# Advice needed, planning on attempting to solve BLD at an official comp...



## Guitaroooman (Jan 6, 2009)

Hey there guys! It's been a while since I've cubed, actually almost 2 years, but I still got it in me!

I'm planning on solving a 3x3 BLD at an official WCA event and I was wondering if anyone had any tips for me.

I currently use the 3-Cycle method and I'm not trying to break any records, lol. I just think it would be pretty cool to have my name on the record list.

Does anyone know of a good competition for me to try this at? One where I wont get laughed at if I DNF, lol.

Thanks guys!

-Franklin


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## Guitaroooman (Jan 6, 2009)

Oh yeah!

Almost forgot, I'm looking for a competition located in California, USA, lol.


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## TMOY (Jan 6, 2009)

I've never seen anybody laughing at someone who DNFs at any competition. DNF at BLD is very common, you don't have to worry about that.


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## qqwref (Jan 6, 2009)

Good luck, California doesn't have too many competitions. You might have to wait a year or more to get to one. It's just not a very populated state, you know?

As for people laughing at one DNF, don't worry, it happens. Even Tyson, Leyan, and Lucas Garron get DNFs all the time. The laughter isn't intended to be mean, it's just a way to make you feel better about it, because it's not really all that bad if you mess up. You get three tries anyway 

By the way, about how fast are you? If you're over about 30 seconds total, you should try to go faster on the solve, because getting faster will also make you more consistent (that is, less likely to DNF). If you remember Matyas Kuti, the reason he never made mistakes was simply because he was so fast.

This entire post was a joke. California has plenty of comps and you can feel free to go to any of them. Nobody will laugh at you if you DNF, ever, at any comp - they are very friendly places. Going faster won't help your consistency, although practice definitely will. And Matyas never made mistakes because he looked under the blindfold.


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## blade740 (Jan 6, 2009)

I occasionally laugh at lucas garron when he DNF's.


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## Guitaroooman (Jan 6, 2009)

I'm actually very slow at BLD, the memorization processes being the longest for me. It can take up to 5 minutes sometimes for me alone.

The actual solve on the other hand is usually a minute or so.

I've just always wanted to go to a competition you know?


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## Ellis (Jan 6, 2009)

San Francisco open on Jan 18th, I'll DNF all my solves so you don't get laughed at as much

btw Im about 5 minutes on a good solve, it isnt really even funny when someone takes 5 minutes and then gets a DNF, its just kinda sad.

I had three 5-10min DNFs at caltech, it's really nothing


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## Guitaroooman (Jan 6, 2009)

LOL, thanks Ellis, I feel a little better.

I actually was planning on going to that one, but it's on a Sunday, and I have to go to church on Sundays.

Maybe at the Berkeley competition or something...

By the way, they start the timer once they let you see the cube right? So both memorization and solving are timed?


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## blah (Jan 6, 2009)

Does anyone find Guitaroooman/Franklin just, cute? No I'm not gay, I just find his innocence, well, cute


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## Ellis (Jan 6, 2009)

Guitaroooman said:


> they start the timer once they let you see the cube right? So both memorization and solving are timed?


correct



blah said:


> I just find his innocence, well, cute



awww


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## Guitaroooman (Jan 6, 2009)

Haha, sorry!

It's just been so long since I've even thought about cubing!

This is all new and strange to me once more, haha.


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## happa95 (Jan 6, 2009)

haha, i'm in the same situation as you: I can solve the cube blindfolded but I am scared to do it in competition.... except I'm going for 4th youngest in the world lol.


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## Mike Hughey (Jan 6, 2009)

No reason to be scared - just go in and treat it like you're solving at home. If you can do it at home, you can do it in competition. You just have to think that way.

And if you're afraid of having some DNFs before you get a successful solve, just take inspiration from Bruce Norskog. He had 27 DNFs in competition before he got his first successful solve in competition.

The story goes that Bruce got bigger applause for his 9:59.43 successful solve at that competition than Rowe got for breaking the world record (52.27) at the same competition! (Although that was probably as much about the fact that Bruce cut it so close to a DNF on time as it was about him finally getting one.) So people appreciate a success story, no matter what form it takes.

One more comment to Guitaroooman: Make sure you have read and understand all the competition rules for BLD, and practice following those rules. It sounded from one of your earlier posts like you weren't familiar with the rules. Get very comfortable with the way it will happen in competition.


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## TMOY (Jan 6, 2009)

Mike Hughey said:


> And if you're afraid of having some DNFs before you get a successful solve, just take inspiration from Bruce Norskog. He had 27 DNFs in competition before he got his first successful solve in competition.


Only 10 so far for me. No, I don't want to break his record 
And my PB at home is 5:40 so you probably won't see a 9:59 from me, sorry


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## Guitaroooman (Jan 6, 2009)

Are there any rules in specific I should be aware of?

P.S. Thanks so much for the support guys, I'm actually really scared to attempt this in competition, haha.


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## Mike Hughey (Jan 6, 2009)

Guitaroooman said:


> Are there any rules in specific I should be aware of?


Yes, these.



But obviously you'll want to focus on article B. I guess my point is that you should have already known the answer to your question about when the timer is started. "They" don't start the timer at all - you do. (Although that's not necessarily true if they are giving you an opportunity to go over 10 minutes, which is becoming rarer these days, but I guess is still possible - if you're allowed to go over 10 minutes, a stopwatch can be used instead - B2e, B5b.)


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## James Kobel (Jan 6, 2009)

Mike Hughey said:


> No reason to be scared - just go in and treat it like you're solving at home. If you can do it at home, you can do it in competition. You just have to think that way.
> 
> And if you're afraid of having some DNFs before you get a successful solve, just take inspiration from Bruce Norskog. He had 27 DNFs in competition before he got his first successful solve in competition.
> 
> ...


Another reason Rowe got less applause was because he was in the back row where only me and and a few people were watching. I don't think that the other people realized it was a world record so I told two people who were near me and eventually people started gathering around and even then a bunch of people were still at their tables because they didn't know about it, hence the lack of applause. And Bruce on the other hand, was sitting all the way up front so everyone saw.


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