Leetcode #2173: Longest Winning Streak
In this guide, we solve Leetcode #2173 Longest Winning Streak in Python and focus on the core idea that makes the solution efficient.
You will see the intuition, the step-by-step method, and a clean Python implementation you can use in interviews.

Problem Statement
Table: Matches +-------------+------+ | Column Name | Type | +-------------+------+ | player_id | int | | match_day | date | | result | enum | +-------------+------+ (player_id, match_day) is the primary key (combination of columns with unique values) for this table. Each row of this table contains the ID of a player, the day of the match they played, and the result of that match.
Quick Facts
- Difficulty: Hard
- Premium: Yes
- Tags: Database
Intuition
The task is relational in nature, which maps cleanly to DataFrame operations in Python.
By treating tables as DataFrames, joins and group-bys become concise and readable.
Approach
Load the inputs as DataFrames and apply the appropriate merge, filter, or group-by.
Select or rename the columns to match the required output.
Steps:
- Load inputs as DataFrames.
- Apply merge/groupby/filter operations.
- Select the output columns.
Example
+-------------+------+
| Column Name | Type |
+-------------+------+
| player_id | int |
| match_day | date |
| result | enum |
+-------------+------+
(player_id, match_day) is the primary key (combination of columns with unique values) for this table.
Each row of this table contains the ID of a player, the day of the match they played, and the result of that match.
The result column is an ENUM (category) type of ('Win', 'Draw', 'Lose').
Python Solution
import duckdb
import pandas as pd
def solution(matches: pd.DataFrame) -> pd.DataFrame:
con = duckdb.connect()
con.register("Matches", matches)
return con.execute("""WITH
S AS (
SELECT
*,
ROW_NUMBER() OVER (
PARTITION BY player_id
ORDER BY match_day
) - ROW_NUMBER() OVER (
PARTITION BY player_id, result
ORDER BY match_day
) AS rk
FROM Matches
),
T AS (
SELECT player_id, SUM(result = 'Win') AS s
FROM S
GROUP BY player_id, rk
)
SELECT player_id, MAX(s) AS longest_streak
FROM T
GROUP BY player_id;""").df()
Complexity
The time complexity is O(n log n) (typical). The space complexity is O(n).
Edge Cases and Pitfalls
Watch for boundary values, empty inputs, and duplicate values where applicable. If the problem involves ordering or constraints, confirm the invariant is preserved at every step.
Summary
This Python solution focuses on the essential structure of the problem and keeps the implementation interview-friendly while meeting the constraints.