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Hi.. In the ad given in paper i.e. the first link the registration format is sending TOISUDC to 58888. In the second link it is given as TOISUDC <Name> <age> to 58888. Can we know the right format.

hey send in this format, SMS to 58888 TOISUD (city initial)<space>name<space>age

is there any chance for an online round as in ipc .

I dont see any ad in Times Hyderabad. was it in Times Chennai?

purifire - 2013-07-14 8:39 PM

I dont see any ad in Times Hyderabad. was it in Times Chennai?

Yes. Chennai edition.

dp_94 - 2013-07-14 7:51 PM

is there any chance for an online round as in ipc .

There is no online round.
One must qualify in Times Sudoku Championship to get a chance to represent India at WSC in China this year.

I think last year's ads were more interesting, visually :-)

Edited by debmohanty 2013-07-14 9:19 PM

it says 14 mins to solve the puzzle. does it mean only 1sudoku per round?

Hi. I see the following rules in TOI website.

1. Participants can participate in only one of the four regional rounds.

How will this be checked. Even last year there were many who participated in Bangalore and Chennai. This year it will be the same in reverse.

2. Any participant who has participated earlier in the World Sudoku Championship and has got a rank above 25 will not be eligible to participate.

This should not be implemented as our best participants from previous years have broken into Top-25. By implementing this we are not sending the best team.

A general feedback. I have always felt the Qualification method used in 2011 is very good which covered more cities (around 10) and also an online round thereby it had a wider reach. Even last year there were around 4000+ participants.

Edited by rvarun 2013-07-14 9:27 PM

rvarun - 2013-07-14 9:23 PM
2. Any participant who has participated earlier in the World Sudoku Championship and has got a rank above 25 will not be eligible to participate.

This should not be implemented as our best participants from previous years have broken into Top-25. By implementing this we are not sending the best team.

I think you are probably misinterpreting this rule. It means if one has finished 26th or worse, he/she is not eligible. If someone has broken into Top 25, that person is eligible to participate.

Hi Rakesh

I guess we can clarify this with the Organizers. Example, if a person X qualified for WSC last year and finished 26th, that person is also too good in solving Sudoku and there is no reason we should stop them by implementing this rule.

Please correct me if I misunderstood your reply.

Yes, I also feel that the rule of disqualifying based upon last year's performance at WSC is not good for the following reasons.
1. Suppose one person participates at WSC in year 2012 and does not comes in top 25. After this he/she determines to do better for next year puts hard work for full year to improve his/her Sudoku solving skills. But at the very end he/she get to know that he/she is not eligible to participate which is not good for selecting strong team as well as for that player.
2. Rules has to be made clear from the beginning i.e. players needs to be told during or before the participation at WSC about such rules. Otherwise changing the rules at the end is not good. For example this year cut off is top 25. Next year it could be top 10. This can be used to disqualify any player at will.
3. ISC is Indian National Championship and disqualifying anyone from participating in this based on last year performance does not looks good. Who knows that any person who is not in top 25 last year could be this year's National Champion.

When will it take place in Bangalore? I mean, any dates announced or yet to be announced?

Thanks :)
Are you coming?

I had a look at the terms and conditions and i noticed that Participants can participate in only one of the four regional rounds---->This rule is perfectly and completely fine.It is fair and sqaure and gives everone a good chance though i m not sure how its going to be done i.e preventing a contestant from playing in more than 1 regional round.
I also noticed this rule which states that a participant who has participated earlier in the World Sudoku Championship and has got a rank above 25 will not be eligible to participate.I dont agree with this at all.By virtue of this rule, Sumit who had put in a sterling performance last year at the Regionals and subsequently in the nationals goes out and so does Gaurav and Rakesh .Now they are without doubt world class solvers and on their day can
put up a remarkable performance at the World championships.Thankfully PS did not make the sudoku team last year ,else going by his unoff. rank last year
he too would have been out.One of the fastest improving players i feel in LMI is PS.His performances in the past 6 or so months speak for that.It would have been a disappointment if he too had been out because of this rule.Coming to the issue in hand i stepped back and tried to put myself in the shoes of the organizers to see what could be the motive behind such a decision and i cant think of any solid reason other than this:

*They probably feel that a person who is good enough to finish at the top 4 in the nationals but "lets India down"with a lacklustre show at the world level does not deserve another chance?!This kind of thinking could not be more wrong.This is not a game of cricket where going by the performances in the last few series you contemplate whether or not to include a person in the team.By having that rule in the terms and conditions the entire interest that the person has in sudoku solving is being jeopardized.After all knowing that you wont be given a chance to play in the regionals is bound to put anyone and definitely me off track.I am not sure if this rule is only implemented this year or it would be carried on in the successive years.If it is indeed going to be carried on it is equivalent to banning a person who has finished at >25 at the world level for life.
So my sincere request to dear organizers or whoever is the brain behind this idea is to have a deeper thought on this issue and remove this rule from the list of terms and conditions from next year or even this year if possible.My point is that regardless of whether he/she is placed >25 at the world level but is still good enough to be in the top 4 from India then so be it and let him/her to play at the world level.I state this keeping the best interests of the Indian team in mind and not in favour of any individual.

----Kishore-----

Edited by kishy72 2013-07-15 7:17 AM

guys as much as we may have problem with that rule let us understand that no one at LMI would think of putting in such a stipulation. Organising is a thankless job where ppl will always have a problem. think of this as a cost of getting a sponsor for the team. its Unfortunately either this or no sponsor. I am not saying I agree with this as this does not ensure the strongest team. I am sure Deb and Amit fought this stipulation as much as they couldand accepted it only when it was inevitable.

can anyone tell me the type of sudokus and time alloted to solve them in each round?

