YEREVAN, Armenia — The American University of Armenia (AUA) is proud to announce that senior student Mayis Jraghatspanyan (BAB ’26) recently broke the Armenian national record with his 29-move solution to the Rubik’s Cube during the FMC Asia 2025 Rubik’s Cube competition. The competition, which was held on July 27, 2025, was organized in 21 cities across 14 Asian countries with 316 competitors hailing from 20 countries. The competition began simultaneously in all locations and all competitors started with the same scrambled position for the Cube.
Jraghatspanyan was first introduced to the Rubik’s Cube by his mother, who taught him to solve this puzzle. By age 11, his hobby grew into a passion, and he began speedcubing. Since then, he has grown increasingly engaged in the international Rubik’s Cube community. “From organizing the first ever official competition to becoming the representative of the World Cube Association in Armenia, my path has been an exciting and an interesting one,” he shared. “So far, I have organized 10 competitions in Armenia and co-organized four in Georgia, two in the US, and one in Cyprus.”
In 2022, Jraghatspanyan set the national record in Georgia for the fastest time to solve a Rubik’s Cube using both hands, and in 2024, he broke the same record in the United States. He also previously participated in and was part of the organizing teams for the Rubik’s Cube World Championship 2023 in Incheon, South Korea and Rubik’s Cube European Championship 2024 in Pamplona, Spain.
FMC Asia 2025 was initiated by Korean Cube Culture United, one of the many regional organizations of the World Cube Association (WCA). The idea was to organize an exam-competition that would be held simultaneously in many countries. As the representative of the WCA in Armenia, Jraghatspanyan was also invited to join the Association in organizing the exam-competition in Armenia.
FMC, or Fewest Moves Count, is one of the 17 official events sanctioned by the World Cube Association (WCA), in which competitors aim to solve the Rubik’s Cube using the fewest possible moves. Jraghatspanyan trained for the competition using the block building method. “You basically try to build blocks of pieces with few moves and try to connect the blocks to solve the cube. Unlike speedsolving, here, you try to be more efficient,” he explained.
Though Jraghatspanyan has served in the organizing teams of various FMC competitions in Europe and Asia, this was the first time he participated as a competitor, and the first time he recorded results in the FMC category. Each competitor is given one scrambled state, and one hour to find a solution, with up to two additional attempts. “My first attempt was 48 moves, which is what I averaged at home,” recalled Jraghatspanyan. “But subsequent attempts were very surprising — 38, 29 moves. I was also fortunate enough to find shortcuts in solving the Cube. Previous National records were 33 moves for a single attempt and 39.33 for a mean of three attempts. I broke the single attempt by four moves and averaged 38.33 moves, breaking the mean record by one move. With this result I placed 87th out of 316.”
Reflecting on the role AUA has played in nurturing his passion, Jraghatspanyan said: “AUA encouraged me to start the Cubing Club, where I teach students and community members how to solve the Rubik’s Cube and other twisty puzzles. With the help of the Student Affairs Office, we organized two Rubik’s Cube competitions: the WCA-approved AUA Open 2021 and the non-official Armenian National Cubing Competition 2022.”
Finally, Jraghatspanyan offered advice to any student hoping to follow a similar path: “I would like to quote ‘It always seems impossible until it’s done’ to anyone who is thinking of starting their cubing journey. It will be unforgettable and extremely fun!”
Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia, affiliated with the University of California, and accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission in the United States. AUA provides local and international students with Western-style education through top-quality undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs, promotes research and innovation, encourages civic engagement and community service, and fosters democratic values.
