Six-year-old Chinese speedcuber breaks world record with 4.27-second average

Lian Yunzhi is six years old. In mid-September, at a speedcubing competition in Guangzhou hosted by the World Cube Association, she solved a Rubik's Cube in an average time of 4.27 seconds. This broke the women's world record. She had set the previous record of 4.52 seconds just weeks earlier, in the same month. On her best single attempts, she has solved the puzzle in under four seconds.

Her mother, Lin Yangxi, described the moment as a dream realized. "She was overjoyed and felt that all her hard work had paid off," Lin told the Guardian. The accolade rippled through Lian's school in Chengdu. Teachers reported that older students began showing up at her classroom with slips of paper, asking for her autograph. The hallways filled with children crowding around her. "The whole school knows her now," Lin said. "She has gained a lot of love and attention through cubing."

Lian's entry into speedcubing was almost accidental. At four years old, her mother enrolled her in speedcubing classes alongside seven or eight other extracurricular activities—dancing, painting, gymnastics. She was well-behaved in all of them. But Lin and her husband noticed something different about the cubing. They saw potential. They decided to invest more time in it, believing it could shape her development. Solving the puzzle, they reasoned, sharpened concentration, memory, logical thinking, and spatial awareness. "We felt it was really good for her," Lin said.

The path to the record was not smooth. After several months of training, Lian brought her average down to eight seconds. Then she hit a wall. For three or four months, no matter how much she practiced, her times refused to budge. The frustration mounted. "To be honest, both as parents and the child, we felt like giving up at that point," Lin recalled. The family persisted. They found a specialist coach in Shanghai. Lian learned more than 1,300 Rubik's Cube formulas. Her speeds improved rapidly after that.

Now, at six, Lian balances speedcubing with kindergarten. On weekdays, she trains two to three hours. On weekends, she trains up to six hours. Most weekends are spent at competitions, which Lin frames as a chance for her daughter to unwind and see friends. The schedule is demanding. Lian once envied other children who had more free time to play. But something shifted. "She later told me she no longer envied them, because pursuing her own goals made her truly happy too," Lin said.

The intensity of training raises practical concerns. Speedcubing rarely causes physical injury, but Lin monitors her daughter's eyesight carefully. Myopia—shortsightedness—is especially prevalent in China, and the repetitive focus required by the sport poses a risk. At the championship this month, Lin and her husband felt "extremely nervous," but they watched their daughter handle the pressure with composure at the crucial moment.

Lin does not envision a professional speedcubing career for her daughter. What matters to her is what the sport builds in Lian's character. "We just wanted to accompany her as far as she could go," Lin said. "It can forge some grit and perseverance in her, which will serve her well in whatever she chooses to pursue in the future." The record is a milestone, but for her mother, it is the habits and resilience that will outlast the trophy.