As Rishi said, I'm sure Deb and Amit fought this. That much should be obvious simply because there has never been such a stipulation in the many other events LMI has organized. So, at least within this forum, the only thing we can do is suggest better ideas within the bracket of what ToI is wanting to do. The reasons for this stipulation could be one of or both of two things -

1) ToI wants some fresh solvers in the team each time to go experience the WSC/WPC. I for one have no problem with this goal. My desire to improve and become a regular in the Indian team definitely escalated after the experience of Hungary 2011. So, in the long term, getting new people in is really a good idea.

2) ToI wants to "punish" those who have "let them down" with their performance. As a company investing in the players, putting aside all other logic, I can see why they think that way. Obviously they aren't as experienced in the competition scenario as we are and care more about their investment, and there's nothing essentially wrong with that.

If its just 1), there should be no problem in future years in just allowing everyone to participate in the TSC but being selective about which 4 to sponsor. I think that's a much more acceptable solution. But if its 2) as well, or its just that they want to convey 2) to the general public, then Rajesh's point stands that they should've notified the participants of the WSC last year itself about this, just to be in good practice more than anything else.

Also, I'll wait for confirmation but I suppose this restriction is only for each year's WSC participants, and Sumit, Gaurav and Rakesh can participate next year?

From my understanding the restriction is not on participation but on sponsorship. this msg has not been properly conveyed.

>>Any participant who has participated earlier in the World Sudoku Championship and has got a rank above 25 will not be eligible to participate.
A hare-brained rule, IMHO. It ensures that we are not sending the best 4. Hopefully, the rule gets tossed out next year.

>>Participants can participate in only one of the four regional rounds.
>>Participants are not allowed to take the test more than once.
These are changes for the better, if implemented properly.

>>Every participant will have 15 mins to solve the puzzle.
I am guessing this is for the qualification round?

Edited by lenson 2013-07-15 10:37 AM

Hey Guys. We will wait for Deb and Amit clarify on this and other rules of Times Sudoku Championship 2013 because I guess the word earlier refers not only WSC 2012 but also earlier.

gargankit - 2013-07-15 1:05 AM

Thanks :)
Are you coming?

yes :)

hey m totally new in this...
its my first time..in times sudoku...
m from delhi...
i'll have my delhi round on 21st.....
may i know the procedure...
time limit and stuff... :)

ashu - 2013-07-15 8:30 PM

hey m totally new in this...
its my first time..in times sudoku...
m from delhi...
i'll have my delhi round on 21st.....
may i know the procedure...
time limit and stuff... :)

Hi. Please check the following link.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sudoku.cms

If you are from Delhi, sms TOISUDD [Name] [Age] to 58888

thnx a tonne...by the way its mentioned...that we require to complete the puzzle within 15 minutes...are there any pre-requisites...or any condition that if someone completes before....he/she gets some bonus points....
or anything you'd like to brief me up with... :)
thanks alot

ashu - 2013-07-15 8:39 PM

thnx a tonne...by the way its mentioned...that we require to complete the puzzle within 15 minutes...are there any pre-requisites...or any condition that if someone completes before....he/she gets some bonus points....
or anything you'd like to brief me up with... :)
thanks alot

From last year's experience, it just means that the participants completing the round qualify for the next round. There's no reason to consider bonuses as everyone who completes this round goes through to the next one (again, according to last year). Either way, don't worry about format and bonus and all too much (I did last year and got knocked out because of that

). There'll be detailed explanations about the format and all at the event anyway, so just practice a little, enjoy the experience, and maybe follow up here to participate in future online contests and build on your solving level and interest.

prasanna16391 - 2013-07-15 11:08 PM

From last year's experience, it just means that the participants completing the round qualify for the next round. There's no reason to consider bonuses as everyone who completes this round goes through to the next one (again, according to last year). Either way, don't worry about format and bonus and all too much (I did last year and got knocked out because of that

dont mind if i ask you...how're the finalists selected then...

and the difficulty level...is it as easy as delhi times...or regional times newsppr...or somewhat difficult...........more that is like the one displayed on http://prasannaseshadri.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/frame.png?

Edited by ashu 2013-07-15 11:18 PM

ashu - 2013-07-15 11:13 PM

dont mind if i ask you...how're the finalists selected then...

Well, that's the second round (its why there's an instruction to stay around in case you're called back). The second round, last year, was actually the format that LMI Beginners' Sudoku Contests is based on. The first one back in July (see links on the right) had the exact same variants too.

Obviously this is all just unofficial information based on my experience last year. Its all a bit unclear for now this year, but the 15 minute round makes me think it'll be pretty similar. Either way, like I said, the format will mostly be announced in detail at the event.

ashu - 2013-07-15 11:13 PM

and the difficulty level...is it as easy as delhi times...or regional times newsppr...or somewhat difficult...........more that is like the one displayed on http://prasannaseshadri.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/frame.png?

I don't think the preliminaries will have something like that at least. As I said, the Beginners' Contests are a more accurate description of round 2.

prasanna16391 - 2013-07-15 11:22 PM

I don't think the preliminaries will have something like that at least. As I said, the Beginners' Contests are a more accurate description of round 2.

okay...so we can say k ...its gonna be a bit similar to what comes in any...."easy"category sudoku...?
and.......umm
so there's no time limit thingy...we hv like 15 minutes...for one sudoku puzzle...thats it.....?

ashu - 2013-07-15 11:29 PM
okay...so we can say k ...its gonna be a bit similar to what comes in any...."easy"category sudoku...?
and.......umm
so there's no time limit thingy...we hv like 15 minutes...for one sudoku puzzle...thats it.....?

