2018 - THE PROBLEM COMPOSING YEAR IN REVIEW

[Bill Salot]

The 6 contests in 2018 were won by 3 composers. They were the only composers to compete in all 6 contests. Ed Atkinson won two contests and tied for first in a third, making him the new PROBLEMIST OF THE YEAR, breaking Roy Little's 4-year string. Bill Salot won two contests. Roy Little won one contest and tied for first in another. Brian Hinkle was second twice in two tries, and first-timer Igor Martynov (Germany) was second in his only try.

The last 2 of the late George H. Slocum's 'lost' problems, from more than 100 years ago, failed to win before being disqualified due to prior publication. None of Slocum's "lost" problems were comparable to the popular problems that made him famous.

The list of composers who have competed and players who have voted is still small, but international. The club is NOT exclusive. We want it to grow. Please join us and participate at http://www.usacheckers.com/problems/show_contest.php. (What looks like a space in the link is an underscore)

The ever-changing contest themes are governed by the problems entered. You enter one and a competitive contest is built around it. In 2018, themes spanned Double Jeopardy Strokes, Strokes with Quintuple or Septuple Sweeps, the Captive Cossacks Theme, 3x3s, Triple Jumps into Early 1st Position, and Quadruple Jumps into Early 1st Position.

The Problem Evaluators' (Voters') Ladder flourished. A new name climbed to the top rung by demonstrating superior accuracy in identifying winning problems, based on votes made public before contest polls closed. The standings among those who have voted at least 3 times before the end of 2018 follow:
1) Lloyd Gordon (Canada) has picked 5 winners in 5 tries (100%);
2) Liam Stephens (Ireland), 7 winners in 10 tries (70%);
3-4 Tie) Slava Goren (Russia) and Kathy Whitwirth, 4 winners in 7 tries (57%)
5) Gene Ellison, 5 winners in 9 tries (55.5%)
6) Wilma Wolverton, 3 winners in 6 tries (50%)
12 others picked less than 50% winners or voted in less than 3 contests.

We continue to generate contest statistics over time. In 2018, Problems/Contest reached an all-time high, and Votes/Contest reached an all-time low. Is that telling us something?

Year.....Problems per Contest Votes per Contest.....Visitors per Contest
2012.................3.6..........................19.9.......................no data
2013.................4.8..........................17.7.......................no data
2014.................4.7..........................17.8.........................304.7
2015.................4.2..........................15.8.........................322.6
2016.................4.3..........................17.3.........................313.7
2017.................5.2..........................16.2.........................373.0
2018.................5.5..........................15.7.........................314.2

Contest 43 will start January 20. It will be special. Don't miss it. Help evaluate it with your vote.