12/17/17, 6(27 PMAdvanced Rubik's Cube Notation

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Perform thesemoves on a 3DRubik's Cube

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12/17/17, 6(27 PMAdvanced Rubik's Cube Notation

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Demonstrating face, slice,double and whole cube

rotations. With a mark on theFRU corner.

Press Play to start.

Rubik's Cube Notation (/the-rubiks-cube/notation/) page Ihave presented how we markthe basic face, middle layer(slice) and cube rotations. Let'sgo further and discuss theadvanced notation what youoften meet while readingRubik's Cube algorithms(https://ruwix.com/the-rubiks-cube/algorithm/).

Clockwise face rotations:

U L F

Counterclockwise face rotations:

U' L' F'

Slice turns:

M M' E

Double layer turns:

u l f

Inverse double layer turns:

u' l' f'

Whole cube rotations:

X X' Y

View angle (change perspective):

X↻↻ X'↻↻ Y↻↻

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↩↩ -- ++ ▶▶

F R' U2 M E S d f x yF R' U2 M E S d f x y

0/0/1010

12/17/17, 6(27 PMAdvanced Rubik's Cube Notation

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U: Up face clockwise

Face rotations

We mark the 6 faces of the Rubik'sCube (https://ruwix.com/the-rubiks-cube/) with a letter according toour perspective as we hold thepuzzle with one side facing us andan one parallel to the ground: (http://rubiks-

cu.be/)

Contents1. Face rotations2. Slice turns3. Double layer4. Whole cube rotation5. Big cubes6. Pieace notation7. Finger trick notation

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12/17/17, 6(27 PMAdvanced Rubik's Cube Notation

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M: Middle layer like left faceclockwise

F (Front), U (Up), R (Right), B(Back), L (Left), D (Down).

F R U L B

D

U - a 90-degree clockwise rotation

of the upper face U

U' - a 90-degree counterclockwise

rotation of the U face U'

U2 - a half turn of the upper face

U2

Slice turns

(/the-rubiks-cube/popular-

culture/rubikubism-pixel-art-mosaic/)

(/the-rubiks-cube/advanced-

cfop-fridrich/)

(/twisty-puzzles/4x4x4-

rubiks-cube-rubiks-

revenge/)

PuzzleMosaics

AdvancedMethod

4x4x4

12/17/17, 6(27 PMAdvanced Rubik's Cube Notation

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d or Dw: the two bottom layersclockwise

Middle layer rotations or slice turnsare not simply the rotations of twoopposite layers because thesemoves reposition the centrecubelets too.

M - Middle layer turn - in the samedirection as an L turn between Rand L.E - Equatorial layer - direction as aD turn between U and D.S - Standing layer - direction as anF turn between F and B.Note the following correlation:M = L' R X'

M E S

Two layers at the sametime

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12/17/17, 6(27 PMAdvanced Rubik's Cube Notation

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Double turns are marked with thelowercase letter of thecorresponding face: f, u, r, b, l, d.For example d means theclockwise rotation of the twobottom layers. Dw means thesame move but this notation ismainly used by Japanese cubers.Rarely they mark these turns with2D (the number comes aheadbecause D2 means a double D).Multiple-layer turns are necessaryto solve higher order puzzles likethe 4x4x4 Rubik's Revenge(https://ruwix.com/twisty-puzzles/4x4x4-rubiks-cube-rubiks-revenge/).

In some cases you might findRubik's Cube algorithms withlowercase letters meaning thecounterclockwise rotation of a facebut this is rare.d = D E

Whole cubereorientation

12/17/17, 6(27 PMAdvanced Rubik's Cube Notation

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x: rotate the entire cube on R

The entire cube rotations are notnecessary to solve the cube(https://ruwix.com/the-rubiks-cube/how-to-solve-the-rubiks-cube-beginners-method/) but westill use them in algorithms toreorient the puzzle. These movescan also be executed in the twodirections and double turns arealso possible.

x - rotate the entire cube on R (doan R move without holding the twoother layers)y - rotate the entire cube on Uz - rotate the entire cube on F

Whole cube rotations can bemarked with either lower oruppercase letters.