You mean on my blog? My blog's easy category would probably be equivalent to one of the higher pointers in round 2

The best practice you can possibly get in this short time span is to go and solve Beginners' Sudoku Contest July. If you do that, you'll be well equipped for last year's 2nd round standards.

Either the instructions are misleading here or they've changed the format from last year. Last year, we had 8 6x6 Sudokus to finish in the 15 minutes. I know 8's a lot more than 1, but 6x6s are pretty easy so if its the same it should be pretty finishable.

prasanna16391 - 2013-07-15 11:40 PM

You mean on my blog? My blog's easy category would probably be equivalent to one of the higher pointers in round 2

hahahahahaha....okay okay...... :D hoping for the best :))
nice talking to you.. :))
thanx a tonne..

ashu - 2013-07-15 11:46 PM

prasanna16391 - 2013-07-15 11:40 PM

You mean on my blog? My blog's easy category would probably be equivalent to one of the higher pointers in round 2

hahahahahaha....okay okay...... :D hoping for the best :))
nice talking to you.. :))
thanx a tonne..

achha haan...
umm...the classic ones or the variants tooo :P

ashu - 2013-07-15 11:47 PM

achha haan...
umm...the classic ones or the variants tooo :P

The variants too. Thats why I pointed specifically to the July edition. Same variants as last year.

Is this competition is only for metro living people. Why there is no on line round.

devarajand - 2013-07-16 6:56 AM

Is this competition is only for metro living people. Why there is no online round.

This year (like last year), it is happening in four metros only. If you want to participate you will need to travel to one of these cities on the given dates, as there is no online round this time.

All the Best for the participants for this weekend's rounds in Chennai and Delhi. :)

Do we have any info. about the types of sudoku for the regional rounds.

A great Congrats chennai round winners..

1. Rishi Puri
2. Ezhilarasi
3. Kishore kumar
3. Jaipal Reddy

Congrats to the 4 :) Hopefully I make it in Mumbai and finally get to meet and compete against Rishi in person. Also, good show by Kishore to out-score Jaipal. Congrats to the person at 2nd, not sure if its a newcomer or some member here who I'm forgetting. Either way, finishing ahead of Kishore and Jaipal is quite good.

Kishore and Jaipal were joint third, submitting in 42 minutes. Ezhilarasi finished in 40 minutes. Rishi in 26 minutes.

congrats to all the winners and a very good show overall too at chennai

Congrats to all the winners of Chennai round. Best of luck to Delhi participants.

rajeshk - 2013-07-20 8:33 PM

Congrats to all the winners of Chennai round. Best of luck to Delhi participants.

can u plz help me with the typ of puzzles we'll be getting at delhi round....
mine is tomorrow...

ashu - 2013-07-20 10:31 PM

can u plz help me with the typ of puzzles we'll be getting at delhi round....
mine is tomorrow...

Well, having spoken to Chennai Round winner Rishi, the structure seems to be largely similar to last year's. The first round is 6x6s (last year had 8) to be solved in 15 minutes, and the second round seems to be the same 4 classic/4 variant structure as last year, with the only difference being that instead of two rounds of 30 minutes each, it is one round of 60 minutes (hence the timings of 40 and 42 for 2nd and 3rd places).

The regional rounds I think are biased completely ignoring EAST ZONE focussing only on west and south zones of India. With such short notice, how can one living in eastern zone states like West Bengal, Bihar, Assam etc. plan their travel and stay.

Edited by shera90 2013-07-20 11:57 PM

can we bring any number of sheets... :D :P

and prasanna....r u on fb... :D

ashu - 2013-07-21 12:08 AM

can we bring any number of sheets... :D :P

You mean rough work sheets? Yes of course, I think so. I'll wait for the organizers to confirm but I don't see how that helps gain any unfair advantage, since in the end you'll have to submit the booklet that's provided only.

It was an enjoyable yesterday at the event for me and 2 of my other friends.Sudokus were of a very good quality and it was nice solving all of them.I also got to speak a little with some of the bigwigs in Indian sudoku who otherwise came out as very humble and soft spoken to me .
Here's the article in Times of India,Chennai edition.They have made a mistake though(not the first time i think :)?!).I was joint third and not the second to complete .

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?Fro...

Edited by kishy72 2013-07-21 8:45 AM

A great day with good organization. The puzzles were too good and it was nice to be part of the city finals one more time. Congrats Kishore and Ezhilarasi, the new faces from Chennai in National Round. :-)

Nice to meet Rakesh, Rishi and Jaipal and interacting with them for first time was a nice experience.

All the best to the participants of the Delhi round of TSC 2013.

Edited by rvarun 2013-07-21 2:41 PM

Delhi Top 4
-------------

1. Sagar Ramachandran
2. Akash Doulani
3. Himani Shah Modi
4. Dileep Singh

rakesh_rai - 2013-07-21 4:50 PM

Delhi Top 4
-------------

1. Sagar Ramachandran
2. Akash Doulani
3. Himani Shah Modi
4. Dileep Singh

Congrats to the winners. Two newcomers, and one of them ended up winning the round, that's pleasantly surprising. I suppose Ritesh couldn't find the time to make it to the rounds this year? Wonder what the timings are of these 4.

Congrats to Delhi winners. Just wondering where is Ritesh? Has he participated?

