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Algorithm Competition Official Rules and Regulations

Eligibility  |   Registration  |   Qualification Round  |   Round Structure  |   Prizes  |   Conditions of Participation

No purchase necessary to enter or win. Void where prohibited.

Overview of the Tournament

The 2007 TopCoder Open ("TCO") Algorithm Competition will take place between February 19 and June 29, 2007. It will consist of three (3) online qualification rounds, four (4) online elimination rounds and three (3) onsite final rounds: the Semifinal, Wildcard and Championship rounds. The prize purse for this competition is $100,000 in cash. Up to 450 competitors will win a cash prize and, for competing in Online Round #1, up to 1,800 competitors will receive a participatory prize. The top 48 finishers in the online rounds will advance to the onsite Semifinal and Championship rounds, held at The Mirage in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on June 27, 28 and 29, 2007.

Eligibility

TopCoder members meeting the following criteria are eligible to compete in the Algorithm Competition:

  • Must be at least 18 years of age (as of March 29, 2007); AND
  • Must currently be eligible for participation in TopCoder projects (i.e. not suspended from TopCoder).

TopCoder members who are 18 years of age or older as of March 29, 2007 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 of all official tournament sponsors, regardless of commitment date as sponsor, including any companies 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 their immediate families (parent, child, sibling, and spouse of each) and/or persons living in the same household as such persons, are ineligible to enter the tournament. If a competitor's employer signs on as an official sponsor of the tournament after February 19, 2007, then that competitor will be removed from further participation in the tournament. TopCoder members who are performing internships for any official tournament sponsor between February 19 and June 29, 2007 are also ineligible to compete.

Those members who are eligible to compete in any of the four tournament competitions will be permitted to participate in any/all of them online. However, in the event a member becomes a finalist in more than one competition and the onsite competition times overlap, the member must choose only one competition in which to participate as a finalist by May 11, 2007.

In the event that a competitor is disqualified from any round, no other competitors will be added in his/her place. The only exception to this is advancement to the onsite rounds.

Registration

Registration for the 2007 TopCoder Open Algorithm Competition will open at 9:00AM EDT on Monday, February 19, 2007, and will close at 5:00 PM EDT on Tuesday, March 27, 2007. In order to be eligible to compete in the Algorithm Competition of the TCO, competitors must be a registered TopCoder member and have registered separately for the Algorithm Competition. There is no limit to the number of registrants for the tournament; however each individual may only register once.

Qualification Rounds

Automatic Berths - The top 150 rated members as of Tuesday, March 27, 2007 who have met all of the following criteria will receive an automatic berth into Online Round #1:

  • Competed in a TopCoder rated event between October 27, 2006 and March 27, 2007; and
  • Competed in a total of at least three (3) TopCoder rated events; and
  • Registered for the 2007 TCO Algorithm Competition; and
  • Met all other tournament eligibility criteria.

Qualification Spots - All members who do not receive an automatic berth and who meet all of the tournament eligibility criteria can compete for one of the remaining 1,650 qualification spots in the tournament. Three (3) Qualification Rounds will be held and the top 550 scorers from each Qualification Round will win a spot in Online Round #1. Please note that the top 150 rated members who receive an automatic berth will not be allowed to compete in any of the Qualification Rounds. Also, those members who qualify for the tournament during one qualification attempt will not be allowed to compete in future Qualification Rounds.

The schedule and details of the Qualification Rounds are as follows:

Qualification Rounds
Round Date and Time* # of Participants # of Advancers
Qualification Round #1 Thursday, March 29
Register: 4:00 - 6:55 AM
START: 7:00 AM
All members who have not previously qualified - limited to the first 1,350 participants to register 550
Qualification Round #2 Saturday, March 31
Register: 10:00 AM - 12:55 PM
START: 1:00 PM
All members who have not previously qualified - limited to the first 1,350 participants to register 550
Qualification Round #3 Tuesday, April 3
Register: 6:00 - 8:55 PM
START: 9:00 PM
All members who have not previously qualified - limited to the first 1,350 participants to register 550
*All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC/GMT -4). In the event that a round must be cancelled for any reason, the round will be held the following day at the same time.

