By: Christian Vioujard

Published September, 1982 – Games

The fastest cubist in the West is from the East. Last June, 16-year-old Minh Thai, a Vietnamese “boat person,” won the first International Rubik’s Cube Championship by solving the puzzle in a mere 22.95 seconds. That’s right – seconds.

In 1979 Thai and his family survived a Malaysian refugee camp and the vicissitudes of U.S. immigration and settled down in Los Angeles, where he faced yet another challenge – Rubik’s Cube. A week after Thai saw his first Cube, he put the puzzle together in two minutes. That same month he won the U.S. championship on TV’s That’s Incredible in a time of 26.96 seconds, earning a shot at the world title in Budapest.

Thai’s victory was witnessed by Ernö Rubik himself. The master crowned the champ and unveiled his new 4 X 4 cube, Rubik’s Revenge. With more than 4 octillion times the combinations the original cube offers, the new cube may take Thai two weeks to figure out.