# What was your first competition like?



## ianini (Mar 5, 2010)

This is going to be a thread describing everybody's first competition experiences. This might be helpful for beginners, but mostly this is for fun. 

*Competition:* Nisei Week Open 2009

When this competition arose on the WCA website, it was just an explanation to my father about local competitions. He eventually persuaded me to go and that was _huge_ motivation for learning more PLL's. I was extremely nervous and sat right next to my dad, and just warmed-up. I look up at the stage and am in shock and was sort of envious of all the fast cubers. I also felt alone cubing by myself. After 15 or so solves my name was called and I walked up to the stage. I handed Shelley my old white type A and just stood back waiting for her to scramble my cube. My solves were very slow at the time and were very shaky because I was very nervous. After the first round, I felt a sense of accomplishment. During head-to-heads, I sat next to Logan Kelly and talked to him and felt like one of the fellow cubers up on stage. While we were watching other Nisei Week activities, a man from some British tv station came up and filmed a documentary about this competition. After all the solves, I packed up and had felt two emotions: motivation to get faster, and success. Then I left to practice for Caltech Fall 2009.

You could just talk about your first competition here.

-Ian


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## cmhardw (Mar 5, 2010)

*Competition:* 2003 World Championship

I could rewrite it all here, but I already wrote quite a bit about it here.

Chris


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## iasimp1997 (Mar 5, 2010)

Berkeley Winter 2010:
I arrived there with my dad. I was really intimidated by all of the cubers sitting in groups all over the place. I spotted my friend "Ryanrex116" and walked over to him. Met his friends. It was really awesome. Then my name got called up for OH. "Oh s***." I said outloud. I sucked at OH. I went up. 4/5 of the solves were over 1minute. Got one sub1minute.
Anyway, that's how all of the events went.


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## Captinev98 (Mar 5, 2010)

At my first competition, which was less than a week ago so I remember it very clearly, was awesome. At first I was intimidated because everyone was solving it in 15 seconds and turning the cube with insane finger tricks that were super fast. I waited and practiced and before I got up I got a Yj cube. I thought about using the Yj, but I wasn't used to it yet. I got called up and someone was called before me, but never came. Right as I sat down the guy who missed his call came up, and asked if he could go before me. I was so relieved so much and let him go up. So he was done fast and it was my turn. I was doing so terrible and I kept messing up. Once I was done I hung out with other cubers and watch some solving. After a couple hours me and fundash got some Goldfish and a little bit after I got a bottle of Dasani. And after that it was cubing, talking, hanging, eating, having a great time. I definetly left with awesome memories. I can't wait until the next competition.


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## rowehessler (Mar 5, 2010)

Cornell Spring 2007. I was really quiet, and i didn't talk to any other cubers until my 3rd competition or so. I was averaging about 20ish around that time.


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## Ryanrex116 (Mar 5, 2010)

*Competition: *Berkeley Fall 2008

It was the end of the summer, and I literally had nothing to do for about 3 weeks. I had been cubing for 6 months already, but I wasn't very good. One day, I decided to look at the world records, and I just decided to look at the upcoming competitions. There it was: Berkeley Fall 2008. Coming up in a few months. 
I looked at the events, and all i was able to do at the moment was 3x3 and 3x3 OH (really badly.) This motivated me to finish learning parity, so I could compete in 4x4 and 5x5. 
Finally, the day came. I walked into an auditorium full of cubers with my case of cubes, which wasn't that much back then. I found a seat near the front, and I started practicing while I waited to be called up for my very first solve: a 5x5 solve. Then, a big problem came up: I really had to go to the bathroom. (It still happens a lot during competitions) I waited, and my name wasn't called up. Finally, I realized that there was almost no more people doing 5x5. I asked the organizers if my card was in the stack, and we found out that it "disappeared."
They made a new card, and let me do my 5x5 solves. I only got to do two, but they were good for me. First, I beat my PB by 5 seconds. Then, I beat it by 20 seconds. This was really relieving for me, or perhaps it was the fact that I was able to go to the bathroom.
I got last place in OH, but I didn't really care, since I didn't have a very good cube back then. I did satisfactory in 4x4, and I did well in 3x3. I got a 27 second solve, which was great for a person who averaged 40 seconds. I now realize that my first solve was my best official solve until 3 competitions later!
At the end of the day, I was happy that I finally competed. But, I wanted to do more events. I sat down, and got ready for a bigger event: San Francisco Open 2009.


