A Rubik’s Cube can look deceptively simple: six colours, dozens of turns, and a puzzle that millions of people have tried to solve. At the highest level of competitive speedcubing, though, the difference between extraordinary and historic can come down to fractions of a second.
That is exactly what happened in September 2026, when six-year-old Chinese speedcuber Lian Yunzhi produced a remarkable sequence of performances that saw her break the women’s 3x3x3 average world record — and then return just three days later to break her own mark.
Lian Yunzhi’s remarkable September 2026 Rubik’s Cube record
Lian’s breakthrough came at the Wuhan Crimson Autumn 2026 competition on September 13.
According to the World Cube Association (WCA) results, Lian finished third overall in the final 3x3x3 round with an official 4.52-second average. It was already enough to surpass the previous women’s 3x3x3 average benchmark of 4.68 seconds, associated with fellow Chinese speedcuber Qixian Cao.
But the 4.52-second result would not remain Lian’s biggest achievement for long.
Three days later, at the Guangzhou GraDUAL 3×3 IV 2026 competition on September 16, the six-year-old went even faster. This time, she won the 3x3x3 event with a stunning 4.27-second average.
That second performance was significant beyond simply lowering her own record. According to CCTV reporting cited by CBS and The Guardian, Lian became the first female speedcuber to record an average below 4.5 seconds.
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Lian’s two record-breaking performances
| Competition | Date | Official 3x3x3 Average | Key result |
| Wuhan Crimson Autumn 2026 | September 13, 2026 | 4.52 seconds | Women’s average world record |
| Guangzhou GraDUAL 3×3 IV 2026 | September 16, 2026 | 4.27 seconds | Lian’s own record lowered by 0.25 seconds |
Both performances were recorded at competitions officially recognized by the World Cube Association.
How Lian’s 4.52-second Wuhan record was calculated
Speedcubing records can be confusing to people unfamiliar with competitive Rubik’s Cube rules, particularly because an individual solve and an average record are separate categories.
In a standard WCA Average of 5 round, competitors complete five solves. Their fastest and slowest attempts are removed, while the remaining three times are averaged to produce the official result.
At Wuhan, Lian’s five recorded solves in the final were:
- 4.50 seconds
- 4.74 seconds
- 3.54 seconds
- 5.47 seconds
- 4.33 seconds
Her fastest solve was therefore 3.54 seconds, but that was not the record being established.
Instead, the fastest and slowest times — 3.54 and 5.47 seconds — were removed. The remaining three times were used to calculate her official 4.52-second average.
That distinction matters because Lian’s achievement was specifically the women’s 3x3x3 average world record, rather than the individual single-solve world record.
Her Wuhan result moved the benchmark beyond Qixian Cao’s previous 4.68-second average, which is listed on Cao’s WCA profile as her 3x3x3 average personal record and had held the relevant world-ranking position before Lian’s breakthrough.
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Three days later, Lian lowered the record again
Lian’s first record might have been enough to make headlines on its own. Instead, she immediately followed it with another historic performance.
At Guangzhou GraDUAL 3×3 IV 2026 on September 16, Lian won the 3x3x3 event with an official average of 4.27 seconds.
Her five solves were:
| Solve | Time |
| 1 | 4.20 seconds |
| 2 | 4.39 seconds |
| 3 | 4.54 seconds |
| 4 | 4.02 seconds |
| 5 | 4.22 seconds |
Again, the WCA Average of 5 system removes the fastest and slowest attempts. That means her 4.02-second solve and 4.54-second solve were excluded from the calculation.
The remaining times — 4.20, 4.22 and 4.39 seconds — produce the official 4.27-second average.
That was an improvement of 0.25 seconds over her own 4.52-second record.
It also put her 0.41 seconds ahead of Cao’s previous 4.68-second benchmark.
Lian finished more than a second ahead of the next competitor in the Guangzhou 3x3x3 event, Yi Shen, who recorded a 5.37-second average.
Lian’s 4.02-second solve was not the world record
One number from the Guangzhou competition is particularly easy to misunderstand.
Lian’s 4.02-second solve was her fastest individual attempt during the record-breaking round. That is an extraordinary time, but it was not the women’s average world record.
The official record was her 4.27-second Average of 5.
The distinction becomes even more important when looking at the overall 3x3x3 records.
The WCA currently lists Teodor Zajder’s 2.76-second solve as the overall 3x3x3 single-solve world record, achieved at GLS Big Cubes Gdańsk 2026.
Meanwhile, the current overall 3x3x3 average record is 3.71 seconds, held by Xuanyi Geng. Geng established that mark at Deqing Small & Special 2026, where the WCA officially recorded it as a world record.
These are different record categories, so comparing Lian’s 4.27-second average directly with Zajder’s 2.76-second single solve would be misleading.
Lian’s achievement is specifically notable because she established the women’s world record for the 3x3x3 average.
Six-year-old Lian has already learned more than 1,300 algorithms
The numbers become even more striking when Lian’s age is considered.
Lian is only six years old and is from Chengdu in China’s Sichuan province. According to reporting about her achievement, she has learned more than 1,300 Rubik’s Cube solving algorithms and practises approximately two to three hours a day.
