tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33873971856741787992024-01-05T05:28:36.832+05:30The Logical World of PuzzlesThis blog deals with grid-based puzzles and the various types of logic and ideas used to solve them. It also contains notices, information and results about various puzzle and sudoku championships across the globe.Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.comBlogger624125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-24968163694665920622014-08-24T17:47:00.002+05:302014-08-24T17:48:41.538+05:30An End... and a Beginning<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I will keep this blog open as an archive. I thank all readers and friends for making this blog a success (according to me!). After a long break, I'll be back blogging, but not here. Come visit my new blog.<br />
<br />
So, lets go from The Logical World of Puzzles, to <a href="http://rohanrao91.blogspot.in/">The Puzzling World of Logic</a>...</div>
Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-73434105190289765552013-03-29T14:14:00.000+05:302013-07-31T09:12:43.953+05:30WPF Sudoku Grand Prix 2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLNlEAZsH1RvA-XTlV_C4jFryvS-6k85BujqGUorkCAjEIQGkopnR8-oKoKh477_XCp3lnn9wksYGgEGCqfvYyrz1lZzpnJ1aJNm_xdimt32_z9czZkx0o4-ACiQ7Sm220AvmPifiHmfg/s1600/Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLNlEAZsH1RvA-XTlV_C4jFryvS-6k85BujqGUorkCAjEIQGkopnR8-oKoKh477_XCp3lnn9wksYGgEGCqfvYyrz1lZzpnJ1aJNm_xdimt32_z9czZkx0o4-ACiQ7Sm220AvmPifiHmfg/s400/Logo.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The <a href="http://www.worldpuzzle.org/">World Puzzle Federation</a> is organizing its first online sudoku event. It consists of eight contests organized by WPF members from eight countries.<br />
<br />
You can find all information (and rules/regulations) regarding the event on the <a href="http://www.worldpuzzle.org/sudokugp/">Official Webpage</a><br />
<br />
<b>Contest 1: Czech Republic (25th-27th January, 2013)</b><br />
<a href="http://www.worldpuzzle.org/sudokugp/1st-tournament/">Webpage</a><br />
<a href="http://www.worldpuzzle.org/sudokugp/1st-tournament/results/">Results</a><br />
<br />
<b>Contest 2: India (9th-11th February, 2013)</b><br />
<a href="http://www.worldpuzzle.org/sudokugp/2nd-tournament/">Webpage</a><br />
<a href="http://www.worldpuzzle.org/sudokugp/2nd-tournament/results/">Results</a><br />
<br />
<b>Contest 3: Germany (23rd-24th February, 2013)</b><br />
<a href="http://www.worldpuzzle.org/sudokugp/3rd-tournament/">Webpage</a><br />
<a href="http://www.worldpuzzle.org/sudokugp/3rd-tournament/results/">Results</a><br />
<br />
<b>Contest 4: Serbia (20th-22nd April, 2013)</b><br />
<a href="http://www.worldpuzzle.org/sudokugp/4th-tournament/">Webpage</a><br />
<a href="http://www.worldpuzzle.org/sudokugp/4th-tournament/results/">Results</a><br />
<br />
<b>Contest 5: UK (10th-13th May, 2013)</b><br />
<a href="http://www.worldpuzzle.org/sudokugp/5th-tournament/">Webpage</a><br />
<a href="http://www.worldpuzzle.org/sudokugp/5th-tournament/results/">Results</a><br />
<br />
<b>Contest 6: USA (25th-28th May, 2013)</b><br />
<a href="http://www.worldpuzzle.org/sudokugp/6th-tournament/">Webpage</a><br />
<a href="http://www.worldpuzzle.org/sudokugp/6th-tournament/results/">Results</a><br />
<br />
<b>Contest 7: Turkey (22nd-24th June, 2013)</b><br />
<a href="http://www.worldpuzzle.org/sudokugp/7th-tournament/">Webpage</a><br />
<a href="http://www.worldpuzzle.org/sudokugp/7th-tournament/results/">Results</a><br />
<br />
<b>Contest 8: Italy (29th June - 1st July, 2013)</b><br />
<a href="http://www.worldpuzzle.org/sudokugp/8th-tournament/">Webpage</a><br />
<a href="http://www.worldpuzzle.org/sudokugp/8th-tournament/results/">Results</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.worldpuzzle.org/sudokugp/results/">Overall Results (After 8 Rounds)</a><br />
<br />
On a personal note, many of you would've noticed my sudden absence and minimal participation in recent championships. I am taking a break from solving puzzles/sudoku. I will continue creating and authoring puzzles but I will participate only in the WPF GP 2013, the Indian National Championships and World Championships 2013.<br />
Hoping to get back full-fledged by early 2014.</div>
Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-54844415809293997222012-10-10T01:37:00.002+05:302012-10-10T12:29:29.679+05:30World Sudoku Championship 2012<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQZh2wi4bhFf9d5yVnuvVfZlzzPUQWqYCis2J7y_1qq7yd0thjRCXSTmTr3lu0QT76ChnZo9IMkNNJ6ijIKjOkAZxT0TPhxtOqgCRRpCYg4F7GyjU5gAdjswHVg9F8Sa8Uf-h7UlyCm2M/s1600/logo2012.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQZh2wi4bhFf9d5yVnuvVfZlzzPUQWqYCis2J7y_1qq7yd0thjRCXSTmTr3lu0QT76ChnZo9IMkNNJ6ijIKjOkAZxT0TPhxtOqgCRRpCYg4F7GyjU5gAdjswHVg9F8Sa8Uf-h7UlyCm2M/s1600/logo2012.png" /></a></div>
The 7th World Sudoku Championship was held from 1st-3rd October, 2012 at Kraljevica, Croatia.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wscwpc2012.org/index.php">Championship Page</a><br />
<br />
The Indian team was selected from the <a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.in/2012/07/indian-sudoku-championship-2012.html">Indian Sudoku Championship 2012</a> and I had hinted this team is probably the best four in India presently (considering Rishi is not in India).<br />
<br />
<b>Indian Team</b><br />
Rohan Rao<br />
Sumit Bothra<br />
Gaurav Korde<br />
Rakesh Rai<br />
<br />
<b>Unofficial</b><br />
Prasanna Seshadri<br />
<br />
<b>Captain</b><br />
Amit Sowani<br />
<br />
Download <a href="http://www.wscwpc2012.org/docs/WSC_2012_Instructions-v5.pdf">WSC Instruction Booklet</a><br />
<br />
The first thought on seeing the IB was "This is going to be exhausting". 7 Individual Rounds + 2 Team Rounds in a day is a bit too much in my opinion.<br />
<br />
Regarding the rounds and the puzzles, 5 of the 7 rounds were based on some linking between the puzzles. Most of the sudokus were well-known types or minor tweaks to common variations, so not much of 'new variations' to look forward to.<br />
<br />
I finished 12th at last year's <a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.in/2011/11/world-sudoku-championship-2011.html">World Sudoku Championship</a> missing the playoffs by 2 ranks. This year, only the top 8 qualify for playoffs and that was my goal.<br />
<br />
Another surprise was defending champion <a href="http://motris.livejournal.com/169921.html">Thomas Snyder's decision to not participate in the WSC</a> as his focus and goal was to win the WPC and thus be the first player to win the WSC as well as WPC.<br />
<br />
<b>Part 1: Pinnochio</b><br />
It was a decent start. I could solve all but one sudoku though I had 5+ mins for the last one.<br />
<br />
<b>Part 2: Smurfs</b><br />
This was the big round. Maximum points. Triplets of sudokus linked with a pair of common cells. It was quite messy trying to look at three grids simultaneously considering the sudokus were not on the same page. A lot of turning of pages was required. It got quite irritating after a while, but it turned out to be a good round for me.<br />
I would have preferred to have smaller sized grids, but each triplet on one page. <br />
<br />
<b>Part 3: Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs</b><br />
Another linked round which was not very good. 7 mini sudokus and 1 big tough sudoku. The last sudoku was worth 30 points which is quite big considering the rest and most of the scores read 60 or 90+ thus giving a large point advantage to those 4~5 players who were able to solve the big one. I went for the kill attempting the 30-pointer as soon as I figured the missing clues, but fell short on time. That also lead one of my minis to remain incomplete.<br />
<br />
<b>Part 4: The Muppet Show</b><br />
Again, flipping of pages to identify the codes of the cartoons, and then solving the Irregular Sudokus. I thought this was a bad-themed round. There was hardly any 'solving' required to figure out the codes, it was more like just flipping through all the grids and eliminating the possibilities using standard row/column/region constraints. An average round for me.<br />
<br />
<b>Part 5: Professor Balthazaar</b><br />
This was a good round for me even though I missed the high-pointers.<br />
<br />
<b>Part 6: Disneyland</b><br />
I've always had one bad round at every WSC and this time it was Round 6. I kept making solving errors in one puzzle after another and this round pulled me down to 11th place.<br />
<br />
<b>Part 7: TNT</b><br />
Even though the scores weren't out (I didn't know I was 11th before this round), I had a feeling my rank was somewhere between 8th and 15th. It was a tough chance to make it to playoffs but possible if I had an extremely good round and some of the other competitors miss out.<br />
And it turned out to be a dream round. I finished 5th (But got time bonus of 4th place because one of the top four would've turned in incorrect solutions, I think it was Jan) and all the other results went my way.<br />
<br />
So, I finished 8th. I made it to the playoffs. The first Indian to rank in the top 10 and the first Indian to make it to a WSC playoffs (I don't consider 2009 WSC as a valid 'playoff'). It felt great, and I was extremely happy.<br />
<br />
<b>Playoffs</b><br />
The playoffs format was a one-on-one quarterfinal followed by semi-final and final. I was up against 1st-placed Kota Morinishi (Japan). The one good thing about being 8th in the playoffs is, you can't get worse! So, I had nothing to lose. The sudokus to be solved during the playoffs were to be chosen by the higher ranked player 1st and then the lower ranked player from among three pools. All the top players obviously chose from the non-Classic pools, so there was not much choice for me<br />
<br />
<b>1st Kota Morinishi (Japan) vs 8th Rohan Rao (India)</b><br />
Mine was the first playoff. An Irregular Sudoku which Kota beat me easily followed by a Medium Classic which he beat me again. 2-0 to Kota and he qualified for the semi-final.<br />
<br />
<b>4th Jakub Ondrousek (Czech Republic) vs 5th Hideaki Jo (Japan)</b><br />
Hideaki won the first, Jakub won the second and Hideaki convincingly won the third and advanced to the semi-final against Kota.<br />
<br />
<b>3rd Tiit Vunk (Estonia) vs 6th Bastien Vial-Jaime (France)</b><br />
Tiit won 2-1 but it was a close fight.<br />
<br />
<b>2nd Jan Mrozowski (Poland) vs 7th Chen Cen (China)</b><br />
Jan won easily 2-0 to setup the semi-final against Tiit.<br />
<br />
<b>Semi-Final 1: Kota Morinishi (Japan) vs Hideaki Jo (Japan)</b><br />
An all-Japan semis which Kota sweeped. <br />
<br />
<b>Semi-Final 2: Jan Mrozowski (Poland) vs Tiit Vunk (Estonia)</b><br />
Tiit made some silly errors and Jan outclassed him.<br />
<br />
<b>Final: Kota Morinishi (Japan) vs Jan Mrozowski (Poland)</b><br />
A best-of-5 finals which Jan won 3-1.<br />
<br />
<b>Individual Results</b><br />
<br />
1. Jan Mrozowski (Poland)<br />
2. Kota Morinishi (Japan)<br />
3. Hideaki Jo (Japan)<br />
4. Tiit Vunk (Estonia)<br />
5. Jakub Ondrousek (Czech Republic)<br />
6. Bastien Vial-Jaime (France)<br />
7. Chen Cen (China)<br />
8. Rohan Rao (India)<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wscwpc2012.org/docs/WSC_rank_F.pdf">Complete Results</a><br />