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## Faz (Mar 5, 2010)

New Zealand Championships 2009:

It was held at Te Papa Museum in Wellington. When I walked in, I raced LukeMayn, and got a low 10 average of 5, which he calculated, and it turned out to be a new pb for me. There wasn't really much time for socialising, as I was scrambling and judging alot of the day, when I wasn't competing. There was a big stage, and 3 levels of spectators. The tables were the cube tables, like they had at worlds. I did really well at OH and 5x5, and I got a good 3x3 average for me at the time. Afterwards, we went out to dinner. When I got back to the hotel I felt sad because I didn't know when, if ever, my next competition would be.


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## SuperNerd (Mar 5, 2010)

San Francisco Open 2009:

I arrived early with some of my friends, and I was amazed by all of the cubers with different kinds of puzzles I had never seen. I also realized that I was a lot slower than I thought, and I already knew I was really slow. I did terribly in everything, especially magic. I got a 3.xy average in magic, and my 3x3 average was 48.08, which was bad for me then. I did 4x4 and 5x5, and I'd rather not share the results of those.


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## Sa967St (Mar 5, 2010)

Toronto Open Fall 2007:
I failed so I went home right after the first 3x3 round


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## Ranzha (Mar 5, 2010)

*Competition:* Stanford Cube-A-Palooza 2009

After having gone to the US Nationals 2009 (at Stanford), I was motivated by my friends (Ryanrex116, NerdGradeA1/SuperNerd, etc.) to learn the PLLs and move on from my inverted-F2L LBL method (cross, middle layer, 2-gen FL corners, Dan Brown LL >_>) and get into Fridrich. That is when I seriously started getting into cubing.
My preparation for the event was having a smallish box with my cubes (about 5 3x3s, a revo, lubricants, etc.) and was "ready" to compete.

At the competition, I couldn't really say I was nervous until after my first solve. It was a +2 solve on top of a 35-second solve--7 seconds slower than my averages the previous day at home on qqTimer.
I thought to myself, _Gah, I need to plan out my cross.... Mehsauce...._, etc.
Second solve came around, and the rest, and I failed all of them and MISERABLY on the third one (42.81).
Needless to say, it was an off day for me, but I got to be in a mystery event and do TWO tower solves. Yay.

All in all, that competition was an eye-opener and a wake-up call for me in my cubing--I had to take things more seriously. Obviously, the next time didn't go so well either--a 32-second average at the Cube-A-Palooza 2.
At least I didn't forget to wear my helmet .

--Ranzha


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## Kickflip1993 (Mar 5, 2010)

Competition: World Championship 2009

This was my only competition until now, but many many will follow^^
I arrived at the ariport to meet Pasquale for the first time (we had known each other for about 7 months or so).
I was only allowed to compete in 3x3 and megaminx, so I had a lot of time to get to know other cubers.
I realized that EVERYBODY!! was extremely nice and polite and made me feel accepted.
On Saturday i competed in 3x3, where i got an average of 17.28 or so, which was extremely good for me back then (i didn´t care for my 3x3 solves, so thats probably the reason my me doing that well ).
Then the Megaminx event started.
I knew I was going to get the NR´s, because the single NR was 3:18 before xD
I was extremely nervous, but got a mean of 3 of 1:12.55, which was about 2 seconds above my average back then.
one solve had a 5 corner cycle, but I set 1 corner in wrong, so I did an 8 corner cycle, what means the solve was 2 seconds slower than normal.
In the end I missed the third place by 0.63 hundredth...0.63*3 = 1.89 (these were the 2 seconds I had lost  grrr)
Overall being 7th in the world for mo3 now and ranking 5th at worlds I am pretty please with my results^^

I can´t wait for the German Open and the Slovenian Open 
See ya guys


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## Dene (Mar 5, 2010)

Competition: San Francisco Open 2009.

