Learn the four-move trigger — Cube Foundations

Before you start

You can read quarter-turns and their inverses. Keep the scrambled cube from the previous lesson.

How to hold your cube

Yellow up, blue front, red right for the example. Keep the same front throughout.

1. Learn a short sequence of four turns

R U R' U'

A short sequence that you use repeatedly is often called a trigger. You’ll use this one to insert the white corners. Read it as ‘right clockwise, top clockwise, right anticlockwise, top anticlockwise’. Use the notation lesson to check the turn directions.

2. Follow one piece

Keep your cube scrambled. Before starting, take a photo of each face or note the sticker positions so you can compare them at the end. Pick any corner and remember its three colours. Perform the full trigger once, then find where the corner went. All three stickers are still on the same piece.

Do not try to repair the cube after each individual turn. A useful sequence often moves solved pieces temporarily and restores them later.

3. Repeat with control

Repeat the full trigger six times in total. The cube returns to exactly the same state it started in. After four repetitions, it has not yet returned to that state.

The player shows all six repetitions. Pause after moves 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 to inspect what changed. At move 24, compare every face with the start.

4. Know when this routine helps

Repeating the trigger is a turning drill, not a way to solve any scramble. In the white-corner lesson we will first choose the correct corner and put it directly above its home. Only then will the trigger do useful solving work.

You are now ready to start a real solve. Continue with the 3×3 Beginner course and keep this scramble through its solving stages. If your cube is already solved, scramble it before beginning that course.

Need a reminder of the move notation?

R right · L left · U top · D bottom · F front · B back. A letter on its own means a 90° clockwise turn as you look directly at that face. An apostrophe (′) reverses the direction. A 2 means a 180° turn. Keep the same face at the front throughout the algorithm.

Watch, then try

Work through an example

Start by stepping through one move at a time. This prepared example shows a specific action. Use the lesson’s setup instructions to recognise when to use it on your own scramble.

Watch one worked example

In this turning drill, six repetitions return the cube to its starting state. Pause every four moves and keep the same face at the front.

Example grip: Start with yellow on top, blue at the front and red on the right. Follow any written instructions for rotating the whole cube.

0 / 24

Loading 3D cube…

Drag to inspect other faces. Use the arrow keys to rotate the view when the cube has keyboard focus.

Copy this exact example on your own cube

Start with a solved 3×3, with yellow on top and blue at the front. Apply the setup moves below from left to right to create the example’s starting position. Keep this example separate from the scramble you are solving throughout the course.

R U R' F2 D L2 B U2

Then follow the lesson sequence. If your cube has a different colour scheme, use the relationships between your own colours to identify the equivalent pieces.

Compare the starting position and the result

Before the example

After the full sequence

Drag each cube to inspect its other faces.

Explain it to yourself

Check your understanding

Now use your own cube

Your turn

Perform R U R′ U′ six times on your scrambled cube, pausing after each complete repetition. Count repetitions aloud, then compare all six faces with the starting scramble.

Open a 3×3 Digital Cube for practice

Opens in a new tab so you can keep this lesson open while you practise. Check for yourself whether you’ve met the lesson goal. The Digital Cube doesn’t assess your result.

If you get stuck

The cube hasn’t returned to its starting state after six repetitions.

Check the turn directions and make sure each repetition ended with U′. Use ‘Previous move’ to undo one move in the example. On your own cube, undo only the moves you remember.

Before moving on

Check your result

Preparation · no solving yet

Return to the same scramble

Six complete repetitions of the trigger restore your starting scramble. Now that you’ve learnt the sequence, begin solving with the white edges in the 3×3 Beginner course.

Confirm these on your cube. Watching the animation alone does not complete the lesson.

I can perform all four turns without rotating the whole cube.I finish U′ before checking the result.Six repetitions return my cube to its starting state.

Tick each item once you can do it yourself.