The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[Kunegochu]

i am having a lot of trouble speed solving, please help

[Cec]

Hi Kunegochu,

Firstly, your question is akin to asking a golfer how to reduce your handicap quicker The three key words are practice, practice and practice.

Like you Kunegochu, I too was initially concerned in my slow solving time which prompted me to post this thread . The responses from other members might interest you.

Speed solving will obviously depend on a person's keeness to learn and recognizing one's ability to learn more solving techniques. There are many links throughout the forum describing basic and advanced solving techniques.

I might add that since learning to solve "easy" puzzles that previously took me more time to solve, the level of enjoyment has declined because these "easy" puzzles hardly present a challenge. I don't mean this to sound ego-statistical and I guess what I'm trying to say is that the challenge of trying to solve "difficult" puzzles is more enjoyable to me, albeit frustrating at times, with the time factor being a far less important issue.

Cec

[claudiarabia]

CEC is totally right. The more solving-strategies you know, the faster you become in solving sudokus. Many sudokus, unsolvable before, become boring and grey suddenly. But be sure, there are still more sudoku-challenges waiting for you, after you have cracked the first easy levels. You will need more difficult sudokus from time after time. The more solving strategies, of which you will find a plenty in this gifted forum, you will encounter and master finally, the more you will become aware of the dimensions of logic to be necessary to solve even the hardest nut. And you will find out that there are different ways to solve and you may prefere one brute fast step or a series of easy but asthetic steps just according to your whims like a mountain climber which may choose the shortest but hardest ascending stony way or the long, relaxing and easy serpentine.

Anyway, you will be able to discover your own solving methods. For me, I'm glad when I find a solving-way which is faster and more beautiful at the same time than the way my computer-program offers me. I always try to find a nice solving-method according to the difficulty-level of the respective sudoku. Nothing is more inadequate than solving an easy sudoku, which requires a bunch of Hidden Pairs and Pointing usually, with a multiple forcing chain! It would be like shooting with cannons on sparrows. For the multiple forcing chain cracking many puzzles in one step see the link below (entry of 06.10.07, pictures 2, 3 and 4):
http://iloblog.sudoku-trick-kiste.de/today?Home&category=2

But it is the mix of solving strategies of various levels in one sudoku, which makes the solving that fascinating. If you only want to find that right forcing chain, which solves the whole puzzle, go on! But this way may you deprive of a lot of possible precious solving-gems spreaded just before you on your path, like xy-wings, Sword- and Turbot-Fishes or even a BUG Typ 1, whose nice structures delight not only the eye but also the logic mind in our brain.

With best wishes

Claudia