Software engineer, student, chess player.
My name is Robert Tolstov, and I'm studying software engineering at Saratov State University. Right now I'm getting into ML, and I have web development experience. Have studied interpreters and how chess engines work under the hood. Actively take part in hackathons, and dabbled in CTF too. I give lectures at university and talks at conferences.
I do care about the education in the country — I'm a member of the Development Student Clubs, where I also do educational work at my alma mater.
In my free time I read Hegel, Jung, Plato, and other great minds. One of my big life goals is to understand the mysteries of human mind — I'm drawn to Descartes's philosophy, "I think, therefore I am."
Motivation and values
What pushed me to build this site was a desire to express myself. A Telegram channel used to be enough, but my friends showed me otherwise, by example. The POSSE principle and all that... sounds interesting. Right now my two unshakeable values remain knowledge and people. Actually, it's for the second one that I built this site — as my own representation on the internet, to find like-minded people.
I started web development back in school — simple HTML sites at first, then more complex React SPAs later. At my first away hackathon, in Tambov, I found myself at the start of my second year with my home team. Even though we didn't place, it was a unique and invaluable experience for us. Our product is featured on this site.
A friend brought me back to chess back in school. Since then I've gained over a thousand rating points. And yet I still get an incredible amount of enjoyment out of this... game? sport? art? In the photo — my first official chess tournament, where I placed and became the runner-up champion of my university.
I also played pool once. I liked it! You might wonder why that belongs on this site... But it's exactly these random moments and facts that add up to a portrait of a person. A lot happens in my life. I try to post that kind of live content from time to time in my telegram channel (in russian only).
History
Contacts
This space is made for finding like-minded people and making new acquaintances, so I invite you to follow the links below.
Internet neighbors
This is my corner of the internet. But I'm not alone here — let's meet my neighbors online!
Thanks for scrolling all the way! I'd be glad to stay in touch.