Congrats to the winners. ritesh had his exams at IIML

Congrats to the winners, it was a great event, but I would like to ask if it is possible to receive a participation certificate for qualifying to the second round as it would help me get admission to one of the Ivy Leagues as I am in class 11.
I submitted my second round paper 2 minutes before the time allotted so it would really make a great difference if I could get a certificate for the same. It is my earnest request for you to look into the matter with utmost seriousness and inform me regarding the same.

Regards
Mrinaal Mittal
Email id- mrinal_mittal21@yahoo.co.in

Congrats to all the winners

Congrats winners.. :-)

congrats to all the winners

rakesh_rai - 2013-07-21 4:50 PM

Delhi Top 4
-------------

1. Sagar Ramachandran
2. Akash Doulani
3. Himani Shah Modi
4. Dileep Singh

From left : Himani, Sagar, Akash, Dileep

when will the results of chennai round be published

svmanisundaram, here you go:

rvarun - 2013-07-20 5:21 PM

A great Congrats chennai round winners..

1. Rishi Puri
2. Ezhilarasi
3. Kishore kumar
3. Jaipal Reddy

kishy72 - 2013-07-21 8:44 AM

It was an enjoyable yesterday at the event for me and 2 of my other friends.Sudokus were of a very good quality and it was nice solving all of them.I also got to speak a little with some of the bigwigs in Indian sudoku who otherwise came out as very humble and soft spoken to me .
Here's the article in Times of India,Chennai edition.They have made a mistake though(not the first time i think :)?!).I was joint third and not the second to complete .

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?Fro...

Edited by lenson 2013-07-22 9:25 AM

i was told that the list of completed contestants will be published in this site. when will that happen

Mani: The complete results should be published later today.

thanks rakesh. just wanted to know where i stood

svmanisundaram - 2013-07-22 10:35 AM

thanks rakesh. just wanted to know where i stood

The complete results for Chennai finals are now posted at http://logicmastersindia.com/2013/TSC/ .Twelve participants finished all sudokus.

Thanks Rakesh for the results. Nice to see so many people completing the test.
Chennai results brings one more point in my mind that in case if the Top player (Rishi in this case) make a single mistake he is immediately pushed to 12th rank. Same thing happened last year when Prasanna and Tejal missed being part of finals. I think this we can improve for next year to include more puzzles or decrease time, so that best player is barely able to solve everything in time which is the format being used for IPC every year. This will make sure that strongest players are not penalized so much for making very small mistake.

Edited by rajeshk 2013-07-22 5:34 PM

I dont agree Rajesh. the contest is as much about speed as it is about accuracy. top player or not

rajeshk - 2013-07-22 5:33 PM

Thanks Rakesh for the results. Nice to see so many people completing the test.
Chennai results brings one more point in my mind that in case if the Top player (Rishi in this case) make a single mistake he is immediately pushed to 12th rank. Same thing happened last year when Prasanna and Tejal missed being part of finals. I think this we can improve for next year to include more puzzles or decrease time, so that best player is barely able to solve everything in time which is the format being used for IPC every year. This will make sure that strongest players are not penalized so much for making very small mistake.

We can debate endlessly (and aimlessly) about every format that is put together. It is really easy for us to double the number of puzzles or halve the time, but lot of thoughts have gone into why the round is structured this way. I can't put in the details here.

Given that there is ample time for TOP players to finish the round, they must double / triple check their papers before submitting. And even after double/triple checking, if they still make mistakes, I am not sure if they were the best players in the contest.

Does the top solver not have more time to check and submit?
Last year we had two rounds, so it could be argued that participants would not know how well the other participants could do in the next round.
But as there is only one round, participants better check for accuracy before submitting as Rishi pointed out

Thanks Rakesh for the results. Well, I feel I could have done far better, had I known about this blog and the hints (Logics) to solve difficult clues. It was amazing to see youngsters finishing in less than half the time. This competition has given me a rejuvenated interest in Sudoku and looking forward to better performance in the next year TOI competition.

Renga - 2013-07-22 7:07 PM

Thanks Rakesh for the results. Well, I feel I could have done far better, had I known about this blog and the hints (Logics) to solve difficult clues. It was amazing to see youngsters finishing in less than half the time. This competition has given me a rejuvenated interest in Sudoku and looking forward to better performance in the next year TOI competition.

Thanks for your post. Really happy to read your comments. Please keep an eye on this forum as there are regular sudoku competitions which will help you keep abreast with multiple sudoku variants on an ongoing basis.

I have to agree with Rajesh that there is a flaw in the system, that if even a single mistake is made, it causes one to fall majorly through the ranks. I guess last year's method was better since even if a mistake was made in 1 round, it did not affect much on the ranks (since Tejal, Prasanna and me were still in the top 10 despite making minor mistakes). Also, that, if 6 or 7 people have finished their puzzles, it demoralizes other people to finish since they know that the top 4 will mostly be from amongst them. Last year one did not know where they stood and it kept the excitement and the competitive spirit alive. But i guess Deb and Amit are also right on their part that the best should recheck if they have the time.

rajeshk - 2013-07-22 5:33 PM

I think this we can improve for next year to include more puzzles or decrease time, so that best player is barely able to solve everything in time which is the format being used for IPC every year. This will make sure that strongest players are not penalized so much for making very small mistake.

Including more puzzles sounds like a good idea, but I am not in favour of decreasing time. I feel the submission times are already short. Scores get bunched together very easily because of that, and it becomes harder to pick the top 4. There was a 3-way tie for the 4th place last year in Chennai, and a tie-breaker round was needed to identify the 4th qualifier.

