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dhruv111's blog

By dhruv111, history, 4 years ago, In English

I was curious which problems you need to solve consistently to maintain a rating. After observing a few contests, I ended up with the following list:

Here X & Y means if you solve from start to X you will usually lose points and if you solve start to Y you will usually gain a few points. This list is just intended as a rough approximation that ignores individual contest difficulty, ranking, international master/grandmasters etc.

That said, am I close in my evaluation?

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4 years ago, # |
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For grandmaster you mean Div1 D right?

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    4 years ago, # ^ |
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    It seems that solving Div1 A-C consistently and quickly leads to grandmaster. For example, in Codeforces Round 641 (Div. 1) ranks 30+ solved A-C. Similarly, for Codeforces Round 647 (Div. 1) - Thanks, Algo Muse! ranks 70+ solved A-C and no other problem. But it seems speed is very important for ratings to improve.

    Solving D would likely guarantee an increase to grandmaster but doesn't seem to be necessary.

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    4 years ago, # ^ |
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    I actually think it's more C than D. If you solve most of the times A-C rellatively fast, that will make you a grandmaster. D div1 can be often very hard.

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    4 years ago, # ^ |
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    I've only solved up to 1C on my best rounds (like +102 when I was already Master), and I don't remember my rating going down after solving up to 1C. So I'm pretty sure that if I can solve 1C 'consistently', I should be able to reach GM on some rounds with difficult problems. I think if you can solve 1D 'consistently', you should be able to reach IGM even.

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4 years ago, # |
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isn't it most time that div 1 and div 2 different by 2 problem. your data suggest that it is different by 3 problem (especially obvious in candidate master section). how did you get this data.

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    4 years ago, # ^ |
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    That's because if you solve Div1 A & B (usually Div2 C & D) quickly, that's enough to give you a better rank and a better rating than solving till Div2 D only.

    You can see this by looking at blue/expert coders who usually solve Div2 till D but are still not candidate masters.

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    4 years ago, # ^ |
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    In my experience, it seems to be the case that Div1 C is usually harder than Div2 E. It might just be psychological though, pressure for a CM is way more in a Div1 contest than in a Div2.

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      4 years ago, # ^ |
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      aren't they usually the exact same problem

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        4 years ago, # ^ |
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        If there are two rounds (e.g. CF Round #641) then yes, it is exactly the same problem.

        But what I'm trying to say is that whenever there are not two rounds and it is only Div2 (e.g. CF Round #651), problem E tends to be easier than a regular Div1 C.

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4 years ago, # |
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I think specialist should be Div2 A&B and pupil Div2 A and sometimes B. When I was a specialist, i solved just A&B, now, I can solve problem C, and sometimes D, and I am a low expert (1650). But it is still quite precise.

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    4 years ago, # ^ |
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    Don't you think situation is different now as the number of participant has increased due to corona?I feel like even solving both A and B does not guarantee your place as a pupil now,pardon me if I am wrong,it's just a personal thought

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      4 years ago, # ^ |
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      I think, to stay pupil you just need to solve Div2 A & B fast enough.

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      4 years ago, # ^ |
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      Being an expert means that your rating is from $$$1600$$$ to $$$1900$$$, Solving A, B, and C fast enough can give you a low-expert rank ($$$1600$$$ to ~$$$1650$$$), and solving A and B fast enough can give you even a high specialist. It depends on how many people solved each problem, and how easy they were. But still, nice job!

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        4 years ago, # ^ |
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        In my first and most recent contest I solved till Div2 C but admittedly C took time and I also had a couple wrong submissions. This gave me +513 which means my actual rating is 1400 + (513-500) => 1413 => low specialist.

        Another example is el_heffeh who commented below and has solved 3 problems in the past few Div2s without the rating changing much.

        After seeing your contest history it looks like you maintained specialist by solving 2 problems in Div2. I don't know what to make of that, but I think Div2 C is still closer since it's more independent of speed.

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          4 years ago, # ^ |
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          It is hard to classify in that way because of penalty. It may be easier to classify in the number of points achieved during the contest.

          P.S.: I think I will make a blogpost on that using API data.

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4 years ago, # |
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I feel that sometimes the map makes sense, but there can be inconsistencies. Although on most contests I am able to get A, B, and C, there are times (even when the A and B problems aren't even rated that high) when I cannot even get a single problem. However, I do agree with this table in general.

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4 years ago, # |
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Good mapping, some time ago it would be actual, but now due to rating inflation, it isn't correct enough. Some people can become cyan/blue/violet solving consistently B/C/D respectively(I have some examples).

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4 years ago, # |
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No offense, but it's good to see newbie getting many upvotes, like it's becoming rare situation

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5 weeks ago, # |
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Good Insight !