CubeContest Winners

First place goes to Tomas Sirgedas, from Ann Arbor, Michigan, with an absolutely amazing implementation of Thistlethwaite's algorithm in only 874 characters of C++! For my data set, he averaged 16.03 moves per solution, and his program ran in an average of 64 milliseconds per solve. His overall score is an incredible 7,901; this program must be seen to be believed.

Judge's prize goes to Stefan Pochmann of Darmstadt, Germany, for his implementation of Thistlethwaite's algorithm in C++. He had the second-lowest score of 15,278 with a program that weighed in at 1311 characters, took 197 milliseconds a solution, and averaged 16.72 moves per cube. And if that program weren't good enough he probably would have won the Judge's prize anyway, for the overall shortest submission at 528 characters of Perl, taking 15 milliseconds per solution, and averaging 327.63 moves per cube.

Third prize goes to Jaap Scherphuis of Delft, the Netherlands, for his implementation of Thistlethwaite's algorithm in (once again) C++. His program was 2059 characters long, took an average of 154 milliseconds per solve, and yielded solutions averaging 16.04 moves long, for a total score of 21,599. Furthermore, both the first and second place winners credit Jaap and his site for help with the algorithms!

Fourth prize goes to Antony Boucher of Gennevilliers, France, who solved the cube with four successive IDA* searches to solve the whole cross up to a particular depth, then if that failed, the top cross, then the rest of the edges, then the corners using a set of predefined algorithms. His code in C came in at 1628 characters, took an amazingly low 22 milliseconds per solution, averaged 29.49 moves over my data set, and ended up with a score of 25,061.

The data set I used included all single-move positions, 18 two-move positions, 18 three-move positions, and 46 random positions.

The top-scoring entries, in order by final score, are:

Place Name Size Speed Moves Score

1 Tomas Sirgedas, Ann Arbor, MI, USA 874 64ms 16.03 7,901

2 Stefan Pochmann, Darmstadt, Germany 1311 197ms 16.72 15,278

3 Jaap Scherphuis, Delft, the Netherlands 2059 154ms 16.04 21,599

4 Antony Boucher, Gennevilliers, France 1628 22ms 29.49 25,061

5 David Barr, Laurel, MD, USA 1499 155ms 35.03 34,394

6 Charles Tsai, Canton, MA, USA 2213 10ms 78.76 87,322

7 Mikael Klasson, Linköping, Sweden 2190 10ms 88.34 96,925

8 Grant Tregay, West Chicago, IL, USA 4009 10ms 59.17 118,843

9 Adrian Sandor, Hong Kong, China 1992 670ms 54.65 127,423

10 Yuri Pertsovski, Hazorea, Israel 3013 2ms 98.82 149,467

11 Joe Lindström, Linköping, Sweden 2054 1600ms 39.96 172,363

12 Justin Legakis 3517 212ms 93.4 233,883

* Stefan Pochmann, Darmstadt, Germany 528 15ms 327.63 89,089

Place	Name	Size	Speed	Moves	Score
1	Tomas Sirgedas, Ann Arbor, MI, USA	874	64ms	16.03	7,901
2	Stefan Pochmann, Darmstadt, Germany	1311	197ms	16.72	15,278
3	Jaap Scherphuis, Delft, the Netherlands	2059	154ms	16.04	21,599
4	Antony Boucher, Gennevilliers, France	1628	22ms	29.49	25,061
5	David Barr, Laurel, MD, USA	1499	155ms	35.03	34,394
6	Charles Tsai, Canton, MA, USA	2213	10ms	78.76	87,322
7	Mikael Klasson, Linköping, Sweden	2190	10ms	88.34	96,925
8	Grant Tregay, West Chicago, IL, USA	4009	10ms	59.17	118,843
9	Adrian Sandor, Hong Kong, China	1992	670ms	54.65	127,423
10	Yuri Pertsovski, Hazorea, Israel	3013	2ms	98.82	149,467
11	Joe Lindström, Linköping, Sweden	2054	1600ms	39.96	172,363
12	Justin Legakis	3517	212ms	93.4	233,883
*	Stefan Pochmann, Darmstadt, Germany	528	15ms	327.63	89,089