Advanced Method - SolveTheCube

6/7/2014 Advanced Method - SolveTheCube
http://solvethecube.com/advanced 1/14
Beginner Intermediate Advanced Notation FAQ Contact
Advanced Method
This is the full CFOP (or Fridrich) method. 'CFOP' refers to the steps involved -
Cross, F2L, OLL and PLL. This involves remembering a lot of algorithms to cope
with different situations, so you can use some 2-look OLL and PLL to reduce the
amount of algorithms you need to know.
This page is quite heavy on the old word count. This is because the different
sections need a bit of explaining (I'm looking at you, F2L) because they're so
different from the beginner method. If you are happy just being able the solve
the cube, I'd stick to ol' reliable, the beginner method. But if you want to start
properly speedcubing and pushing down your solve time, you're going to need
the methods outlined here. I'm sure if you're actually interested in speedcubing
and the fame, money, and glory it will certainly bring you, you won't mind
reading a few paragraphs.
Step 1 - The Cross
This step is the same as all the other methods - forming a cross on the first layer
to get this:
The more astute among you will notice something different about this picture. It
is upside down because there is one key difference - the first cross is done on
the bottom layer. This means that you can't always see what is happening with
the cross, which sounds like a good way to just make solving the cube more difficult. The
reason for doing the cross on the bottom layer is that you then don't have to turn the
cube over when starting the second layer. This saves time not only by not physically
moving the cube, but while you are completing the cross you can be looking ahead for
your first move of F2L.
At this stage, a lot of people still find it quite difficult to intuitively manipulate the cube.
This means that doing the cross on the bottom is difficult, as they have come to rely on
algorithms for moving pieces that suddenly don't work because everything is upside-
down. It is difficult to teach intuition, but through practice it will eventually just click.
Don't be disheartened if doing the cube on the bottom takes many times longer than
doing it on the top - if you're doing it at all, you're improving. Also, don't be afraid to be
move on in the advanced method while not being able to do the cross on the bottom. I
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have found that F2L (the next section) hugely helps people to understand how to move
cubies to where they want them, a skill that they can later use for the cross. You may
never even go back to the cross, and continue doing it on the top. This is fine for most
people, but if you really want to be pushing your time down to less than 20 seconds, you
will need to learn at some point.
All of that being said, I will give you some situations to look out for whilst doing the cross
on the bottom. Some of them may seem obvious, but they are here for people who need
them.

F2

U' R' F R

F R2 D2
The first two cases here are quite similar to those given in the beginner method for the
first cross on the top layer. They are quite simple, and you should be able to deal with
them with relative ease. The third case is a little more complicated. You should, by now,
be able to immediately recall that green is opposite blue and orange is opposite red. So
instead of putting the white-orange edge piece where it needs to go and then the white-
green edge piece, they can both be put in the opposite locations, i.e. the white-orange
piece in the white-red location and the white-green piece in the white-blue location. After
a simple D2, they are both in the correct place.
If you can comfortably form the cross on the bottom layer, your work is still not over. Now
you need to start practising doing it efficiently. This means looking ahead, i.e. thinking
about what you are going to do next when you've completed whatever it is you are doing.
Again, this is not something that is easily taught - different people will solve the same
cube in different ways, and will likely disagree on the best or most efficient way of doing
something. However, a good method for practising this is solving the cube very, very,
slowly but without stopping. The biggest problem with efficiently solving the cube is not
performing algorithms quickly, but deciding which algorithm to perform. By solving slowly
but smoothly, you'll be practising this ability and you will get quicker and more confident
with the cube until you too have your own version of the best way.
Step 2 - F2L
This step involves solving the first layer corners and second layer at the same time, to
get this:
The basic idea behind F2L is to pair a corner piece with its edge piece and then put them
both where they need to go. We can see in this basic example that a simple R would pair
up the white-red-blue corner with the blue-red edge piece. A further U aligns the two
pieces to the red-white edge piece on the red face, and a R' puts the two pieces where
they need to be.

R

R'

There are a few different situations. In this example, the corner cubie has the white face
pointing upwards. We'll solve this in two parts - pairing the edge and corner pieces, and
then putting them in the right place together.