The format for each Qualification Round will be the same as all other tournament rounds, which is outlined in the Competition Round Structure section.

Members will be rated at the conclusion of their qualification attempt based on their performance against others competing in the same round. All qualifiers will be assigned tournament seeds based on their Algorithm rating following the Qualification Rounds.

NOTE: In the event of a tie for any advancing position during the Qualification Round, the tie will be resolved in the following manner:

  • By rating (higher is better) prior to the Qualification Round.
  • If a tie still remains, all tied coders will advance to Online Round #1.

Online Elimination Rounds

Participants in each online round must register for the round in the TopCoder Competition Arena no later than five (5) minutes prior to the start of the round. All start times will be communicated as Eastern Daylight Time (UTC/GMT -4), so contestants in different time zones must adjust accordingly. If a coder does not participate, for any reason, in an online round he/she has 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 indicate the section of the round in which they wish to compete. During tournament registration competitors will indicate their preferences regarding Online Round #1. TopCoder will fill the sections for Online Round #1 based on indicated preference and on member rating (i.e., higher rated members are given preference over lower rated members).

All competitors in a specific section will be assigned to rooms based on 'dartboard seeding' (completely random). Rooms will be created such that each room has a maximum of 25 competitors. The number of rooms in each round is (maximum # advancers in the round)/25.

The dates and times of the online rounds of competition are as follows:

Online Rounds
Round Date and Time* # of Participants # of Advancers
Online Round #1 - Section A Saturday, April 7
Register: 10:00 AM - 12:55 PM
START: 1:00 PM
Up to 720** 300
Online Round #1 - Section B Tuesday, April 10
Register: 6:00 - 8:55 PM
START: 9:00 PM
Up to 720** 300
Online Round #1 - Section C Thursday, April 12
Register: 4:00 - 6:55 AM
START: 7:00 AM
Up to 720** 300
Online Round #2 Saturday, April 14
Register: 10:00 AM - 12:55 PM
START: 1:00 PM
900 300
Online Round #3 Saturday, April 21
Register: 10:00 AM - 12:55 PM
START: 1:00 PM
300 150
Online Round #4 Saturday, April 28
Register: 10:00 AM - 12:55 PM
START: 1:00 PM
150 48
* NOTE: All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC/GMT -4). In the event that a round must be cancelled for any reason, the round will be held the following day at the same time.
** If less than 1,800 competitors qualify to compete in Online Round #1, the maximum number of competitors that will be assigned into any section will be 40% of the actual number of qualifiers, rounded up.

Scoring and Advancing during Online Rounds

After each section of competition in the Online Rounds, the highest scorers from all rooms in the section 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 for each coder. In order to advance, a coder must finish each round with a positive (i.e., greater than zero) point total. The structure of the online rounds is as follows:

  • Online Round #1
    Up to 720 coders will compete in each section and up to 300 will advance from each section. The highest 300 scorers across all rooms in each section will advance to Online Round #2.
  • Online Round #2
    Up to 900 coders will compete and up to 300 will advance. The highest 300 scorers across all rooms will advance to Online Round #3.
  • Online Round #3
    Up to 300 coders will compete and up to 150 will advance. The highest 150 scorers across all rooms will advance to Online Round #4.
  • Online Round #4
    Up to 150 coders will compete and up to 48 will advance. The highest 48 scorers across all rooms will advance to the field of Semifinalists.

NOTE: In the event of a tie for any advancing position during the online rounds, 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 (excluding the Qualification Round).
  • If a tie still remains, then by tournament seed.
  • If a tie still remains, all tied coders will advance to the next round.

Competition Round Structure

Each online and onsite round of competition (including the Qualification Rounds) consists of three phases: Coding Phase, Challenge Phase, and System Testing Phase. (Note: The format of these competition rounds is similar to the format of TopCoder Single Round Matches. The rules in place for Single Round Matches as of March 29, 2007 will also apply to the online and onsite rounds of the TCO, with the exception of the Unused Code Rule during the onsite rounds.)

