Indian Sudoku Championship 2012

The Indian Sudoku Championship 2012, organised by Logic Masters India (LMI), 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.

There were regional rounds in four different cities and the top four contestants from each city qualify for the national finals.

1st July, 2012: Bengaluru Regional Round
Good to see 1000+ participants.

New Article

Qualifiers

1. Jaipal Reddy
2. Rakesh Rai
3. Asha Siddaiah
4. Rajesh Kumar

Congrats to the top 4 who qualify for the national finals.
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.

8th July, 2012: Chennai Regional Round
Again good to have 1000+ participants.

News Article

Qualifiers

1. Sumit Bothra
2. R Thejesvini
3. Raman Garimella
4. Zalak Ghetia

Congrats to the top 4 who qualify for the national finals.
Sumit is my WSC 2011 team-mate. Nice to see Raman back. Its also good to see 2 females among the top 4.

14th July, 2012: Delhi Regional Round
Good to have 1000+ participants.

News Article

Qualifiers

1. Ritesh Gupta
2. Himani Shah
3. Akash Doulani
4. Saroj Kumar Sahu

Congrats to the top 4 who qualify for the national finals.
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.

15th July, 2012: Mumbai Regional Round
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.

News Article

Qualifiers

1. Rohan Rao
2. Gaurav Korde
3. Dr. Omkar Hendre
4. Himanshu Mittal

Congrats to Gaurav, Omkar and Himanshu.

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.

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.

Competition was tough, and one way or another, there had to be good players who would not qualify.

22nd July, 2012: Indian Sudoku Championship Finals
The top 16 who qualified for the national finals, battled it out for a place in the top 4.

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.

Round 1: Sprint
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 :-)

(Results were announced at the end)
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.

Round 2: Classics
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.

Round 3: Mix
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.
Well, ironically, everyone had a bad round. Gaurav could have taken a lead but made an error in Outside, thus, pulling him down further.

Round 4: Surprise
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.
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.

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.

Final Results

1. Rohan Rao (Mumbai) - 1548
2. Sumit Bothra (Kolkata) - 1475
3. Gaurav Korde (Mumbai) - 1420
4. Rakesh Rai (Chennai) - 1354

Complete Results

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.

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.

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.

NOTE: 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.

June 2012 Sudoku Test

Sudoclones

Logic Masters India - June 2012 Puzzle Test

Logic Masters India announces the June 2012 Puzzle Test 'Seven Samurais'. It was held from 16th-18th June, 2012.
The author of the puzzles is Andrey Bogdanov.

Championship Page
Download Instruction Booklet
Download Puzzle Booklet
Password is FromRUSSIAwithLove
Forum

7 Standard Puzzles. All in Samurai form.


I guess players need to just tweak their solving styles fractionately to tune themselves into the Samurai grid.

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.

Complete Results

Congrats to Hideaki Jo for topping. A good weekend for him as he topped Sudokucup 8 too.

Sudokucup 8

The 8th Sudokucup will be held on 16th-18th June, 2012.
The author of the puzzles is Vladimir Portugalov.

Championship Page
Download Instruction Booklet
Download Puzzle Booklet
Password is ?PORSUD!36MOXC

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.

Enjoyed this set.
Congrats to Hideaki Jo and Kota Morinishi for completing the set. Hideaki has had a good weekend as he topped LMI's Seven Samurais too.

Complete Results

Indian Puzzle Championship 2012

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.

View Championship Page

Download Instruction Booklet
Download Puzzle Booklet

For any doubts/queries, you may post in the IPC 2012 Forum

The list of classic puzzles that will appear in the contest are:

Easy As ABC
Slitherlink
Kakuro
Loop Finder
Hitori
Masyu
Tapa
Sudoku
Skyscraper
TomTom
Snake
Square Division
Mastermind
Star Battle
Battleships

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.

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 :-)

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.
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.

(You can now rate the puzzles on the webpage)

Results

1. Rohan Rao - 955
2. Prasanna Seshadri - 790
3. Amit Sowani - 750
4. Rakesh Rai - 625
5. Swaroop Guggilam - 615
6. Harmeet Singh - 575
7. Rajesh Kumar - 500
8. Rajib Ranjan Borah - 490
9. Sudhanshu Mittal - 460
10. Puneet Goenka - 460

View Complete Results

(You can also play a quick and interesting game on the webpage, of guessing which puzzle was created by which author!)

