Notation: Reading the Moves

One letter, one quarter turn — the fifteen symbols every algorithm on this site is written in.

Every algorithm is a string of symbols, and every symbol is one turn. Hold the cube white on bottom, yellow on top — the grip for the whole course — and note that letters name positions, not colours: F is whichever face points at you right now.

A cube with a pin out of each of its six face centres, labelled U, D, F, B, R and L. A ribbon ring around each pin shows which way that face turns: clockwise as seen from outside that face. The pins for D, B and L run behind the cube. — The six faces and how each turns — clockwise as seen from *that* face, which is why `L`, `D` and `B` look the other way round from your seat.

The six faces

A bare letter means one quarter turn (90°) of that face, clockwise as if you were looking at it head-on.

R — the right face turns one quarter clockwise — R — Right

L — the left face turns one quarter clockwise — L — Left

U — the top face turns one quarter clockwise — U — Up

D — the bottom face turns one quarter clockwise — D — Down

F — the front face turns one quarter clockwise — F — Front

B — the back face turns one quarter clockwise — B — Back

Prime, double, wide

Three marks modify any letter:

R prime — the right face turns one quarter counter-clockwise — R' — counter-clockwise

R2 — the right face turns a half turn — R2 — half turn

Lowercase r — the right two layers turn together — r — wide, two layers

’ (prime) — counter-clockwise instead. R' exactly undoes R.
2 — a half turn (180°). Direction doesn’t matter; both ways land the same.
lowercase — wide: turn two layers, the face plus the slice behind it.

Slices

The three middle layers have their own letters:

M — the middle slice between L and R, turning in the direction of L — M — Middle (as L)

S — the standing slice between F and B, turning in the direction of F — S — Standing (as F)

E — the equator slice between U and D, turning in the direction of D — E — Equator (as D)

M — between L and R, turns the same direction as L.
S — between F and B, follows F.
E — between U and D, follows D.

Slices move centers, so mid-algorithm the whole cube looks recoloured — that’s normal. Only M appears in this course, in the Phase 3 edge algorithms.

Rotations

x, y, z turn the whole cube in your hands. No piece moves relative to any other — a rotation is just “regrip”, which is why algorithms sometimes start with one.

x — rotate the whole cube in the direction of an R turn — x — rotate (as R)

y — rotate the whole cube in the direction of a U turn — y — rotate (as U)

z — rotate the whole cube in the direction of an F turn — z — rotate (as F)

x — like R: the front face tips up. x2 flips the cube upside down — Phase 1’s “flip”.
y — like U: the right face swings round to the front.
z — like F. You’ll rarely need it.

Your first trigger

Read R U R' U': four symbols, four turns — R, U, R', U'. This is the sexy move, and it’s the spine of nearly every algorithm you’ll learn here.

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The sexy move, played from a solved cube — step through it turn by turn.

Drill: from a solved cube, repeat R U R' U' six times. The cube returns to solved — any fixed sequence eventually cycles back, and the sexy move’s cycle is exactly six. If it doesn’t come back, one of your 24 turns was wrong: slow down and re-read. Repeat until your hands run it without your eyes.

That drill is also why notation matters less than it looks. You won’t read algorithms letter by letter for long: F R U R' U' F' is written as six symbols but read as three chunks — F, sexy move, F'. Nearly every algorithm in this course decomposes into triggers like that.

Notation: Reading the Moves

What you'll learn

The six faces

Prime, double, wide

Slices

Rotations

Your first trigger

Practice