Ryan Yasinko, 13, to compete at U.S. speedcubing nationals

It's a mad blur of twisting colours, click-clacking and flyingfingers, but you can be sure there's a method to what 13-year-oldRyan Yasinko is doing.

The competitive "speedcuber" is set tocompete internationally for the first time atthe U.S. Nationals 2016 Speedcubing Competition July 29 to 31 in Portland, Oregon.

Nearly 600 others, including world record holders from various countries, will join him there.

Watch Ryan Yasinko race to solve a 3x3 Rubik's cube

8 years ago

Duration 0:20

The 13-year-old Calgary teen will compete for the first time internationally at the U.S. Nationals in Portland, Oregon.

In preparation, Yasinkowho has just finished Grade 7,has been practicing on average four hours a day and memorizing algorithms to solve different cases.

"I make sure thatmy cubing doesn't overtake my school," he assured CBC'sThe Homestretch.

He's signed up for 10 events, including hisfavourite: the 3x3speedsolve, which offers a $1,500 grand prize.

Blindfolded and one-handed twists

Different variations on traditional Rubik'sCube solving include one-handed challenges, blindfolded competitions and ones where contestants use only their feet to solve the puzzle.

In the blindfolded instance, competitors are given an "inspection" period to study the cube's construction and map out their moves intheir minds.

The current world record, including the inspection and solving time, was set at21.05 seconds in 2015 by China'sKaijun Lin.

"I would like some day to get maybe a world record," said Yasinko, who's only began cubingroughly 18 months ago.

The 3x3 record stands at4.90 seconds.

It took Yasinko 11.7 seconds to solve a puzzle at the CBC studios.

With files from The Homestretch