CD Strategies

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aryarao

257 posts

aryarao

#1 h Jan 8, 2014, 1:36 AM • 2 Y

Y by Adventure10, Mango247

The title says it. Example: Stay calm in CD.

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chezbgone

1523 posts

chezbgone

#2 h Jan 8, 2014, 1:38 AM • 7 Y

Y by mathtastic, Einstein314, arpanliku, isolationist, Adventure10, Mango247, and 1 other user

I can't even stay calm when playing FTW at home :/

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Aopser101

847 posts

Aopser101

#3 h Jan 8, 2014, 1:39 AM • 3 Y

Y by Einstein314, Adventure10, Mango247

Solve the problem, not the situation.

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aryarao

257 posts

aryarao

#4 h Jan 8, 2014, 1:59 AM • 3 Y

Y by arpanliku, Adventure10, Mango247

Problems are not the problem for me and I'm guessing most AoPSers, the problem is getting up there and not only being successful but looking successful as my town is full of prejudice. Plus, the situation affects how you solve problems.

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IMGUNNA

184 posts

IMGUNNA

#5 h Jan 8, 2014, 2:21 AM • 2 Y

Y by Adventure10, Mango247

If your opponent misses the question. Take your time and check your work before you answer.

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Royalreter1

1913 posts

Royalreter1

#6 h Jan 8, 2014, 2:25 AM • 2 Y

Y by Adventure10, Mango247

If the other person answers before you, half-listen to their answer to make sure when you answer you don't make the same mistake, but continue working. It's 3 free seconds if they get it wrong! (Sometimes even more, the Chapter and State moderators sometimes give like 5 seconds while they search for your name or something)
If it's something like how many prime factors does 24 have? You should just buzz in if you can solve the problem and say the answer in 3 seconds.

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happiface

1300 posts

happiface

#7 h Jan 8, 2014, 2:33 AM • 2 Y

Y by Adventure10, Mango247

Know your opponent. If you are going against someone who you know you are better than and is not very fast, take your time and make sure you know the answer. It sucks to be fast, get it wrong because of not dividing by 2 or something, and then let your opponent take their time and get the problem. If the person is your level, then try to be as fast as possible, and it is okay if you buzz in but are not completely sure of the answer--i.e. you should take risks. If the person is clearly better than you, buzz in super fast, and hope the question is easy enough so that you can solve it in the 3 seconds you are allowed (and hope that the moderator stumbles over recognizing you). This can make you look stupid if the question is hard, but you have to do anything and everything to beat super fast people!

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chemistrygirl

154 posts

chemistrygirl

#8 h Jan 8, 2014, 2:48 AM • 2 Y

Y by swagchicken, Adventure10

As soon as you get to the final steps of a solution, you can buzz in before you know the answer and quickly compute the last few steps while they are calling on you.

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BOGTRO

5818 posts

BOGTRO

#9 h Jan 8, 2014, 2:58 AM • 17 Y

Y by arpanliku, Einstein314, Royalreter1, mikechen, kj2002, nbute, TheMaskedMagician, BitterGummy, AkshajK, aryarao, e_is_cool, chemistrygirl, spartan168, champion999, ShineBunny, moab33, Adventure10