I guess for me, my first competition experience would have been different to a lot of people here, because at the time I went to my first competition I had already known many cubers on here for well over a year. As such, I was preparing to meet about 20 odd people that I knew quite well for the first time, as well as a whole lot of other people that I had heard of. I was scared as hell; I rarely get involved in social things so this was quite the brutal experience for me. I had been threatened with such things as hugs, and point-and-laughs, which were all thrown at me. It didn't help that almost every cuber in the US was there. I only have a few vivid memories of the competition, as literally the whole event I was helping out as much as possible with judging. It was so busy, most things are a blur.
My most two vivid memories were:
1. I'm standing there doing something (or more likely nothing), and someone comes and taps me on the shoulder. I turn around and he offers his hand and says something along the lines of "Hey Dene. I'm Frank Morris." 
2. I'm judging 3x3 on the edge of the stage for like four hours straight. At some stage, the guy who had been standing at the other side of the table judging (and had very graciously helped me out with the learning process, so thank you very much, whoever you were) left, and was replaced by this hot azn girl. As I always do, I ignored her (looked at the ground). Then she says "Hi Dene. I'm Chow." 

EDIT: I may as well add this in here, seeing as it kind of fits. I should point out that, even considering I met such cubing giants as Frank Morris, Dan Dzoan, Tyson Mao, etc. the list is endless, the most intimidating person I met was Shelley  . (In a good way though!)


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## Saintlavin (Mar 5, 2010)

Competition : Malaysian Cube Open 09.

it was the first competition in the country, go notified while reading a post from one of the local cubers, quickly signed up and started practicing . i was around 40ish for my 3x3 avg... anyway went with a friend and we cube like crazy there... then i witness Piti getting 7.88s ! the crowd went wild! then went back home. was a good experience, motivates for up coming competitions"

as for the solves, well its pretty much what everybody expects (nervous)


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## Ton (Mar 5, 2010)

cmhardw said:


> *Competition:* 2003 World Championship
> 
> I could rewrite it all here, but I already wrote quite a bit about it here.
> 
> Chris



Same for me
see 
http://www.speedcubing.com/ton/wc_2003.htm


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## nathanajah (Mar 5, 2010)

It was Jakarta Open 2010.
There I met some cubers that I previously know online, but never met face-to-face. Before I get on the stage, I think that I won't be nervous. Well, that turned out to be wrong.
My most memorable events are:
1. Almost talked to Lorenzo Bonoan in Indonesian language :fp
2. Won a bronze medal in FMC (43 moves), even when I almost never practice it.


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## Sin-H (Mar 5, 2010)

*Competition:* Lyon Open 2007

I won.

no, srsly, it was awesome. I basically failed (19.xx avg while my avg at home was 15.xx), but I met a lot of great people: Rama, Arnaud, Joel, Maria, Ton, Doudou, Thibaut, Jean, ...

I went there by train (~5h), and I loved it.




Kickflip1993 said:


> I knew I was going to get the NR´s, because the single NR was 3:18 before xD


yah, u pwn at megaminx


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## TheBB (Mar 5, 2010)

Euro Champs 2004

I sucked but ended 16th anyhow. Will never happen again .

Also met Joël and a few other people I had until then only known from ze web, like Dan Harris and Ron. Apart from that I didn't make a big splash or anything.

I also used the worst cube in the history of mankind.


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## CharlieCooper (Mar 5, 2010)

UK Open 2007

I don't really remember much other than being nervous and going in and seeing people moving cubes quicker than I had ever seen on the internet. Turns out I was looking at Kuti and Rama doing sexy move... (I didn't know what the sexy move was then).

I remember finding it awkward hovering around the scrambling desk waiting to be called because there wasn't a competitors area. I REALLY wanted a sub 1  didn't get one though.

This was also Breandan's first competition and I remember looking at his craziness on the table next to mine.

I bought a magic and Kuti told me how to solve it. I also bought a square-1, which I didn't even move until about a year later, and is terrible anyway. I recall being annoyed I didn't enter clock because I totally would have come at least third.

I went home fairly swiftly because I had to get the train for two hours. The whole way there and back my friend and I practised in the train calculating averages. Now I think about that and just can't understand how I could make myself move just a tiny bit faster to get sub 1!


