While Loh's approach is commendable that is not necessarily the approach the kids follow to be selected. IMO is kind of artificial in its subject matter so it is not true that the more math you know the higher your odds. These kids have trained very hard on their own (you have to be obsessive to get to the competitive level), just to be selected. My guess is that Loh's approach kind of loosen them up instead to giving them more of the same of what they already did on their own and this seems to have worked wonders for the highest performing kids.