DreadArceus's blog

Failed to reach Candidate Master :(
By DreadArceus, 20 months ago, In English

I have been struggling to reach Candidate Master for a while, and in today's contest, this happened:

Feeling very sad. Hoping to reach CM in the next round...

Jokes aside, thanks to all the amazing problem-setters that make problems for this platform. Also, thanks to all my fellow contestants, we push each other to do better in every contest : )

If you feel stuck at a certain rating range, remember that with enough practice (and the right kind of practice) you CAN move forward!

Spoiler
  • Vote: I like it
  • +529
  • Vote: I do not like it

Comments Comments (36)
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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +84 Vote: I do not like it

my deepest sympathy goes out to you at this difficult time

Spoiler
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20 months ago, # |
← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +35 Vote: I do not like it

No degree Buff is real ᓚᘏᗢ Congrats :) well deserved !!!

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +34 Vote: I do not like it

This is one of the moments of all time.

Orz

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +30 Vote: I do not like it

My condolences for your loss

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +24 Vote: I do not like it

Be strong, such hard times will pass.

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +35 Vote: I do not like it

This Is So Sad Alexa Play Despacito

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +19 Vote: I do not like it

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +10 Vote: I do not like it

Well deserved win.

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +18 Vote: I do not like it

DreadArceus ORZ.

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20 months ago, # |
← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +25 Vote: I do not like it

EDIT : https://pasteboard.co/hC65EH2tHbeg.jpg

here is the image link

tried but failed to attach the image

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +9 Vote: I do not like it

<⁠(⁠￣⁠︶⁠￣⁠)⁠↗

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +66 Vote: I do not like it

I actually did the same 3 years go, but one day after the ending of contest it was made unrated :/

Congrats anyway, enjoy master while you can!

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    20 months ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it -39 Vote: I do not like it

    Nobody cares about international master, it is the same color :)

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +16 Vote: I do not like it

I wish if I could be sad like you

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +9 Vote: I do not like it

Your rating graph motivated me.

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +172 Vote: I do not like it

Mad respect for getting master with

THIS UNHOLY SNIPPET OF CODE IN ALL YOUR SUBMISSIONS
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    20 months ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

    I don't know. Can you please tell me what this snippet of code mean?

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      20 months ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +14 Vote: I do not like it

      The program will raise a runtime error if rng() returns a 100000 multiple

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +26 Vote: I do not like it

This won't age well when I drop to CM next rated contest

The worse thing would be if you'll drop back to expert :)

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +8 Vote: I do not like it

I wish you best of luck on making candidate master in the next contest!

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +10 Vote: I do not like it

Suffering from Success xD

Congrats!

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +13 Vote: I do not like it

I am so happy seeing this blog tho, good luck in your next contests & keep it up, red is waiting for you <3

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +16 Vote: I do not like it

I am feeling very sad too, jumping constantly between expert and cm in the recent 8 contests:(

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +11 Vote: I do not like it

Congrats!

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +8 Vote: I do not like it

Gratz man

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +8 Vote: I do not like it

Can you please suggest me the right kind of practice (you mentioned) for moving forward?

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    20 months ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +28 Vote: I do not like it

    I did not mean to say that there is one right kind of practice for everyone. You must figure out the method(s) that work for you by trying out whatever seems interesting.

    I can describe my problem-solving ideology over the last year for you. Try picking anything you like and adjusting it to yourself.

    First of all, tags off, too many spoilers about problems in there for me.

    I adore randomized algorithms, so I decided to follow the logic that if I do a certain amount of random problems of some rating, I will eventually be confident with solving problems of that rating.

    I did 50 1900s, then 69 2000s, then 50 2100s, and then finally 50 2200s. While doing these, I did not look at the editorial, even if a single problem took days (with 3-4 exceptions).

    Around my most recent return to contests, I did random problems from the rating range 1800-2200 (first choosing the rating with equal chances and then the problem), but what I had learned from my earlier randomized practice was that older problems could be much easier, so I included another parameter, the minimum contest ID (at first I kept it as 1000 but later I changed it to 1500).

    Now that I had confidence in my ability to solve these problems, I wanted to target solving them fast, so I set a time limit of one hour. If I failed a problem within that hour, I saw the editorial. Also, I did not know the rating of the problem while solving it (so it mimics the moment of attempting a D/E in a div2 contest).

    Be sure to check out how other people practice as well.

    Hope this helps!

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      20 months ago, # ^ |
      ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +8 Vote: I do not like it

      Thanks man for you suggestion. Can you tell me one last thing that,With this newbie tag of mine,Should I focus on just implementation based problems or DSA based problems, for now?

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        20 months ago, # ^ |
          Vote: I like it +5 Vote: I do not like it

        I would say do whatever interests you more, but if your target is to increase your CF rating, you do not need to practice any DSA for now. When you reach that point, you will start to notice it.

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          20 months ago, # ^ |
            Vote: I like it +13 Vote: I do not like it

          Thanks Again bro.Wish you good luck for your future.

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      20 months ago, # ^ |
      ← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

      I did 50 1900s, then 69 2000s, then 50 2100s, and then finally 50 2200s. While doing these, I did not look at the editorial, even if a single problem took days (with 3-4 exceptions).

      Thanks for the reply. My questions are — 1.How during this routine, you managed to know, if you needed to learn something/ a new concept to solve the problem?

      1. How did you select the problems.Ex — inputting the range and then top 5?

      Thanks a lot.

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        20 months ago, # ^ |
          Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

        I enjoy DSA, so I was familiar with most "concepts" (like Segment Trees, SCC, LCA, and even maximum flows at a black-box level) before starting with the 1900s. However, there were times when I did not know the concept involved (the few exceptions I mentioned). In such cases, I took help from my friend shiviDON. He would look at the solution and let me know some keyword(s) to proceed.

        I selected the problems randomly, using a discord bot and, more recently, my website (both using the CF API).

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +14 Vote: I do not like it

Actually, your solution to the problem E uses a bit wrong sqrt decomposition, because of the following case: Consider bamboo consisting of $$$2000$$$ nodes. To the node number $$$2000$$$ we'll pin another $$$1000$$$ bamboos of length $$$98$$$. All queries are different and from the last layer. In this case solution stores every pair of visited nodes in the map, which is $$$q * 98$$$ = ~$$$10^7$$$. And $$$10^7$$$ map operations taking just too long.

Your code with such testcase

So if the testcases were strong enough, you would probably have reached CM.

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    20 months ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +27 Vote: I do not like it

    Yeah, I got hacked a couple of hours ago. Such a sad missed chance to finally reach Candidate Master : (

    Also, Thanks for explaining the case to me!

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +19 Vote: I do not like it

Congratulations for your loss.

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20 months ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +8 Vote: I do not like it

So sad

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