<br />
<b>Team Results</b><br />
<br />
1. Japan<br />
2. Czech Republic<br />
3. China<br />
4. Germany<br />
5. France<br />
6. Slovakia<br />
7. India<br />
8. Hungary<br />
9. Poland<br />
10. USA<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wscwpc2012.org/docs/WSC_team_rank_F.pdf">Complete Results</a><br />
<br />
<b>Indian Results</b><br />
<br />
8. Rohan Rao <br />
32. Gaurav Korde<br />
37. Rakesh Rai<br />
51. Sumit Bothra<br />
<br />
39. Prasanna Seshadri (unofficial)<br />
<br />
It was nice meeting up with everyone again and it was a dream-come-true to make it to the playoffs. The team also performed well to get 7th which equalled our 2008's 7th rank.<br />
<br />
The sudokus were tough, which is very evident from the scores. They were fun but could have been better at a couple of places. I am not completely in favour of the playoff format used. I would never suggest a one-on-one system when the entire time you are playing against all participants simultaneously. Solving on a board is never the same as solving on paper. It may be nice for the audience but is it really the best way for solvers? Why not have the same grids on paper and use a camera, like in WSC 2010. Most of the top solvers use a lot of pencilmarks (and guesswork at times) which is not feasible on huge flex sheets. The concept of an eraser is lost.<br />
<br />
Congrats to Jan Mrozowski who wins his third WSC title to equal Thomas's record. Good performance by Kota Morinishi and Hideaki Jo and the Japanese team for an amazing result.<br />
<br />
Apart from a couple of problems, the organisers were helpful and did a good job. The results and checking was done at a fairly good pace and updates were regular. Thanks to all the Croatian organisers and hope to see more of you in future (but without cartoons please!).<br />
<br />
As for the Indian results, Gaurav and Sumit were way below par and it was disappointing to see them perform poorly. But debutant Rakesh Rai had a phenomenal result ranked 37th. Hope to see him improve in future. I really missed Rishi (I hope you read this!) this year and I hope my dream of playing with him as part of Team India comes true sooner rather than later.<br />
<br />
I'm looking forward to WSC 2013 which will be held in Beijing, China. Hope to see the top players there and I hope to perform even better next year :-)</div>
Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-1440914458211555512012-07-01T20:55:00.000+05:302012-07-24T16:56:40.075+05:30Indian Sudoku Championship 2012<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The Indian Sudoku Championship 2012, organised by <a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/home/">Logic Masters India (LMI)</a>, in association with Times Of India, was held in July, 2012. Participation is free of
cost and everyone is invited to participate
in the event irrespective of age. There are no
prerequisites/requirements for participation. Top competitors will
represent India at the World Sudoku Championship 2012 which will be held
in Croatia in October, 2012.<br />
<br />
There were regional rounds in four different cities and the top four contestants from each city qualify for the national finals.<br />
<br />
<b>1st July, 2012: Bengaluru Regional Round</b><br />
Good to see 1000+ participants.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIBG/2012/07/02&PageLabel=2&EntityId=Ar00200&ViewMode=HTML">New Article</a><br />
<br />
<b>Qualifiers</b><br />
<br />
1. Jaipal Reddy<br />
2. Rakesh Rai<br />
3. Asha Siddaiah<br />
4. Rajesh Kumar<br />
<br />
Congrats to the top 4 who qualify for the national finals.<br />
Jaipal and Asha are my WSC 2010 team-mates, Rakesh is an IPC 2012 finalist and Rajesh, one of the most experienced Indian at the World Championships.<br />
<br />
<b>8th July, 2012: Chennai Regional Round</b><br />
Again good to have 1000+ participants.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2012/07/09&PageLabel=22&EntityId=Ar02200&ViewMode=HTML">News Article</a><br />
<br />
<b>Qualifiers</b><br />
<br />
1. Sumit Bothra<br />
2. R Thejesvini<br />
3. Raman Garimella<br />
4. Zalak Ghetia<br />
<br />
Congrats to the top 4 who qualify for the national finals.<br />
Sumit is my WSC 2011 team-mate. Nice to see Raman back. Its also good to see 2 females among the top 4.<br />
<br />
<b>14th July, 2012: Delhi Regional Round</b><br />
Good to have 1000+ participants.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-07-15/delhi/32684866_1_japanese-number-puzzle-delhi-boy-delhi-times">News Article</a><br />
<br />
<b>Qualifiers</b><br />
<br />
1. Ritesh Gupta<br />
2. Himani Shah<br />
3. Akash Doulani<br />
4. Saroj Kumar Sahu<br />
<br />
Congrats to the top 4 who qualify for the national finals.<br />
Ritesh, a three-time national champion, is my WSC 2009 and WSC 2010 team-mate. Nice to see Himani back after a break. Akash is an ISC 2011 finalist. Good to have another new face, Saroj Kumar Sahu.<br />
<br />
<b>15th July, 2012: Mumbai Regional Round</b><br />
This was leading to be the toughest of the four rounds. And without doubt, it was. 1000+ participants again, but many good players and previous finalists present.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEyLzA3LzE2I0FyMDAyMDE%3D">News Article</a><br />
<br />
<b>Qualifiers</b><br />
<br />
1. Rohan Rao<br />
2. Gaurav Korde<br />
3. Dr. Omkar Hendre<br />
4. Himanshu Mittal<br />
<br />
Congrats to Gaurav, Omkar and Himanshu.<br />
<br />
Due to the big pool of possible players who could make it to the top 4, it was important to do well in both the rounds. I finished the Classic round in 16mins, but after Gaurav, who finished in 14mins. I had to beat Gaurav by at least 2mins in the Variants round. I finished the Variants in 9mins whereas Gaurav took 18mins.<br />
<br />
Gaurav and me had a good lead over the rest. Good performance by Omkar and Himanshu to make it. Manoj Arora, who stood 5th with an impressive result, missed the top 4 due to a silly mistake. Tejal Phatak, who stood 7th, being the best female performer, also missed the top 4 due to swapping of two digits.<br />
<br />
Competition was tough, and one way or another, there had to be good players who would not qualify.<br />
<br />
<b>22nd July, 2012: Indian Sudoku Championship Finals</b><br />
The top 16 who qualified for the national finals, battled it out for a place in the top 4.<br />
<br />
Unlike last year where many good players could not make it to the finals, this was one that was looking to be a tough competition.<br />
<br />
<i><b>Round 1: Sprint</b></i><br />
16 sudokus, all 6x6, classic and variants, 25 minutes. It was good start since I was the first to finish with 6 minutes left on the clock. Gaurav came in 2nd with 3 minutes left. It surely helps to start on a high when defending your title :-)<br />
<br />
(Results were announced at the end)<br />
Unfortunately, I made a grave mistake in one of the sudokus, and lost 30 (+60 bonus) points, a total of 90 points. Gaurav scored 280, Ritesh 250 and I, 220.<br />
<br />
<i><b>Round 2: Classics</b></i><br />
8 Sudokus of varying difficulty, 40 minutes. I finished first again with 12 minutes on the clock. Gaurav and Sumit were close behind with 11 minutes.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Round 3: Mix</i></b><br />
This was the make-or-break round for most players. 8 variants, 60 minutes, and 650 points. The biggest round. I was certainly disappointed in not being able to finish all sudokus with ample time in hand. I managed to shade the odd-even cells in Parity, but I kept going wrong while solving it.<br />
Well, ironically, everyone had a bad round. Gaurav could have taken a lead but made an error in Outside, thus, pulling him down further.<br />
<br />
<b><i>Round 4: Surprise</i></b><br />
The rules of this round was given right before the round began. Beautiful sudoku. Perfectly executed, and exceptional feedback from all players. It was just the perfect round to end the championship.<br />
4D Sudoku: Place the 36 cells in the grid such that every row/column and 2x3 box contains each number, each alphabet, each colour and each shape exactly once.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">A mechanical round which was certainly well planned and implemented. 13 of the 15 finalists managed to finish it within time, with Sumit being the fastest, 30 seconds before me.</span><br />
<br />
<b>Final Results</b><br />
<br />
1. Rohan Rao (Mumbai) - 1548<br />
2. Sumit Bothra (Kolkata) - 1475<br />
3. Gaurav Korde (Mumbai) - 1420<br />
4. Rakesh Rai (Chennai) - 1354<br />
<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=485&start=176#M7979">Complete Results</a><br />
<br />
I won my 3rd ISC title on a trot (equaled Ritesh's hat-trick of 2007-2008-2009). I also won my 3rd IPC-ISC double. I'm happy to have won my 6th title in a row, and hope to do well at the World Sudoku Championship 2012, Croatia.<br />
<br />
Thanks to Times Of India and Logic Masters India for organising this championship on such a huge scale. Great sudokus as usual by Amit and Deb.<br />
<br />
Personally, this was the team I had predicted when ISC started, so I'm glad it turned out to be right as I believe we have the best four sudoku solvers of the country and we hope to improve India's performance this year.<br />
<br />
<b>NOTE: </b>I will be regularly updating my blog about puzzles and championships, and will be actively participating in forum activities, but I'm taking a (much-needed) break from solving in a competitive mode.<br />
<span id="goog_1138607253"></span><span id="goog_1138607254"></span></div>Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-25206783943250679982012-07-01T20:44:00.003+05:302012-07-01T20:44:44.476+05:30June 2012 Sudoku Test<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Sudoclones</div>Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-87387873323575879022012-06-15T14:46:00.001+05:302012-06-19T21:55:59.030+05:30Logic Masters India - June 2012 Puzzle Test<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb4hLF1nJ8tWGChNU33TO_eONbC9exAbquBDrufuTOe9pj-s_58zLXZuXvOi-hNaYTW2jeEGN6KHqY4ItqUfkfjoI4yMZrOUgbfjZkUbfMQWSTbVuLrITOpRLFZfXe3c013yBvX9t5Rnc/s400/M201206P_logo.png" width="400" /></div>
<br />
Logic Masters India announces the June 2012 Puzzle Test 'Seven Samurais'. It was held from 16th-18th June, 2012.<br />
The author of the puzzles is Andrey Bogdanov.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/M201206P/">Championship Page</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?attachmentid=243">Download Instruction Booklet</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?v=01&attachmentid=244">Download Puzzle Booklet</a><br />
Password is <i>FromRUSSIAwithLove</i><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=478">Forum</a><br />
<br />
<i>7 Standard Puzzles. All in Samurai form.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>I guess players need to just tweak their solving styles fractionately to tune themselves into the Samurai grid.</i><br />
<br />
Great puzzles. Some tough ones, but all enjoyable. I think the Yin Yang Samurai was exceptionally good, just so crisp and beautiful (if you know how to solve!). I enjoyed solving Star Battle and Easy As ABC, but the Fence was too tough.<br />