I won my 3rd IPC title (in a row!) and it feels great to complete the hat-trick :-)
Congrats to Prasanna, Amit and Rakesh.

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 :-)

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.

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.

Lets hope the team can make it to Croatia in October and perform well! :-)

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...!)

Logic Masters India - May 2012 Puzzle Test

Logic Masters India announces the May 2012 Puzzle Test 'No Numbers'. It will be held from 26th-28th May, 2012.
The author of the puzzles is Ko Okamoto.

Championship Page
Download Instruction Booklet
Download Puzzle Booklet
Password will be available when you start the test.
Forum

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.

Bram De Laat's Practise Puzzles 1
Bram De Laat's Practise Puzzles 2

Prasanna Seshadri's Practise Puzzles 1
Prasanna Seshadri's Practise Puzzles 2
Prasanna Seshadri's Practise Puzzles 3

Swaroop Guggilam's Practise Puzzles 1
Swaroop Guggilam's Practise Puzzles 2

It is worth trying out some of these puzzles, it would only help in you being better prepared for the test.

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.

Good Luck to all participants!

Logic Masters India - April 2012 Sudoku Test

Logic Masters India announces the April 2012 Sudoku Test 'Killing Time'. It was held from 14th-16th April, 2012.
The author of the puzzles is Rishi Puri.

Championship Page
Download Instruction Booklet
Download Puzzle Booklet
Password is RvUeDeRrA
Forum

Nice to see Rishi back. This test is based on variants of Killer Sudoku.

I'm not a big fan of Killer Sudoku, but this test will surely prove to give a good insight into Killer-solving techniques.

A nice, enjoyable test. Some really nice Killer sudokus. I had trouble solving the Toroidal and the Little Killer, but otherwise the solves were good.
My favourite were Greater Than Killer and Twin Killer.


Results

World Puzzle Championship 2011

The 6th World Sudoku Championship and 20th World Puzzle Championship was held on 6th-10th November, 2011 in Eger, Hungary.

Championship Page


This is the first time the WSC and WPC was held as a combined event.

Team India
The national finals of the Indian Sudoku Championship and the Indian Puzzle Championship 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:

Sudoku Team
Sumit Bothra (Bengaluru)
Tejal Phatak (Mumbai)
Prasanna Seshadri (Mumbai)
Rohan Rao (Mumbai)

Puzzle Team
Rajesh Kumar (Bengaluru)
Rajib Ranjan Borah (Mumbai)
Tejal Phatak (Mumbai)
Rohan Rao (Mumbai)

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.

Last year I stood 41st in WPC and my goal this year was to reach the top 25.


6th November, 2011 - 8th November, 2011
World Sudoku Championship 2011

9th November, 2011
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!

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.

10th November, 2011
The World Puzzle Championship 2011 began.


Round 1: In Memorium
It was a pretty ordinary start. Not too good, not too bad. Ulrich Voigt (Germany) outperformed everyone by a good margin.


Round 2: Assorted Puzzles
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.


Round 3: Cows
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.


Round 4: Borderless
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.

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...


Round 5: Evergreens
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.


Round 6: Board Games
The concept and puzzles was very nice. It was fun solving them. Lets not talk about the scores though.


Round 7: Naval Puzzles
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.

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.


11th November, 2011
Day 2 of WPC.


Round 8: Screen Test
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 Screen Test I had organised on LMI a week before :-)

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!


Round 9: Sprint
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.

Round 10: Divide And Conquer
I love this puzzle type. And the puzzles that appeared, were simply superb. Even the easier ones, had some fantastic logic to it.


Round 11: Magic 11
This round was themed around the number '11'. It was a good round for me.


Round 12: Hungaricum
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.


Round 13: Innovative
Another average round.


Round 14: Best Of
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.

Bad finish, but I'm glad I was able to better my rank. I finished 34th.


WPC Playoffs
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.

Ulrich Voigt (Germany): 7-time World Puzzle Champion. He had a big lead, and would surely win if the playoffs went smoothly.

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.

Thomas Snyder (USA): Performed poorly in Day 2, and lost chunks of points. But, you could never count him out till the end.

The fight for the title had to be between these three players. It was unlikely someone else would win.

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.

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.


