ARMINIUS's blog

Becoming CM!
By ARMINIUS, history, 10 months ago, In English

I became CM after 1 year and 5 months past from my first contest :)))

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10 months ago, # |
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Congratulation!!!

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10 months ago, # |
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btw, how is your mental health?

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10 months ago, # |
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congrats!

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10 months ago, # |
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Congratulations! Can you tell me how to reach candidate master from expert? I notice that the difficulty jump from expert to candidate master is large.

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    10 months ago, # ^ |
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    thanks. Actually yes it's somehow difficult to jump from expert to candidate master. Personally I think focusing on solving problems in contest instead of rating changes is helpful and I also found this helpful

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    9 months ago, # ^ |
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    Becoming CM and even low Master (I was close multiple times, though didn't hit it) is only about consistency with Div. 2 ABCD (or Div.1 + Div.2 ABCD (sometimes E)). If you can solve ABCD consistently you'll eventually get lucky enough to be quick and get decent rank.

    In all honesty there's not much difference between an average 1800 and a 2000 rated participant besides their speed on ABCD most of the time. You'll have a hard time getting to 1800 by solving only ABCs and you'll also have hard time not breaking 2100 by solving ABCDE.

    You'll also have a hard time finding a suitable difficulty during a contest that will help you break new rating point (I've gotten fairly good at solving 2200-2300 rated problems but rarely did I see a Div. 2 which contained a problem of that difficulty, most of the time I'd encounter a 1900-2000 problem which was too easy for me, followed by a 2400-2500 which was too hard during contest when I was trying to hit master. This left 'speedforces' as the only option to increase rank for a 1000 candidate masters competing in the same contest).

    So don't focus too much on your rating, just make sure you're solving more problems than last time.

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      9 months ago, # ^ |
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      Thank you! Which algorithms do D problems usually end up being? Most of the times, I just solve ABC in Div2 :(

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        9 months ago, # ^ |
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        There's no certain rule really. You should get good at dp, combinatorics, learn fenwick and segtree (these two won't appear really often), game theory, bfs, dfs and improve your thinking skills mostly. It's not about complex topics, more about being good at ad-hoc problems. Complex algorithms rarely appear on Div. 2 only rounds.

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      9 months ago, # ^ |
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      Did you try to upsolve all D/E problems from all div. 2, perhaps this is the way to become a master for everyone diligent enough?

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        9 months ago, # ^ |
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        I think upsolving helps you a lot, but many times I was just slow at ABCD so I solved E 10-30 minutes after the contest. So it has to do with the way you upsolve problems as well. Just solving is not enough you have to be quick.

        Honestly if you seriously want to become master or higher, solving Div. 2 E is not of great help since Div. 2 problems are generally much easier than Div. 1. Just take 10 random Div. 2 2400 problems and do the same for Div. 1, you'll see a huge difference.

        The worst you can do is solving Edu rounds IMO, since those problems tend to be too standard and their quality isn't on par with regular rounds. Most Div. 1 rounds have a lot of ad-hoc non-standard problems so you have to get very good at ad-hoc to be able to maintain master in Div. 1.

        The same applies to AtCoder. You can find plenty of CMs and Masters who solve 6-7 problems in Atcoder Beginner Contests although G and Ex are supposed to be very hard, they don't compare to ARC and especially AGC problems of same difficulty rating.

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          9 months ago, # ^ |
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          Thank you, I will try to upsolve 2400-2500 problems from Div. 1.

          "I think upsolving helps you a lot, but many times I was just slow at ABCD so I solved E 10-30 minutes after the contest." Probably it is worth to train your implementation speed, if it save you 10 additional minutes, you will have time to solve Es more often and became a master.

          I have another problem: usually I implement faster than people of my rating, but when I stuck on problem D in Div.2, I surrender too early. I will try to solve more difficult problems than my level to learn more ideas.

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            9 months ago, # ^ |
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            Don't jump straight into 2400-2500 problems though, work your way towards there. Start slow by doing 2000-2100 an when you feel you are solving 2/3 of problems by yourself, move up to 2200... Apply the same principal.

            You won't be able to benefit much from 2300-2500 problems before you hit at least 2000-2100 since you most likely lack "Div 1. fundamental" knowledge.

            As for giving up too early, I used to do the same, but ultimately it's just about believing you are capable of solving some "imaginary barrier". I never solved Div2D when I had the wrong mindset and it suddenly clicked one day and I couldn't miss it. Same applies to higher ratings so your knowledge may not be the limiting factor.

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              9 months ago, # ^ |
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              I have been thinking about the same issue. I already have over a hundred 2200 solves, now I am wondering whether I should move on to 2300/2400 or should focus on contests first. Btw, I could solve around 85% of the problems I had seen in 2200 (excluding Div3 ones). What should I do now?

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                9 months ago, # ^ |
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                I do not understand. If you are able to solve 2200 rated problem within 1 hour, then you are definitely are able to solve ABCDE in Div. 2 rather often. Then you can become a master. Why you do not participate in contests?

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                  9 months ago, # ^ |
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                  Div.2 rounds among 885-893 had one round with E rated lower than 2300, most of them being 2400-2500. Solving 2200 outside contest is not enough to solve ABCDE in contest often. ABCD on the other hand are mostly <2100.

                  There's a huge difficulty gap between C and D, D and E, E and F...

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                  9 months ago, # ^ |
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                  My average time to solve 2200s is actually around 3 hours, excluding the ones that I remain stuck for days

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                9 months ago, # ^ |
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                First try to get fast and give contests. If you can't get stable 1900-2000 it means you are lacking in some aspect.