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## joey (Mar 5, 2010)

I remember judging rob


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## CharlieCooper (Mar 5, 2010)

joey said:


> I remember judging rob



SORT OUT YOUR BAD EDGES MATE.


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## jazzthief81 (Mar 5, 2010)

Ton said:


> cmhardw said:
> 
> 
> > *Competition:* 2003 World Championship
> ...


Same for me.

I mention it in my speedsolving interview, I made a small report with pictures back in the day and I also wrote a piece about it on my blog.


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## ~Phoenix Death~ (Mar 7, 2010)

Part 1 of Caltech 2010




Part 2


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## fundash (Mar 7, 2010)

Mine was the san-diego 2009

I remember driving with my dad, scared yet excited to find out what a competition would be like. 
We actually got there early and so we waited for awhile and met some other cubers while waiting. Amazing once I saw the room and how they had it all set up, best ever! honestly, nothing really beats my first competition! YET!


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## moka (Mar 7, 2010)

My first competition was in 2008.It was disappointing,
I popped for two times and got average about 35seconds...


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## Lorenzo (Mar 7, 2010)

Nisei Week 2009

Went in while they were still setting up

Went looking for Marco Mendoza because I had to buy a Sq1 and an Edison.

Ended up asking Dan Chan if he was Marco, he said "No, I'm not Marco. I'm looking for him too."

And that is when I joined their little cubing clique.

When I got my Sq1 from Marco, I popped the cube and incorrectly inserted the edge. It broke. That was within 5 minutes of having the cube.

Marco had another Sq1 that he doesn't even use. He gave it to me for free.

Steven Turner and I did a cube marathon.

In every one of my solves I said, "I'm nervous," and in every one of my solves my judge said, "It's okay."

It felt weird with the music playing as we did our competition solves.

It also felt weird being around a lot of other cubers that I didn't personally know. Though it also feels good that I met a bunch of nice people very quickly.

I used a stackmat for the first time when I was at competition.

I popped my A1 and the cube exploded in a 7 feet radius.

I learned that goo-gone smells funny.

Adam Zamora MCing.

I put Jig-a-Loo into a cube that already had a different lube in it. It got worse.

My parents were amazed at the sub14 people.

Mirror Blocks for the first time. It took my 9 minutes.

Gigantic snowcones. (i didn't get one though)

Lastly, the clique was going to go watch District 9. However, that was in Riverside. I live about 2 hours away from there. Therefore, my parents said no and I just had to skip that.


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## Toad (Mar 7, 2010)

~Phoenix Death~ said:


> Part 1 of Caltech 2010



To embed the videos remove the first part of the URL so all you have within the [YOUTUBE] tags is the part after "v=" and before and "&" that may be at the end.


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## cincyaviation (Mar 7, 2010)

Indiana Winter 2010 was my first comp
I didn't get nervous whatsoever and i averaged about what i do at home
my first 4 solves were 27, 26, 25, 24 
i was hoping to get a 23
i got a 31
it was really nice, and it had a very comfortable relaxed feel to it, and there were lots of little girls judging which was weird because they had the worst +2 detectors in their brains out of anyone i have ever met,
it wuz tuoalli ozome


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## lorki3 (Mar 7, 2010)

First comp Dutch open 2009

Evryone was very friendly Ron told me to sit with some people that I didn't now
But they where really friendly and I competed in 2x2 and 3x3 and it was alot of fun.
And it was funny because my parents found it strange that evryone had like 30 cubes


Spoiler



I only had 15 or so they thought I had much cubes


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## Forte (Mar 7, 2010)

US Nationals 2009

Square-1 fail (but good for the time :4)
BLD success (only one to date in comp)
lots of cool people that I talked to (Justin, Felix, Guanyang, Dave, Kevin, etc.)
lots of cool people that I didn't talk to (David Woner, Dan Cohen , Rowe, Tim Sun, etc.)
lots of cool people that I kinda talked to (Joey, Steven Turner, Mike Hughey, etc.)

Was good :4


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## dbax0999 (Mar 7, 2010)

Vancouver Open 2009

My times.... sucked.
But I was able to meet tons of cool people: Forte, Ibrahim, Justin, Sarah, Brian, Deseree, Jameson, a bunch of people i forget, and some little kids that were way better than me at 2x2. Seriously, they were like 7 years old.

