PaciukZvichainyi's blog

By PaciukZvichainyi, 6 weeks ago, In English

Alternative name: "Road to Master when you don't have time".
Episode 1: link
Episode 2: link
Episode 3: October 2024

UPD: So glad to hear your support <3

I already feel it, just need to be calm.

Practice results

The first half of the month was mind-blowing for me. First, I managed to solve a 3200-rated problem. Then I noticed that I no longer felt as much joy from just solving problems, so I decided to try something new. I started doing virtual contests to see if I had better chance for master than before. I chose contests that I had already completed four years ago, and omg my dopamine levels exploded. In my first virtual contest, I reached top39.

After that, I realized I needed to see my rating, including virtual contests, so I found Codeforces Anytime. Second and third VC — top139 and top183. After two virtual contests, my rating was 1969, and my performance in the last one was 2203. That was impressive for me. I gained a lot of confidence, and in my next official contest, I reached top 39. Hell nah, that felt like a dream. Of course, that contest was late at night, so there were fewer participants, but still it was close to my best finish ever (top 33).

Then came another contest where I gained +54 rating points. Now I have a 2020 rating, and just one more top 100 finish could make me master. But... Average Codeforces moment and I dropped back to rxpert. At least in the last contest of the month, I took back Candidate Master, which is at least something.

Conclusion? Need to write VC before official rounds :)

By the way, I learned one interesting trick that I wish I knew before. I have been using it for a few days and I love it. After solving a problem, I add it to a document and add a few sentences about what the problem taught me. Maybe there is some trick or something else. I find that when I write, I understand the logical steps of the problem better and remember better.
Example: problem

If it looks like binary/ternary search problem, but it doesn't have one extremum, try to use greedy method but find lower/upper bounds for iterator.

So instead of binary_search(1, n) it will look more like for i in lower(n)..=upper(n)

Solved problems:

R 1800 1900 2000 2100 2200 2300 2400 2500 2600 2700 2800 2900 3200 Total
Count 5 3 0 6 10 5 6 5 3 4 1 0 1 48

Fun fact: every month I solve more problems (30->39->48) but spent +-the same amount of time. This means that I solve problems faster — nice(2).

Contest results

CF Standings Pos Delta Solved Few notes
Codeforces Round 977 (Div. 2, based on COMPFEST 16 — Final Round) link 1215 -8 3/8 Nothing interesting on contest. Bad C2 implementation. But E1-3 problems were really interesting. Enjoyed upsolving up to E2.
Codeforces Round 978 (Div. 2) link 39 +163 4/7 First contest after practicing few virtual contests. It was like midnight in my region but I decided to participate anyway. Top39. The best finish as for now. Instantly become CM. I actually believe I could solve even D2, but it was hard to focus on last minutes and D2 contains few edge cases. +motivation.
Educational Codeforces Round 170 link 234 +54 5/7 Yeah buddy. That is the performance I expect from myself. Solved 5 problems, let's go. If I haven't made few mistakes on D, I could have been top 70. I really like that I was able E, that is 2200 rating (master performance). Now I have 2020 rating, just one good contest I need.
Codeforces Round 979 (Div. 2) link 4085 -136 3/8 I'm an expert again. From this point I realized I don't want to cf anymore. I was really bad on thinking in this round. And then on implementation (D), so in general it was one of the worst performance during last 3 months. As usual after upsolving up to F, I realized it was just bad day, no need to panic.
Codeforces Global Round 27 link 1990 -38 4/9 First div1+div2 for me (I want to participate in div1 as CM one day). 3 hours of emotional roller coaster (aka pain). I couldn't figure out how to solve C. I knew it should be an easy solution, but my brain stopped working. I almost cried, xd, I was so mad at the problem setters (but the only problem is me). I solved it. "Yeah, now I can quickly solve D, then E, then win the t-shirt." God damn it. Just WA2 all the time. A moment of silence for my angry control system. For the first time, I decided not to finish this contest. I went to the kitchen and made myself some food. Spent 15 minutes. Food in the microwave. Yeah, let's try this thing. Ugh, AC. I'm so glad I got this accepted, otherwise I'd end up with so much negative delta that the next cfs would just have to return those points. But -38 is like 0.5 of a good contest. Not such a big deal. Moving on.
Educational Codeforces Round 171 link 441 +55 4/6 Last contest of the month. I need to become a CM or no one will read my november blog. Solid result. Top441, I almost couldn't have done better. I still don't know how to solve E. Or no, I know how to solve it, but it's f*cking flows. I decided not to even learn flows because I'd forget them after a few minutes anyway. I just understood what flows could theoretically solve, so next time I come across it, I can probably copy-paste a template (or no). Anyway, rating 1900, last cf of the month. What could be better? At least some positive results to keep practicing.
Result link Avg. 1334 +90 Avg. 3.8/7.5 I feel like now I am a solid CM. Nothing more to add. I need to become more consistent and learn how to control my emotions. The last few contests have upset me with how I handled my emotions.

Mini achievements

  • Fully upsolved 5 div2.
  • Made it to the semi-finals of ICPC, but will not be able to attend it because...
  • Finally became Candidate Master (twice) — max rating 2019.
  • Top39 Div2.
  • Solved 3200 problem without editorial (I swear, men, these numbers are pointless).
  • Full live Div3 contest (top80).
  • New topics: Kruskal Reconstruction Tree, Tree flattening with Euler tour, Xor hashing.
  • 30+ active days

Conclusion

It's not as easy as I expected. Sometimes when I'm on +morality and think I already "have master abilities" I start setting higher goals like IM/GM, but then I wake up. I need to learn to control my emotions if I want to see great results. So I'm back in city and ready for changes.

  • Vote: I like it
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6 weeks ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +5 Vote: I do not like it

You are cooking fr:)

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5 weeks ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +5 Vote: I do not like it

Such an inspiring blog!.. Keep it up!

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5 weeks ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +13 Vote: I do not like it

I think you’ll reach master pretty easily

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5 weeks ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +13 Vote: I do not like it

I'm sorry that Codeforces Round 979 (Div. 2) gave you so much agony, but keep at it!!

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    5 weeks ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

    Oops, miscommunication.

    so in general it was one of the worst round during last 3 months

    I mean the worst about my performance for the last 3m, the round was good <3

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5 weeks ago, # |
  Vote: I like it 0 Vote: I do not like it

so VC definitely help gonna do it myself too now maybe it will improve my contest mindset

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5 weeks ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +5 Vote: I do not like it

So close!