Minh Thai

Minh Thai (born 1965 as Thái Minh) is a Vietnamese-American speedcuber. As a sixteen-year-old Eagle Rock High School student from Los Angeles, he won the first Rubik's Cube world championship on June 5, 1982 in Budapest by solving a Rubik's Cube in 22.95 seconds.^[1] He is also the author of the book The Winning Solution (1982), a guide to solving the Rubik's cube.^[2] Later, the Ortega Corners-First Solution Method was developed based on Thai's Winning Solution.^[3][4][5]

Minh Thai
Thai standing next to the timer after setting his 22.95 world record single
Born	1965 (age 59–60) Vietnam
Nationality	American
Years active	1982
Known for	Rubik's Cube speedsolver
Medal record Representing  United States Speedcubing WCA World Championship Event 1st 2nd 3rd 3×3×3 1 0 0 Total 1 0 0 World Rubik's Cube Championship 1982 3x3x3

Solving method

Thai's solution was based on The Ideal Solution, published in 1980 by the Ideal Toy Company. It involves solving the top, bottom, and middle layers, in that order.^[6]

World records

Event	Type	First World Record	Latest World Record	Total
3×3×3	Single	22.95s World Rubik's Cube Championship 1982 5 June	22.95s World Rubik's Cube Championship 1982 5 June	1

See also

• Jeff Varasano, unofficial Rubik's Cube United States record holder in 1981