Overall, good competition.


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## lumanderthon (Mar 7, 2010)

so incredible! awesome to meet other cubers! and it was only yesterday! (MIT spring open.)


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## dillonbladez (Mar 7, 2010)

Toronto Open Winter 2010

My times.... sucked.  at least i got a sub 30 avg... (what i aimed for)

when i went into the room, i didnt really meet anybody. i was just practicing, with my cousin. then one other guy saw me suck, we did a couple solves, it was fun... i lost ever one of them 

so when i went to compete in 3x3, the judge asked me if it was my first time, and i said "yes". then she told me i had 15 second inspection seconds, how she would say "eight seconds" when there were 8 seconds left, and she would say "GO" at 12 seconds. i then realized that the 15 second inspection is actually 12 seconds, in reality. after i finished, i started to look for daniel (he was going to sell me some cubes). i didn't have any luck looking for him just by looking at nametags. (100+ people ) i eventually found him, and made some great friends.

awesome competition. i didn't expect it to be so fun 

i can't forget the kid one year older than me. he avged 20 seconds and he knew 2look LastLayer (full oll and Pll)


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## Cyrus C. (Mar 7, 2010)

Chicago Open 2010:

I remember feeling awkward when I walked into the room, there were cubers there who were much faster than me & such, & no one was talking (I arrived kind of early). After the room filled up it started to become a much more friendly environment. The competition started & I got pretty good times, I met some cool cubers, saw some awesome puzzles, & got to judge some pretty awesome solves. It was overall an awesome experience.


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## CubesOfTheWorld (Mar 7, 2010)

I had the time of my life at my first competition, Indiana Winter 2010. It was just 10 hours of pure cubing. I got to meet some really cool people, including Dan Cohen, Chester Lian, and Thrawst/Tristan Wright. I bought a type CII and a LanLan 2x2. They are now both my new main speedcubes. I saw some really cool puzzles. Fisher cube, super/non-super square 1, gigaminx, skewb(ultimate), mirror blocks, and more. I judged for Dan Cohen once, where he got a 9 second solve. That was exciting. The domino's pizza for lunch was good. Dan Cohen let me use his jig a loo, and I was able to check out his 11x11. I am extremely glad that I did not fail on my solves. I am terrible at 4x4, so i did not make the 3 minute cutoff. The bad part was that Dan Cohen's feet smell like *CENSORED*. It was fun to judge. If I had to rate competitions out of 10, I would give them a 100. It was more than I had expected. I cannot wait til august, when we have nationals. Cya there!


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## stinkocheeze (Mar 8, 2010)

i barely sub 50... should i go to a competition?

EDIT: and are there 13 year olds at a competition?


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## cincyaviation (Mar 8, 2010)

stinkocheeze said:


> i barely sub 50... should i go to a competition?
> 
> EDIT: and are there 13 year olds at a competition?


plenty of them, and yes, go, if i were you i would compete in as many events as possible and have fun, who cares if you suck (besides you)


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## 1337_$p34|<3r (Mar 11, 2010)

my first competition was TERRIBLE! I got 1 minute


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## JackJ (Mar 11, 2010)

Cubetcha 2009

I got there 30 minutes early and basically failed 3x3. My first round average was 11 seconds higher than my at home average. Somehow, I managed to make the second round and got an average 4 seconds higher than usual. 
and magic... ugh...


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## Anthony (Mar 11, 2010)

My first competition was the Cincinatti Summer Open 2008. 

I began cubing exactly 2 years ago from today. I had really wanted to go to US Nationals that year, but things didn't work out. Towards the end of my summer vacation I realized how badly I wanted to attend a competition, but the only US competition that was going to take place before I went back to school was the Cincinatti comp. Ohio was pretty far away, but I managed to convince my grandma and uncle to take me; I had no idea that this was going to be the first of many comps my awesome uncle would end up taking me to.

I remember showing up outside the library the day of the competition and seeing someone doing insanely fast solves (Dakota Harris). I was in awe. Sub 15?! Ridiculous. Anyway, I was extremely nervous at the competition, but managed to get a couple good times (I was so proud of my 20.93 3x3 single ). 