R U2 R'

U R U' R'

Another important part of F2L is solving the situation without affecting any of the other
F2L cases you may have already solved. For example, in this situation:

F U2 F'

Doing F U2 F' does successfully pair the red-blue corner and edge pieces, but it also lifts
out the blue-orange pair that had already been solved and ruins it. Instead, we should do
this:

U' R U2 R'

A simple U at the start means that the pieces from the first and second layers that are
lifted out are where we want the blue-red pieces to go. The lifted pieces are ones we
don't care about, as they weren't supposed to be there anyway. This process of using the
destination of the pieces we want to solve in order to manipulate those pieces is crucial
in learning F2L.
Before you dive in to F2L and start trying to figure it all out, there are a few more things
you should try to bear in mind. The first of which is that cube turns are bad. They are slow
to do, as you have to shift the cube from one hand to the other. While this might seems
trivial, you're probably reading this page because you want to get better and faster at
cubing, and a few seconds can be very important. Nearly every one of the algorithms for
F2L below can be performed without shifting the cube, as most only use two faces that
one hand can easily do. To this end, some of the algorithms use d instead of U y', as the
y' means turning the cube. I'm sure you remember that d is a double layer D, i.e. turning
D and the middle layer at the same time, because you read the notation page.
Try to also remember that you (probably) have two hands. While also an excellent life tip,
some situations are just better handled on a specific side of the cube. Take this example:
You might do something like y' U R U' R' U y' R' U' R, as your natural instinct will likely be
to use your right hand. Instead, L' U L U L' U' L works a lot better, as you avoid the slow
cube rotations.
One last thing - slow and steady will make you win this race. In much the same way as
the previous section with the cross, practising F2L in a slow but continuous way will allow
you to practice your lookahead skills, allowing you to constantly be looking for the next
move while you are in the middle of performing another.
Ok, so on to actually learning the F2L. When doing this, it is really useful to have a table
of algorithms so you know the best way of handling each situation you come across.
Some of them, such as the first two examples, are relatively trivial and you may be able
to easily see the best, simplest way of solving that particular situation. While this
intuitive thinking will take you far in F2L, there are a few cases where a simple algorithm
is far less obvious but a much quicker way of doing it. For example, this situation:
An intuitive way of thinking about it might produce an algorithm like (R U2 R') (F' U2 F)
(U' R U R'). If you remember, the brackets in the algorithm only serve to split up the
algorithm, usually into parts that are easy to perform. Here, the algorithm has split into
three parts: taking the two pieces into the top layer, separating them, and lastly rejoining
them and putting them where they need to be. Indeed, an intuitive approach. However,
the algorithm (R U R' U') (R U R' U') (R U R') is much faster to perform, as it is essentially
the same move performed three times.
Here are the cases that you should watch out for, as the listed algorithm is not an
intuitive one:

Here are all of the F2L cases. They are here so you can see optimal ways for each
situation, so don't rely on them for every single F2L case you encounter - try and do each
case intuitively. I'm going to say it one more time. Intuition good. Memorising bad.
Type 1: Basic cases
These are the four most basic cases, some of which you might remember as an upside-
down version of step 2 of the beginner method. A lot of the F2L cases revolve around
getting to one of these four cases and then solving them normally.

R U R'

F' U' F

U R U' R'

U' F' U F
Type 2: Corner pointing outwards and edge in top layer
From here, the algorithms are bracketed to show the two parts of the algorithm: putting
the two pieces where they can be easily solved (usually a basic case), and then solving
them.

(U' R U' R' U) (R U R')

(U F' U F U') (F' U' F)

(U' R U R' U) (R U R')

(U F' U' F U') (F' U' F)

(U F' U2 F U') (R U R')

(U' R U2 R' U) (F' U' F)

(R U' R' U) (d R' U' R)

(F' U F U') (d' F U F')

(U F' U2 F) (U F' U2 F)

(U' R U2 R') (U' R U2 R')


(U F' U' F) (U F' U2 F)

(U' R U R') (U' R U2 R')
Type 3: Corner pointing upwards and edge in top layer

(R U2 R') (U' R U R')

(F' U2 F) (U F' U' F)

(U R U2 R') (U R U' R')

(U' F' U2 F) (U' F' U F)

(U2 R U R') (U R U' R')

(U2 F' U' F) (U' F' U F)

(R U R' U') U' (R U R' U') (R U R')

y' (R' U' R U) U (R' U' R U) (R' U'
R)
In these last two, the two adjacent Us in the middle could be a U2, but it's split to show
that the first and second bracketed bits are the same. Sometimes it's easier to perform
two Us than a U2! (More on this in step five)
Type 4: Corner in bottom and edge in top
You might remember the first two algorithms here from step 3 of the beginner method!