<i> </i><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/M201206P/score.asp">Complete Results</a><br />
<br />
Congrats to Hideaki Jo for topping. A good weekend for him as he topped <a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.in/2012/06/sudokucup-8.html">Sudokucup 8</a> too.</div>Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-78306817075659597962012-06-15T14:39:00.000+05:302012-06-19T21:50:17.139+05:30Sudokucup 8<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The 8th Sudokucup will be held on 16th-18th June, 2012.<br />
The author of the puzzles is Vladimir Portugalov.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://sudokucup.com/">Championship Page</a><br />
<a href="http://sudokucup.com/sites/default/files/SC8_booklet_en_r01.pdf">Download Instruction Booklet</a><br />
<a href="http://sudokucup.com/sites/default/files/SC8_en_pass.pdf">Download Puzzle Booklet</a><br />
Password is <i>?PORSUD!36MOXC</i><br />
<br />
<i>This is a nice set of sudoku variants. Vladimir's sudokus have always been fun solving and I'm sure this one will be a complete treat.</i><br />
<br />
Enjoyed this set.<br />
Congrats to Hideaki Jo and Kota Morinishi for completing the set. Hideaki has had a good weekend as he topped <a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.in/2012/06/logic-masters-india-june-2012-puzzle.html">LMI's Seven Samurais</a> too.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://sudokucup.com/node/2164">Complete Results</a><br />
<br /></div>Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-5856913799086687352012-05-27T11:34:00.000+05:302012-06-15T14:13:40.616+05:30Indian Puzzle Championship 2012<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/IPC2012/"><img border="0" height="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq7Jw8DDqJ-M55IOj674Usm1PNhyphenhyphenxN8L300Ug4LRbSCu6t0BVVCJ009PrjDM0Gf3t4Aelnd3vvxzoD8AgMIQQ7yDK7y0FDe9tZcw_SqOC16_FQi72dwxpm59Z0sKT65G1PyODIOJklcF8/s200/ipc2012_logo.png" width="200" /></a></div>
The Indian Puzzle Championship 2012, organised by Logic Masters India (LMI), was held on 3rd June, 2012 from 14:00-16:30. It will consist of one online round of 150 minutes (2.5 hours). Participation is free of cost and everyone is invited to participate
in the event irrespective of age. There are no
prerequisites/requirements for participation. Top competitors will represent India at the World Puzzle Championship 2012 which will be held in Croatia in October, 2012.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/IPC2012/">View Championship Page</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?attachmentid=237">Download Instruction Booklet </a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?v=00&attachmentid=241">Download Puzzle Booklet</a><br />
<br />
For any doubts/queries, you may post in the <a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=464">IPC 2012 Forum</a><br />
<br />
The list of classic puzzles that will appear in the contest are:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.in/search/label/Easy%20As%20ABC">Easy As ABC</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.in/search/label/Fence">Slitherlink</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.in/search/label/Kakuro">Kakuro</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.in/search/label/Loop%20Finder">Loop Finder</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.in/search/label/Hitori">Hitori</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.in/search/label/Masyu">Masyu</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.in/search/label/Tapa">Tapa</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.in/search/label/Classic%20Sudoku">Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.in/search/label/Skyscrapers">Skyscraper</a><br />
TomTom<br />
Snake<br />
Square Division<br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.in/search/label/Mastermind">Mastermind</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.in/search/label/Star%20Battle">Star Battle</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.in/search/label/Battleship">Battleships</a><br />
<br />
30 puzzles. 150 minutes. Knowing it is a national championship, I did not expect the puzzles to be of the 'very tough' types. I was quite comfortable with all the puzzle types and the set had a good mix with a wide variety of classic puzzles as well as variants.<br />
<br />
Having a wild card for the Indian team at the WPC this year, I was a little more relaxed than the last couple of years. Yet, I wanted to make sure I finish in the top 4 just to make my wild card look deserving :-)<br />
<br />
The puzzles were fantastic. I don't expect (and neither does anyone else) anything less from Deb. Some of my favourite puzzles are: Inside Skyscrapers, Coded TomTom, Battleships 2, Coloured Star Battle, Tapa Borders and Masyu.<br />
Thumbs up to Deb and the other authors (Palmer Mebane, Serkan Yurekli and Thomas Snyder) for designing such beautiful puzzles. Thanks to Deb and team (and testers Branko Ceranic and Nikola Zivanovic) for organising a smooth and successful championship.<br />
<br />
(You can now rate the puzzles on the webpage) <br />
<br />
<b>Results</b><br />
<br />
1. Rohan Rao - 955<br />
2. Prasanna Seshadri - 790<br />
3. Amit Sowani - 750<br />
4. Rakesh Rai - 625<br />
5. Swaroop Guggilam - 615<br />
6. Harmeet Singh - 575<br />
7. Rajesh Kumar - 500<br />
8. Rajib Ranjan Borah - 490<br />
9. Sudhanshu Mittal - 460<br />
10. Puneet Goenka - 460<br />
<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/IPC2012/score.asp">View Complete Results</a><br />
<br />
(You can also play a quick and interesting game on the webpage, of guessing which puzzle was created by which author!)<br />
<br />
I won my 3rd IPC title (in a row!) and it feels great to complete the hat-trick :-)<br />
Congrats to Prasanna, Amit and Rakesh.<br />
<br />
I had a couple of stumbles while solving and adding to the national championship pressure, I'm still a little disappointed at not being able to complete the set. I had ample time but I missed out on one puzzle and a perfect 1000 score was surely achievable. Anyway, I did well enough to win :-)<br />
<br />
Commendable performance by Prasanna who has improved a lot over the last few months. Nice to see Amit back after a long time. Rakesh has always been one of the most consistent top Indian performers in puzzle championships and I'm happy with this team, probably one of the best India have had in recent years.<br />
<br />
Swaroop Guggilam was very close behind Rakesh and missed the top 4 by just 10 points. Its unfortunate to see Rajesh at a low 7th who has regularly been representing India at the WPC last 10yrs. <br />
<br />
Lets hope the team can make it to Croatia in October and perform well! :-)<br />
<br />
Once again congrats to the toppers, all the participants and Deb Mohanty (and the organisers, authors and testers) for conducting a successful IPC 2012 and hope to see you all at the Indian Sudoku Championship 2012 (Coming Soon...!)</div>Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-15380673015579192002012-05-25T10:26:00.001+05:302012-05-27T11:37:47.252+05:30Logic Masters India - May 2012 Puzzle Test<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/M201205P/M201205P_logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="129" src="http://logicmastersindia.com/M201205P/M201205P_logo.png" width="400" /></a></div>
Logic Masters India announces the May 2012 Puzzle Test 'No Numbers'. It will be held from 26th-28th May, 2012.<br />
The author of the puzzles is Ko Okamoto.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/M201205P/">Championship Page</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?attachmentid=233">Download Instruction Booklet</a><br />
Download Puzzle Booklet<br />
Password will be available when you start the test.<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=469">Forum</a><br />
<br />
A lot of new puzzle types (probably all?) in this test. Many of you may not be familiar/comfortable with some of the puzzles, so below are some practise puzzles (apart from the puzzles in the IB) created by some of my puzzle friends.<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_237086890"></a><br />
<a href="http://puzzleparasite.blogspot.in/2012/05/no-number-practise-black-and-white.html">Bram De Laat's Practise Puzzles 1</a><br />
<a href="http://puzzleparasite.blogspot.in/2012/05/puzzle-108-not-alone.html">Bram De Laat's Practise Puzzles 2</a><br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_237086873"></a><br />
<a href="http://prasannaseshadri.wordpress.com/2012/05/20/puzzle-no-158-161-lmi-no-numbers-practice-puzzles/">Prasanna Seshadri's Practise Puzzles 1</a><br />
<a href="http://prasannaseshadri.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/puzzle-no-162-lmi-practice-puzzle-no-numbers-field/">Prasanna Seshadri's Practise Puzzles 2</a><br />
<a href="http://prasannaseshadri.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/puzzle-no-163-164-more-lmi-practice-puzzles/">Prasanna Seshadri's Practise Puzzles 3</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://swaroopg92.blogspot.in/2012/05/puzzles-66-67-trio-cut-practice-puzzles.html">Swaroop Guggilam's Practise Puzzles 1</a><br />
<a href="http://swaroopg92.blogspot.in/2012/05/puzzle-68-black-and-white-matchmaker.html">Swaroop Guggilam's Practise Puzzles 2</a><br />
<br />
It is worth trying out some of these puzzles, it would only help in you being better prepared for the test.<br />
<br />
The No Numbers Loop looks like a tough one (especially considering its high points). Synchronized Maze and Trio Cut are my favourite of the set.<br />
<br />
Good Luck to all participants!</div>Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-18409166710719862422012-04-13T20:44:00.000+05:302012-04-18T22:07:06.687+05:30Logic Masters India - April 2012 Sudoku Test<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/M201204S/M201204S_logo1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://logicmastersindia.com/M201204S/M201204S_logo1.png" /></a></div>
Logic Masters India announces the April 2012 Sudoku Test 'Killing Time'. It was held from 14th-16th April, 2012.<br />
The author of the puzzles is Rishi Puri.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/M201204S/">Championship Page</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?attachmentid=228&v4">Download Instruction Booklet</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?attachmentid=229&v0">Download Puzzle Booklet</a><br />
Password is <i>RvUeDeRrA</i><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=461">Forum</a><br />
<br />
Nice to see Rishi back. This test is based on variants of <a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.in/search/label/Killer%20Sudoku">Killer Sudoku</a>.<br />
<br />
<i>I'm not a big fan of Killer Sudoku, but this test will surely prove to give a good insight into Killer-solving techniques.</i><br />
<br />
A nice, enjoyable test.<i> </i>Some really nice Killer sudokus. I had trouble solving the Toroidal and the Little Killer, but otherwise the solves were good.<br />
