Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve most likely heard of Sudoku. Most of us however just aren’t very good at it. What I discovered recently is undoubtedly the best and most concise Sudoku course on the entire internet and it’s free.
I’ve been playing Sudoku on and off for decades, and yes for the most part I can solve even fairly complex puzzles but at some stage I get stuck and once I’m stuck even after hours of staring at a particular puzzle I just can’t find the solution.
This is really what started my journey. I decided why continue to play this game 1/2 cocked? Surely even the most casual player would benefit by brushing up on the rules, but I’m playing more and more Sudoku these days. Why be satisfied with being stuck in more complex puzzles?
A complete course in how to solve Sudoku
The complete and concise course can be found here : https://sudokuswami.com/
Or the Youtube playlist can be found here : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzg42yqvfiLKESOIrp-NlQ-lgvtuwO5JE
If you’re a hardcore pen and paper type, then he’s got you covered too : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzg42yqvfiLKot17m8XwCfhnzPxqwPzvu
Not like any other
I do have a few favorite Youtubers who also cover Sudoku solving technique, but none of them cover absolutely everything in a progressive way and none of them provide a full blown course.
For example, Simon over at Cracking the Cryptic makes for great entertainment while sipping a coffee, but all his videos comprise a puzzle he’s solving and inadvertently he talks about the solving technique at a higher level. This means you could watch many hours of Simon solving puzzles and unfortunately not gain the deeper knowledge needed to apply those techniques yourself. Just to be clear, this isn’t a criticism per say on Simon directly. He’s a highly skilled problem solver, both him and his crew, however they’re all over the place and cover stuff randomly rather than taking a clean step by step approach to their content.
There are others on Youtube too, who mostly try and cover certain patterns you will encounter, but in my experience they’re just not as good as Jaco from Sudoku Swami. What Jaco has done is provide an academic framework.
What you put in, is what you get out
While going through the course, I very strongly suggest watching EVERYTHING. Even if you think you know what you’re doing, even if you think you can skip ahead, just don’t. There’s a lot of new information, even for seasoned solvers early on.
Don’t try and rush through the content. Watch and rewatch the parts until you really understand it. If you are in a later video and have forgotten a basic principle or just aren’t totally sure, then go back and rewatch the part with the terminology or explanation.
Don’t skip the tips and extended examples. Watch these in their entirety too, once again juicy bits of information can be found there too.
If you’re unsure, ask
I really like that Jaco actually answers your questions and engages with you, and so you get help from a grandmaster, but what I’ve found is the course covers so much that usually most of what you want to ask is already covered in the course.
Have fun solving on your journey to excellence!
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