(U R U' R') (U' F' U F)

(U' F' U F) (U R' U' R)


(F' U F) (U' F' U F)

(R U' R') (U R U' R')

(R U R') (U' R U R')

(F' U' F) (U F' U' F)
Type 5: Corner in top, edge in middle

(U F' U F) (U F' U2 F)

(U' R U' R') (U' R U2 R')

(U F' U' F) (d' F U F')

(U' R U R') (d R' U' R)

(R U' R') (d R' U R)

(R U R' U') (R U R' U') (R U R')
Type 6: Corner in bottom, edge in middle

(R U' R' U R U2 R') (U R U' R')

(R U' R' U' R U R') (U' R U2 R')

(R U R' U' R U' R') (U d R' U' R)

(R U' R' d R' U' R) (U' R' U' R)


(R U' R' d R' U2 R) (U R' U2 R)
Step 3 - OLL
This step involves orienting all of the last layer cubies so the yellow face is complete, like
this:
Crosses

R' U2 R U R' U R

L' U R U' L U R'

L U' R' U L' U R U R' U R

R U R' U R U' R' U R U2 R'

R' F' L F R F' L' F

R' F' L' F R F' L F

R2 D R' U2 R D' R' U2 R'
Dots

R U B' l U l2' x' U' R' F R F'

R' F R F' U2 R' F R y' R2 U2 R


y L' R2 B R' B L U2' L' B M'

R' U2 x R' U R U' y R' U' R' U R' F

R' U2 F R U R' U' y' R2 U2 x' R U

F (R U R' U) y' R' U2 (R' F R F')

R U R' U R' F R F' U2 R' F R F'

M' U2 M U2 M' U M U2 M' U2 M
All Corners

L' R U R' U' L R' F R F'

M' U' M U2' M' U' M
Lines

R U' y R2 D R' U2 R D' R2 d R'

R' U' y L' U L' y' L F L' F R

F U R U' R' U R U' R' F'

L' B' L U' R' U R U' R' U R L' B L
Big Ls

R' F R U R' F' R y L U' L'

L F' L' U' L F L' y' R' U R


R B R' L U L' U' R B' R'

L' B' L R' U' R U L' B L
Ts

F R U R' U' F'

R U R' U' R' F R F'
Zs

R' F R U R' U' y L' d R

L F' L' U' L U y' R d' L'
Cs

R U x' R U' R' U x U' R'

R U R' U' x D' R' U R E'
Little Ls

F R U R' U' R U R' U' F'

F' L' U' L U L' U' L U F

L U' y' R' U2' R' U R U' R U2 R d'
L'

R' F R' F' R2 U2 x' U' R U R'

R' F R F' U2 R2 y R' F' R F'

L F' L' F U2 L2 y' L F L' F


L F R' F R F2 L'

L' B' L U' R' U R L' B L

U2 r R2' U' R U' R' U2 R U' M

U2 l' L2 U L' U L U2 L' U M

x' U' R U' R2' F x R U R' U' R B2

R' U' R y' x' R U' R' F R U R'

R U R' y R' F R U' R' F' R

R2' U R' B R U' R2' U l U l'

U' R U2' R' U' R U' R2 y' R' U' R U
B

U' R' U2 R U R' U R2 y R U R' U' F'

R' U2 l R U' R' U l' U2 R

F R' F' R U R U' R'

r' U2 (R U R' U) r

r U2 R' U' R U' r'
Ps

L d R' d' L' U L F L'

R' d' L d R U' R' F' R


F U R U' R' F'

F' U' L' U L F
Ws

L U L' U L U' L' U' y2' R' F R F'

R' U' R U' R' U R U y F R' F' R
Step 4 - PLL
This step involves permuting all of the last layer cubies so the cube is complete, which
you probably know looks like this:
Here are all of the PLL case algorithms, again in what I think is a logical order:

x R2 D2 R U R' D2 R U' R

x z' R2 U2 R' D' R U2 R' D R'

M2 U M2 U2 M2 U M2

R' U' R2 U R U R' U' R U R U' R U'
R' U2

R' U R' U' R' U' R' U R U R2

R2 U' R' U' R U R U R U' R


R' F' L' F R F' L F R' F' L F R F' L' F

U' R' U R U' R2 F' U' F U R F R' F'
R2

R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U' R U R' F'

R U R' F' R U R' U' R' F R2 U' R' U'

L' U' L F L' U' L U L F' L2 U L U

R' U2 R U2 R' F R U R' U' R' F' R2
U'

L U2 L' U2 L F' L' U' L U L F L2 U

R' U R' U' B' D B' D' B2 R' B' R B
R

F R U' R' U' R U R' F' R U R' U' R'
F R F'

R' U R U' R' F' U' F R U R' F R' F' R
U' R

R U' R' U l U F U' R' F' R U' R U l'
U R'

y R2' u R' U R' U' R u' R2 y' R' U R

R' U' R y R2 u R' U R U' R u' R2

y R2' u' R U' R U R' u R2 y R U' R'

y2 R U R' y' R2 u' R U' R' U R' u
R2
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