If had to choose my 3 most memorable moments of the competition it would probably come down to..

Meeting Tyson

Dakota's sub 20 OH solve

Chillin' at Jim's house with other cubers after the competition
At the competition Tyson encouraged me to try to get in touch with a few Texas cubers he had met at a Denver comp (Alex Goldberg, Doug Reed, and Sapan Upadhyay) and see if we could organize a comp. The rest is history.

This past weekend I beat my first competition's 3x3 times in OH.  
Overall, it was an awesome experience that I'll never forget.


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## megaminxwin (Mar 11, 2010)

Melbourne Summer Open 2010.

Pros:

It was my first competition.
Meeting other cubers for the first time.
FINALLY finding out what a DIY is like.
Being the only person there who could solve the LanLan 12 side puzzle.
Being the only person there who could actually be bothered to solve the QJ (I think...?) megaminx.
Seeing what a blindfold solve actually looks like in real life.
Seeing 2 world records being broken and a 5x5 solve that was just milliseconds off.
Shaking Feliks' hand. 
My sister leaving halfway through.
Trying out a Rubik's Master Magic.
Having one of the better cubes there... it's an unmodified Rubik's Storebought. (currently in disrepair)
Breaking my personal best on 5x5 in an official solve.

Now for the Cons:

Stuffing up my 3x3 average with a 45.xx second COUNTING solve.
Losing on a (I think...) Mefferminx (lol) to a PVC minx.
Stuffing up 5x5. (I could have gotten sub-3 with that last solve! DARRGH!)
Not many cons, it was that good. Really, really fun.

EDIT: I noticed my sister was (technically) on the news that night on Channel 9. Is that anywhere on YouTube? (the news, that is)


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## Parity (Mar 11, 2010)

No comps near me.


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## stinkocheeze (Mar 11, 2010)

megaminxwin said:


> Melbourne Summer Open 2010.



how do you go to a summer open when summer hasn't started yet??? LOL

EDIT: my bad, it's in australia and i'm in canada... i get it...


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## shelley (Mar 12, 2010)

Back when _I_ was a frosh... (Caltech Spring 2004)
3x3 rounds were all best of 3 until the final round. If you popped during a solve, you were awarded an extra one. And I witnessed the 12.11 WR by Macky, who was light years ahead of everyone else at the time.
Also, even though I knew Leyan from orchestra for the past half year, that competition was the first time I really talked to him. He placed third in the final round after Macky and Lars Petrus with a 31 second average.


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## guusrs (Mar 12, 2010)

V&D (toy department), Twente-prelims, Enschede, september *1981*
Bring-your-own cube comp, no inspection time, 2 attemps, ±40 competitors.
My cube was prepared with vaseline, I still got it (with that same vaseline). 
Only 3 people within a minute, me 38 seconds (first in 16- category), my classmate 36 seconds (1st in 17+ category).
Self-developed system, layer by layer, but LL-corners already in 1 alg.

Three weeks later Twente-finals, again in in V&D Enschede.
Me 40 seconds, 1st in 16- category. Marc Waterman 36 seconds, 1st in 17+ category. 
That's were I met Marc and after that day we had a lot of meetings together, Daan Krammer also joining us. They were very inspiring for me.

Gus


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## CubesOfTheWorld (Mar 12, 2010)

What was my first competition like? CUBER'S PARADISE!


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## ardi4nto (May 11, 2010)

Indonesian Open 2009:
I got a 25.88 single and that was my best for 3x3x3 at that time (my average is 35-s). Then I saw Chuck doing incredible 11/11 multiple blindfolded attempt.

But my second competition is more awesome than first one, Jakarta Open 2010.
I saw Iril got a world record with his 16/16 attempt and I brought home an Indonesian National Record for FMC


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## riffz (May 11, 2010)

My first comp was The Toronto Open, Winter 2009. I had been cubing for 4 months and was aiming for a sub-30 average. My first solve was 26s, which was a pretty good time for me, but the rest of the average didn't go so well and I ended up with a 31.17 average. I also entered BLD but I had only just learned it and DNFed all 3 solves.

