SDA’s first Sudoku tournament happened on Tuesday April 5. Sudoku, the Japanese number game consisting of a 9 by 9 square grid had contestants sprawling on the concrete deep in thought. Relying on logic, guessing and quick thinking, contestants filled up the blank squares with numbers.
The objective of Sudoku is to fill up squares with the numbers of 1 through 9, and not have any repeats of digits residing in the same row, either down, or across. Some of the numbers are given to start with, but the rest must be filled in.
Within the Sudoku square, there are 9 squares of sides comprised of three by three and another way to solve it, other than doing the rows of 9 by 9 is to solve the individual three by three squares first. Junior Contestant Amber Michaelis said, “We did both, whichever had more numbers given first. But, mostly boxes.”
Amidst the blare of upbeat music for thinking, ASB students could be seen carrying out activities to run this event. Freshman Cassidy Mayeda, ASB member and co-leader of this event, along with Junior Sami Sonnich said, “Someone mentioned the idea of a Sudoku tournament to me, and I decided to do it. SDA wanted it, so we did it. It’s fun.”
Sophomore Joshua Atkinson explained his technique for finding the solution, “You look from vertical and horizontal to see which one you can put in what square. You have to use a lot of logic.”
Although some onlookers were not familiar with the Asian math puzzle, some students, such as Sophomore Kayla McEldowney had had previous experience. “I’ve probably done Sudoku for two years now. It’s kind of hard when you get one wrong and then you have to redo everything you’ve done because you got the one wrong.”
Junior Kara Gorman, who worked with Amber Michaelis said, “It’s a little hard since it’s big.” Gorman mostly uses the vertical horizontal method to solve.
Chalked outlines of grids resembling cleanly calculated rows of organized hopscotch were drawn in front of the gym, and spectators lined the encircling walls, while students helped their friends solve the math puzzle. An award was given for first place finisher, and many of those students who completed the Sudoku after, determinedly stayed until the end of lunch bell to finish.
Although some students competed and participated in the tournament for fun, for junior onlooker, Marie Santore, Sudoku is more of a way of life. “I heard that it slows down the aging process and stimulates your mind to prevent mental deterioration later on in life.” She took up the sport with her grandmother.
Another serious Sudoku solver would be senior Luis Cervantes who said, “I do a Sudoku everyday before my homework because it stimulates my mind and prepares me for the long study and homework night ahead.”
Overall, the thirty five minute lunch time activity’s first time at SDA garnered much attention and participation among teachers, participating students, and onlookers and was a way to incorporate math into an enjoyable mental exercise.