4 and the skewb competitions as one of 500 competitors which will see cubers from around the UK and around the world compete including world champion Max Park.

James says he is hoping to come away with a new personal best record for the 3x3 which he currently has a record with a single solve time of 25.97.

James said: "I love the thrill of chasing the faster solve time and it's so exciting when I manage a new personal best, I know there are a few other Speedcubers here in Shropshire and I am hoping to arrange a local meet up soon.

"We are also in talks with the UK Cubing Association to bring an event to Shropshire. There can be anything from 100-500 competitors at these competitions and cubers travel from all over the country and even the world to attend. It is a dream of mine to bring the competition to Shropshire and we are currently trying to find a suitable venue here in Shropshire to accommodate the two day competition."

What is Speedcubing?

Speedcubing is very much a growing trend around the world aided by the recent "The Speedcubers documentary and the inclusion in Netflix hit series Stranger Things.

Speedcubing (also known as speedsolving, or cubing) is a mind sport involving solving a variety of combination puzzles, the most famous being the 3x3x3 puzzle or Rubik's Cube, as quickly as possible. An individual who practices solving twisty puzzles is known as a speedcuber, or a cuber.