logo

    Congratulations TCO03 Algorithm Champion, tomek

    algo-winner

    About the Algorithm Competition

    Dates:
    October 7th through December 5th, 2003

    Rounds:
    Two qualification rounds - online
    Four elimination rounds - online

    The Semifinal and Championship rounds will be held at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT on December 4th and 5th

    Prizes:
    Total Prize Purse: $100,000 in cash
    Up to 500 competitors will receive a prize just for competing in Online Round #1
    Up to 200 eligible competitors will receive cash prizes

    Finalists:
    The top 16 finishers in the online rounds will advance to the onsite Semifinal and Championship rounds

    Rules

    No purchase necessary to enter or win

    The 2003 TopCoder Open sponsored by Intel® (Coding Tournament) will take place between October 7th and December 5th, 2003. It will consist of two (2) online qualification rounds, four (4) online elimination rounds and two (2) onsite final rounds, being the Semifinal and Championship rounds. The prize purse for this tournament is $100,000 in cash. Up to 500 competitors will receive a prize just for competing in Online Round #1, and up to 200 eligible competitors will receive cash prizes. The top 16 finishers in the online rounds will advance to the onsite Semifinal and Championship rounds, being held at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT from December 4th and 5th.

    Eligibility

    All TopCoder members who are 18 years of age or older may attempt to qualify for the TCO. 500 members will qualify either through Qualification Rounds or by receiving an automatic berth.

    Qualification Rounds
    All members who have not already qualified for the Coding Tournament can compete in the Qualifying Rounds. The top 200 scorers from each of the two Qualification Rounds will be eligible to compete in Online Round 1. The Qualification Rounds will be held on Tuesday, October 7th and Thursday, October 9th.

    Automatic Berths
    The 100 highest rated TopCoder members as of October 7th who have participated in at least three (3) TopCoder rated events (i.e., Single Round Matches and previous tournaments) prior to October 7th, with at least one (1) of those events being between July 7th and October 7th, will receive an automatic berth into Online Round 1.

    Please note that the top 100 rated members with automatic berths will not be permitted to compete in the Qualification Rounds. In addition, the members qualifying for the tournament in Qualification Round #1 will not be permitted to compete in Qualification Round #2.

    Eligibility
    TopCoder members who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to win cash prizes, unless otherwise prohibited. The TopCoder Open is void in the Quebec province of Canada, and elsewhere where prohibited by applicable law. Cash prizes will not be paid to residents of Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, or Syria.

    Employees of TopCoder, Inc. and those involved in the production (including prize suppliers), implementation and distribution of this tournament and their advertising or promotion agencies, parent companies, service providers, agents, officers, subsidiaries or affiliates, or any other persons or entities directly associated with the tournament and members of the immediate families and/or persons living in the same household as such persons, are ineligible to enter the tournament.

    Conditions of Participation

    By participating in the tournament, you agree to be bound by these rules and to all decisions of TopCoder, which are final, binding and conclusive in all matters.

    Contestants must not cheat. All ideas for any code and/or challenge submitted must be the contestant’s alone.

    Winners in each round of competition will be those competitors who win the most points in their respective rooms. All decisions relating to the viability of submissions, the ranking of submissions and all other matters pertaining to the tournament shall be within the sole discretion of TopCoder or its designee and shall be final and binding in all respects.

    Prizewinners will be notified via e-mail within 10 days of the completion of the Online Round #4 that they have won a prize. Any prizewinner claiming a cash prize must complete and return the following documents to TopCoder by Wednesday, November 12th:

    • Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability and Publicity Release (must be notarized unless you already have a notarized affidavit on file with TopCoder)

    • Competitor questionnaire—the questions and responses will be published in the 2003 TopCoder Open sponsored by Intel® Program

    • Travel form—provides TopCoder with the appropriate travel information in the event you advance to the onsite tournament rounds

    • Applicable tax form (unless your tax form is already on file with TopCoder)

    Prizes will be presented within 60 days of making an eligibility determination. Unclaimed or undeliverable prizes will not be awarded. Competitors who do not submit the required information listed above by Wednesday, November 12th will forfeit their prizes.

    As a condition of participation in the tournament, all information provided by you in your TopCoder member profile must be comprehensive, accurate and up-to-date. TopCoder may require you to complete an additional registration form to register for the tournament. In order to be eligible to participate in the tournament, you must have completed any and all registration forms required by TopCoder.

