No, I actually like pineapple on pizza :)

I randomly generated "TheScrasse" while trying to come up with an Instagram username > 5 years ago. Somehow my friends liked it very much, and a few minutes later it became my "official" nickname.

Here is some context if you're really curious.

As an Italian, I've never dealt with learning Italian as a second language :)

Anyway, I guess learning Italian is not so hard (maybe it's as difficult as French or Spanish). If you're really serious about it, you can learn it in a few months.

I want to go away from Italy :(

I mean, I think it's quite fun to visit Italy as a tourist, but maybe it's better to study / work somewhere else. This is an extreme example, but the situation is not much different on average.

You don't need any "advanced" algorithms to reach master (math, DP and DFS/BFS were enough in my case). Maybe "speedforces" and a good understanding of greedy are more useful.

However, I think learning new algorithms / tricks (for example on USACO Guide) is not a bad idea. Even if you won't use them so often on Codeforces, they make you think in new ways and improve in the long run.

I used to, but I think it isn't so useful (example).

I usually write tutorials when I find out that there is no tutorial on that topic. Since there are already a lot of tutorials about DP (for example, the ones on USACO Guide), I don't think I will write one unless I find something "new" to explain.

• I think it's normal (it also happened to me in my first contests, and also during olympiads). I guess his "problem" will disappear gradually after doing enough contests.
• You can reach expert in either way. For example, in one of my last 2 contests before reaching IGM I solved H, in the other one I speedsolved A B C D E F1. First, you can read both C and D, then decide which problem you like the most and eventually skip C and try to solve D (for example if D is a problem about your favorite topic).
• I think you are doing quite well (you are actually improving), just continue solving problems from Codeforces or other sources, relax and you will eventually reach expert :)

International Grandmaster

(very interesting answer)

1. Yes, that's me.
2. I think I'm very talented, but also very lazy. For example I'm failing university: I think I've reached the point where talent isn't enough, and I need some effort to get results, but I'm not used to spend much time studying things I don't like.
3. Maybe chess and competitive programming skills are correlated only slightly. I think I've seen newbies on Codeforces with > 2300 points on lichess, and GMs on Codeforces with < 1200 points on lichess. So, I guess playing chess doesn't improve your CP skills.
4. No, actually ad-hoc problems were my strength (because I had some experience with math olympiads). For example, I was able to solve the infamous 1375F - Integer Game during the contest, but later I wasn't able to solve 1430E - String Reversal, which is much more standard and easier.
5. I'm 18, I still don't have to worry about my living. I've tried a 3 months internship at Huawei to get some experience and see how it works, but I think I will continue working only after finishing university.

Try this.

In my opinion, if you want to become pupil / specialist, practicing on Codeforces is not so useful because it gives bad habits: in particular, in most easy problems on Codeforces, guessing the answer is easier than actually thinking.

Assuming "the world is too dull", as a "less dull than others" I have the responsibility of making the world a better place.

Anyway, the people around me (who study in my university) and a lot of other people are definitely not "dull": they are much more hardworking, curious and socially skilled than me, and I have to learn a lot from them.

I can't, I'm really busy with exams these days. I was also going to skip the last div1 rounds, but I did them anyway just because I was too tired to continue studying for university.

I tried to replicate this. Unfortunately, it backfired because we are all receiving the necroposting warning. I realized only later that the blog history is also visible.

Well, if I can (i.e., there is no one else in my room), I actually speak out loud during the contest, like I was explaining my thoughts to someone else, and it helps me a lot. Otherwise, I murmur (so that no one hears me).

In any case, I also write / draw a lot on paper during the contest, and I guess that would help anyone.

It's a cherry.

1. My main goal at that time was training for olympiads (mainly on USACO Guide). I reached GM only as a side effect.
2. Scuola Normale Superiore
3. The most advanced algorithm I've used before becoming GM is Dijkstra. See this answer.

While solving a problem, I write any observation / step on paper (and I usually make many "small" and provable steps). As a side effect, when I think I have a full solution, I can double check that the whole "path" to the solution makes sense.

• Sometimes the "edge cases" are not covered by the examples. If you find an "edge case" while you solve the problem, you may want to create and test an example for that case.
• To avoid finding "edge cases" only after submitting, you should try to make sure the solution is correct before implementing.
• Before writing the code, make a sketch of how the code will look like at the end.
• Try writing cleaner code. For example, try to avoid stuff like a[b[c + 1].first] - 1, which makes the code much harder to debug. A slightly longer code is better than code that is difficult to read.

Yes, I read the editorial quite often. If I feel I'm not close solving a problem even after trying for a lot of time, I look at the editorial.

• Skipping the problem and forgetting about it doesn't make sense (you are supposed to learn more from the problems you can't solve than from the problems you can solve).
• Spending a lot of hours on a single problem doesn't make sense (during a contest, you only have a few hours). Sometimes you can try very hard problems and spend much time on them, but I think it shouldn't be your main training strategy.
• Reading the editorial and wondering "how didn't I think about this?" can be extremely useful.

Let me ask my teammates :)

As far as I know, Italy team is usually decently strong and it's supposed to qualify, so I hope it doesn't mess up like last time...

I'm preparing a Div. 1 on Codeforces, so I'm using Codeforces colors (blue, yellow, red) for a while.

I'm noob at olympiads, please ask someone else :(