Rubik's cuber Kris wins silver in nationals

AN RGS student with a talent for solving Rubik’s cube puzzles has been placed second fastest in Britain in his category.

Kris Lim, 14, from Harrogate, excelled at the World Cube Association’s Rubik’s UK Championships held in Coventry.

More than 500 competitors from all over the world battled it out across 16 different events including the standard 3x3x3 Rubik’s cube, in addition to other sizes, from 2x2 all the way up to 7x7.

Those with the highest speed hands took on challenges including ‘twisty puzzles’ like the Pyraminx, Megaminx, Skewb and Square-1 plus Kris’s strongest category, Clock.

Competitors from over 25 nations were present, but only those representing the UK were eligible for medals and titles.

Although Kris was placed third in his event, he was promoted to silver as the second fastest British participant, the first time he has ever won a title at national level.

He also reached the semi-finals of the 3x3, having made the second round in 2022.

The popular 80s craze has made a huge comeback, with new cubing competitions starting up across the UK and cubers travelling from countries including the USA, Canada, Poland, Hong Kong and Taiwan to take part.

Kris, who spends an hour a day cubing and solved his first cube when he was eight years old, achieved his first medal - a bronze - in the Bolton Spring 2023 tournament in the Clock puzzle event.

*The best-selling puzzle, invented in 1974 by Hungarian professor Erno Rubik, has been sold over 350 million times worldwide and has maintained its popularity throughout the years via online forums and competitions.