    As a condition of winning and redeeming a cash prize, winners will be required to return by Wednesday, November 12th a completed (i) notarized Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability and Publicity Release, (ii) competitor questionnaire, (iii) travel form, and (iv) IRS Form W-9 or W-8BEN, as appropriate, if one is not already on file with TopCoder. In completing the Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability and Publicity Release, a winner (i) confirms his/her eligibility, (ii) represents and warrants that he/she has not cheated; that the idea for the code and/or challenge submitted is his/hers alone, (iii) verifies the accuracy of the demographic information submitted to, and contained in, the TopCoder member database, (iv) authorizes TopCoder to publicize the tournament’s results, (v) agrees to sign any applicable forms required by tax authorities, (vi) licenses to TopCoder rights to all information submitted during the tournament (including rights to source code and other executables), and (vii) releases TopCoder from liability arising out of any prize won. TopCoder requires contestants to complete the Form W-9 or W-8BEN for tax reporting purposes. If prize notification is returned as undeliverable, or if the winner fails to return the Affidavit, or the W-9 or W-8BEN, as specified, the winner will be disqualified and the prize money won by the disqualified winner will be forfeited. Providing false information in the registration process or in the required forms described in this paragraph will disqualify a winner.

    By participating in a tournament and redeeming a prize, a winner releases and agrees to hold harmless TopCoder, its affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies, sponsors, and prize suppliers, and all of their respective directors, officers, employees, representatives and agents, from and against any and all liability for any loss, property damage or damage to person, including without limitation, death and injury, due in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from or arising out of participation in this tournament, or participation in any tournament-related activity, or the receipt, use or misuse of a prize. TopCoder specifically disclaims all liability associated with, and makes no warranties with regard to, any prize given.

    In addition, all prizewinners agree to cooperate with TopCoder’s publicity efforts, without further compensation. This includes the agreement to use their name, handle, address (city and state) and likeness for publicity purposes, where legal, for this or similar future tournaments, and to use the statements made by, or attributed to, the winners relating to TopCoder and any and all rights to said use, without further compensation. Furthermore, all prizewinners agree to promptly notify TopCoder if a third-party contacts the prizewinner regarding employment opportunities and/or media interest as a result of the prizewinner’s participation in the tournament.

    TopCoder reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to revoke any and all privileges associated with competing in this tournament, and to take any other action it deems appropriate, for no reason or any reason whatsoever, including if TopCoder suspects competitors of cheating, tampering with the entry process, the operation of the Web site, or the tournament process, or otherwise being in violation of the rules. TopCoder reserves the right to cancel, terminate or modify the tournament if it is not capable of completion as planned for any reason, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention or technical failures of any sort.

    Competition Structure

    The Competition Field
    A total of 500 TopCoder members will compete in Online Round 1. The field will be comprised of 100 automatic berths and 400 qualification spots.

    Online Elimination Rounds
    Everyone who competes in an online round must log on to the TopCoder Competition Arena no later than ten minutes prior to the start of the online round. (Click here for competition dates and times.) TopCoder members from around the world may be participating in these rounds, but all start times will be communicated as Eastern Time, so contestants in different time zones must adjust accordingly. If a coder does not participate, for any reason, in an online round they have advanced to, it will be treated as an automatic loss in that round of competition.

    All competitors who have qualified for an online round will be assigned to a specific room. TopCoder will determine all room assignments prior to the start of each online round in a manner such that the average competitor rating (as of October 7th) for each room will be similar.

    Scoring and Advancing During Online Rounds
    After each round of competition, the winners from each of the assigned rooms will be identified and will advance to the next online round. Coder advancement in all rounds is determined by comparing the total point values from all three phases of the round (see Round Structure below) for each coder. In order to advance, a coder must finish each round with a greater-than-zero point total. The structure of the online rounds is as follows:

    Online Round #1
    A total of 500 coders will compete in Round #1 and a total of 200 will advance. The winner of each of the 50 rooms will automatically advance to Online Round #2. The remaining 150 spots will be wildcards, and will be awarded based on total points across all rooms. (In the event there are less than 50 room winners in Round #1, the total number of wildcard spots will be equal to 200 minus the actual number of room winners.)

    Online Round #2
    200 coders will compete and 100 will advance. The winner of each of the 20 rooms will automatically advance to Online Round #3. The remaining 80 spots will be wildcards and will be awarded based on total points across all rooms. (In the event there are less than 20 room winners in Round #2, the total number of wildcard spots will be equal to 100 minus the actual number of room winners.)

    Online Round #3
    100 coders will compete and 50 will advance. The winner of each of the 10 rooms will automatically advance to Online Round #4. The remaining 40 spots will be wildcards and will be awarded based on total points across all rooms. (In the event there are less than 10 room winners in Round #3, the total number of wildcard spots will be equal to 50 minus the actual number of room winners.)