As already stated, remain calm. The easiest way to lose a CD match is to panic at an early deficit. Tell yourself your opponent sucks and you'll annihilate him. Tell yourself your opponent is a god and you can't possibly beat him, so it's time to just have fun trying. Tell yourself it's all a game. Heck, tell yourself you're sleeping and this is actually all a dream. Whatever calms you down. As an anecdote, in my 8th grade year at Chapter I was up against another somewhat famous AoPS user. I fell behind 0-2 (first to 3), but I was completely calm. It wasn't that I didn't care (though frankly once you're in top 3 you don't tend to care too much), it was that panicking would be completely useless. About 30 seconds later I was focusing on the next match.
Don't calm down too much. Certainly don't fall asleep, that would be a little awkward. Adrenaline is a good thing in small quantities. If you're shaking a little bit, this is a good sign. You'll be more alert and awake for the match. Additionally, once you have the lead, it's not time to relax. You need to stay just as focused as you would if you were on the verge of losing. A 3-0 lead can be, quite literally, gone in 60 seconds. Don't believe me? Ask Darryl Wu.
Know where your buzzer is, and always have a finger on the button. This sounds like common sense, but I've seen several people not do this for whatever strange reason. Buzzing speed is a very nontrivial part of CD. I've won more than one match due to a quicker trigger finger, one of which ended up propelling me into nationals.
You need to balance speed and accuracy. If you buzz in when you're 80% sure you can finish the problem in the allotted 3 seconds, that extra time boost is going to pay off big time in the long run. Particularly in competitive states where the difference between winning and losing is often milliseconds, you need to sacrifice some accuracy. Wait until you've solved almost all of the problem, buzz in, and finish the problem while you're being called on. You can usually count on 4-5 seconds (human reaction time for this is probably at least a second, especially given that the moderator is likely in the middle of reading the problem and needs to turn away from that). You'll get burned sometimes, but getting 4/5 because you buzzed in too quickly on a problem is much much better than getting 3/5 because you waited until you were completely done.
If your opponent has missed a problem, there's absolutely no reason for you to buzz in until there's ~10 seconds left. CD problems are very very easy as standalone problems, so take advantage of the extra time to be 110% sure of your answer. There's no reason a problem should ever be missed by both participants.
PRACTICE. MATHCOUNTS is not about solving really hard problems. Especially in countdown, it's about knowing exactly how to solve a problem the second you see it. If you don't know the correct approach within 2-3 seconds of the problem appearing on the screen, you're in huge trouble. This doesn't mean you should be actually getting the answer by then, but you need to know how to get it.
PRACTICE COUNTDOWN. Just like anything else, there's no substitute for actually practicing under countdown conditions. FTW is a reasonable substitute until you start using it primarily as a chat room and/or you begin to memorize problems with some regularity. If you are fortunate enough to have a team that regularly practices, set aside a little bit of time each practice (or once every 4 practices exclusively do this) to practice with old countdown problems. Make this a powerpoint if humanly possible. If you have to have someone manually type the PDF problems into a powerpoint, do this. Even if you never make countdown, you'll have a lot of fun (which is really what MATHCOUNTS boils down to).
Learn how to read the important parts of a question. You don't care about Betsy and her pet cow that wanders in a circular pattern. You don't care that Alice is placating her annoying younger brother by choosing coefficients from a random polynomial. The quicker you can mentally reject the flavor text, the quicker you can start solving the problem.
Be very careful with tricky words such as "perimeter" (which is often mistaken for side while speedreading). Identify these in practice and learn to slow down a little bit when you see them.
You don't have to read the problem in order. It's not a book. Take the whole thing in as quickly as you can without misreading. Figure out what they're asking for quickly - it's hardly rare that you're given extraneous information. If you can solve the problem by only reading half of it and getting the rest from context, you've gained a key second or two.
If something looks (or seems) true, it probably is. Trust your intution. You've worked through hundreds or even thousands of problems to prepare for this particular one. If you "see" something about a problem that you "know" is true and it later turns out it isn't, frankly you didn't practice very well.
If you see a problem that only gives you one number (when it seems like you need more), the answer is probably either double that number or that number squared or something similar. You can generalize this pretty easily.
If the problem doesn't specify, you can usually assume things are regular or such. If the problem talks about a rectangle without giving you information on the sides, it's a square. If the problem talks about any polygon, it's regular.
Use all these techniques in the same problem. For example, a problem from state CD when I was competing read (paraphrased) "AB is a diameter of circle O and C is a point on the circle. The altitude from C to AB meets AB at D, and CD=5. Furthermore, AC=13. Compute AD*DB."
This should be your thought process:
- Quickly read the problem. If the "circle" is replaced with a "circular region of grass", you don't care. It's a circle. Read on.
- The question is looking for AD*DB. In your head, this should translate to "that times that", where you have a clear diagram in your head (or, sometimes, provided on the powerpoint).
- Look a 5-12-13 triangle.
- This isn't helpful. What do I do now.
- That 13 is useless. Ok bye 13 focus on the rest of the problem.
- There's only one number left - 5. They're looking for a product. Probably 5*5.
- Yes (BUZZ), if we move D to be equidistant from A and B then CD is a radius so AD=DB=CD=5 done 25
- quick mental check yes answer 25 point for me"
All in all this should take you no more than 10 seconds. Any longer and you probably haven't practiced enough. The actual solution to this problem involves similar triangles (or more nicely reflecting C over AB and using POP), but if you're using this argument during Countdown you're doing things completely wrong.
Never ever play the person. MATHCOUNTS is very random. The person sitting next to you might be terrible at math but having the day of his life, or he might be the 2-time state winner battling the flu. You have no way of knowing, so you shouldn't care. They're just some existential being sitting next to you, trying to solve problems quickly. Let them worry about the psychological games - hurry up and solve it before they do. Solving problems quickly will get you noticed and will intimidate people just as well as if you play jedi mind tricks.
If you buzz in and you realize you don't know the answer, say something. You never know - I salvaged a point like this once. Even if you have absolutely no idea, say "flying fluffy pink unicorns" or something. At least it will distract your opponent. Besides, how many people can say that they answered "flying fluffy pink unicorns" to a question in an intense qualification round for a national event? Far fewer than the number of national competitors, I can guarantee you that.
Finally, keep in mind that it really is just a game. MATHCOUNTS is too random for the results to be very meaningful, so just have fun with it. Countdown is one of the most exciting math competitions there are, especially when you're that young. Take advantage of it while you still have it, and if you happen to finish up 5th life most certainly moves on.