But yes, we could end up debating this endlessly. What we have now seems to be working just fine.

why does everyone want to make mistakes and yet qualify? Everyone talks about top players. how do u define a top player? is speed solving or knowledge of different variants enough to qualify as a top player isnt accuracy important too. In my opinion all three are needed to make someone a top player. Let us learn ti blame ourselves for not qualifying instead of blaming a system

As someone who's been mentioned in previous posts, I think I should address what happened last year, at least to me. Firstly, last year, Rohan, Tejal, Gaurav and me, among many other good players, were competing for 4 spots. That greatly influences the thinking that one can check their solutions, and I hesitated to check much because of the competition around. Of course, there could be unknowns challenging for the spots too, but "known" contenders will obviously influence your thinking as a competitor more. But this is nothing to blame the organizers on.

Its difficult to settle on the ideal format. There are other factors too, like attracting newcomers, and having a format enjoyable for everyone and not just the winners. I can understand that, and since the format is the same for everyone, its fine with me. Whether or not I qualify this time, I prefer this year's format to last year's mainly because there's more choices to move on to in-case you get stuck in one Sudoku.

On a side note though (consider it a discussion for future years more than anything), I fully agree that accuracy is part of solving too, but it's still a point worth discussing if standings are a bit too dependent on accuracy vs solving prowess. For instance, imagine if the recent IPC had just 8 easy puzzles that everyone could solve. The IPC as it was had 26 puzzles, out of which I solved 25 correctly and made one mistake. Allowing accuracy to be a factor, if I had made many mistakes, then that strikes out all the good solving I did and I'd have fallen in the rankings. The keyword here is "many". If making one mistake cancels your good solving, then accuracy might be taking a bit too much priority in my opinion.

we need to look how the event is being conducted. IPC is an online event where solving prowess is combined with accuracy. When you look at Times Sudoku Championship we need to understand that thousands of normal people attend. now if u keep a max of 20 'top players' then what about the rest. the regional round serves as an elimination round and at the same time it gives some degree of satisfaction to the aam janta. These events are not just about us few solvers but also abt each and ecery sudoku enthusiast thats comes out to have fun.

Edited by purifire 2013-07-23 6:21 PM

purifire - 2013-07-23 6:20 PM

we need to look how the event is being conducted. IPC is an online event where solving prowess is combined with accuracy. When you look at Times Sudoku Championship we need to understand that thousands of normal people attend. now if u keep a max of 20 'top players' then what about the rest. the regional round serves as an elimination round and at the same time it gives some degree of satisfaction to the aam janta. These events are not just about us few solvers but also abt each and ecery sudoku enthusiast thats comes out to have fun.

Of course. I did note those other factors in my understanding of the format. My point is, lets not brush aside what is a valid discussion/query based on "accuracy matters". Its another reason why I welcome this double format of TSC + a long online ISC. Its pretty difficult to organize both formats going forward but overall, we'd have covered accuracy, solving prowess, and any other factor in our overall team (including A and B teams).

rakesh_rai - 2013-07-22 2:30 PM

The complete results for Chennai finals are now posted at http://logicmastersindia.com/2013/TSC/ .Twelve participants finished all sudokus.

The Delhi results are now updated on the same link (or you can use this direct one - http://logicmastersindia.com/2013/TSC/?city=D ), the top 18 timings have been added. Everything seems to have been really close in Delhi.

The Delhi Results are too close. Great to see this result making TSC an even competition for all. Can we know the number of participants in the two rounds (Chennai and Delhi) just to know about the reach of the event.

Edited by rvarun 2013-07-24 10:58 AM

rvarun - 2013-07-24 10:53 AM

The Delhi Results are too close. Great to see this result making TSC an even competition for all.

Around 8 more players (I don't have the papers right now to tell the exact number) also submitted before time, but had bad mistakes.

rvarun - 2013-07-24 10:53 AM

The Delhi Results are too close. Great to see this result making TSC an even competition for all.

Interestingly, the 4th place cutoff for both Chennai and Delhi turned out to be almost the same - around 42 minutes.

I am eagerly waiting for the mumbai round. Thats going to be a rocker. My money is on a mumbai person winning the finals. :-)

purifire - 2013-07-24 11:33 AM

I am eagerly waiting for the mumbai round. Thats going to be a rocker. My money is on a mumbai person winning the finals. :-)

Because, bad practice to bet on yourself?

want to know how much time limit is provided for classics and variants as i am a beginner never participated in toi sudoku before so would liove if u wud tell me what exactly is d procedure of rounds timelimit etc and stuff

K R - 2013-07-26 3:35 PM

want to know how much time limit is provided for classics and variants as i am a beginner never participated in toi sudoku before so would liove if u wud tell me what exactly is d procedure of rounds timelimit etc and stuff

After the first round of 8 6x6 classics in 15 minutes, there is a 1 hour round with 4 classics and 4 variants.

and the 4 variants are trio odd even alphabet and diagonal that is it or any other variant is included

just one day to go! all the best to all for Mumbai :)

K R - 2013-07-26 4:49 PM

and the 4 variants are trio odd even alphabet and diagonal that is it or any other variant is included

I think that's it. But I am also a participant and am just basing that on last year's experience and some information from friends who participated in the other cities.

I am playing this for the first time in Bangalore .
Could someone please provide the format of the test (how many rounds, duration , types of puzzles etc)?

Is there some place where the test puzzles are published ?

