Ron For the San Diego competition I will be hosting it just like the normal format that we have been using over the last 4 years. However I am adding in an additional round (unofficial of course) this round will be fast and fun. Basically it is a Heads up competition. Here is a rundown of how this event will be held. After the first round average of 5 solves you can determine who gets to compete in the Heads up competition. You can take 16, 32 or 64 competitors. the top seeded player ranked #1 goes up against the last ranked player ranked #32 or 64 and so on... 2 vs 31 or 63. the winner advances and the loser does not. this continues till we have a final winner. Both players will have their cube scrambled from the scramblers/judges just like a normal competition. The winner and 2nd place person will also have enough solves to have an average if there are at least 32 competitors. This format is fast and I think alot more spectator friendly. It seems more of a competition and I think this may help in bringing more media/sponsors attention to the competition/sport. I will be holding it in San Diego as a kind of "TEST" to see how people like it and to see how well it goes. If there are alot of people in a competition (like Worlds) then the top 32/64 compettitors will be around the same time frame which make me believe that the #32 or 64 placed person can take out the top ranked person causing an upset. you never know when someone will have a great solve or a bad solve. Pleae let me know of what you think of this format, maybe it can be included in future events as an official event. Adam Zamora

Just curious how you handle inspection time. Will both competitors have to use the full 15 seconds? Or could one start sooner, and the competitor finishing later actually wins because he has a shorter time?

This whole idea came from when we all practice before a competition. we stand in a cirlce and pass our cube to the left, that person scrambles the cube for a few seconds and then pass the cube back to the right. then everyone inspects their cube and mutually agree on when to go. to answer your question we would have to find some sort of way that the 2 competitors agree to start about the same time. maybe like they both agree that the inspection is complete with in 5 seconds and then place their hands on the timer and then go. this would help also with bringing down the inspection time becuase this is a whole new event so it can have its own rules.

Hi Adam, First of all thanks for organizing the competition. I hope you have a great time. In Europe we had some competitions where he had a similar event. We called it head-to-head knock-out. We also did team solves (2 up to 5 people in one team) like that. The format of the round was '2 wins', so you had to beat your opponent twice in 3 attempts. There are some pros and cons for this event. For now it is unofficial. Let us know afterwards how you liked it. Have fun, Ron

Yes I totally agree that it unoffical till we can come to some solution on if it works. I like the single elimination because its more realistic to what we get when we race against each other or on the streets when we say we can solve in under X amount of time, you only get one shot to proove that you can do it. i will let you know how it turns out. thanks