Big cube notationThe notation of the Rubik's Cubeapplies to the big cubes too but thedeep turns and inner slice turns

12/17/17, 6(27 PMAdvanced Rubik's Cube Notation

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Big cubes allow deep turns andslices

FRU: front-right-up corner piece

also come in.

2F - second inner front layer (innerslice)F - the two outer front layerstogether (deep turn)3Fw - The three front layerstogether on a big cube (min 7x7x7)3Fw2 - 108 degree turn of thethree front layers on a big cube(in the case of the 4x4x4 cube wemarked this with f and Fw )

Piece notation

2

12/17/17, 6(27 PMAdvanced Rubik's Cube Notation

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There are three types of pieces onthe Rubik's Cube: centre, edgeand corner pieces.There's only one centre piecebelonging to every face so wemark these with the uppercaseletter of the face it belongs to: Fmarks the front centre piece.An edge piece is determined bythe two faces it belongs to: FU -the front-up edge.A corner piece is described by thethree faces next to it: FRU front-right-up corner.

Finger trick notationsYou can find brackets in theRubik's algorithms because wegroup together fragments (triggers)that are easy to execute.There's no officially adopted fingertrick (/the-rubiks-cube/fingertricks/)notation but the DeeDubb (DW)notation for 3x3x3 cubes is widelyused. This has been presented inthe speedsolving.com forum.

Finger tricks are used inspeedcubing (/the-rubiks-cube/speedcubing-speedsolving/)to reduce the solution time. Thegoal is to describe a Rubiks' Cubealgorithm in the most comfortable

12/17/17, 6(27 PMAdvanced Rubik's Cube Notation

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and efficient way to execute withthe human hand. Taking down thehand off a side and repositioningalways takes time so we're tryingto execute more operations at thesame time. The more overlappedmoves and the less regrips, thefaster you execute the operation.For this we use triggers which areshort sequences of face turnswhich are easy and fast toexecute. Usually you can seethese fragments in brackets in thealgorithms.

For example instead of doing R UF' we can simply do a R d R'avoiding the regrip.

This notation is based ondescribing three things: the finger,the puzzle piece and the grip ofthe fingers on the cube.

The fingers are marked with: T(thumb), I(index), M (middle),R(ring), P (pinkie), W (wrist move).

The piece notation is the sameas described above on this page.

Grip notation describes how tohold the cube.Ex. TF - right thumb on F, otherfingers on the opposite side. TU -right thumb on up, the rest of the

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fingers on down.The left thumb is marked withlowercase t.

An example: {M-R4, T-R3} R2 US'(I2) U2' S(I1) U R2

Comments

32 comments

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32 Comments Sort by

Pearl Leewith badmephistos pll guide,im having trouble with the x'and x moves. pls help..Like · Reply · Jun 18, 2016 10:52am

Jonathan Caballero ·San Jose del Monte, Bulacan

(Using Orange inFront, Yellow on Top,Blue at Right)

X Move - White(F),Orange(T), Blue(R)Y Move - Green(F),Yellow(T), Orange(R)Z Move - Orange(F),Green(T), Yellow(R)

Like · Reply · 4 · Jul 11,2016 1:40am · Edited

Bjørn-Erlend Meistad·Bakketun Folkehøgskole

Jonathan CaballeroYour Y move is

Oldest

Add a comment...