My favourite were Greater Than Killer and Twin Killer.<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1844949668"><br /></a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/M201204S/score.asp">Results</a></div>Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-38558872533849056782011-11-18T01:21:00.001+05:302012-01-20T19:32:17.576+05:30World Puzzle Championship 2011<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinkMGDFgvbzNk-WpirEIh1Ln5-7fLDvlGMpmDeHEgpLE3eyJMc6qcUIv6CjXcIJlLsLjEGMSpOXLctz2PLVmrrh4Tox2QaCkiAWFnLa4Ba-SC-b8q3Gh95itRMJJUlu_qu6BpKzizWQwY/s1600/wpc_wsc_2011.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinkMGDFgvbzNk-WpirEIh1Ln5-7fLDvlGMpmDeHEgpLE3eyJMc6qcUIv6CjXcIJlLsLjEGMSpOXLctz2PLVmrrh4Tox2QaCkiAWFnLa4Ba-SC-b8q3Gh95itRMJJUlu_qu6BpKzizWQwY/s400/wpc_wsc_2011.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The 6th World Sudoku Championship and <b>20th World Puzzle Championship</b> was held on 6th-10th November, 2011 in Eger, Hungary.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://wscwpc.ini.hu/">Championship Page</a> <br />
<br />
<br />
This is the first time the WSC and WPC was held as a combined event.<br />
<br />
<b>Team India</b><br />
The national finals of the <a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/2011/06/indian-sudoku-championship-2011.html">Indian Sudoku Championship</a> and the <a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/2011/06/indian-puzzle-championship-2011.html%0A">Indian Puzzle Championship</a>
was held in June 2011. Unfortunately, Ritesh Gupta and Gaurav Korde
were unable to attend the WSC, and Harmeet Singh was unable to attend
the WPC. So, we were forced to go down the list and finally are team
consisted of:<br />
<br />
<b><i>Sudoku Team</i></b><br />
Sumit Bothra (Bengaluru)<br />
Tejal Phatak (Mumbai)<br />
Prasanna Seshadri (Mumbai)<br />
Rohan Rao (Mumbai)<br />
<br />
<b><i>Puzzle Team</i></b><br />
Rajesh Kumar (Bengaluru)<br />
Rajib Ranjan Borah (Mumbai)<br />
Tejal Phatak (Mumbai)<br />
Rohan Rao (Mumbai)<br />
<br />
I was very busy since I had three exams before my trip and have my entire
end-semester examinations immediately after my trip, so I spent minimal
time for puzzles. Not the best thing to do by a national champion but I
was left with little choice.<br />
<br />
Last year I stood 41st in
WPC and my goal this year was to reach the top 25.<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>6th November, 2011 - 8th November, 2011</b></span><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/2011/11/world-sudoku-championship-2011.html">World Sudoku Championship 2011</a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>9th November, 2011</b></span><br />
We had a day before WPC began. A city tour to an ice cave seemed exciting but no one was prepared for the surprise that awaited us. Right in the midst of the cave, was held the WSC prize distribution and the photo session!<br />
<br />
It was an excellent idea, and it went pretty smoothly. It was nice on the organisers part to do something different of this sort, yet, not overly change things.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">10th November, 2011</span></b><br />
The World Puzzle Championship 2011 began.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Round 1: In Memorium</b><br />
It was a pretty ordinary start. Not too good, not too bad. Ulrich Voigt (Germany) outperformed everyone by a good margin.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Round 2: Assorted Puzzles</b><br />
I started feeling weary and tired. Mental strain was winning over my body. I seemed very slow in a lot of puzzles this round, and I knew this was going to be a bad round. And it was.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Round 3: Cows</b><br />
I'm usually good at recovering after bad rounds, and this was no exception. The 75-pointer Small Regions was my strength and I'm glad I could crack it. The 'Knight' puzzle had no solution, so I'm sure many players would've been affected.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Round 4: Borderless</b><br />
Clueless in borderless. I do not know how other players felt about this round, but I had no strategy in this round. I was not comfortable with any variant, and I couldn't see a path other than guesswork in solving these puzzles. I wasn't even confident of getting a non-zero score.<br />
<br />
During the first 15 minutes, I kept switching from one puzzle to another, having no progress at all. Then, I found a clue in Easy As ABC (big) and I solved it. That encouraged me to do the smaller one too, and that was all. Palmer Mebane (USA) scored 295. I wonder...<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Round 5: Evergreens</b><br />
I thought this was one round where I could really score well. I was quite disappointed with my performance. Got stuck in a couple of puzzles, made an error in one. On my day, I could've done much much better.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Round 6: Board Games</b><br />
The concept and puzzles was very nice. It was fun solving them. Lets not talk about the scores though.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Round 7: Naval Puzzles</b><br />
By this time, all of us were tired and we knew we had no hope to getting into the top 15 in the team rankings. We just solved this for the fun of it.<br />
<br />
Not a very good first day for me. I was ranked around 40th at the end of Day 1. Too difficult to get into top 25 from here. I just hoped to better my last year's rank of 41.<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>11th November, 2011</b></span><br />
Day 2 of WPC.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Round 8: Screen Test</b><br />
This was the best round of WPC. A screen test with animations! Some beautiful puzzles, and great ideas. A huge round of applause followed the test which shows most people enjoyed the test. I hope some players benefitted by the <a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/2011/11/logic-masters-india-screen-test-2.html">Screen Test</a> I had organised on LMI a week before :-)<br />
<br />
In terms of scores, Annick Weyzig (Netherlands) and Jason Zuffranieri (USA) topped with 185 points. I scored 125 and at least I beat Palmer Mebane (USA) and Ulrich Voigt (Germany) in one round!<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Round 9: Sprint</b><br />
Anyone loves Numberlink and Train puzzles? Try solving these ones. These were some tough ones for me. I think some of them were the toughest I've ever solved.<br />
<br />
<b>Round 10: Divide And Conquer</b><br />
I love this puzzle type. And the puzzles that appeared, were simply superb. Even the easier ones, had some fantastic logic to it.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Round 11: Magic 11</b><br />
This round was themed around the number '11'. It was a good round for me.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Round 12: Hungaricum</b><br />
A couple of good rounds earlier, but this round was not good. I was floating around the mid-30's and I had a good chance to squeeze myself in the top 30 with one round left.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Round 13: Innovative</b><br />
Another average round.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Round 14: Best Of</b><br />
The last individual round. And I messed it up. I got the lowest points among the players in the top 35 and I lost three ranks directly.<br />
<br />
Bad finish, but I'm glad I was able to better my rank. I finished 34th.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>WPC Playoffs</b><br />
The format of the playoffs was interesting. Top 10 puzzlers start
solving based on a time difference in proportion to their scores. The
last 3 players to finish the first 3 puzzles are eliminated. Then the
last 2 players to finish the next 3 puzzles are eliminated. Then a fight
to the finish with the last 3 puzzles.<br />
<br />
Ulrich Voigt (Germany): 7-time World Puzzle Champion. He had a big lead, and would surely win if the playoffs went smoothly.<br />
<br />
Palmer Mebane (USA): Beating Thomas Snyder at USPC is no joke. Beating him again at WPC is no luck. I was pretty confident he would make it to the podium.<br />
<br />
Thomas Snyder (USA): Performed poorly in Day 2, and lost chunks of points. But, you could never count him out till the end.<br />
<br />
The fight for the title had to be between these three players. It was unlikely someone else would win.<br />
<br />
Hideaki Jo (Japan), Bram de Laat (Netherlands), Peter Hudak (Slovakia), Nikola Zivanovic (Serbia), Roland Voigt (Germany), Wei-Hua Hwang (USA) and Neil Zussman (UK) complete the top 10. Michael Ley (Germany) finished 7th in the standings, but surprisingly (and unfortunately), he was not in the official team, and hence could not participate in the playoffs.<br />
<br />
The playoffs began and it was going like everyone had expected. Ulrich had a one puzzle lead for a major portion and Palmer was catching up quickly. Thomas was unable to catch up to them. It all seemed to going well, and Ulrich reached the second last puzzle, with a one puzzle lead. Then the tables turned. Ulrich kept making a mistake. He was desperately erasing and trying. Palmer on the other hand, completed the puzzle and was the first one to reach the last puzzle. A few minutes later, he had won. Ulrich was still stuck on the puzzle. Now even Thomas reached the puzzle and solved it too! Just a few seconds after Thomas reached the last puzzle, was Ulrich able to complete his second last one. But he beat Thomas in the last puzzle to take silver.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Playoff Results</b><br />
<br />
1. Palmer Mebane (USA)<br />
2. Ulrich Voigt (Germany)<br />
3. Thomas Snyder (USA)<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Individual Results</b><br />
<br />
1. Ulrich Voigt (Germany) - 5085<br />
2. Palmer Mebane (USA) - 4769<br />
3. Thomas Snyder (USA) - 4546<br />
<br />
<b>Indian Results</b><br />
<br />
34. Rohan Rao - 2898<br />
85. Rajesh Kumar - 1691<br />
91. Rajib Ranjan Borah - 1495<br />
97. Tejal Phatak - 1143<br />
<br />
<a href="http://users.atw.hu/rejtveny/wscwpc/wpc-individual.pdf">Complete Individual Results</a><br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Team Results</b><br />
<br />
1. USA - 20447<br />
2. Germany - 20304<br />
3. Japan - 18026<br />
<br />
<a href="http://users.atw.hu/rejtveny/wscwpc/wpc-team.pdf">Complete Team Results</a><br />
<br />
Overall, it was a great championship. The puzzles, the rounds, and the
format and organisation was as good as it could get. With WSC and WPC
combined, it involves a lot of effort and work, and the Hungarians did a
wonderful job.<br />
<br />
I am happy with my performance. Top 25 would have been ideal, but at least I was able to improve my rank.<br />
<br />
Congrats to Palmer Mebane for winning his maiden WPC title.<br />
<br />
<br />
Congrats to Thomas Snyder for finishing on the podium in both events. Congrats to Thomas Snyder, Hideaki Jo and Nikola Zivanovic (and Michael Ley) for making the playoffs (top 10) in both events.<br />
<br />
It was good meeting up with old friends and new ones, and I hope this trend of WSC+WPC continues (maybe with a little more rest time or little less puzzles!)