Her journey into cubing reportedly began through an extracurricular class.
Her mother, Lin Yangxi, said Lian also participated in activities including dance and music before the family recognised her aptitude for speedcubing. Lin said she “gradually realised” that cubing was an “excellent activity for fostering a child’s comprehensive abilities” and subsequently focused more attention on the activity.
Lin also explained why she believes the activity offers benefits beyond simply solving a puzzle.
“Solving a Rubik’s Cube improves focus, memory, logical thinking, spatial awareness, and helps develop a healthy mindset toward winning and losing,”
She added:
“It’s not just about blindly memorising formulas, but using logical reasoning to find optimal solutions,”
Those comments provide insight into how Lian’s family views her development in speedcubing and why so much attention has been placed on the activity.
Lian’s rapid rise through official competitions
Although Lian has now made history, her WCA competitive career is still relatively recent.
Her official WCA profile identifies her as Yunzhi Lian (连允之), representing China, with the WCA ID 2025LIAN01.
The profile currently records dozens of competitions and hundreds of completed solves, demonstrating how quickly her experience has accumulated since entering the official WCA system.
Her 2026 results show a clear progression toward the September records.
At Start of Summer Beijing 2026, Lian recorded a 5.66-second 3x3x3 average in the final. Her earlier rounds were already below six seconds, including a 5.60-second semifinal average.
She then recorded a 5.40-second final average at Deqing Small & Special 2026.
The September performances in Wuhan and Guangzhou marked another dramatic step in that progression, taking her from averages in the mid-five-second range to consecutive official records in the low-four-second range.
Why a 4.27-second average is such a demanding achievement
Competitive 3x3x3 speedcubing is not simply about producing one astonishing solve.
The WCA’s Average of 5 format requires consistency across multiple attempts. A competitor must solve the cube rapidly five times, knowing that both an unusually fast and unusually slow result will be removed before the final average is calculated.
That makes Lian’s Guangzhou performance particularly notable within the record category.
Four of her five attempts were between 4.20 and 4.54 seconds, while her fastest attempt was 4.02 seconds. The consistency of those performances allowed her to produce the official 4.27-second average.
At the very top of the sport, fractions of a second can transform the rankings. Lian’s improvement from 4.52 to 4.27 seconds in only three days therefore represents a significant reduction in an already extremely fast average.
The broader competitive landscape shows how demanding these records have become. Xuanyi Geng’s 3.71-second overall average world record sits below Lian’s women’s benchmark, while Teodor Zajder’s 2.76-second overall single-solve record belongs to a completely different category.
What makes Lian Yunzhi’s record sequence so unusual?
The headline is not simply that a six-year-old solved a Rubik’s Cube quickly.
It is the speed and timing of the progression.
On September 13, Lian established a new women’s 3x3x3 average world record of 4.52 seconds in Wuhan.
On September 16, she returned at a Guangzhou competition and reduced that record to 4.27 seconds.
Along the way, she produced a 4.02-second individual solve, while four of her five Guangzhou attempts remained tightly grouped between 4.20 and 4.54 seconds.
According to CCTV reporting cited by CBS and The Guardian, that 4.27-second average also made Lian the first female speedcuber to average below 4.5 seconds in the official 3x3x3 event.
Her September results are the latest stage in a rapid competitive progression that includes her earlier 5.66-second average in Beijing and 5.40-second average at Deqing.
At just six years old, Lian has already become one of the most talked-about young competitors in speedcubing.
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Conclusion
Lian Yunzhi’s September 2026 performances created an unusually fast sequence in the world of competitive Rubik’s Cube solving. She first broke the women’s 3x3x3 Average of 5 world record with a 4.52-second average in Wuhan, then lowered it to 4.27 seconds in Guangzhou only three days later.
Her achievement is specifically an average record, not the overall single-solve record, and the WCA’s official results confirm the five-solve calculations behind both performances. With more than 1,300 algorithms reportedly learned, two to three hours of daily practice, and a rapidly developing competition record, Lian’s rise has already produced a remarkable chapter in speedcubing history.
For now, the sequence is clear: 4.52 seconds in Wuhan, followed by 4.27 seconds in Guangzhou — all before Lian had even turned seven.
Disclaimer
This article has been prepared based on thorough research of the World Cube Association competition results, regulations, competitor profiles, and the CBS News, The Guardian, and The Straits Times reporting provided as source material. Details concerning Lian Yunzhi’s training, background, and family statements are presented according to the reporting attributed to her family and the cited media sources. The article reflects information available through September 23, 2026. World rankings and records can change when new official results are posted.
Sources
- World Cube Association: Wuhan Crimson Autumn 2026 results
- World Cube Association: Guangzhou GraDUAL 3×3 IV 2026 results
- World Cube Association: Yunzhi Lian profile
- World Cube Association: Qixian Cao profile and records
- World Cube Association: Xuanyi Geng profile and world-record history
- World Cube Association: Teodor Zajder profile and world-record history
- CBS News: Lian Yunzhi’s record-breaking performances
- The Guardian: Lian Yunzhi’s record and background
- The Straits Times: Lian Yunzhi’s 4.52- and 4.27-second averages
Featured Image Credit: Monstera Production on Pexels
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