If I ask some of my friends what are
sudoku and masyu, I'll have 2 very distinct answers :
- From a puzzle community friend, the answer will be « both are logical WPC-style puzzles »
- From a friend not being in the puzzle community : He'll probably get a description of classic sudoku for sudoku and sure he won't know what a masyu is.
Sudoku is a universal puzzle, like
rubik's cube or crossword, masyu is a well-known puzzle of the puzzle
community.
That's why we have a world sudoku
championship (WSC) and no world masyu championship.
This year, a report about sudoku was
prepared in which 3 categories of sudoku are defined [it's not published yet, I hope the basics will not be changed]:
(A) Classic sudoku
(B) Sudoku variant
(C) Sudoku hybrid
I would add for purpose of discussion a
4th category :
(D) Non-sudoku puzzle.
Can we agree (D) puzzles are not
appropriate in sudoku compeitions? No more of them in WSC, debate closed, thank you !
For the people outside puzzle
community, I'll describe briefly what (A), (B) and (C) are.
(A) is basically what you think it is,
sudoku as you regularly see in newspaper for example.
(B) is variation of it, it can be
sudoku with added constraints (consecutive sudoku, etc..), or various
geometry (irregular sudoku...), see this blog for lot of example.
(C) is for example a puzzle which mix
sudoku and masyu rules. If you don't know what a masyu is, perhaps
you'll have more problem to solve it than someone in the puzzle
community.
The big question the world puzzle
federation (WPF) has to answer now is : How a world sudoku
championship should look like regarding these 4 categories of
puzzles. The question was asked already after second WSC in 2007 by
Simon Prett (not in these terms,but the question was really the same)
and no answer was given by WPF. Answers were given by wsc organizers,
by adding more of (A) in the championships (2008 – around 2011 I
woul say). What we see now about classic sudoku (A) in recent WSC is
a very small proportion (~6%) of the puzzles [proportion of points].
[Here technically, I don't count few
classic sudoku that are inside variants rounds, because all top
players know they'll not affect the ranking of competition. Only on
rounds constituted exclusively of classic sudoku there is an impact from
your level at solving classic sudoku].
Thus, I think modern WSC miss
something. The postulate is not good. Postulate is probably that organizers
want to please people taking part in the competition, and, as wpf is
not acting outside puzzle community, there are a lot of people (too
much) inside puzzle community who think classic sudoku are boring [we
can see it for example in the press articles of this year WSC « Das
Standard-Sudoku ist ja oft langweilig » said an organizer].
One of the not desired consequence of this is that a player « not very good at solving classic sudoku » can be world sudoku champion. This is not good ! A fair sudoku championship should contain enough classic sudoku to ensure the winner is good at solving both (A) and (B).
One of the not desired consequence of this is that a player « not very good at solving classic sudoku » can be world sudoku champion. This is not good ! A fair sudoku championship should contain enough classic sudoku to ensure the winner is good at solving both (A) and (B).
I think the wsc should also award best
classic sudoku players, because (A) is what is most universal.
This year, there was 3 competitions for
top players at WSC : world championship, world cup, and finals
of Grand Prix. These 3 competitions based on very few (A) classic
sudoku and big majority of (B) sudoku variants. Why this strange
choice ??? Why not make the world cup to be a (A) classic sudoku
competition ?
While it is important to have fair enough amount of classic sudoku at WSC, I see no problem if there is no classic sudoku at GP final, this is not the same competition. 2013 was a good example: only (B) sudoku variants. It could be a fair distinction between different competitions.
While it is important to have fair enough amount of classic sudoku at WSC, I see no problem if there is no classic sudoku at GP final, this is not the same competition. 2013 was a good example: only (B) sudoku variants. It could be a fair distinction between different competitions.
Sudoku being universal, I think world
sudoku championship should be universal, too. During these first 14
years of WSC, the WPF was not able to see outside the puzzle
community.
I think (C) is inappropriate in WSC,
too. The reason is simple: sudoku hybrids are made for people knowing
what masyu are, that is to say for the puzzle community. For people
outside the puzzle community, these puzzles are not fair. If we want
a universal championship, open to all sudoku fans inside and outside
puzzle community, we must not allow puzzles from category (C) in
sudoku tournament.
In conlusion, I would be happy if WPF
take the only decision possible that would allow to make WSC a great
competition for all sudoku fans, I mean :
- WSC must contain fair amount of (A) classic sudoku, and awards should be given to the top players of (A).
- WSC must contain only (A) and (B) and the top player of this competition is awarded as being World Sudoku Champion of the year.
By fair amount of (A), I mean it can be
fair amount of rounds, fair amount of % of points, or anything else,
i don't have real preference [but no, I don't consider 6% as being a fair amount].
I hope once in my life I will be able to consider
the winner of a WPF competition as World Sudoku Champion...