</div>Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-27297095846841389072011-11-14T17:00:00.001+05:302012-01-20T19:32:44.117+05:30World Sudoku Championship 2011<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinkMGDFgvbzNk-WpirEIh1Ln5-7fLDvlGMpmDeHEgpLE3eyJMc6qcUIv6CjXcIJlLsLjEGMSpOXLctz2PLVmrrh4Tox2QaCkiAWFnLa4Ba-SC-b8q3Gh95itRMJJUlu_qu6BpKzizWQwY/s1600/wpc_wsc_2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinkMGDFgvbzNk-WpirEIh1Ln5-7fLDvlGMpmDeHEgpLE3eyJMc6qcUIv6CjXcIJlLsLjEGMSpOXLctz2PLVmrrh4Tox2QaCkiAWFnLa4Ba-SC-b8q3Gh95itRMJJUlu_qu6BpKzizWQwY/s400/wpc_wsc_2011.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The <b>6th World Sudoku Championship</b> and 20th World Puzzle Championship was held on 6th-10th November, 2011 in Eger, Hungary.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://wscwpc.ini.hu/">Championship Page</a> <br />
<br />
This is the first time the WSC and WPC was held as a combined event.<br />
<br />
<b>Team India</b><br />
The national finals of the <a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/2011/06/indian-sudoku-championship-2011.html">Indian Sudoku Championship</a> and the <a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/2011/06/indian-puzzle-championship-2011.html%0A">Indian Puzzle Championship</a> was held in June 2011. Unfortunately, Ritesh Gupta and Gaurav Korde were unable to attend the WSC, and Harmeet Singh was unable to attend the WPC. So, we were forced to go down the list and finally are team consisted of:<br />
<br />
<b><i>Sudoku Team</i></b><br />
Sumit Bothra (Bengaluru)<br />
Tejal Phatak (Mumbai)<br />
Prasanna Seshadri (Mumbai)<br />
Rohan Rao (Mumbai)<br />
<br />
<b><i>Puzzle Team</i></b><br />
Rajesh Kumar (Bengaluru)<br />
Rajib Ranjan Borah (Mumbai)<br />
Tejal Phatak (Mumbai)<br />
Rohan Rao (Mumbai)<br />
<br />
I was very busy since I had three exams before my trip and have my entire
end-semester examinations immediately after my trip, so I spent minimal
time for puzzles. Not the best thing to do by a national champion but I
was left with little choice.<br />
<br />
Last year I stood 15th in WSC and my goal this year was to reach the top 10. I really thought I could make it this time, especially with my improvement in the LMI tests and other championship results.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>6th November, 2011</b></span><br />
We reached Eger around 6pm, rested for a while, and went for the Welcome Party. All of us were quite tired and sleepy after an 8-hour journey and being 4.5 hours behind our usual time-zone, we immediately hit the sac.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>7th November, 2011</b></span><br />
The World Sudoku Championship 2011 began.<br />
<br />
<b>Part 1: Wrong Puzzles</b><br />
Many players were of the opinion that this is not a 'sudoku-solving' round. I was indifferent. I didn't think it was completely random, nor was I convinced it was the best round to start a WSC with.<br />
<br />
The puzzles were a pleasant surprise. There were a good mix of grids, with various fonts, styles, sizes and overall, it was a fun round. I don't think many people would have complained after the round, but surely, it was better than expected for most players.<br />
<br />
In terms of scores, I started very poorly with a mere 68 points in this round compared to the highest 150 by David McNeill (UK).<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Part 2: Sudoku Pieces</b><br />
It took me a while in understanding the puzzle when I was studying the booklet. Once it was clear, I wasn't comfortable with this. I'm not very good at these kind of sudoku rounds. When it was announced that we had to place the pieces on the sheet itself, I thought I was doomed. I just wanted the round to begin and then end, as soon as possible. I was glad this round had partial scoring.<br />
<br />
When the round started, it was a little comforting that there were 81 clues and no empty cells. I was slow to start, but after getting a few pieces, I was quickly able to crack the grid. I was mighty pleased with myself as (I think) this was the first time I said 'Finish!' at a WSC :-)<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Part 3: Easy Classics</b><br />
This round went quite average for me. Tiit Vunk (Estonia) scored an exceptional 605 points.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Part 4: Halved Squares Sudoku</b><br />
I had a bad feeling about this round. I did not practise at all (not even the ones of the Hungarian championship) and I was quite sure this would be one of the bad rounds.<br />
<br />
I will not say it was good, but it went better than I expected. A below average score though.<br />
<br />
Thomas Snyder (USA) took a considerable lead from many top players after this round.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Part 5: Sudoku Central Clues</b><br />
This round was good, and I was able to move up a few ranks. I think I was 17th or 18th after this round at the end of Day 1 of Individuals.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Part 6: Circle Sudoku (Team)</b><br />
The concept of this round was well thought of. The execution, even better. I always enjoy solving linked puzzles and this was very exciting. We were able to solve 4 sudokus and missed one more by a few seconds.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Part 7: Vasarely Sudoku (Team)</b><br />
Another nice team round and we were quite happy we were able to finish it in time. A lot of other teams finished it too.<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>8th November, 2011</b></span><br />
Day 2 of WSC. I needed all my rounds to go extremely well in order to be in the top 10. Tough chance, but possible.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Part 8: Decorated Sudoku</b><br />
This was one of the big rounds. I started well and scored 465 points. Just for argument sake, I equalled Thomas Snyder (USA) in this round!<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Part 9: Sprint Sudoku</b><br />
A fast-paced round. I need to practise these Sprint rounds. I tend to do better in longer rounds. Probably because of my mental stamina.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Part 10: Sudoku Mix</b><br />
Another big round. This round pulled me down a bit. I got stuck in Tetris and Increasing Roundabout and lost some time.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Part 11: Not Easy Classics</b><br />
I got the highest score in Hard Classics in <a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/2010/05/world-sudoku-championship-2010.html">WSC 2010</a> in Philadelphia. Well, fluke rarely happens twice!<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Part 12: 3D Sudoku</b><br />
I'm not particularly good at solving Cube Sudokus, but I surprised myself and was able to solve it in time. So, second time in one WSC, I said 'Finish!'. Pretty cool!<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Part 13: Weakest Link (Team)</b><br />
A standard weakest link round where each player of the team solves an individual puzzle and then goes to the team table. Our team finished this round and we were confident of finishing in the top 10 in the team rankings.<br />
<br />
<b>WSC Playoffs</b><br />
I finished 12th. Missed the playoffs by about 80 points. The playoffs consisted of a good set of players.<br />
<br />
The format of the playoffs was interesting. Top 10 puzzlers start solving based on a time difference in proportion to their scores. The last 3 players to finish the first 3 puzzles are eliminated. Then the last 2 players to finish the next 3 puzzles are eliminated. Then a fight to the finish with the next 4 puzzles.<br />
<br />
Thomas Snyder (USA): World Sudoku Champion 2007, 2008. He had a big lead and would surely win if the playoffs went smoothly for him.<br />
<br />
Jan Mrozowski (Poland): World Sudoku Champion 2009, 2010. He was probably the biggest threat to Thomas.<br />
<br />
Tiit Vunk (Estonia) and Kota Morinishi (Japan) were looking very strong in the championship.<br />
<br />
Florian Kirch (Germany), Jan Novotny (Czech Republic), Nikola Zivanovic (Serbia), Michael Ley (Germany), Hideaki Jo (Japan) and Jakub Ondrousek (Czech Republic) complete the top 10.<br />
<br />
The playoffs started with a shock. Jan Mrozowski was stuck on the second puzzle while everyone else proceeded. He probably had some problem on his end. Kota Morinishi was racing through the puzzles and catching up with Thomas who was always one table ahead. Thomas kept the lead and calmly finished all the puzzles. Kota finished second, and Tiit, with a slight stumble midway finished 3rd. Hideaki, after starting 9th, finished a creditable 4th.<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Playoff Results</b><br />
<br />
1. Thomas Snyder (USA)<br />
2. Kota Morinishi (Japan)<br />
3. Tiit Vunk (Estonia)<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Individual Results</b><br />
<br />
1. Thomas Snyder (USA) - 3760<br />
2. Jan Mrozowski (Poland) - 3525<br />
3. Tiit Vunk (Estonia) - 3459<br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Indian Results</b><br />
<br />
12. Rohan Rao - 2983<br />
44. Sumit Bothra - 2154<br />
54. Tejal Phatak - 1966<br />
71. Prasanna Seshadri - 1725<br />
101. Rajesh Kumar - 1314<br />
<br />
<a href="http://users.atw.hu/rejtveny/wscwpc/wsc-individual.pdf">Complete Individual Results</a> <br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Team Results</b><br />
<br />
1. Germany - 16436<br />
2. Czech Republic - 16181<br />
3. USA - 14488<br />
<br />
8. India - 11708<br />
<br />
<a href="http://users.atw.hu/rejtveny/wscwpc/wsc-team.pdf">Complete Team Results</a><br />
<br />
