How to memorize the Rubik’s Cube solution

Most of you, once you have been able to solve the Rubik’s Cube following the solutions, have asked me how to solve the Rubik’s Cube again without looking to the solutions. I will show you the most important things you need to know to memorize the algorithms, so you can solve the Rubik’s Cube by your own.

Steps 1 and 2

The algorithms (sequence of movements to achieve something) of the first you steps are short. For example, see the second step:

In this case, you have to check where is the piece now and where do you want to place it. What we do is:

1. Lower the position where we want to place the piece to the bottom layer
2. Place the piece in that position
3. Undo the first movement, to rise the piece to the upper layer

The same structure is used in the other case of the second step:

Following these indications and with some practice, we will be able to solve the first two steps without having to learn any algorithm. We will need to pay some attention to the piece and the position where we want to place it.

The third step

In the step 3 we want to create a pair edge-corner. Let’s see an example:

In this case, we should pay attention in the corner green-red-yellow (the yellow color is not shown in the picture) and the edge green-red. In the algorithm, the corner rises to the upper layer. After several movements, the corner goes back to its original position, but attached to the edge.

Important: Instead of trying to memorize the movements one by one, try to pay attention the corner and in the edge and how they move around the cube.

The fourth step

In this step we will move two lateral layers and the upper one. Let’s see Case 1:

In this case, we pay attention the edge green-orange (the orange color is not shown in the picture) and in the corner green-orange-yellow (only the green color is shown in the image). This pair of pieces rises to the upper layer, moves a little bit, undoes the movement, and finally goes back to their original position. Case 2 is very similar, but changing the order of some movements:

Important: Instead of trying to memorize the movements one by one, try to pay attention the pair corner-edge and how it moves around the cube.

The fifth step

In this step we are going to pay attention to how a pair of pieces (edge-corner) goes for a ‘walk’ in the upper layer of the cube:

We are going to move just two layers. In this case, we will pay attention in the edge green-red and in the corner green-red-yellow (the yellow color is not shown in the picture). What we do is:

1. Rise the pair of piece to the upper layer
2. Turn the upper layer (“go for a walk”)
3. Lower the lateral layer
4. Turn the upper layer (“continue with the walk”)
5. Rise the lateral layer
6. Turn the upper layer twice (“come back from the walk”)
7. Lower the lateral layer so the pair goes back the its original position

Important: Instead of trying to memorize the movements one by one, try to pay attention the pair corner-edge and how it goes for a walk around the cube.

The sixth step

In this step, instead of paying attention in only a pair corner-edge, we will pay attention in two pairs:

We will pay attention the pair formed by the edge green-red and the corner green-red-yellow, and also the pair formed by the edge green-orange and the corner green-orange-yellow (the yellow and the orange colors of every piece is not shown in the picture). What we do is:

1. We rise the first pair the upper layer and it goes for a walk (we turn the upper layer)
2. We rise the second pair the upper layer and it goes for a walk in the opposite direction (the first pair will come back from their walk)
3. We lower the first pair to its original position
4. We undo the walk of the second pair and lower it to its original position

Important: Instead of trying to memorize the movements one by one, try to pay attention the two pairs corner-edge and how they move around the cube.

The last step

In this step we will do a sequence of movements, turn the upper layer, and finally undo the sequence of movements:

During the first sequence of movements we will turn the lateral layer and the lower one. With this sequence, we want to leave unaltered the upper layer, except the corner green-red-white that will turn in its position clockwise. When we perform this sequence, the rest of the cube scrambles. What will happen if we now undo this sequence? Logically, the cube will come back to its original position. This means that in the upper layer the corner green-red-yellow will turn in its position anticlockwise, and the rest of the cube will come back to its position.

The ‘trick’ with this step is that before undoing the movements, we will turn the upper layer, so it will be another corner the one that will turn in its position anticlockwise.