IN A school hall dappled by intermittent rays of late winter sun, an incessant clacking noise fills the air.

Young men and women, and children, sit heads down on deep concentration, wrists, hands and fingers a blur of twists and turns as they grapple with brightly coloured plastic puzzles.

This is the main hall at Rhiw Syr Dafydd Primary School in Oakdale, which this weekend has been transformed into a temporary epicentre of open cube artistry.

Eighty-five competitors from 10 countries - mainly the UK but including a few from as far afield as China, Malaysia, Brazil, South Africa and Lithuania - have been drawn to the village to compete in the second Welsh Open Cube Championship.

Also putting their brain power and hand-eye co-ordination to the test are several Rhiw Syr Dafydd pupils and teacher Steven Potter, who brought the event back to Oakdale after the success of the first one last year.

South Wales Argus:

Seven-year-old Charlie Meek, from Rhiw Syr Dafydd Primary School, was taking part in his first cube competition

As well as the classic 3x3x3 Rubik’s Cube, a dizzying array of other fantastically complicated-looking 3D puzzles are part of the weekend’s competition, including 5x5x5 (25 squares to a face instead of the traditional nine), 2x2x2, pyramids, and Square-1. The latter is most simply described as a puzzle which does not start out as a cube, but ends up as one, and involves different shaped elements.

All fiendishly complicated stuff for the uninitiated - but as Mr Potter explained, cube puzzles are great way of stimulating development and learning in the young.

"They are great for teaching maths and computer science, and for teaching about algorithms and puzzle-solving," he said,

"I teach a lot of numeracy and work with a lot of families and find them really useful.

"You can teach fractions, for instance, very easily with a Rubik's Cube. It's a very practical way of teaching.

"The children have been excited to take part alongside other cubers who are producing world class solve times.

"The winner of the traditional cube event solved it in just six seconds last year, and we've had some really quick times this year as well."

Another full timetable of competition awaits at Rhiw Syr Dafydd school tomorrow, including the finals of blindfolded cube solving, one-handed cube solving, 3x3x3, 4x4x4, Square-1, and 6x6x6.