From Quitting to Rising: How a Russian Speedcubing Pro Was Made

Hello everyone, welcome to the GAN interview room.

This time, we are joined by a 13-year-old cuber from Russia, GAN GURUS member Timofei Tarasenko.

Who is Timofei? He is an all-round speedcubing talent from Russia, widely known by fans as “TT”.

Self-taught for seven years, Timofei has built an impressive competitive record: 18 competitions, 9 records broken, and 111 podium finishes. How did he level up so fast in the world of speed cubes?

Now, let’s follow GAN’s perspective and step into the rise of this Russian speedcubing prodigy

A Tough Beginning, a Powerful Rise

Looking at Timofei’s competition history, it may feel like an unfair speedrun of success. Yet his starting point was no different from any beginner picking up a Rubik’s cube for the first time.

Timofei’s first Rubik’s cube was a gift from his parents at the end of 2018. By his own memory, it was not a particularly smooth 3x3 cube.

When he first started, Timofei nearly gave up. “When I started cubing, I felt I was really bad at it,” Timofei recalled. “I kept getting stuck and quit several times.”

Caught between frustration and the urge to try again, Timofei picked up the cube and put it down many times. Nearly two months later, on New Year’s Eve, Timofei finally completed his first 3x3 cube solve, taking almost five minutes.

That imperfect but meaningful success opened a whole new world of cubing for him. “I was overwhelmed by the joy of solving. I just wanted to become faster,” he said.

At the time, Timofei was only in first grade, yet his execution was strong. Once he decided to learn, he learned quickly and soon entered competitions.

In April 2019, Timofei recorded his first official 3x3 results in Moscow. With an average of 29.21 seconds and a best of 26.72 seconds, the results were modest, but steady improvement was underway.

He soon expanded into 4x4, 5x5, and 2x2 events, gradually building versatility across different cube sizes.

However, after these three competitions, due to multiple factors, his competitive journey came to an abrupt halt. You might think the story ends here, but that would be wrong.

Three years later, Timofei returned to major competition at the 2022 Asian Championships. Competing in 12 events, he set personal bests across the board and pushed his 3x3 average into sub-9 territory.

If Timofei’s cubing journey were divided into stages, then 2018 was his awakening, 2019 his trial phase, 2022 his experience grind, and 2025 his prime year, marked by constant podium finishes and frequent record-breaking performances using professional magnetic speed cubes.

Event Dominance, All-Round Excellence

In the past two years, Timofei became increasingly well-known due to his multiple national records, but the nickname “TT” truly stuck because of his Megaminx cube performances.

In February this year, Timofei achieved a 25.36-second average on 5x5 using a GAN Megaminx Maglev cube, breaking the world record average.

You might think he only opened the door to megaminx cube, but in reality, many other doors were wide open too. And he is fully aware of his versatility: “Yes, I compete in many different events.” (Data from World Cube Association)

You might think he only opened the door to megaminx cube, but in reality, many other doors were wide open too. And he is fully aware of his versatility: “Yes, I compete in many different events.”

Timofei has mastered more than a dozen cube events, and his approach can be summed up in just one word: practice. “All of my current results are simply the outcome of massive amounts of practice,” he said.

Speed cube culture in Russia is somewhat different from that in China, where structured Rubik’s Cube training programs are more common. Timofei has come this far largely thanks to the support of his parents and his strong self-learning ability.

From 2019 to 2022 were his three years of “intense training.” “I practiced almost every day for five to seven hours. It was very tough, but totally worth it, because I could clearly feel my progress shift from slow improvement to rapid growth,” he said.

Rapid improvement also means fewer bottlenecks. Timofei explained, “I’m always improving. Even if I get stuck in one event for a while, I can switch to another event, adjust my state, and still see progress.”

Training for over a dozen events is not easy. But he believes focusing on only one event for a long time would be boring. He said, “Being able to solve many different cubes is just cool!”

During practice, he keeps things balanced, moving from one event to another. “I don’t usually make a detailed training plan, and I don’t focus on one specific event on purpose. I mainly do timed solves and try to keep the training time for each event as even as possible.”

With his strong self-taught skills, Timofei achieved many things he once only dreamed of, such as becoming a top-level cuber and joining the GANCUBE team.

The More You Love It, the Stronger You Become

Seven years ago, when he first started cubing, Timofei never imagined becoming a top-level competitor. “I used to watch videos of Feliks, Tymon, Max Park, and other speed cubers, and I felt unbelievable and unreachable,” he said. “Let alone competing on the same stage with them.”

What once felt impossible has now become reality. Timofei has firmly entered the ranks of world-class Rubik’s Cube competitors. Competing against his idols is now become an everyday life.

“It feels unbelievable! Even if someone could go back in time and tell me that all of this would happen in the future, I probably wouldn’t believe it—although this has been my dream for a long time.”

Joining the GAN team was also one of Timofei’s dreams. “I believe that every cuber who loves speedcubing hopes to become part of a world-class Rubik’s Cube team, and of course, I’m no exception.”

Turning his dreams into reality, Timofei clearly had his own path. He joined Speed Ace in 2023 and was successfully promoted to GAN GURUS in 2024, officially becoming part of the GAN cube team.

After his dreams became reality, it was time to aim for new goals. Timofei is satisfied with his current results, “mainly because I haven’t competed that many times yet.”

He feels excited about competing in large events such as the European Championships and World Championships, and he is thrilled to meet top cubers from around the world. At the same time, he believes his current results are still far from his limit. “I will train even harder to achieve better results.”

At the World Championship in Seattle this July, Timofei delivered many strong performances but also had a few regrets, such as missing the Megaminx cube world title and narrowly falling short of the 5×5 cube podium. However, instead of dwelling on those regrets, he turned his focus to his next goal—the 2026 European Rubik’s Cube Championship.

When asked about his secret to getting faster, we once again received a familiar answer: “I think you just have to train a lot, a lot.” (In other words: just keep practicing—solve thousands of times first.)

Beyond this simple truth, Timofei also shared a personal belief: the more you love cubing, the stronger you become—and the stronger you become, the more you love it. “If my level isn’t good enough and my performance is poor, I can’t really enjoy it and it’s hard to keep going. On the other hand, it’s because I love Rubik’s Cube solving and enjoy training that I’ve been able to practice consistently and achieve strong results.”

As a cuber who truly loves the sport, Timofei admires the rapidly growing cubing culture and speed cubing atmosphere in China, and he is deeply grateful to all the cubers who support him. “Thank you for all your kind wishes! I hope I can compete in China one day—it would be really cool!”

Finally, I truly look forward to seeing Timofei compete in China one day, and when that happens, I’ll definitely recommend plenty of great Chinese food to him!