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djkucha
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 Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 9:35 am Post subject: Sudoku competitions? |
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Hi,
Does anyone know if there any online Sudoku competitions, where you can win money or prizes for the best times? Not sure how this could be done without cheating (using solvers), but it could be fun!?
DJ |
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alanr555
Joined: 01 Aug 2005
Posts: 198
Location: Bideford Devon EX39
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| Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 12:15 am Post subject: Re: Sudoku competitions? |
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> Does anyone know if there any online Sudoku competitions,
> where you can win money or prizes for the best times? Not
> sure how this could be done without cheating (using solvers),
> but it could be fun!?
There are sites where one can log one's solution time against that
of other players - but no prize, only personal glory.
Other than on-line, there was a competition in October 2005 held in
Cheltenham in England where the solution to a Fiendish puzzle from
Jason Gould was derived in about fourteen and a half minutes.
It would be interesting to know if the organisers set any restrictions
on things like "side paper" (for notes) or "pencil marks" and (very
important!) what size the representation of the grid was. With the
Daily Sudoku, one has a choice of Medium or Large size prints. I
generally go for the Large (and find it a pain having to amend the
default on each occasion!). Medium has the advantage of portraying
the whole grid at a single glance (no eye swivel!) whereas the large
allows more room for "pencil marks". The latter can take a lot of room
if one is using Mandatory Pairs AND Candidate Profiles AND recording
the sequence of resolution.
The Cheltenham competition was preceded by self-certification of
users to the time of solving a special set of puzzles published in a
newspaper in July. These were deliberately not published on-line
(unlikely the regular puzzles published in the same newspaper). Of
course cheating in the self-certification could have gained one a
place in the competition but what would be the point of that if one
could not perform on the day?
Sadly psychology and statistics have to come into it. A small
number of people will be in realistic contention for the prize (and
probably all the prizes in all the competitions - creating a circuit
as with golf, tennis, motor racing and marathons etc. Everyone
else will be labelled 'loser'. This is sad as - unlike golf etc - there
is an underlying assumption that ANYONE can play it.
I used to have an IQ of over 150. More recently it has decreased.
I can no longer win at chess. I find programming quite difficult and
a lot of mistakes get made with everyday things. I have had a go
at Sudoku and find that I take ages to solve a puzzle - missing the
most "obvious" points and then being overawed by the ability of
others to see patterns which shorten the route to solution immensely.
It is said that one has to 'use it or lose it'. So far as sudoku is
concerned, I suspect that I probably never had it in order to
EITHER to use it or to lose it!
I look on with awe at those who can solve the puzzles the 'stickler'
way - just as I do at those who can hold down a full-time job AND
deal with their e-mail.
However, I have been diagnosed with ideopathic hypersomnulence
and perhaps that has something to do with it. Meanwhile competitions
with a time element are just a 'no-go' area for me.
If Sudoku is to mean anything, it must be a PERSONAL challenge and
not a competitive arena between people. There is an old saying that
"Comparisons are Invidious". They are - and they leave 99% of the
population branded (or self-branded!) as failures. The result of this
excessive urge to compete is a low-competence society - not because of
actual low levels of skills but becuase of societally induced low esteem!
So, please let us not go down the road of competition - but retain
Sudoku as a personal challenge where we come to know our selves
better rather than attempting to defeat others.
Alan Rayner BS23 2QT
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keith
Joined: 19 Sep 2005
Posts: 3355
Location: near Detroit, Michigan, USA
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| Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 2:22 am Post subject: |
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Not sure how this could be done without cheating (using solvers), but it could be fun!?
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I think it could be done, if you required the competitors to use software that logged each keystroke and its time. Even with only the sequence of keystrokes, you could figure out if it was an automated solution.
Keith |
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someone_somewhere
Joined: 07 Aug 2005
Posts: 275
Location: Munich
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| Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 10:02 am Post subject: |
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Hi,
And if someone is using a second computer ?! ... You want to install a Webcam ?! This will also not help ...
see u, |
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