  • The Coding Phase is a timed event in which 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 until the time it was submitted. During the online rounds, the Coding Phase will last 75 minutes. During the onsite rounds, the Coding Phase will last 85 minutes.
  • 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's submission points by the defendant, and a 50-point reward for the challenger. Unsuccessful challenges will incur a point reduction of 25 points as a penalty, applied against the challenger's total score in that round of competition. During the online rounds, the Challenge Phase will last 15 minutes. During the onsite round, the Challenge Phase will last 10 minutes.
  • 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.

Onsite Semifinal and Championship Rounds

Important Information

Travel Confirmation
The forty-eight (48) advancers from Online Round #4 will travel to Las Vegas on Tuesday, June 26, 2007 to compete in the Semifinal rounds of the tournament, held on Wednesday, June 27 and Thursday, June 28, 2007. All contestants must arrive at The Mirage no later than 4:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, June 26, 2007.

All contestants must confirm their attendance at the onsite rounds no later than 5:00 PM EDT (UTC/GMT -4) on Friday, May 11, 2007. That is, contestants must have acquired any necessary travel visas and know for certain that they can travel to the U.S. by that date and time. In order for a finalist to confirm attendance for the onsite finals, it is necessary for any finalist traveling from outside the United States to show proof of visa and/or passport by the deadline of 5:00 PM EDT (UTC/GMT -4) on Friday, May 11, 2007. Finalists may do this by emailing a copy of their documents to Jessie D'Amato Ford at jford@topcoder.com. Competitors who fail to meet this requirement by the deadline will not be able to attend the onsite finals and will be replaced as an onsite finalist.

Visa Assistance
At the end of each Online Round #1, TopCoder will issue visa invitation letters at the request of international competitors who require one to obtain a travel visa to enter the United States. All competitors that advance to Online Round 1 will receive a request form to fill out if they require a letter. Competitors will have until 5:00 PM EDT (GMT/UTC -4) on Monday, April 23, 2007 to request a letter. Visas can take a significant amount of time to obtain in certain countries; therefore, for those competitors who need a letter, it is in their best interest to request one well before the deadline. The cost of obtaining a visa is the sole responsibility of the competitor. If you fail to request a visa invitation letter by the above date, TopCoder will not assist you in the process of obtaining a travel visa. See more information about travel visas.

Travel Details
TopCoder will provide air travel arrangements for each competitor. The flight reserved by and paid for by TopCoder is for arrival on June 26, 2007 and departure on June 30, 2007 (or July 1, 2007 if the cost is significantly less to fly out a day later). TopCoder will pay for each competitor's airfare up to $1,500, though we may make exceptions based on individual circumstances (e.g., if the most reasonably convenient ticket itinerary is a little more than $1,500, TopCoder will pay for the entire cost). Extended flights and/or hotel room nights requested by a competitor that result in additional costs will be the responsibility of the competitor and will be deducted from the competitor's total TCO prize money won.

TopCoder will also provide ground transportation to and from McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, as well as hotel accommodations and certain meals for each contestant. All other expenses are the responsibility of the contestant. TopCoder will not provide travel or lodging accommodations for competitor guests at the 2007 TCO.

Room Assignment
TopCoder will determine the room assignments for the Semifinal rooms prior to the start of each Semifinal round, in the following manner:

All competitors will be ordered by their tournament seed. Starting with the highest seeded competitor and going down the list in order, a competitor will be assigned to room 1, then room 2, then room 3, then room 3 again, then room 2, then room 1. This pattern will continue (1,2,3,3,2,1) until all competitors are assigned to a room.