It was a really cool experience for me, my girlfriend, and my parents, who also came. It was hosted in that tiny room at Seneca though so it was rather crowded.


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## miniGOINGS (May 11, 2010)

I can finally post in this thread!

 Awesome.


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## That70sShowDude (May 11, 2010)

@miniGOINGS - SAME HERE!

First competition was 10 days ago. 
- 17.99 and 17.02 3x3 averages. 17.31 is my average of 100, so my solves were very good.
- Made it to the finals of 3x3, but had to leave to go to my girlfriend's prom. Poop.
- 2x2 sucked. I did the wrong alg 3 times on one solve.
- For 4x4, got an average that is basically the same as my at home avg12. Good.
- For OH, had f2l done at 16 seconds (my fastest ever at the time), but messed up the OLL.
- Missed a BLD solve my 2 moves. Would have been 3:36, which is not a bad time for me, let alone at a competition. (Undid my last set-up move incorrectly)
- Got to try some cubes I've never even touched before (magic, mirror blocks, giant 3x3, mini ds)


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## miniGOINGS (May 11, 2010)

That70sShowDude said:


> - 2x2 sucked. I did the wrong alg 3 times on one solve.



Exact same thing happened to me. Twice in a row. Vid's here.


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## cincyaviation (May 14, 2010)

miniGOINGS said:


> That70sShowDude said:
> 
> 
> > - 2x2 sucked. I did the wrong alg 3 times on one solve.
> ...


your not allowed to look like that, you look different than that


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## miniGOINGS (May 14, 2010)

cincyaviation said:


> your not allowed to look like that, you look different than that



Hmm?


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## TheMachanga (May 14, 2010)

stinkocheeze said:


> i barely sub 50... should i go to a competition?
> 
> EDIT: and are there 13 year olds at a competition?



There are 4-79 year olds.


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## Feryll (May 14, 2010)

miniGOINGS said:


> cincyaviation said:
> 
> 
> > your not allowed to look like that, you look different than that
> ...



Mini your catchphrase should be 'Hmm' It seems like you say it a lot, or is it just me? 



TheMachanga said:


> stinkocheeze said:
> 
> 
> > i barely sub 50... should i go to a competition?
> ...



There are 13 year olds hosting competitions and great stores.

Also, I'm going to Ohio Open in June! Yay! Too bad it's the day after my Middle School Graduation Lock-in Party, so I'll have to skip that. I don't care what my whiny friends say!


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## Cyrus C. (May 14, 2010)

miniGOINGS said:


> cincyaviation said:
> 
> 
> > your not allowed to look like that, you look different than that
> ...



I think he means you should be wearing a chicken mask.


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## miniGOINGS (May 14, 2010)

Feryll said:


> Mini your catchphrase should be 'Hmm' It seems like you say it a lot, or is it just me?



Haha, good idea! I try to cycle through 'Hmm', 'Yea', and 'Mhm'. 

Like, I actually think about which one I've used the least to try to decide...


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## cuberkid10 (May 14, 2010)

miniGOINGS said:


> That70sShowDude said:
> 
> 
> > - 2x2 sucked. I did the wrong alg 3 times on one solve.
> ...



Was that ThePuzzler96 next to you?


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## TheMachanga (May 14, 2010)

cuberkid10 said:


> miniGOINGS said:
> 
> 
> > That70sShowDude said:
> ...



yes. That is him.


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## That70sShowDude (May 14, 2010)

cuberkid10 said:


> miniGOINGS said:
> 
> 
> > That70sShowDude said:
> ...



Did you see that kid in the green and white striped shirt, that went where ThePuzzler96 was at? Look at where he puts his 2x2 when he starts...


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## cincyaviation (May 14, 2010)

That70sShowDude said:


> cuberkid10 said:
> 
> 
> > miniGOINGS said:
> ...


WTF? Either OCD or extreme left-handed-ness.


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## Cubing321 (Aug 14, 2010)

I was sooo shakey! I almost dropped the cube!


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## angelu1125 (Aug 14, 2010)

Calm & It was Awesome


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## QCcuber4 (Aug 18, 2010)

it was awesomesauce.

down where i live, im a god, cuz no one can solve the thing faster than i do, or do it in any other way than with 2 hands. I avg bout 17 18ish.