Overall, it was a great championship. The sudokus, the rounds, and the format and organisation was as good as it could get. With WSC and WPC combined, it involves a lot of effort and work, and the Hungarians did a wonderful job.<br />
<br />
I am happy with my performance. Top 10 would have been ideal, but at least I was close. Maybe next time. <br />
<br />
Congrats to Thomas Snyder for winning his 3rd WSC title. He has been very consistent throughout the year and is a deserving winner.<br />
<br />
It was good meeting up with old friends and new ones, and I hope this trend of WSC+WPC continues.<br />
<br /></div>Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-81513496553401461072011-11-01T19:27:00.000+05:302012-01-20T19:33:01.967+05:30Logic Masters India - Screen Test 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
Logic Masters India announces the second edition of Screen Test. It will be held on 1st-4th November.<br />
<br />
I authored last year's <a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/2010/11/logic-masters-india-screen-test-1.html">Screen Test 1</a> with Deb Mohanty. This year, I authored it alone. I learnt a lot from last year and was quite happy with the response. I'm hoping this time it turns out to be better and bigger since there are some changes that have been made based on the feedback.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/ST/ST2.asp">Championship Page</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?attachmentid=183">Download Screen Test Guide</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=398">Forum</a><br />
<br />
For new-comers as well as regulars, it is very important to read through the Screen Test Guide and go through the examples on the webpage before starting the test to have maximum benefit of the system.<br />
<br />
You may ask any queries on the forum or here.<br />
<br />
I hope you enjoy the puzzles and relish the 35-minute puzzle-ride!<br />
<br /></div>Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-44021545947807897432011-10-15T11:11:00.000+05:302012-01-20T19:33:22.547+05:30Logic Masters India - October 2011 Puzzle Test<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Logic Masters India announces the October 2011 Puzzle Test 'Double Decathlon'. It will be held on 15th-16th October, 2011.<br />
The author of the puzzles is Thomas Snyder. You will find a lot of practise puzzles on his blog '<a href="http://motris.livejournal.com/">The Art Of Puzzles</a>'.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/M201110P/">Championship Page</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?attachmentid=181&v2">Download Instruction Booklet</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?attachmentid=182&vers1">Download Puzzle Booklet</a><br />
Password will be available when you start the test.<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=391">Forum</a><br />
<br />
Results will be declared on 17th October.</div>Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-7696547700233989632011-10-01T11:50:00.002+05:302011-10-01T11:52:32.229+05:30Logic Masters India - October 2011 Sudoku Test<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Logic Masters India announces the October 2011 Sudoku Test 'A or B'. It will be held on 1st-2nd October, 2011.<br />
The author of the puzzles is Deb Mohanty.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/M201110S/">Championship Page</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?attachmentid=179&v1">Download Instruction Booklet</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?attachmentid=180">Download Puzzle Booklet</a><br />
Password will be available when you start the test.<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=387">Forum</a><br />
<br />
The list of sudokus that will appear in the test are:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Odd%20Sudoku">Odd Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Extra%20Region%20Sudoku">Extra Region Sudoku</a><br />
Greater Sudoku<br />
Lesser Sudoku<br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Even%20Sudoku">Even Sudoku</a><br />
Small Neighbours Sudoku<br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Sequence%20Sudoku">Sequence Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Palindrome%20Sudoku">Palindrome Sudoku</a><br />
Marked Quadro Sudoku<br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Multiplication%20Table%20Sudoku">Multiplication Table Sudoku</a><br />
Neighbouring Sudoku<br />
Sum 10 Sudoku<br />
Multiple Sudoku<br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Touchy%20Sudoku">Touchy Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Anti%20Knight%20Sudoku">Antiknight Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/XV%20Sudoku">XV Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Kropki%20Sudoku">Kropki Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Consecutive%20Sudoku">Consecutive Sudoku</a><br />
Fiver Sudoku<br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Skyscraper%20Sudoku">Skyscraper Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Outside%20Sudoku">Outside Sudoku</a><br />
Odd/Even View Sudoku<br />
<br />
Please read the instructions carefully. This is a different type of sudoku test.<br />
<br />
Results will be declared on 3rd October.</div>
Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-72898640012502897452011-09-24T21:44:00.003+05:302011-09-28T15:58:05.749+05:30US Sudoku Championship 2011<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The US Sudoku Championship 2011 was held on 24th September, 2011.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://wpc.puzzles.com/ussc11/">View Championship Page</a><br />
<br />
You can download the booklets from the website.<br />
<br />
<b>USA Results</b><br />
<b><br /></b><br />
1. Jonathan Rivet - 255<br />
2. Jason Zuffranieri - 230<br />
3. Jim Schneider - 224<br />
<br />
<b>International Results</b><br />
<b><br /></b><br />
1. Branko Ceranic (Serbia) - 289.29<br />
2. Bastien Vial-Jaime (France) - 280<br />
3. Hideaki Jo (Japan) - 275<br />
4. Ko Okamoto (Japan) - 260.17<br />
5. Rohan Rao (India) - 260<br />
<br />
<a href="http://wpc.puzzles.com/ussc11/results.asp">Complete Results</a><br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-83029764006857805832011-09-08T11:20:00.002+05:302011-09-26T21:39:13.888+05:30Logic Masters India - September 2011 Sudoku Test<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Logic Masters India announces the September Sudoku Test 'Crazy Arrows'. It was held on 10th-11th September, 2011.<br />
I am the author!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/M201109S/">Championship Page</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?attachmentid=176&v2">Download Instruction Booklet</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?attachmentid=177&v2">Download Puzzle Booklet</a><br />
Password is <i>CrazyzarCArrowsworrA</i><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=378">Forum</a><br />
<br />
The list of sudokus that appeared in the test are:<br />
<br />
0-9 Arrow Sudoku<br />
Count Arrow Sudoku<br />
Difference Arrow Sudoku<br />
Incomplete Arrow Sudoku<br />
Missing Arrow Sudoku<br />
Parted Arrow Sudoku<br />
Product Arrow Sudoku<br />
Skyscraper Arrow Sudoku<br />
Sum Arrow Sudoku<br />
Symmetric Arrow Sudoku<br />
Wrong Arrow Sudoku<br />
<br />
<b>Results</b><br />
<br />
1. Thomas Snyder (USA) - 925<br />
2. Nikola Zivanovic (Serbia) - 805<br />
3. Kota Morinishi (Japan) - 760<br />
4. Palmer Mebane (USA) - 740<br />
5. Branko Ceranic (Serbia) - 715<br />
6. Sinchai R (Thailand) - 700<br />
7. Zafer Huseyin Ergan (Turkey) - 680<br />
8. Sylvain Caudmont (France) - 660<br />
9. Hideaki Jo (Japan) - 635<br />
10. Peter Hudak (Slovakia) - 635<br />
<br />
<b>Best Indians</b><br />
<br />
32. Rakesh Rai - 485<br />
34. Amit Sowani - 465<br />
42. Jaipal Reddy - 410<br />
44. Sudhir Shankar Raman - 400<br />
56. Rajesh Kumar - 350<br />
<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/M201109S/score.asp">Complete Results</a><br />
<br />
Congrats to Thomas for winning Crazy Arrows with a big lead. Congrats to Nikola and Kota for 2nd and 3rd respectively.<br />
<br />
I got the idea of Crazy Arrows last year, and I'm glad I could finally conduct this test. The test was tough, and some of the sudokus were very challenging for players.<br />
<br />
<b>0-9</b> was my favourite variation of this set, and also was the first variant that I had thought of.<br />
<br />
<b>Count</b> was the easiest sudoku of the set and 90% of the players solved it.<br />
<br />
<b>Difference</b> was difficult to start, but once you get few numbers correctly, the grid solves quickly.<br />
<br />
<b>Incomplete</b> was another easy sudoku and this was Deb's idea that I worked on.<br />
<br />
<b>Missing</b> was the toughest of the set. Guesswork was needed in multiple places and only 5 players were able to solve it. This is now the least solved individual sudoku on LMI so far. Maybe you can try to crack it!<br />
<br />
<b>Parted</b> was not easy. After getting a few initial numbers, there is a little guesswork required.<br />
<br />
<b>Product</b> was one of my favourite sudokus. The idea was taken from USA where it appeared in WSC 2010.<br />
<br />
<b>Skyscraper</b> was relatively easy compared to the other sudokus.<br />
<br />
<b>Sum 1</b> was tough. As Jason mentioned in his post on LMI, it had a very 'Killer feeling'.<br />
<br />
<b>Sum 2</b> was my favourite. And it also is the favourite of the players. Most people commented on this grid and it has the maximum rating too, so, I consider this the cream of the set.<br />
<br />
<b>Symmetric</b> was the one sudoku that couldn't make this test a neat one. It was worth 75 points and I apologize for the mistake on my part. It was much tougher and deserved a lot more points. It was also very difficult and a lot of players might've been affected by this and I regret the mistake.<br />