What is the best online reference to prepare for this competition ?
Thanks!

atkninja - 2013-07-26 6:35 PM

I am playing this for the first time in Bangalore .
Could someone please provide the format of the test (how many rounds, duration , types of puzzles etc)?

Is there some place where the test puzzles are published ?

What is the best online reference to prepare for this competition ?
Thanks!

Read the posts above ;) As for online reference, go here. The same 4 types will be on the test mostly. Test puzzles haven't been published, and I'm not sure they will be published. But there's enough as practice material if you're willing to look around the site (including in other months to the right on the link I gave)

All the best to Mumbai and Bangalore participants... :-) Expecting a great turnout and a close fight in the two cities this year also..

Best of luck to all participants in Mumbai and Bangalore

As always well organised event and great turnout , Kudos to Amit and Deb

All the best for all participants this weekend

Mumbai qualifiers
Rohan Rao
Prasanna S
Manuj A
Rajesh Baniya

I think she was one of the 4 people who submitted before time but made an error (including Swaroop ) ,Rajesh had scored highest among non-completed 55/60
Rohan cracked in 27 minutes
Prasanna was close in 30+ ( not sure)
Manuj in 43 minutes mostly

Edited by Rohan Rao 2013-07-27 9:25 PM

another missed chance, left two cells blank with pencil marks :(. so my score went down to 54/60.
Anyways congrats to top 4. :)

bad luck buddy , you had it in your hand !!

Edited by utkaarsh 2013-07-27 7:03 PM

utkaarsh - 2013-07-27 4:36 PM

I think she was one of the 4 people who submitted before time but made an error (including Swaroop ) ,Rajesh had scored highest among non-completed 55/60
Rohan cracked in 27 minutes
Prasanna was close in 30+ ( not sure)
Manju in 43 minutes mostly

I wasn't so close actually, they say 37 minutes, but I don't mind, I spent a whole lot of time checking number by number, and actually found a little mistake, so just relieved I qualified, after last year's experience.

Thanks Varun and Swaroop. :)

7 people submitted all but 4 had a mistake and Tejal was, unfortunately, one of them. Only the top 3 got full value.

Congratulations Rohan, Manuj and Rajesh. Glad to see a few 'R's in the reckoning.

Prasanna: Congratulations for clearing the tougher part.

rakesh_rai - 2013-07-27 7:15 PM

Prasanna: Congratulations for clearing the tougher part.

Congrats to all the winners to Mumbai round.
Sad to see Swaroop missing it again. I am sure that Swaroop will bounce back very strongly next year.

Good Evening Friends,
I am Rajesh Baniya, stood 4th in Mumbai Rounds...
I was a bit dejected for leaving cells blank in the Easiest Sudoku(TRIO) with the Minimum Marks of 5.....
Anyways,
that is the important part, a minute error can make a Difference, as in Su-Doku a solution has to be "COMPLETE"....

Heartiest Congrats to all the winners to Mumbai round and nice to see Rajesh Baniya back in the fray. I am really missing the event this year, Maybe I will be back next year. All the best to participants at Bangalore.

All the best to the Bangalore participants.. :-)

After the first round of 8 6x6 classics in 15 minutes, there is a 1 hour round with 4 classics and 4 variants. Therefore practice very well with 8 sudoko of 6x6. it is hard if u dont practice very well. once u are clear with it, then they will give a call in an hour and will let u know whether u are selected for the second round or not.

Is it possible to get which SUDOKU puzzle was given in competition @ bby? I was just eager to check my timings :)

Just read article in today's Times Of India. Many congratulations. Just wanted to check if you can post blank copy of the Sudoku given in competition?

hidost - 2013-07-28 10:04 AM

Just read article in today's Times Of India. Many congratulations. Just wanted to check if you can post blank copy of the Sudoku given in competition?

Whether or not that's possible (up to ToI I'd think), if you just want to compare your general speed against the qualifiers, there's many other ways to do that, as India's top players have participated in many tests in the past here on LMI where the results and sudokus are all archived

Top 4 from Bangalore -
1. Harmeet Singh.
2. Varun Shetty.
3. Deepika M.
4. Rajesh Kumar.

Congrats to the winners! The 16 is complete.

Congrats to the bangalore round winners.. All the best to the 16 qualifiers for the national finals.. :-)

Congrats to the Banglore sQUAD.....
All the Best to Swift Sixteen......for the Finalsssss

When will the instruction booklet be out?

All d best to the final 16

Congratulations to the top 4 in Bangalore.

All the best to all of you for the final 4 positions... :)

Congratulations to all the top 16..!
perform well in National Finals..!
do well in China..!

one request/Suggestion to organizers, If it's possible please also include Variants Sudoku in Prelims next time,

My point is ,say consider person A is aware of Variant Sudokus along with the classic ones , and can solve both of them pretty good...lets assume Person B is good at only classic Sudoku, and
knows how to solve them fast,,! but what if Person B gets through prelims and Person A does some minor mistake in a hurry and could not get through..!
Person B after getting through prelims, and can only solve Classic ones ???? and what about the adaptability to variants ?
in that case Person A has lost a Valuable chance .And i am not taking about any person in general..and just a thought..!no harsh feelings..!

///Congrats to all the winners...

Edited by babuli 2013-07-29 12:00 AM

==Why all the complete results are not published yet,atleast for delhi and mumbai rounds.//

babuli - 2013-07-29 12:00 AM

==Why all the complete results are not published yet,atleast for delhi and mumbai rounds.//

I assume its because they were a little pre-occupied with organizing the further rounds. Now that all regional rounds are over, I think the results might be published in a few days.

