At least in certain areas of mathematics, research problems are often easier than the harder IMO problems. That is to say, you can get pretty far if you know a lot of previously proven results and combine them in relatively straightforward ways. This seems especially true in areas where it is hard for a single human to know a lot of results, just because it takes a long time to read and learn things.
At least in certain areas of mathematics, research problems are often easier than the harder IMO problems. That is to say, you can get pretty far if you know a lot of previously proven results and combine them in relatively straightforward ways. This seems especially true in areas where it is hard for a single human to know a lot of results, just because it takes a long time to read and learn things.