<br />
<b>Wrong</b> was one of my top 3 sudokus of the set. Many players might have had a hiccough while solving when seeing a '9' on an arrow and a '1' in a circle. But I guess most of the players realised that it does work that way :-)<br />
<br />
I thank all the participants for removing time and participating in Crazy Arrows and I hope you'll enjoyed at least a few of the sudokus. Hope to see you again in 'Crazier Arrows'!</div>
Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-69925498701778499442011-09-05T23:29:00.002+05:302011-09-26T21:38:55.299+05:30Logic Masters India - September 2011 Puzzle Test<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Logic Masters India announces the September 2011 Puzzle Test 'Sprint Test'. It was held on 3rd-4th September, 2011.<br />
The author of the puzzles is Bastien Vial-Jaime (Ours Brun).<br />
<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/M201109P/">Championship Page</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?attachmentid=173&v2">Download Instruction Booklet</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?attachmentid=174">Download Puzzle Booklet</a><br />
Password is <i>SroSis201246</i><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=377">Forum</a><br />
<br />
The list of puzzles that appeared in the test are:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Light%20It%20Up">Akari</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Fillomino">Fillomino</a><br />
Fortress<br />
Galaxies<br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Heyawake">Heyawacky</a><br />
Horse Snake<br />
LITS<br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Masyu">Masyu</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Nurikabe">Nurikabe</a><br />
Pointing Evens Sudoku<br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Fence">Slitherlink</a><br />
Snail<br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Star%20Battle">Star Battle</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Tapa">Tapa</a><br />
Yajilin<br />
<br />
<b>Results</b><br />
<br />
1. Palmer Mebane (USA) - 348<br />
2. Thomas Snyder (USA) - 345<br />
3. Ko Okamoto (Japan) - 336<br />
4. Nagata Yuta (Japan) - 312<br />
5. Hideaki Jo (Japan) - 306<br />
6. Psyho (Poland) - 306<br />
7. Zoltan Horvath (Hungary) - 297<br />
8. Kota Morinishi (Japan) - 288<br />
9. Phillip Edwards (Australia) - 287<br />
10. Michael Ley (Germany) - 285<br />
<br />
<b>Best Indians</b><br />
<br />
46. Rakesh Rai - 180<br />
49. Rohan Rao - 175<br />
72. Amit Sowani - 140<br />
97. Jaipal Reddy - 115<br />
112. Harmeet Singh - 105<br />
<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/M201109P/score.asp">Complete Results</a><br />
<br />
Another new dimension to LMI! A fast-paced test where every second counts. Puzzles were excellent. Full credit to Bastien for this fantastic set.<br />
You make one error, and you lose chunks of relative time. Its quite disappointing that I wasn't able to finish all the 15 puzzles, especially when there are players who do it in half your time.<br />
Congrats to Palmer and Thomas (I guess you'll are continuing the battle here too) and the Japanese for their excellent results.</div>
Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-30936097653715650272011-09-05T23:09:00.000+05:302011-09-05T23:10:56.142+05:30Sudokucup 6 (Part 2)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The sixth Sudokucup was held in two parts. <a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/2011/07/sudokucup-6-part-1.html">Sudokucup 6 Part 1</a> was held on 23rd-24th July, 2011.<br />
Sudokucup 6 Part 2 was held on 3rd-4th September, 2011.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://sudokucup.com/node/7">Championship Page</a><br />
<a href="http://sudokucup.com/sites/default/files/SC6_booklet_en.pdf">Download Instruction Booklet</a><br />
<a href="http://sudokucup.com/sites/default/files/SC6_2_en_pass.pdf">Download Puzzle Booklet</a><br />
Password is <i>KNASUQ91?3JMEP</i>
<br />
<i><br /></i><br />
The list of sudokus that appeared in the test are:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Classic%20Sudoku">1. Classic Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Diagonal%20Sudoku">2. Diagonal Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Irregular%20Sudoku">3. Irregular Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Extra%20Region%20Sudoku">4. Extra Region Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Anti%20Knight%20Sudoku">5. Antiknight Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Sequence%20Sudoku">6. Sequences Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Kropki%20Sudoku">7. Kropki Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/All%20Odd%20%2F%20All%20Even%20Sudoku">8. All Even All Odd Sudoku</a><br />
9. Surprise Sudoku<br />
10. Clock-Faces Sudoku<br />
11. More-Less Sudoku<br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Arrow%20Sudoku">12. Arrow Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Little%20Killer%20Sudoku">13. Little Killer Sudoku</a><br />
14. Decimal Killer Sudoku<br />
<br />
<b>Results</b><br />
<br />
1. Jakub Ondrousek (Czech Republic) - 300 (01:10)<br />
2. Jan Mrozowski (Czech Republic) - 300 (01:17)<br />
3. Tiit Vunk (Estonia) - 300 (01:22)<br />
4. Michael Ley (Germany) - 300 (01:24)<br />
5. Jason Zuffranieri (USA) - 300 (01:25)<br />
6. Hideaki Jo (Japan) - 300 (01:27)<br />
7. Branko Ceranic (Serbia) - 300 (01:30)<br />
8. Rishi Puri (India) - 300 (01:35)<br />
9. Chen Cen (China) - 300 (01:36)<br />
10. Nikola Zivanovic (Serbia) - 300 (01:38)<br />
<br />
<b>Best Indians</b><br />
<br />
8. Rishi Puri - 300 (01:35)<br />
15. Rohan Rao - 300 (01:46)<br />
58. Jaipal Reddy - 227<br />
69. Prasanna Seshadri - 211<br />
83. Rakesh Rai - 171<br />
<br />
<a href="http://sudokucup.com/node/1247">Complete Results</a><br />
<br />
Sudokucup 6 Part 2 was definitely much easier than Part 1. 27 Players finished all sudokus within the 2 hours compared to just 7 in Part 1.<br />
<br />
Now that both parts of SC6 are over, I wonder who is the winner of 'Sudokucup 6'?</div>
Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-11940023209687469292011-08-26T23:02:00.000+05:302011-09-05T22:46:34.249+05:30US Puzzle Championship 2011<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The 2011 US Puzzle Championship was held on 27th August, 2011.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://wpc.puzzles.com/uspc11/">View Championship Page</a><br />
<br />
<b>USA Results</b><br />
<br />
1. Palmer Mebane (USA) - 415<br />
2. Thomas Snyder (USA) - 349<br />
3. William Blatt (USA) - 309<br />
<br />
<a href="http://wpc.puzzles.com/uspc11/results.asp">Complete Results</a><br />
<br />
This was my first 'complete' USPC. Since it is midnight in India during USPC, I dozed off last two years.<br />
<br />
Congrats to Palmer Mebane for ending Thomas Snyder's five-year reign at the USPC! Both of them have been performing consistently well in championships throughout the year, and I'm sure they would be among the top guns at the WPC in Hungary.<br />
<br />
You can read more about the championship on the champions' blogs:<br />
<a href="http://motris.livejournal.com/150772.html">Thomas Snyder's views</a><br />
<a href="http://mellowmelon.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/detailed-uspc-post-mortem/">Palmer Mebane's views</a><br />
<br />
Looking forward to meet you'll and your team in Hungary.</div>
Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-66448583794479756722011-08-21T11:13:00.003+05:302011-08-27T12:58:49.591+05:30Logic Masters India - August 2011 Puzzle Test<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Logic Masters India announces the August 2011 Puzzle Test 'Japanese Puzzle Land'. It was held on 20th-21st August, 2011.<br />
The authors of the puzzles are Yosuke Imai, Atsumi Hirose, Takeya Saikachi and Daisuke Takei.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/M201108P/">Championship Page</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?attachmentid=169&v1">Download Instruction Booklet</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?attachmentid=170">Download Puzzle Booklet</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?attachmentid=172">Download Solution Booklet</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=373">Forum</a><br />
<br />
The list of puzzles that appeared in the test are:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Classic%20Sudoku">Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Kakuro">Kakuro</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Fillomino">Fillomino</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/ABC%20Connection">Numberlink</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Fence">Slitherlink</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Masyu">Masyu</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Heyawake">Heyawake</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Light%20It%20Up">Akari</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Rectangles">Shikaku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Hitori">Hitori</a><br />
Shakashaka<br />
Mochikoro<br />
Yajilin<br />
<br />
<b>Results</b><br />
<br />
1. Thomas Snyder (USA) - 550<br />
2. Kota Morinishi (Japan) - 434<br />
3. Tarotaro (Japan) - 426<br />
4. Endo Ken (Japan) - 426<br />
5. Volxa (Japan) - 424<br />
6. Ko Okamoto (Japan) - 421<br />
7. Palmer Mebane (USA) - 410<br />
8. Shinichi Aoki (Japan) - 398<br />
9. Psyho (Poland) - 381<br />
10. Yukkuri (Japan) - 356<br />
<br />
<b>Best Indians</b><br />
<br />
37. Rakesh Rai - 266<br />
58. Rohan Rao - 219<br />