I knew i wasnt any big deal for top cubers, and had no chances at winning, but i drove 7 hours to toronto last week-end for the toronto open. And i spent the best day of my life, surrounded by people who dont spam Ipeelthestickers at me. I felt great, met lots of cool people, Micheal Shao and Anthony Hua walked me through alot ;P and i am most likely coming back in november for TOF10. My avg was disapointing, but it was because i had the shakes, due to my 14.68 from 2nd solve... it triped me out for some reason. but i still had lots o fun.

Long live speedcubing!


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## RyanReese09 (Aug 18, 2010)

washington dc 2010 spring
nervous as hell though as fun ^_^


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## ExoCorsair (Aug 18, 2010)

My first competition was Cornell's 2007 one. Only participated in one event, and it wasn't 3x3.


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## theace (Aug 18, 2010)

i had cold shakey hands. Average shot up by about 4 seconds.


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## cubedude7 (Aug 18, 2010)

*Competition:* Netherlands 2008

I knew absolutely nobody there, but I started talking to some nice guys (including Arnaud) to leanr about a competition. He learnt me a lot about cubing  I didn't know there was a winners ceremony, so I left earlier 

But, overall, it was a lot of fun!


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## Gold_A (Aug 18, 2010)

*Competition:* Toronto Open Summer 2010

Pretty awesome, as soon as I walked in I met a friend that I had known from 2 years ago, we both recognized each other. So there was someone I knew at the comp which made things slightly better.

My solves for 3x3x3 were better than normal which was really awesome. I got 25th in the first round, so I just made it into the second round. If my average was just 0.03 seconds slower I wouldn't have made it to the second round.

But my OH solves were all slower than normal... there are only 4 OLL cases that I cannot remember how to do for OH (two of which are mirrors of the other 2). And all 5 solves had one of those 4 cases, so I had to make them all 3 look LL instead... well actually the very first solve was a 4look LL because I don't know how to do N-perms OH. So unlucky....


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## Plaincow (Aug 18, 2010)

my first comp was pretty fun. i had only been cubing for a month then and was avg about 38sec. and i made it to finals for 3x3. 16 people moved onto finals i was number 16 lol. i got a dnf avg i got 2 bad pops and a nice 31 for me then. now i avg like 35 and do 2x2 4x4 magic and master magic and pyraminx. my first comp was really really fun though. lots of friendly people and cool cubes. met some people that gave me some tips on how to get faster. like learn 1L pll which i still havent gotten to lol. and use look ahead. hope another one is near me soon.

the comp was a minnesota comp in rochester 2010.


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## jowe27 (Aug 19, 2010)

Toronto Summer 2010.
I was extremely nervous and I failed 2x2(did the wrong OLL at least 8 times between my 5 solves.) but for 3x3 I beat my average by about 12 seconds, except for the one solve where I popped in the middle of the PLL, making me forget where I was, so I had to start from f2l again. I then popped again in the middle of the OLL, and the judge guy went and got my piece, even though i think im supposed to, (yay little asian kid). That solve was 45 over my average.
After all my events I pretty much sat at a table with other cubers that were really nice and played with a bunch of puzzles Ive never seen before.


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## CitricAcid (Aug 19, 2010)

Carnegie Mellon Spring 2009: 
Walked in, met Ethan, (nlCuber22) who happened to live in West Virginia o_o I was shocked. (So was he) Hung out with him most of the day. At the time I wasn't even a member here, and was extremely slow. (I still am slow. o_o) Left after I finished my events, because my siblings were there, and they wanted to leave. -___- Apparently I missed alot that happened during the time I was gone. I wasn't really nervous at all, and.... Yeah.


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## JackJ (Aug 19, 2010)

I'm not sure if I posted here or not, but W/E.

It was Cubetcha 2009, when I first walked in I was greeted by my soon to be really good cubing friend, Christopher Olson. Then I met Kevin Kapinos and hung out with him most of the day. I was sooo slow back then though, like 40ish if I remember. I was the last person to make the second round and ended up beating like 7 people in 3x3 and like 5 in magic. I was severly disappointed but it was a lot of fun. I rarely have missed a comp since.


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