(Edited in some wording changes and a small addition to the first 2 tips)

This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by BOGTRO, Jan 8, 2014, 3:43 AM

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Nitzuga

600 posts

Nitzuga

#10 h Jan 8, 2014, 3:36 AM • 2 Y

Y by Adventure10, Mango247

Well, personally I found it useful to get the question right.

Also

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bzc11

359 posts

bzc11

#11 h Jan 8, 2014, 9:09 PM • 2 Y

Y by Adventure10, Mango247

Totally agree with almost everything Bogtro mentioned, although I don't think any people would say "Fluffy Pink Unicorns" as a answer. Certainly, if the problem says common fraction, don't say 6. If it says express your answer in terms of pi, don't say 1/216. (Trust me, at MathCounts practice this week we were doing a practice countdown and the problem said express your answer in terms of pi and he said 4 for some reason). So use a reasonable guess/estimate.

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TheMaskedMagician

2955 posts

TheMaskedMagician

#12 h Jan 8, 2014, 9:41 PM • 2 Y

Y by Adventure10, Mango247

Yeah today in my school's countdown one question was

Problem wrote:

Find $x$ is $5-x=8$ .

I immediately buzzed the second I saw the screen because i knew that I could do it in 1 second. Also, another person gave an integer when the question said decimal.

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Nitzuga

600 posts

Nitzuga

#13 h Jan 8, 2014, 11:22 PM • 2 Y

Y by Adventure10, Mango247

If this is a countdown problem from this year's school round, TAKE IT DOWN!

This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by Nitzuga, Jan 9, 2014, 1:57 AM

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arpanliku

339 posts

arpanliku

#14 h Jan 8, 2014, 11:26 PM • 2 Y

Y by Adventure10, Mango247

nvm.......

This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by arpanliku, Jan 8, 2014, 11:58 PM

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arpanliku

339 posts

arpanliku

#15 h Jan 8, 2014, 11:34 PM • 2 Y

Y by Adventure10, Mango247

BOGTRO wrote:

If you buzz in and you realize you don't know the answer, say something. You never know - I salvaged a point like this once. Even if you have absolutely no idea, say "flying fluffy pink unicorns" or something. At least it will distract your opponent. Besides, how many people can say that they answered "flying fluffy pink unicorns" to a question in an intense qualification round for a national event? Far fewer than the number of national competitors, I can guarantee you that.