                I've had this problem where I would mess up many problems regardless of difficulty and thus get penalized and relatively low rank despite solving problems at ok speeds. So try working on that, you should always include some easier problems in your practice to keep implementation skills. This cost me qualifying for IOI since I knew solutions to 5/6 problems but sucked at implementation and thus had buggy codes.

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          9 months ago, # ^ |
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          That's very interesting, I didn't know Div2 2400s and Div1 2400s have that much difference. I never particularly noticed any difference (I guess I just didn't try enough) in div2 vs div1 problems upto 2200s. There is clearly a distinction between div3 and div2/div1 tho. Div3 2200s some times feel like div2 1800s or even 1600s

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            9 months ago, # ^ |
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            Ratings in each division get heavily inflated with the harder problems because many participants give up + you have to solve many easy problems to get to the hard ones so you have less time to solve them. Another problem is most Div. 2 participants can't solve any of the 2400-3000 problems so the solve count will be extremely low with either actual 2500 and 2800 problem, which ultimately leads to random rating assignment on these problems.

            Same goes for Div. 3 2100-2200 which are way too easy compared to Div. 2 and Div. 1 problems. They are more of 1800-1900 problems.

            Sometimes those ratings may match correctly, but more odten than not harder problem ratings are not accurate. It does not mean they are bad for practicing, but don't be surprised when you see yourself struggling on Div. 1Cs after solving 20-30 Div.2 2400-2500 problems.

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10 months ago, # |
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Congratulations! Can you share your training schedule?

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    10 months ago, # ^ |
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    thanks in fact I don't have a special schedule I just learn some algorithm then I solve some problems on that and when I feel like I'm good at that I repeat this. I usually spend 3 or 4 hours each day in CP (mostly in codefocres)

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10 months ago, # |
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Congrats!!!

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10 months ago, # |
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congrats!

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10 months ago, # |
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orz ur progressing so fast!

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    10 months ago, # ^ |
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    Thanks =)

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    9 months ago, # ^ |
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    orz ur progressing so fast too wth lyrically!

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    9 months ago, # ^ |
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    how to progress fast like you please guide me :::::

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      9 months ago, # ^ |
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      actually I try to practice a lot if you practice more you will progress faster and it's the most important thing and I think it is good to not focus on rating in contests and just focusing on solving problems

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9 months ago, # |
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do you have any experience before in cp and coding in general?

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    9 months ago, # ^ |
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    No but befor CP I participated in math contests and I learned some combinatorics

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      9 months ago, # ^ |
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      are you in school or college?

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        9 months ago, # ^ |
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        Yes I will go to 11th grade this year

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          9 months ago, # ^ |
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          when solving problem, do you use any paper to do calculation or just do it in your head?

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            9 months ago, # ^ |
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            I use paper. I think it's speeds up solving process and it helps to not get confused and not to make mistakes

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              9 months ago, # ^ |
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              I used my head to calculate stuff, but from now on, I will use paper. Thank you bro

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          9 months ago, # ^ |
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          Damn, such a motivation!

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      9 months ago, # ^ |
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      do you use paid course for math or cp? and what source do you use for math

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        9 months ago, # ^ |
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        I use problem solving strategies by Arthur Engel and introduction to graph theory by Douglas West and some combinatorics books which they are not available in English unfortunately about paid course yes I was use them but it's more than a year which I don't use them

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          9 months ago, # ^ |
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          do those books really help you? or codeforces and youtube more help you?

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            9 months ago, # ^ |
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            codeforces and youtube is more helpful in CP for me they are more algorithmic but mathematics is important and those books help too

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9 months ago, # |
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Congrats, I'll unofficially race you to master ;)

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9 months ago, # |
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I became CM after 1 year and 10 months past from my first contest :)))

Btw, congratulations!

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9 months ago, # |
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Strong! orz!

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9 months ago, # |
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That Greenery deserves CM. Congratulations.

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9 months ago, # |
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hey great job bud!! Hope it wasn't too stressful and you had a good time...

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9 months ago, # |
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Congratulations for your brilliant success!! I love to see people's success and appreciate them; one day, I will be successful, and people will appreciate me.

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9 months ago, # |
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Congratulation!!!

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Congrats! Lets aim for master next!

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So much Dedication.

xxx

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9 months ago, # |
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congratulation，and hope that you will be master one day

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9 months ago, # |
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X_emad_X

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9 months ago, # |
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Congratulations! I wanna learn and practice dp and segment tree for the next step. Any suggestion? I am a noob at dp and segment tree. Solved some very basic problems.

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    9 months ago, # ^ |
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    thanks about dp I think it is one of the most important things in CP and maybe it's good to spend many hours practicing dp and I find many interesting problems for dp in "atcoder dp contest" but about segment tree actually I don't learn it yet

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9 months ago, # |
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Well done !! Way to go

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9 months ago, # |
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nice going man!

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9 months ago, # |
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congratulation :) you are from which school ?

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9 months ago, # |
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I also becaame CM after 1 year, but in chess.... Wanna exchange ratings? O^O

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    9 months ago, # ^ |
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    Congratulation!!!

    I was playing chess too and I think reaching CM in chess is a big accomplishment well done!

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      9 months ago, # ^ |
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      Thanks for your response!

      I'm sorry to not mention that being CM in codeforces is a big accomplishment also, I congrulate you too.

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    9 months ago, # ^ |
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    OK

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Congratulations! And I check your profile page, I find you are diligent in excercsing. You deserve it!

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OK

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9 months ago, # |
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congrats!

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9 months ago, # |
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Congrats..Hope you would be better!

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9 months ago, # |
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Congratulations!

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6 months ago, # |
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Congratulations. Taking lots of inspiration from your blog and you. Thank you

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