I am currently preparing for the ICPC, and I have noticed that many teams follow a topic-distribution strategy during their training. I am considering adopting a similar approach with my team.
However, I am unsure about one particular aspect: is it actually beneficial for only one team member to specialize deeply in a specific area?
For example, suppose only one member focuses on advanced geometry for ICPC-level problems while the others do not study it at all. Is this kind of specialization effective, or could it create weaknesses during the contest?
I would appreciate insights or experiences regarding whether strict topic specialization within a team is a good idea.
One of my mentors told me about this strategy as well, that all team members should be well versed in popular topics like dp, graphs, etc. but, when it comes to advanced or difficult topics, such as computational geometry, advanced String algos, HLD, stuff like that then, if on a time constraint, it is more beneficial to divide them among the team members to be able to cover a more diverse and larger group of topics.