Fcdkbear's blog

By Fcdkbear, 9 years ago, translation, In English

The dates of algorithmic track of TopCoder Open 2015 are finally announced! A lot of changes were introduced in the rules:

1) There is no specific registration needed for the TCO15 Algorithm Competition.

2) The rule of receiving the automatic berth was changed a little bit

3) Regional onsite events were introduced. They will coincide with Algorithm Round 2. There will be four stages of Round 2 this year.

4) I have not found any information about T-shirts:(

5) There will be only 12 finalists this year. The rules of onsite finals were also changed. Thanks to ffao and cgy4ever for noticing that

TopCoder Open usually is a very cool competition, so don't miss it!

GL&HF!

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9 years ago, # |
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Right now we've not allocated budget for t-shirts but that may change in the coming months. I will keep you posted. More on t-shirts soon...

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9 years ago, # |
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5) Only 12 finalists for the Algorithm track :(

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    9 years ago, # ^ |
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    Didn't notice that :( I've updated my post, thanks!

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9 years ago, # |
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"All Competitors who advanced to round 3 can compete for one of the 12 spots in the Onsite Algorithm Competition. Two such rounds will be held and the highest scoring 6 competitors from each of these rounds will advance to the Onsite Algorithm Competition."

Why there are only 12 people for onsite competition?

Even in 2003 we have 16.

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    9 years ago, # ^ |
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    Maybe because of the regional events.

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      9 years ago, # ^ |
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      Seems like a weird idea to me. How do they propose to convince people to leave their homes and compete in a noisier/unfamiliar environment?

      At the moment these events simply don't have the draw the finals have.

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    9 years ago, # ^ |
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    Judging from the announcement here, TopCoder is changing their goals. They reduce the size of onsite finals in USA but at the same time they introduce smaller regional onsite algo-and-mashathon events and TCO UI Design/Prototype finals in Indonesia to reach out to more people around the world (so that not only USA residents can easily attend some onsite portion of the event).

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      9 years ago, # ^ |
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      I'm not sure that trips to these onsite regionals will be covered so attendance will be pretty small and overall it sounds like a weird idea from participant's point of view.

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9 years ago, # |
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when does the first round start? , i cant find it on the website

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9 years ago, # |
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Rules for automatic berths in Algorithm are underspecified (or I misunderstand them):

The 250 members who have the highest algorithm competition rating as of Thursday, April 9, 2015 at 12:00 UTC -4 and who meet all of the following criteria will receive an automatic berth into Stage 2:

  • Competed in at least one rated topcoder SRM in 2015.
  • Competed in a total of at least three (3) rated topcoder Algorithm events as a member at any time.
  • Meet all other Algorithm Competition and Tournament eligibility criteria.

It is unclear whether these criteria should also be met at 12:00 UTC -4 April 9, 2015. In particular, there is an SRM at 12:00 UTC -4 April 9, so if it is the first SRM in 2015 where I participate (and I meet other criteria), should I participate in round 1 or not?

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    9 years ago, # ^ |
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    I've confirmed with TC admins that SRM on April 9 will count toward automatic berth calculation, both in terms of rating and the number of rated SRMs.

    P.S. It might be more efficient to ask such questions in TCO 15 forum than here; this way you'd have higher probability of TC admins seeing this question before I point them to it :-)