The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[muter]

hey, i started like a month ago with these sudokus. I bought a book and finished all the 200 puzzles. But now im looking at this forum and there are all these new techniques like chain reaction i don't know about. So can anyone tell me what stuff i need to learn first?

[QBasicMac]

So can anyone tell me what stuff i need to learn first?

Depends on where you are now.

Unless you are a pattern-memory genius, you have to use so-called pencilmarks to solve complicated puzzles.

If you had a book of easy puzzles (which I really enjoy) then you just fill in cells from sight and simple short-term memory. To me, that's REAL Sudoku.

Anyway, where are you? Do you use pencilmarks like this: Find a reason that some candidate can't go in a cell and erase that pencilmark even though no immediate progress is evident. Continue erasing pencilmarks according to rule until finally you have reduced the pencilmarks in a cell to one and can solve that cell.

I'm sure you will get lots of reading references soon. In fact, you can download the SSP at www.SuDoku.funURL.com and ignore everything in the ZIP except the txt file. It has a nice explanation of techniques.

Mac

[sweetbix]

When you say chain reaction do you mean forcing chains?

These two sites are also good for the basic techniques
http://angusj.com/sudoku/hints.php
http://www.simes.clara.co.uk/programs/sudokutechniques.htm