Ok so this is going to be a long detailed blog post (with cheating proofs as clear as brute force solutions), so take some snacks and sit tight.
Let me get to how it all started, I was scrolling through my YouTube home page looking for some brain rot content to watch after spending lot of time on a CF problem and I felt I deserved a break after solving the question on my own. That’s when I find this video titled “How He Reached Specialist on Code forces | Tips and Tricks to follow ? “. As someone who’s struggling to hit the specialist mark, my eyes lit up and I immediately clicked on it and started watching.
Genuine help: The video was from TLE Eliminators by Priyansh31dec and I have been using their CP-31 sheet and watched some of there post contest discussions which are good resources so you can check that out.
Ok now coming back to the main topic, so I was genuinely impressed by this guy (too bad it only lasted for 45 mins), his CF profile JoyBoyy had around 900 solves in the past 6 months which is around 4-5 problems per day on average. His Code chef profile was also equally impressive, he turned 5 star in just 3 contests (I don’t do code chef coz our mess has bad food on Wed and we go out to eat but that’s another story :) but I have heard that 5 star is a good rating).
Now that I am at home, I wondered if it’s a good idea to start giving code chef contests also, so to take a general idea about the problems and levels, I head to his profile and take a look at the Starters 100 Division 4 Contest. Solved a few problems, then I head to 5th problem, a constructive one, thought about it but could not come up with a solution. So decided to go through his code for the same, and guess what I find in there ...
The FIRST LINE !!!!! Rang a bell for me… I had seen this name somewhere… I think for some time, I recalled that it was an ID of a Candidate Master Cheater which was exposed on CF a few months ago…. ( blog is deleted now lol but ifykyk, he had copied C++ code from telegram and converted to java. Guess what ?? Both have them have used the same copy method again in a Division 3)
I checked other submissions and all except the first problem were solved by formidablechief27. And that’s how the guy I was impressed around 45 mins back turned to laughing stock for me.... The guy had only solved 1st problem by himself which as to print Yes if n< 100 lmfao
It does not end here. I checked his submissions for Starters 137, 141, 142 too- all of them were by formidablechief27. So the 5 star rating and 74 rank this guy bragged about was actually someone else giving contest for him ?
So JoyBoyy, what do you have to say about this ? But Bro, I just used template bro… how is it cheating if I used template… blah blah…
FUN FACT: The last time I checked, you didn’t need to change college name to the college of person whose template you are using. Why will you do that ???? Thadomal Shahani is the college from where formidablechief27 is lol. ONCE A CHEATER ALWAYS A CHEATER
Now you guys must be wondering what’s the relevance with the title ? TLE Eliminators by Priyansh31dec just posted a video of their student who happened to be a cheater, it’s not their fault.
BUT BUT BUT ..... here’s the funny part- formidablechief27 is a mentor at TLE Eliminators LMFAO. Yeah that’s correct, a mentor helping a student to cheat in contests and that too not by sharing code, but by giving the full contest for him…
Now the title makes a lot more sense right ? formidablechief27 is only 1 of the 40+ mentors at TLE, who knows how many mentors are helping students to cheat in contests.
FUN FACT: Dhruvil aka Psychotic_D who was exposed a few months back was also part of TLE. (Context) Now he is not on their website page, so don’t be shocked if you see formidablechief27 also missing from their website. I might have cost him his role but for an organization that teaches competitive programming, having him as a mentor is a disgrace. Or let me know if you are going to continue with him as mentor Priyansh31dec, I would also like to get to 5 star on codechef.
I wonder what does their founder Priyansh who keeps posting on LinkedIn and Twitter about cheating on CF think about this.
BONUS CHEATING STUFF (ON CODEFORCES):
Had to wait to post a blog since CF does not allow to post blog till you have given a rated contest and found one more cheating instance in Codeforces Round 995 (Div. 3)
Sequence of events:
- JoyBoyy solves problem B
- JoyBoyy solves problem A
- JoyBoyy submits a stupid brute force for D which no 5 star coder would ever imo
- JoyBoyy solves problem C
- JoyBoyy copies problem D from formidablechief27
PROOFS:
- formidablechief27 submission of D: 297846794
- JoyBoyy submission of D: 297888637
It's pretty obvious the code is copied, same variable names, same structure...If you are still not convinced, read ahead.
Now my guess: JoyBoyy is happy and joyful that he solved 4 problems and gets to keep his specialist (who knows) tag. That’s when formidablechief27 contacts him saying that the code is same, you will get plagiarism. And that’s when he converts the code to Java (using GPT) and submits it again: 297922366
Now you can think about it, why will someone who got AC with his C++ code, convert the same code to Java and submit it again ? The answer is pretty simple to avoid plagiarism and this cheap trick was already used by formidablechief27 to cheat his way to Candidate Master tag which he flexes on his LinkedIn.
My Motivation to Right blog and Message to Others:
The only reason I wrote such a long blog was to rant out my frustration on such cheaters who affect others negatively. Apart from that the main motivation was that I had seen such exposed blogs and was always excited by the idea of catching them, and when I saw formidablechief27 name in the code, I knew I was going to write a blog about this. For everyone others, I am not sure how cheating is going to help you, please give contests on your own and improve. And for JoyBoyy, had you solved all those 900 problems sincerely, you would have definitely improved and did not need to cheat for Div 3 D question that was basic binary search.
Hopefully some action is taken by TLE Eliminators to avoid this. Was thinking of registering for their course but now I am skeptical. Pls do continue the PCD’s, they are helpful :)
Thank you for reading through the entire things, hope you liked it :)
