chillisauce's blog

Recently Became Expert—Seeking Advice to Improve Further!
By chillisauce, 12 hours ago, In English

Hi everyone!

I'm writing again after some time, and this time, I wish for this blog to be more than just a collection of thoughts—rather, a melting pot of wisdom, technical tips, and general advice for myself and all the readers!

I've recently hit the title of Expert on Codeforces. It felt great, but now what? The road to climb to Candidate Master, maybe even Master someday looks a bit steep and difficult!

Strangely, my motivation isn’t as strong as before, but discipline keeps me going— I still solve problems almost daily and participate in contests whenever available.

But I won’t lie—this phase feels tricky. Some problems click instantly, and others leave me stuck for hours. My speed and accuracy need work and I still find myself misjudging problem difficulty. And honestly? I know many of you have been through this.

So, here’s my request!

  • If you've been through this stage, how did you push past it? What helped you the most—specific strategies, mindset shifts, or practice routines? I'd love to hear your insights!
  • Also, which topics made the biggest difference for you? Should I focus more on Graph Theory, Dynamic Programming, Discrete Mathematics, or something else? Are there any problem patterns or overlooked areas that I should pay more attention to?
  • Beyond that, what practice methods helped you improve? Upsolving, virtual contests, learning from others’ solutions? Any tips for debugging, accuracy, or handling contest pressure?

Drop your insights in the comments! And if you see someone struggling, help them out too— because we’re all here to get better!

Looking forward to your wisdom!

Thanks! :))

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9 hours ago, # |
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Dont brick once you hit 1894. hope this advice helps .

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    8 hours ago, # ^ |
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    on a more serious note , formalizing thinking strategies such as those in Dom's how to solve problems helped a ton.

    once you've read the blog, practice a shit ton of your target rating and try to solve problems keeping those high level ideas in mind.

    some other random advice is : getting faster at easy problems is a big part of getting better as much as being able to solve harder problems i

    also get comfortable with combinatorics and counting problems ig if you're not already.

    themecp is great for practice. virtual contests do the job too. but if you're not in the mood just taking random problems of your desired rating helps too!

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      8 hours ago, # ^ |
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      thanks a lot for these! i've done one or two themeCP rounds, they're certainly vvnice, i'll try to do more of them and hit VCs more often! yeetorzz :prayge:

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    75 minutes ago, # ^ |
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    Don't brick once you hit 1894...

    Me: *bricks upon hitting 1894

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8 hours ago, # |
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You can try solving problems between 2100 to 2500 without checking the tags, this will help a lot.

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    8 hours ago, # ^ |
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    thanks! i'll try this, however, don't you think these might be a bit too difficult?

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