Congrats!!! Winners.... All the Best!!! for d future tournaments.... :)

Hi
z thr any1 who attend Bangalore..... let me know how d annouced d result of 1st round... do they made call to d contact numbers?????? :?

sonyboopathi - 2013-07-29 5:03 PM

Congrats!!! Winners.... All the Best!!! for d future tournaments.... :)

Hi
z thr any1 who attend Bangalore..... let me know how d annouced d result of 1st round... do they made call to d contact numbers?????? :?

Well, based on Mumbai, yes, specific instructions must have been given at some point to give your contact numbers so that you can be called up later in the day if you made it through to the next round. The answer sheets would've had a place to fill in your contact number.

thanks Prasanna...

even in blore d instruction was d same..... i hav completed d 8 puzzles 2mintues ahead,so had time to re-check too.... im sure all r right.... i left d venue,hoping dat they wud call.....but didnt clear it....
no probs.... vl try for next yr..... :)

Just got a call from TOI. Finals preponed to 2nd Aug

purifire - 2013-07-29 5:45 PM

Just got a call from TOI. Finals preponed to 2nd Aug

On a Friday?

yes and it also happens to be my sons annual day at school. that makes it 50 50 for me

Edited by purifire 2013-07-29 6:12 PM

Most of the people who had completed 8 in the first round, waited at the venue. They started announcing the names by 12:30. Don't know if they called up others. There was a bit of confusion. It is possible that a few people may have missed making it to the next round.

--TNV

wen will the complete results of mumbai round be declared ?

All the best to the 16 finalists for tomorrow's Finals. Hoping for a close fight as always for the top four spots. :)

aniketpol 94 - 2013-07-29 9:15 PM

wen will the complete results of mumbai round be declared ?

What about Bangalore ?

I request the organizers to display the complete results. Many of us are eager to know where we stand.

--TNV

Sorry for the delay in publishing the complete results of the regional rounds.
We are currently busy with making sure that everything falls in place for the finals.
The results will be published for sure by Sunday night.

Hi, Please post the results of the Mumbai rounds held on 27th July 2013.

Finals - Results
-----------------

1. Rishi Puri
2. Prasanna Seshadri
3. Rohan Rao
4. Jaipal Reddy

5. Kishore Kumar
6. Akash Doulani

Detailed results to follow. Congratulations Rishi, Prasanna, Rohan, and Jaipal.

Now thats a strong team, congratulations and all the best !!

This is really a strong team
All d best to all the 4 finalists

Finals Results

(TSC2013_Results.png)

Attachments
----------------

TSC2013_Results.png (15KB - 21 downloads)

Congrats to all 4 once again.
This is one of the Best Team India have. So Best of Luck for World Championships. :)

Mridu - 2013-08-01 8:44 PM

Hi, Please post the results of the Mumbai rounds held on 27th July 2013.

It will be uploaded hopefully by sunday. keep Visiting :)

Congrats guys.. a great team for WSC.. too close finish at the top.. Good performance by Kishore.. A good fight for the fourth spot..

Edited by rvarun 2013-08-02 11:58 PM

aniketpol 94 - 2013-07-29 9:15 PM

wen will the complete results of mumbai round be declared ?

Link to Complete Mumbai Results

We'll wait to see those new strategies from PS :-)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/others/World-...

Interesting, they put top 5 this year, last year they had put top 10.

Congratulations to the Indian Top - 4.Without doubt ,this time i see India bettering their previous best of 7 in the points Table . I knew it was always going to be the case where the top 3 slots were already taken and it was only going to be a rat race for the fourth spot among the rest 13 .So Jaipal's performance on this account beating the others by a good margin is equally good and very commendable if not better than the top 3. I had a bad start in the sprint round due to some unknown reasons failing to enter even direct numbers and thereby completing only 11 of the 16 6X6 grids.
Then in the 2nd classics round too i had a false start getting the first 2 sudokus wrong and then had to correct them which cost me by Bonus as i could not get the requisite time to complete the last.In the 3rd round which was variants ,i have to thank Rakesh for his helpful suggestions on tackling the higher valued sudokus at the start.My approach has always been to start from the lower pointers and then proceed in order to the bigger valued ones.This time i changed my strategy a bit and i started with the big pointer ones after completing the first 2 lower pointers as i knew i had to beat Jaipal by at least 100 points to be in the race for the 4th slot and this paid off and i was content at the end of the 3rd round.Then in the final surprise round the `aftermath' of lunch had its effect on me.I scored Zero in that round.

The surprise round was a Sqaured outline sudoku with an absolutely empty Grid.For the advantage of the many who are unkwown to thistype it was a Diagonal sudoku + a Rhombus with its vertices touching R1C5 , R5C9 + R9C5 + R5C1.Digits dont repeat in the 2 principal diagonalsand along the sides of the Rhombus.Then each competetitor was given an envelope which had 9 3 x 3 sub boxes with numbers printed on each of them.Of course there were 3 x 3 sub-boxes which could be rotated 180 degrees and still be valid numbers.All the 3 X 3 sub boxes had to be translated to the 9 x 9 Grid and the sudoku was to be solved.Totally 250 points+Bonus and 50 minutes for completing the grid without help.-100 points for opting for help the first time ,wherein you can give a single 3 X 3 tile and ask where it should be placed.-50 points the second time you do that and again -50 points the third time.The bad thing from my perspective is that i opted for help twice
and and on both the occasions i opted for the 2 3 X 3 Boxes which i had already placed correctly! but was not sure whether it was correct.
To this moment even i am unsure why i did that .With the first help asked for with 32 minutes!! left on the clock and then the second time with 15 minutes on the clock .
Then after the 2 helps and with 70% of the grid over i was on track to complete the grid and salvage atleast 100 points when disaster struck again
as i forgot to rotate one of the tiles(I got to know this later from Gaurav)and therefore could not a place for it and ultimately I had to erase the entire
grid.Now i know how difficult it is to finish at the 5th and miss the top 4.I empathize with Swaroop on this account who missed the team not once but twice finishing 5th.
The moment the rules of the surprise round were explained before the start of the round i was reminded of the snap-shot sudoku in Turkey GP round in which i had broken the sudoku thrice and failed to complete.So i was feeling nervous and kind of unsure at the start.Obviously i have understood that wherever there is a puzzling touch to a sudoku it freaks me out and totally blanks my mind.