12/17/17, 6(27 PMAdvanced Rubik's Cube Notation

Page 12 of 17https://ruwix.com/the-rubiks-cube/notation/advanced/

Your Y move isincorrect. Youdescribed a Y'. After aY turn the cube wouldlook like this: Blue(F),Yellow(T), Red(R)

Like · Reply · 1 · Oct27, 2016 8:41am

Carlyle Jerald ·Works at SJK (c) St. Philip ,Tamparuli

Jonathan Caballerothanks dude.this isreally helpfulLike · Reply · Sep 2, 20175:15pm

Show 1 more reply in thisthread

Harrison Getches ·Head Chef at The Krusty Krab

what does ][ mean? I found iton some two look olls

Like · Reply · 1 · Jun 29, 20169:48am

Reynell Eisen MateoNothing

Like · Reply · 1 · Jul 5,2016 10:15pm

Harrison Getches ·Head Chef at The Krusty Krab

please helpLike · Reply · Jun 29, 2016 9:48am

Gabriel Hudson Mello ·I.T.I - Instituto Tecnologico deInformatica

Amazing, i was getting reallyconfused with this notationsand this is just a miracle

12/17/17, 6(27 PMAdvanced Rubik's Cube Notation

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Like · Reply · 1 · Jun 30, 201611:27pm

Adisepticeye ·Like at Facebook

Ty for teach us how to solvevube ty sir and web ...love u allLike · Reply · Jul 19, 2016 10:53am

Adisepticeye ·Like at Facebook

Sorry...cubeLike · Reply · Jul 19, 2016 10:55am

Paul King ·Works at Edi sa puso mo :">

What is fwLike · Reply · Aug 23, 2016 7:10am

Bjørn-Erlend Meistad·Bakketun Folkehøgskole

"For example d meansthe clockwise rotationof the two bottomlayers. Dw means thesame move but thisnotation is mainly usedby Japanese cubers"

Using that logic a fw isthe same as a f or a FS or a Y l or a Y L M ora Y' r or a Y' R M' andso on... i could go onwith the X and Zrotations too, but thepoint is that a fw ismost likely a "bad" wayof saying f Like · Reply · Oct 27, 20168:57am

Mika Tacquet

12/17/17, 6(27 PMAdvanced Rubik's Cube Notation

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Hello I'm new to rubiks. Couldit be that the widget rotationsM & M' must be interpretedfrom a left view angle and theE & E' from a down viewangle? I have no problemswith clock & counterclockrotations of S & S'. ThanksLike · Reply · Oct 11, 2016 10:42am

Gabriel Fuertes ·I.E.S.L.C

Yes. Feels odd to metoo. It's like this, don'task me why:M ~ x'E ~ y'S ~ zLike · Reply · Feb 10, 20176:58pm

Nico Ibabao ·Bayugan National Comprehensive HighSchool (BNCHS)

Sir I'm having problem in y2pass help me.

Like · Reply · 1 · Oct 15, 20167:09pm

Vincent Lantang ·SMP Terpadu Widya Duta

turn ur upsite layertwice with the midlelayer and bottom layerLike · Reply · Jan 4, 20179:32am

Brandon J. MlejnekWhat does (Ff)2 mean?Like · Reply · Oct 17, 2016 6:18am

Bruno Curfs ·Universiteit Utrecht

From the above, Fmeans a quarter turnof the front face. And f

12/17/17, 6(27 PMAdvanced Rubik's Cube Notation

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of the front face. And fmeans the double turnF S carried outtogether. Also, for anyformula/algorithm X ofmore than one letter,(X)2 = X X. Combiningthis, we get (F f)2 = F fF f = (F F S)2 = (F2S)2 = F4 S2 (becauseF and S areindependent) = S2.Note. The equality signdoes not mean thesame actions, but thesame results.Apparently, the authorof (F f)2 found thisprocedure quicker oreasier than S2, as S2does not describe whatyou need to DO, onlywhat the result is ofyour turns. Forinstance S2 = y2 F2B2, but it's awkward.So, perhaps (F f)2 isan easier way of doingS2. S2 can be done inmany ways. Here isanother S2 = (F2 f2) =(f2 F2), but the singleturns F and f areeasier and perhapsquicker.--These are my fivecents.

Like · Reply · 1 · Oct23, 2016 2:30am · Edited

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