87. Rajesh Kumar - 178<br />
101. Amit Sowani - 160<br />
105. Harmeet Singh - 150<br />
<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/M201108P/score.asp">Complete Results</a><br />
<br />
Excellent set of puzzles. For the first time, Japanese authored an LMI and test and what a huge success! It saw maximum number of participants in an LMI test!<br />
Congrats to the Japanese authors and also to the Japanese participants who had some tremendous results. And needless to say, congrats to Thomas for winning yet another LMI test.</div>Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-19610866204989840462011-08-17T16:51:00.001+05:302011-08-17T16:52:12.580+05:30Rules of 'Heyawake'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Blacken some cells so that all remaining cells are connected orthogonally. No two black cells can share an edge. Any single horizontal or vertical line of white cells cannot traverse more than one thick line. Numbers indicate the amount of black cells in that region.<br />
<br />
EXAMPLE:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVw4SXlAYh77pxdVblVbgrNKsb5DXVyP0KL3K-FTniHVgK02i4RqF_h39l1FGGUf1CwScPNJ1T2KgruKJtXOwgMlicZn14NNGQLmtduHz1ju18mu1WgrrVLgd2X52OTyrl0Utf7fRnals/s1600/Heyawake+Example.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVw4SXlAYh77pxdVblVbgrNKsb5DXVyP0KL3K-FTniHVgK02i4RqF_h39l1FGGUf1CwScPNJ1T2KgruKJtXOwgMlicZn14NNGQLmtduHz1ju18mu1WgrrVLgd2X52OTyrl0Utf7fRnals/s1600/Heyawake+Example.png" /></a><br />
<br />
UNIQUE SOLUTION:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheaqXaa5WCsu3yPtmRING0nPd2ApGJB7Gs8ewOoyYuXwsIZoxpfXUkH5BPZ7G6UMcJ7EaCncr4Sq_rNTDJ1Nji-moGRz3nqt4AbG-NgLu79pplcqwumO-MN-abZL5-MaGAJBgJRjJ5EB8/s1600/Heyawake+Solution.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheaqXaa5WCsu3yPtmRING0nPd2ApGJB7Gs8ewOoyYuXwsIZoxpfXUkH5BPZ7G6UMcJ7EaCncr4Sq_rNTDJ1Nji-moGRz3nqt4AbG-NgLu79pplcqwumO-MN-abZL5-MaGAJBgJRjJ5EB8/s1600/Heyawake+Solution.png" /></a><br />
</div>Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-65539381319952837622011-08-06T20:43:00.003+05:302011-08-09T01:55:10.842+05:30Logic Masters India - August 2011 Sudoku Test<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpE7LUHjM5LkKwznGU7Uc4rfVHtndoYXtDe0GkMbOb3TeHX1G98IlOVAWG4ucDx40udmRv5V4ytLi95lEnhB9lgW5T_UpOEitvDs5H0pcl1eAPdCINXcbboE8OlnMCMMGfNn-g_8_xJRg/s1600/M201108S_big_logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpE7LUHjM5LkKwznGU7Uc4rfVHtndoYXtDe0GkMbOb3TeHX1G98IlOVAWG4ucDx40udmRv5V4ytLi95lEnhB9lgW5T_UpOEitvDs5H0pcl1eAPdCINXcbboE8OlnMCMMGfNn-g_8_xJRg/s1600/M201108S_big_logo.png" /></a></div><br />
Logic Masters India announces the August Sudoku Test 'Sudoku City'. It was held on 6th-7th August, 2011.<br />
The author of the puzzles is Nikola Zivanovic.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/M201108S/">Championship Page</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?attachmentid=167">Download Instruction Booklet</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?attachmentid=168&v0">Download Puzzle Booklet</a><br />
Password is <i>SkyIsTheLIMIT</i><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=372">Forum</a><br />
<br />
<b>Results</b><br />
<br />
1. Yuhei Kusui (Japan) - 93<br />
2. Thomas Snyder (USA) - 83<br />
3. Branko Ceranic (Serbia) - 81<br />
4. Jason Zuffranieri (USA) - 79<br />
5. Jakub Hrazdira (Czech Republic) - 79<br />
6. WaterlooMathie (Canada) - 77<br />
7. Hideaki Jo (Japan) - 77<br />
8. Kota Morinishi (Japan) - 73<br />
9. Bastien Vial-Jaime (France) - 71<br />
10. Rohan Rao (India) - 71<br />
<br />
<b>Best Indians</b><br />
<br />
10. Rohan Rao - 71<br />
17. Rakesh Rai - 57<br />
53. Neeraj Mehrotra - 33<br />
54. Harmeet Singh - 32<br />
83. Prasanna Seshadri - 22<br />
<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/M201108S/score.asp">Complete Results</a><br />
<br />
<b>Before</b><br />
<i>Skyscraper Sudoku variants. This promises to be an exciting contest. The variation look good and Nikola has never disappointed me :-)<br />
I'm been performing below par in the last couple of tests, maybe I can redeem with this one.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>After</b><br />
What a city! Nikola has proved he's the best architect among puzzlers by building this beautiful city. I'm sure most citizens who entered the city did not want to leave!<br />
</div>Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-60733671395641604752011-08-02T10:14:00.034+05:302011-08-02T10:32:26.581+05:30Logic Masters India - July 2011 Puzzle Test 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiABBnhQxvYjhyphenhyphen1ZCdtXli8sZFO07cAIjiChz07i7PMx1PCktoN1jx87IysKCMm97sa5tmkR8oHp_W9DRzH9IWB-NpdhLU2gvPpFftqfd7g-x9L_gaqMLi7HONm5idj95zd7x8TcFUMjb4/s1600/mclogo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiABBnhQxvYjhyphenhyphen1ZCdtXli8sZFO07cAIjiChz07i7PMx1PCktoN1jx87IysKCMm97sa5tmkR8oHp_W9DRzH9IWB-NpdhLU2gvPpFftqfd7g-x9L_gaqMLi7HONm5idj95zd7x8TcFUMjb4/s1600/mclogo.png" /></a></div>Logic Masters India announces the July Puzzle Test 2 'Magic Cube'. It was held on 29th-30th July, 2011.<br />
The authors of the puzzles are the puzzle-makers of the 20th World Puzzle Championship (which will be held in November).<br />
<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/M201107P2/">Championship Page</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?attachmentid=165&v1">Download Instruction Booklet</a><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/lmitests/dl.asp?b=1&attachmentid=166">Download Puzzle Booklet</a><br />
Password is <i>WPCandWSCinHungary2011</i><br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=364">Forum</a><br />
<br />
The list of puzzles that appeared in the test are: (In cube format)<br />
<br />
1. Magic Snail<br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Hitori">2. Hitori</a><br />
3. Cave<br />
4. Dutch Loop<br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Irregular%20Sudoku">5. Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Capsules">6. Capsules</a><br />
7. Heyawake<br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Fillomino">8. Fillomino</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Slalom">9. Slalom</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Star%20Battle">10. Star Battle</a><br />
11. Crosswords<br />
<br />
<b>Results</b><br />
<br />
1. Thomas Snyder (USA) - 1226<br />
2. Ko Okamoto (Japan) - 1085<br />
3. Palmer Mebane (USA) - 1080<br />
4. Peter Hudak (Slovakia) - 1065<br />
5. Hideaki Jo (Japan) - 1045<br />
6. Ulrich Voigt (Germany) - 950<br />
7. Kota Morinishi (Japan) - 935<br />
8. Nikola Zivanovic (Serbia) - 900<br />
9. Jan Mrozowski (Poland) - 845<br />
10. Shinichi Aoki (Japan) - 825<br />
<br />
<b>Best Indians</b><br />
<br />
56. Rohan Rao - 510<br />
68. Rajesh Kumar - 460<br />
73. Rakesh Rai - 440<br />
75. Amit Sowani - 430<br />
79. Swaroop Guggilam - 420<br />
<br />
<a href="http://logicmastersindia.com/M201107P2/score.asp">Complete Results</a><br />
<br />
Thanks to all the organisers of this test and the WPC for having this test. It is a very good set of puzzles, especially for those who will be present in Hungary for the WPC.</div>Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3387397185674178799.post-34893633859480701492011-07-24T12:24:00.002+05:302011-08-09T10:55:11.686+05:30Sudokucup 6 (Part 1)The sixth Sudokucup will be held in two parts. Part 1 was held on 23rd-24th July, 2011. Players can participate in any one or both the parts.<br />
The author of the puzzles is Jan Novotny.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://sudokucup.com/node/7">Championship Page</a><br />
<a href="http://sudokucup.com/sites/default/files/SC6_booklet_en.pdf">Download Instruction Booklet</a><br />
<a href="http://sudokucup.com/sites/default/files/SC6_1_en_pass.pdf">Download Puzzle Booklet</a><br />
Password is <i>UWA61GA!711EXK</i><br />
<br />
The list of sudokus that appeared in the test are:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Classic%20Sudoku">1. Classic Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Diagonal%20Sudoku">2. Diagonal Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Irregular%20Sudoku">3. Irregular Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Extra%20Region%20Sudoku">4. Extra Region Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Anti%20Knight%20Sudoku">5. Antiknight Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Sequence%20Sudoku">6. Sequences Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Kropki%20Sudoku">7. Kropki Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/All%20Odd%20%2F%20All%20Even%20Sudoku">8. All Even All Odd Sudoku</a><br />
9. Surprise Sudoku<br />
10. Clock-Faces Sudoku<br />
11. More-Less Sudoku<br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Arrow%20Sudoku">12. Arrow Sudoku</a><br />
<a href="http://rohanrao.blogspot.com/search/label/Little%20Killer%20Sudoku">13. Little Killer Sudoku</a><br />
14. Decimal Killer Sudoku<br />
<br />
<b>Results</b><br />
<br />
1. Jan Mrozowski (Poland) - 300 (01:10)<br />
2. Hideaki Jo (Japan) - 300 (01:35)<br />
3. Minfang Lin (China) - 300 (01:46)<br />
4. Kota Morinishi (Japan) - 300 (01:49)<br />
5. Florian Kirch (Germany) - 300 (01:52)<br />
5. Bastien Vial-Jaime (France) - 300 (01:52)<br />
7. SJ Kwak (South Korea) - 300 (01:55)<br />
8. Vincent Bertrand (Belgium) - 286<br />
9. Jakub Hrazdira (Czech Republic) - 274<br />
10. Nikola Zivanovic (Serbia) - 273<br />
<br />
<b>Best Indians</b><br />
<br />
14. Rohan Rao - 260<br />
51. Rakesh Rai - 171<br />
78. Prasanna Seshadri - 121<br />
79. Akash Doulani - 121<br />
80. Neeraj Mehrotra - 121<br />
<br />
<a href="http://sudokucup.com/node/1198">Complete Results</a>Rohan Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02560724274804203098noreply@blogger.com0