But i certainly enjoyed playing with the top 15 from India .I never realized the passing of time.It was as though i had caught a flight early morning and the next 7-8 hours had been sandwiched into a power-packed 1 hour slot.The sudokus were artistically and excellently constructed by Deb with whom i had the pleasure of sharing thoughts with and chatting(and Deb pls keep aside your thoughs of taking a break from LMI:)) for a long time .Thanks to Amit for the surprise round sudoku and the Frame sudoku.
Overall it was a good experience and I look forward to meeting Deb and the others sometime in the future soon.
All the Best once again to the Terrific Trio - Rishi , Rohan and PS and to Mr.consistent Jaipal!!Do well in china!

debmohanty - 2013-08-03 9:59 AM

We'll wait to see those new strategies from PS :-)

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/others/World-...

Interesting, they put top 5 this year, last year they had put top 10.

Why is there a hyperlink on "P Seshadri" in the TOI link above.

Congrats to the top 5.

For the benefit of people like me who have joined this forum recently, can you indicate who is who in the photo (Only Rishi puri is mentioned in the caption).

TIA

--TNV

tnv - 2013-08-03 1:02 PM

Congrats to the top 5.

For the benefit of people like me who have joined this forum recently, can you indicate who is who in the photo (Only Rishi puri is mentioned in the caption).

TIA

--TNV

who is who indicated.

(tsc.jpg)

Attachments
----------------

tsc.jpg (37KB - 2 downloads)

tnv - 2013-08-03 1:02 PM

For the benefit of people like me who have joined this forum recently, can you indicate who is who in the photo (Only Rishi puri is mentioned in the caption).

TIA

--TNV

From left to right - me, Rishi, Rohan, Jaipal.

Ah, I see I'm late with that

I've been busy thinking up new strategies since ToI's put that task on me

tnv - 2013-08-01 7:35 PM

aniketpol 94 - 2013-07-29 9:15 PM

wen will the complete results of mumbai round be declared ?

What about Bangalore ?

I request the organizers to display the complete results. Many of us are eager to know where we stand.

--TNV

Link to Complete Bangalore Results

complete result of Delhi?

Edited by nikunj.agarwal007 2013-08-03 5:08 PM

Hi,

My name is Jaykumar Patel and i participated in mumbai round of Times Sudoku Championship. I got through the 1st round and and was among the 88 selected for the final round. My name isn't included in the Mumbai Result list and there are 83 names listed in the list. Can someone please clarify??? I was unable to complete 6 pointer and 9 pointer classic sudoku.

voldemort - 2013-08-05 12:20 AM

Hi,

My name is Jaykumar Patel and i participated in mumbai round of Times Sudoku Championship. I got through the 1st round and and was among the 88 selected for the final round. My name isn't included in the Mumbai Result list and there are 83 names listed in the list. Can someone please clarify??? I was unable to complete 6 pointer and 9 pointer classic sudoku.

I remember there were 88 finalists in the Mumbai round, but it looks like 5 of the papers were missing in the final set of papers that I received.
I do not have your paper, hence your name is missing from the list.

You can gauge your standing by comparing with other participants who got 45 points.
Also let me assure that the missing papers will have no impact on the top 4 from Mumbai.

Congratulations to the top four... and all the very best for the WSC :)
Thanks Kishore for sharing your experience in detail for the final round.. I almost felt the nerves that you had while attempting to complete the Rhombusquarediaganol Sudoku in the last round... :)
Hope to compete with the best in the near future... :)

Btw, i was one of the participant of the delhi round.

arjunjolly5 - 2013-08-05 1:12 PM

Btw, i was one of the participant of the delhi round.

And missed out the top 4 position, for second year in a row. :-(
Good to see you here Arjun.

Never mind. I was just excited about my name being displayed somewhere. better luck next time.

i was 13th last yr and 6th this yr... so hopefully i ll make it to the top 4 next yr and get a chance to meet the top guns of Sudoku in mumbai...

Uff I missed this years......

my mistake of not reading newspapers

Is it possible for the organizers to upload last year's or this year's Times Sudoku Championship Papers?..........it will be a useful practice to many!!

sreejith - 2013-08-06 9:40 PM

Is it possible for the organizers to upload last year's or this year's Times Sudoku Championship Papers?..........it will be a useful practice to many!!

There is no plan to upload them. If it is ever uploaded online, it will be uploaded at ToI site, and not here.

As repeated several times earlier in this thread, you should check the Beginners Sudoku Contests which are a close replica of the city rounds. They are good practice materials as well.

By any chance, does anyone have the pdf of this page? In case someone downloaded it last year?
Now they do not allow downloads of this page.

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