George Scholey: UK Champion and Guinness World Record-Holding Speedcuber
© Dan Wilton

George Scholey: Rubik’s Cube Prodigy and Multiple World Record Holder

George Scholey may love solving Rubik’s Cubes, but this man’s no square. The 22-year-old has broken world records, and his obsession has now secured him his dream job.
Written by Emine Saner
5 min readPublished on
In 2022, George Scholey broke the world record for the most Rubik’s Cubes solved in 24 hours: 6,931. The 22-year-old from Northamptonshire could unscramble one in less time than it took you to read that sentence. In the speedcubing world, where every millisecond counts, Scholey’s personal best – 3.25 seconds – seems barely slower than the current world record of 3.13s, set by American cuber Max Park in 2023, though Scholey modestly admits that his average is “six seconds flat”. Still, not bad for someone who only solved his first cube at the relatively old age of 13. Nine years later, Scholey holds three Guinness World Records, has broken national records and is a multiple UK champion.
Invented in 1974 by Hungarian architecture professor Ernő Rubik, the Rubik’s Cube is an enduring and endlessly fascinating piece of pop culture; with more than 43quintillion (that’s 18 zeros) possibilities, every scramble is a unique challenge. Scholey first picked up a cube after finding one his uncle had left lying around. He began watching YouTube tutorials and became hooked. Before long, he was spending up to six hours a day training. Then Scholey picked up other types of puzzle cubes. In less than a year, he was UK champion for the Skewb.
Beginners will take around 200 moves to solve it; for me, it’s 60.
George Scholey
As well as his 24-hour record, which he credits to the people around him scrambling almost 7,000 cubes and hand-feeding him burgers, Scholey holds the Guinness World Records for the most cubes solved while skateboarding (500) and – last year, on the 50th anniversary of the Rubik’s Cube – the most completed while running a marathon (520). He can even tackle a cube blindfolded or one-handed.
Now working in marketing, Scholey has just landed his dream job as associate brand manager for Rubik’s Cube, based in Toronto, Canada. “It really emphasises that these hobbies, however niche, can end up giving you cool jobs,” he says. Here, Scholey talks about creating a life from your obsession, and why any one of us could do it…
Cube Route

  1. 2016

    Scholey becomes Skewb UK champion, securing his first national record with an average of 3.88 seconds.

  2. 2022

    Claims two Guinness World Records – for the most Rubik’s Cubes solved on a skateboard, and the most in 24 hours.

Are you a genius?

George Scholey: Absolutely not. I truly believe anyone could do what I do. The difference is, I found the thing I was passionate about, practised as much as I could and improved.

How did you get into it?

George Scholey: I was into magic tricks when I was around 13, and Rubik’s Cube magic became a bit of a trend, so I wanted to put that in my routine. I found YouTube videos on how to solve it. It took about four days to learn because I decided to do one step each day and practise that over and over, rather than trying to get through it all at once. By the time I entered my first competition, about five months later, I was averaging 17 seconds [per cube]. I can’t remember how much time I spent practising, but if I wasn’t at school or eating or sleeping I was probably solving. My mum was super-supportive. She was like, “This is your thing. As long as you do your homework, you can practise all you want.”

Are there tricks involved?

George Scholey: The centrepiece colours determine the colour of each side. Essentially, those six pieces are always solved. You solve in layers, not sides. You need to know five or six algorithms. I realised that if I could learn more, I could cut corners – I’ll be solving two to 10 pieces at a time because I know an algorithm that can solve all those at once. For beginners, it probably takes around 200 moves; for me, it’s around 60.

What does training look like?

George Scholey: There’s passive practice – solving over and over – which builds a good base and helps you learn to recognise algorithms quicker, but you won’t improve that much. Then there’s active practice, which is learning new algorithms and implementing them. They’re often considered to be a chore, but I actually enjoyed learning those algorithms.

You combined your two biggest passions – running and the Rubik’s Cube – at the London Marathon last year. How was that experience?

George Scholey: More difficult than the 24-hour attempt, because of logistics involved. I couldn’t have people running beside me, so I had to do it self-sufficiently. I had 600 cubes which I sent to cuber friends to scramble, then they were put into sealed bags of 50 and handed to me by people at two-mile intervals. I had two backpacks on my front – one was full of scrambled cubes and weighed around 10kg, and when I’d solved each cube I’d transfer it to the other bag. Then I’d get 50 new, scrambled cubes at the next checkpoint. It was fun.

What has the Rubik’s Cube taught you about life?

George Scholey: I think it’s taught me the importance of being part of a community, finding your tribe, a group to be connected to. I’ve learnt diligence and the gratification you get from taking a less conventional path. When I’m teaching people, I tell them the first thing to realise is that you have to mess up stuff you’ve worked hard to build, and then you put it back when you’ve solved more [of the puzzle]. You might not enjoy that feeling, but then you’ll realise it’s just part of the process. That applies to so many things [in life]. Cubing teaches you to enjoy the process rather than the success, because success might not even come. I just want to do this thing for the sake of it.