Hi, Sorry for another boring & asked multiple times blog. But I seriously want to know where I am lacking. I have been coding for the past five years. But still cant cross Expert — candidate master. I have solved much more than 2,5K problems (yes including multiple hard problems ( > 2100 Rating)). (code_kit is also my account although now i am not using it) . But still I seem to suck. And not sure why, but for the past 3 months my solvability is continuously decreasing ( I had 2090+ rating in september) but dropped to 1800 range now. Similarly in April I had 2080+ rating but again dropped for some time to ~1800. Could you guys explain me why this happens and the last 3 months is the longest amount of time I am in 1700 — 1800 range. I am not able to solve a problem unless i have seen an extremely similar one before. How to improve this skill ?

Plus I see so many people who solves very less problems like < 1000 but become master. Could you guys give me tips ?. Surely eager to know where i am lacking. I have read most of the tutorials blog on how to become CM / master and They are telling to practice very less than what i did. Any tips would be highly appreciated. Also will playing video games like for 3 — 5 hours a day negatively affect problem solving ? Thanks.