Playoff Results

1. Palmer Mebane (USA)
2. Ulrich Voigt (Germany)
3. Thomas Snyder (USA)


Individual Results

1. Ulrich Voigt (Germany) - 5085
2. Palmer Mebane (USA) - 4769
3. Thomas Snyder (USA) - 4546

Indian Results

34. Rohan Rao - 2898
85. Rajesh Kumar - 1691
91. Rajib Ranjan Borah - 1495
97. Tejal Phatak - 1143

Complete Individual Results


Team Results

1. USA - 20447
2. Germany - 20304
3. Japan - 18026

Complete Team Results

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.

I am happy with my performance. Top 25 would have been ideal, but at least I was able to improve my rank.

Congrats to Palmer Mebane for winning his maiden WPC title.


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.

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!)

World Sudoku Championship 2011

The 6th World Sudoku Championship and 20th World Puzzle Championship was held on 6th-10th November, 2011 in Eger, Hungary.

Championship Page

This is the first time the WSC and WPC was held as a combined event.

Team India
The national finals of the Indian Sudoku Championship and the Indian Puzzle Championship 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:

Sudoku Team
Sumit Bothra (Bengaluru)
Tejal Phatak (Mumbai)
Prasanna Seshadri (Mumbai)
Rohan Rao (Mumbai)

Puzzle Team
Rajesh Kumar (Bengaluru)
Rajib Ranjan Borah (Mumbai)
Tejal Phatak (Mumbai)
Rohan Rao (Mumbai)

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.

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.



6th November, 2011
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.


7th November, 2011
The World Sudoku Championship 2011 began.

Part 1: Wrong Puzzles
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.

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.

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).


Part 2: Sudoku Pieces
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.

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 :-)


Part 3: Easy Classics
This round went quite average for me. Tiit Vunk (Estonia) scored an exceptional 605 points.


Part 4: Halved Squares Sudoku
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.

I will not say it was good, but it went better than I expected. A below average score though.

Thomas Snyder (USA) took a considerable lead from many top players after this round.


Part 5: Sudoku Central Clues
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.


Part 6: Circle Sudoku (Team)
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.


Part 7: Vasarely Sudoku (Team)
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.


8th November, 2011
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.


Part 8: Decorated Sudoku
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!


Part 9: Sprint Sudoku
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.


Part 10: Sudoku Mix
Another big round. This round pulled me down a bit. I got stuck in Tetris and Increasing Roundabout and lost some time.


Part 11: Not Easy Classics
I got the highest score in Hard Classics in WSC 2010 in Philadelphia. Well, fluke rarely happens twice!


Part 12: 3D Sudoku
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!


Part 13: Weakest Link (Team)
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.

WSC Playoffs
I finished 12th. Missed the playoffs by about 80 points. The playoffs consisted of a good set of players.

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.

Thomas Snyder (USA): World Sudoku Champion 2007, 2008. He had a big lead and would surely win if the playoffs went smoothly for him.

Jan Mrozowski (Poland): World Sudoku Champion 2009, 2010. He was probably the biggest threat to Thomas.

Tiit Vunk (Estonia) and Kota Morinishi (Japan) were looking very strong in the championship.

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.

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.


Playoff Results

1. Thomas Snyder (USA)
2. Kota Morinishi (Japan)
3. Tiit Vunk (Estonia)


Individual Results

1. Thomas Snyder (USA) - 3760
2. Jan Mrozowski (Poland) - 3525
3. Tiit Vunk (Estonia) - 3459


Indian Results

12. Rohan Rao - 2983
44. Sumit Bothra - 2154
54. Tejal Phatak - 1966
71. Prasanna Seshadri - 1725
101. Rajesh Kumar - 1314

Complete Individual Results


Team Results

1. Germany - 16436
2. Czech Republic - 16181
3. USA - 14488

8. India - 11708

Complete Team Results

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.

I am happy with my performance. Top 10 would have been ideal, but at least I was close. Maybe next time.

Congrats to Thomas Snyder for winning his 3rd WSC title. He has been very consistent throughout the year and is a deserving winner.

It was good meeting up with old friends and new ones, and I hope this trend of WSC+WPC continues.

Logic Masters India - Screen Test 2

Logic Masters India announces the second edition of Screen Test. It will be held on 1st-4th November.

I authored last year's Screen Test 1 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.

Championship Page
Download Screen Test Guide
Forum

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.

You may ask any queries on the forum or here.

I hope you enjoy the puzzles and relish the 35-minute puzzle-ride!