If I were to go to Nats, I would definitely say flying fluffy pink unicorns if I had no ideas; AoPSers who saw BOGTRO's post would laugh, and also, it would help lighten the mood.

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aryarao

257 posts

aryarao

#16 h Jan 9, 2014, 12:07 AM • 2 Y

Y by Adventure10, Mango247

They do that? (School round)

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mathtastic

3258 posts

mathtastic

#17 h Jan 9, 2014, 1:42 AM • 1 Y

Y by Adventure10

TheMaskedMagician wrote:

Yeah today in my school's countdown one question was

Problem wrote:

Find $x$ is $5-x=8$ .

I immediately buzzed the second I saw the screen because i knew that I could do it in 1 second. Also, another person gave an integer when the question said decimal.

How is this not an integer?

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Royalreter1

1913 posts

Royalreter1

#18 h Jan 9, 2014, 1:46 AM • 2 Y

Y by TheMaskedMagician, Adventure10

mathtastic wrote:

TheMaskedMagician wrote:

Yeah today in my school's countdown one question was

Problem wrote:

Find $x$ is $5-x=8$ .

I immediately buzzed the second I saw the screen because i knew that I could do it in 1 second. Also, another person gave an integer when the question said decimal.

How is this not an integer?

I believe TMM meant another question.

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mathgenius64

1332 posts

mathgenius64

#19 h Jan 9, 2014, 2:28 AM • 2 Y

Y by Adventure10, Mango247

I don't remember about chapter, but at least for state, they do a practice round, find out how long it takes for your opponent to solve the problem, and when you are up there, I suppose that you could try to take a long time to do the problem to make your opponent take their time. Also, if you see a problem, don't stand there and think, hoping for your opponent to get it wrong, you should get started on something (even if it is guessing) immediately.

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jeremylu

2260 posts

jeremylu

#20 h Jan 9, 2014, 2:39 AM • 1 Y

Y by Adventure10

Nitzuga wrote:

If this is a countdown problem from this year's school round, TAKE IT DOWN!

pretty sure you could solve it just as quickly if not quicker rather than memorizing it

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Nitzuga

600 posts

Nitzuga

#21 h Jan 9, 2014, 3:06 AM • 2 Y

Y by Adventure10, Mango247

mathgenius64 wrote:

I don't remember about chapter, but at least for state, they do a practice round, find out how long it takes for your opponent to solve the problem, and when you are up there, I suppose that you could try to take a long time to do the problem to make your opponent take their time. Also, if you see a problem, don't stand there and think, hoping for your opponent to get it wrong, you should get started on something (even if it is guessing) immediately.

The answer to the practice question is 56 cents.* Also, don't worry much about your opponent, but definitely start working as soon as you comprehend the question.

jeremylu wrote:

pretty sure you could solve it just as quickly if not quicker rather than memorizing it

I think it would still take a split second longer to solve. Also, that is no excuse- the rules are the rules, and you have to follow them if you want to play the game. (The game being MATHCOUNTS of course.)

*In my three years of MATHCOUNTS the "practice question" was always the same - $1.68/3. I don't know of any reason for them to change it.

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mathgenius64

1332 posts

mathgenius64

#22 h Jan 9, 2014, 3:44 AM • 1 Y

Y by Adventure10

Oh, @nitzuga they do a practice round, where everyone faces off against an opponent as a practice to make sure that everyone knows what to do.

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bestwillcui1

2735 posts

bestwillcui1

#23 h Jan 9, 2014, 5:03 AM • 2 Y

Y by Adventure10, Mango247

Yeah the apples question is just the sample question.

We don't have a practice round though - it is assumed that anyone who is good enough to qualify for countdown knows how it works.

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