Onsite Rounds
Round of Competition Date and Time (Pacific Daylight Time)
Semifinal Room #1 Wednesday, June 27, 9:00 AM
Semifinal Room #2 Wednesday, June 27, 4:00 PM
Semifinal Room #3 Thursday, June 28, 9:00 AM
Wildcard Round Thursday, June 28, 4:00 PM
Championship Round Friday, June 29, 1:30 PM

The Semifinal Round will consist of three (3) rooms of sixteen (16) coders each. The two (2) highest scorers in each room will advance to the Championship Round. The next four (4) highest scorers in each room will participate in one (1) Wildcard Round. The two (2) highest scorers of the Wildcard Round will also advance to the Championship Round.

The Championship Round will be a single round of eight (8) coders. Placement in the Championship Round is determined by comparing the total points of each coder. 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, Wildcard and/or Championship Rounds, the tie will be resolved in the following manner (in order):

  • Total points acquired (higher is better) during Online Rounds #2, #3 and #4 of the 2007 TopCoder Open
  • If a tie still remains, then by rating (higher is better) following Online Round #4
    • If a tie still remains in the Semifinal or Wildcard Rounds, 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 among the tied coders

About the Prizes

The tournament will award prizes to up to 1,800 competitors and $100,000 in cash prizes. Any and all applicable taxes on prizes are the sole responsibility of the prizewinner. Prizes will be distributed as follows:

Prizes
Competitor(s) Prize
1st place finisher* - Algorithm Competition Champion $25,000
2nd place finisher* in the Championship Round $10,000
3rd place finisher* in the Championship Round $5,000
4th place finisher* in the Championship Round $2,500
5th - 8th place finishers* in the Championship Round $1,000 each
9th - 48th place finishers* in the Semifinal Rounds $400 each
Up to 48 advancers from Online Round #4 A TopCoder-branded fleece blanket
Up to 150 advancers from Online Round #3 to Online Round #4 $100 each & a TopCoder-branded travel mug
Up to 300 advancers from Online Round #2 to Online Round #3 $75 each & a TopCoder-branded notepad
Up to 900 advancers from Online Round #1 to Online Round #2 A TopCoder-branded frisbee
Up to 1,800 competitors who compete in Online Round #1 Limited edition 2007 TopCoder Open t-shirt
* Prize will be awarded at the conclusion of the Championship Round. Winner must be present at the onsite rounds to receive prize.

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. Also, by participating in this tournament, you consent to providing certain information to the title sponsor. Such information shall include the information contained in your TopCoder member profile, as well as your competition statistics.

Contestants must not cheat. All ideas for code and/or challenge submitted must be the contestant's alone. TopCoder uses the word "cheat" to mean collaboration of any sort - including, but not limited to, working with another competitor, submitting code that was not fully authored by you, and using resources, software, etc. that are not allowed in TopCoder competitions. TopCoder reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to remove any competitor from the tournament whom it suspects has cheated.

If a contestant is eliminated for cheating after he/she is confirmed as a finalist and a flight is already purchased for the onsite finals, that contestant will be responsible for reimbursing TopCoder the cost of the airfare. TopCoder reserves the right to withhold any cash prizes owed until the amount of the plane ticket is paid off.

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 each round that they have won a prize. Cash prize winners from Online Rounds #2, and #3 must complete the following documents within 60 days of the date of the online round during which a cash prize was awarded:

  • Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability and Publicity Release (must be notarized unless a notarized affidavit is already on file with TopCoder)
  • Applicable tax form (unless one is already on file with TopCoder)

Finalist (Online Round #4 Advancer) Information

All contestants who advance to the onsite tournament rounds must complete the following items and submit them to TopCoder by 5:00 PM EDT on Friday, May 11, 2007:

  • Confirmation of attendance/proof of travel documents - Please email Jessie D'Amato Ford to confirm your attendance onsite. If you require a passport and/or visa to visit the United States, you must show proof of your documents via a scanned copy of the necessary documents.
  • Please submit a photo, if we do not have one on file for you.
  • Please ensure your most up-to-date information is listed in your TopCoder profile in the event we need to mail your plane tickets or contact you via telephone.
  • Competitor Questionnaire - the questions and responses may be published in the 2007 TopCoder Open program
  • