Data Analytics + Chess = Cool insights

A peice of code in the hands of a coder is like a weapon. He would execute it, modify it and ultimately try to apply it in every possible scenario.

Similar was the case when I was introduced to Gephi and data analytics a week ago.

I read a lot about big data on the internet, saw videos on youtube about it and started exploring more about its applications. I came across a lot of information and some of them include:

- Structured data accounts to only 10% of worlds total data. Business decisions are made based on this. Rest 90% is unstructured data.
- Retailers are using bigdata analytics to understand their customers, predict their preferences and promote offerings accordingly. etc.

This created a lot of interest in me to explore more about Gephi...

I started playing chess couple of years back. I fell in love with the game and came to know that we could play online with quality players on chess.com. With this interest in me, I now play almost 4 to 5 games everyday. I usually win most of the matchesand i observed that I had improved a lot in the last few months.

Now, can i somehow try to apply what all i have learned in my class and understand if i could see a pattern of my moves or could i predict what my opening moves? I didnt wait  a second. I quickly went to the game archive on chess.com and extracted all the data onto my machine. It downloaded as .pgn file which had details like a) Match results b) my scores before and after the match c) log containing all the moves(step by step). d) total moves etc.

I then formatted the data using an excel and feeded it to gephi.

Here are some of the results and observations:

- The total number of games (Live Chess - Blitz) i have played so far = 1326
- My average rating is 1324
- My highest rating was 1593
- Among all the matches i won, the average number of steps i played was equal to35
- The match in which i played the least number of steps to win was 10 and the match in which i played the maximum number of  steps to win against an opponent was 69
- In the last 92 matches i won 79.
- 80% of my matches were against players from US ( this might be because i usually play in the night and it is morning in US, so there are more players online from US).
- I play an average of 36 matches per month. and I play 8-10 days in a month. i.e. I play minimum 4 matches on the day i login to chess.com
This inturn means, i spend atleast 90minutes of my time on chess.
- In 65% of my matches, I move the king's pawn as my first move. and of these 92% of the times i won.

There were lot of other observations i made and all i can say is that i'm just amazed by the applications of data analytics and the free tools like Gephi. They really are of great help.

Next time someone plays chess with me, i would surely change my first move :)

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"What" and "Quantify" Approach - for Preparing your CVs

Introduction

If someones asks me to define a CV, i would quickly Google it and say: " A curriculum vitae (CV) provides an overview of a person's experience and other qualifications. (or) It is a brief account of a person's education, qualifications, and experience, typically sent with a job application."

Since definitions have always failed to explain the true purpose of any term, i would simply say - its an important tool to market yourself and to make a positive impression on the interviewer in a very short time. A CV can make or break an interview. It can differentiate you from your competitors and can also give a direction to the interview.

Most of us know the basics of writing a CV and there is a lot of information available in the internet which can guide us in preparing a CV. So I'm not interested in discussing that.

But while preparing your CV, you often get a question - "What points should I include and what should I remove?". This is one of the toughest questions to answer and we oft get stuck. Some points seem important and some relevant. So how do I decide what to add/remove? Also, we often fail to structure our CV and end up making a poor CV.

This is common with almost everyone. So one needn't have to worry about it. There are ways to solve this issue. The "What" and "Quantify" approach is one which helps you decide what all points to add/remove. So while preparing your CV, you could try this approach and then meet your CV mentor for a final verification.

The average recruiter only spends 20 to 30 seconds glancing at a CV, which means that you have to grab their attention very quickly indeed. At the same time you also need to leave a positive impression on him. So for every point that you want to add, ask yourself these two questions - 1) What? 2) Did i Quantify?

1) What

The "What" talks about two things:

a) What is the point all about? (try to answer this in one word)

b) What is the value it is adding to your CV? Why should i include it in my CV?

How would this help me:

Let me first talk about - a) What is the point that I'm going to add in my CV?

The answer to this question would help you find out the relevance of the point w.r.to the section in which you are adding that point. Based on this you could decide if that point fits in that section or whether you have to change it. You could also find out whether the point is a new one or if its already conveyed somewhere else and depending on that you could make the necessary changes. Remember, never repeat a point. Its a Crime.

Example: Students usually tend to write - "Have completed so and so certification in Java" in the achievements section or "Mentored the new hires and trained them" under the Responsibilities section. The answer to "What?" would help you understand the essence of it and as to which section does the point come into.

b) What is the value it is adding to your CV? Why should i include it in my CV?

You cannot afford to just add points with the motive of filling the page. Every point should add some value to the CV. So try to identify the importance of that point. This would help you to identify the words you need to highlight and bold them.

If you're satisfied with the answers for both the questions then go for - "Did i Quantify?"

"Did I quantify?"

Every point that you add should make sense for the person who is reading you CV. We usually add points like "Achieved a gold medal in painting competition" /but how many have participated?/, "Played guitar in an event conducted at IITB" /did someone like it? how big is the event?/, "Initiated and implemented an automation framework for my project" /did it help you? or the organization? and How?/etc.

All these are very important points and can give a very good impression to the interviewer. But these points are open ended. They look abrupt. You need to quantify them by giving more information i.e. try and add some number to it - to make it look complete.

Instead of writing "Initiated and implemented an automation framework for my project", mention it like "Initiated and implemented an automation framework which has reduced the overall execution time of my team by 50%" or "Played guitar in an event conducted at IITB" could be written as "Played guitar in a nation wide event conducted at IITB which had a participation of over 2000 and was highly appreciated by the print media."

Quantifying helps in giving a holistic view and completeness to the sentence. It is very important to quantify (esp.) the achievements in your CV.

These are obvious points yet by asking the two simple questions "What" and "Did i Quantify" - your CV could really look better.

...Hope this helps!! :)

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Participated in MICA Ad-MAD Competition and won 2nd prize: Ad Campaign to promote a Contact lens Brand  

Participated in IIMR Ad-Making Competition and won 1st prize  

Keep the Story untold . . . I like it that way . . .

Ads for Polaris Off-Road Vehicles

The Ads that i made for Polaris Off-Road Vehicles. . .

Advertisement 1:

Summary: The message – “Why wait till the road is constructed”, would communicate to the consumer that it is not an on-road vehicle and that with the help of a Polaris vehicle one can easily travel over hilly terrain. The image of the vehicle along with the tagline “World’s No-1 Off-Road vehicle” will answer that. Advertisement 2:

Summary: Here I have considered a real time scenario where a person who has to attend an interview is stuck up in the traffic jam. The message – “traffic jam can only happen on roads”, would make the consumer think for an alternative means of transport. The image of the vehicle along with the tagline “World’s No-1 Off-Road vehicle” will answer that. Advertisement 3:

Summary: Here the tagline “The Unbeatable over any terrain . .”communicates that Polaris vehicles do not have any constraints as they can travel across any terrain. Further, they are so stylish, powerful and unbeatable that people just can’t stop staring till the vehicle goes away. . . (The is communicated through the tagline – “dekthe reh jaooge”.)

What should the brand communication strategy be?

A Brand is a set of perceptions and images that represent a company, product or service. It is the essence or promise of what will be delivered or experienced.  Brand Awareness occurs when a brand is not only on the top-of-mind to consumers, but also has “distinctive qualities that stick out to consumers”. So while promoting a brand, it is very important to communicate these distinctive qualities/features that would create an impression in the consumers' mind about the brand. Polaris as a brand is new to the Indian market as it was launched in the year 2011. Most of the people are not aware of the brand and also the off-road automobile market is in a nascent stage in India. So the Brand Communication strategy should be in such a way that a person who has come across Polaris for the first time should never forget it and should be able to recall the brand.

Communication strategy

Let us first see as to how the Polaris vehicles are different from other vehicles in India? They are Off-Road Vehicles Driving a Polaris is an Experience in itself There is no age limit for someone to drive a Polaris vehicle So the Communicating Strategy to the consumers, The message should clearly define what Polaris brand is all about. The initial communication should have a neutral message – because if too much emphasis is given to the product as an “Experience” there is a high chance of consumers considering it as a Risk.

- Karthik Juvvala