# Moving From Chess to Larping With Rubik's Cubes

Moving from chess to rubik's cube and talking about it

Canonical: https://valtterisavonen.fi/blog/rubiks-cube-larping
Published: 2026-08-06

Author: Valtteri Savonen

So this summer I needed something more fun than just coding. Chess was already there, but I hit a brick wall around 1200 elo on [chess.com](http://chess.com). That rating is pretty easy to reach without knowing openings or any real theory. I’m sort of a type 2 fun person. I like hobbies that feel good to do, but I don’t want them to eat up too much brainpower or effort unless the thing is actually easy to get decent at. Chess is insanely hard to master. Spend too much time on it and it turns into type 3 fun, which is just pure suffering. I’ve learned that too much suffering in hobbies isn’t worth it long term, so I try to keep everything at type 2 max. A little pain is fine. Feeling drained or stuck is not. Chess had to sit on the bench for now.

That’s when I brought in the Rubik’s cube.

[Ernő Rubik](https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ern%C5%91_Rubik) invented it in 1974. It’s a puzzle with 27 little pieces that need to form solid-colored sides when solved. You scramble it by turning the faces randomly, then try to get every side back to one color. It looks and feels like a very hard thing to master, and I still don’t fully know how deep the rabbit hole goes.

I’d had a basic cube sitting at my parents’ place for a solid ten years. When I visited them this spring I wanted an offline summer hobby (chess in 2026 is not offline), so I grabbed it. In June 2026, at 25 years old, I solved my first cube. That felt like a real win. Getting it solved is actually pretty straightforward once you understand the basic idea and watch a couple YouTube videos. Some people say watching a tutorial means you didn’t really solve it yourself. Jesus, that’s a terrible way to look at it. The second the cube is solved you realize the real game isn’t solving it once. It’s solving it fast.

The current world record is 2.76 seconds, held by [Teodor Zajder](https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/persons/2021ZAJD03) from Poland. The kid is nine. To go fast, most people use [CFOP](https://jperm.net/3x3/cfop). It’s an acronym for Cross, First 2 Layers, OLL (Orientation of the Last Layer), and PLL (Permutation of the Last Layer). It’s the method behind almost every world-record time. You learn somewhere between 78 and 119 algorithms, and it can get you into sub-5 second solves. So yes, there’s memorization, just like chess. But way less of it. That makes the cube a much better fit for type 2 fun. You also pick up finger tricks, which are just cleaner, faster ways to turn the cube. And for the really quick times you need look-ahead: staying ahead of your hands and already seeing how the next pairs will line up. That part takes most of the time, but the overall complexity stays manageable. Fewer algorithms, fewer physical skills to grind, and you can do the whole thing offline by yourself anywhere.

If you want to try it, start with a basic speedcube. A regular Rubik’s cube turns like garbage. Cheap speedcubes cost almost nothing at any supermarket. If you want something better, go magnetic. They run about 20 euros and up and feel way nicer. I haven’t tried a huge range of cubes, but if you’re serious about it I’d go with the [MoYu RS3M Maglev 2021](https://mastercubestore.fi/3x3-kuutiot/1800-moyu-rs3m-maglev-2021-3x3-stickerless-6970647062003.html). That’s my daily driver and difference is actually huge.

I was running for 2 months with regular supermarket speedcube and averaged time of 1 minute and 30 seconds. With the new cube I was able to get my first sub-60 seconds time, 57 seconds and change to be more specific. I average 1 minute and 5 seconds so the new cube bought me 25-30 seconds faster times. Less errors while turning the cube helps. So yeah chess had to go and cubing took it’s place. Next steps is to learn OLL and PLL plus starting to practice look-ahead. Ultimate goal is of course trying to beat [Andrej](https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/persons/2008KARP01)[ ](https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/persons/2008KARP01https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/persons/2008KARP01)[Karpathy](https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/persons/2008KARP01)[’s](https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/persons/2008KARP01https://www.worldcubeassociation.org/persons/2008KARP01) best time of 14.9 seconds on 3×3.

Let’s see how long it takes!