    Online Round #4
    50 coders will compete and 16 will advance. The winner of each of the 5 rooms will automatically advance to the field of Semifinalists. The remaining 11 spots will be wildcards and will be awarded based on total points across all rooms. (In the event there are less than 5 room winners in Round #4, the total number of wildcard spots will be equal to 16 minus the actual number of room winners.)

    Onsite Semifinal and Championship Rounds
    The sixteen (16) advancers from Online Round #4 will travel to Mohegan Sun on Wednesday, December 3rd to compete in the Semifinal round of the tournament being held on Thursday, December 4th. All contestants must arrive at Mohegan Sun no later than 4:00 PM on Wednesday, December 3rd. If a contestant is unable to attend the onsite rounds, he/she will forfeit his/her eligibility to receive a prize, and his/her spot in the tournament will be given to the next highest overall scorer from Online Round #4.

    TopCoder will provide travel arrangements for each competitor and a guest of his/her choice, up to a cost of $1,000 per person. (That is, if a contestant’s airfare is greater than $1,000, the contestant will be responsible for the difference between the cost of the airfare and $1,000.) In addition, TopCoder will also provide travel arrangements to and from the airport to the Mohegan Sun Casino and accommodations and certain meals for each contestant and his/her guest. All other expenses are the responsibility of the contestant and his/her guest.

    TopCoder will determine the room assignments for the Semifinal rooms prior to the start of each Semifinal round, in a manner such that the average competitor rating (as of October 6th) for each room will be similar.

    The Semifinal Round will consist of four (4) rooms of four (4) coders each. The winner in each room will advance to the Championship Round.

    The Championship Round will be a single round of four (4) coders. First, second, third and fourth place in the Championship round are determined by comparing the total points of each coder, with the highest point value placing first. The winner of the Championship Round will be the coder with the highest point total for the round. In the event of a tie in the Semifinal and/or Championship rounds, the tie will be resolved in the following manner (in order):

    • Total points acquired (higher is better) during Online Rounds #1, #2, #3 and #4 of the 2003 TopCoder Open
    • If a tie still remains, then by rating (higher is better) as of October 6th
      • If a tie still remains in the Semifinal round, then all tied coders will advance to the Championship Round
      • If a tie still remains in the Championship round, then the prize money will be distributed equally amongst the tied coders

    NOTE: In the event of a tie for any advancing position (i.e. room winner or wildcard spot), the tie will be resolved in the following manner:

    • Total points acquired (higher is better) during the rounds of the tournament in which all of the tied participants were presented with the same set of problems

    • If a tie still remains, then by rating (higher is better) as of October 6, 2003

    • If a tie still remains, all tied coders will advance to the next round

    Round Structure

    Each online and onsite round of competition consists of three phases: the Coding Phase, Challenge Phase, and System Testing Phase. (Note: the format of these competition rounds is similar to the format of the Single Round Matches.)

    The Coding Phase is a timed event where all contestants are presented with the same three questions representing three levels of complexity and, accordingly, three levels of point earnings potential. Points for a problem are awarded upon submission of any solution that successfully compiles and are calculated on the total time elapsed from the time the problem was opened to the time it was submitted.

    The Challenge Phase is a timed event wherein each competitor has a chance to challenge the functionality of other competitors’ code. A successful challenge will result in a loss of the original problem submission points by the defendant, and a 50-point reward for the challenger. Unsuccessful challengers will incur a point reduction of 50 points as a penalty, applied against their total score in that round of competition.

    The System Testing Phase is applied to all submitted code that has not already been successfully challenged. If the TopCoder System Test finds code that is flawed, the author of that code submission will lose all of the points that were originally earned for that code submission. The automated tester will apply a set of inputs, expecting the output from the code submission to be correct. If the output from a coder’s submission does not match the expected output, the submission is considered flawed. The same set of input/output test cases will be applied to all code submissions for a given problem. All successful challenges from the Challenge Phase will be added to the sets of inputs for the System Testing Phase.

    Other

    The tournament is void in whole or in part where prohibited by law.

    A list of tournament winners by coder handles will be available on the web site at http://www.topcoder.com/, and will be displayed for at least 3 months after the end of the tournament.

    Any appeals as to the outcome of a round of competition must be submitted via email to service@topcoder.com by no later than 11:00 AM Eastern Time on the date following the round for which the appeal is being addressed.

    This tournament is brought to you by TopCoder, Inc. (http://www.topcoder.com/) 703 Hebron Avenue (now 95 Glastonbury Blvd), Glastonbury, CT 06033.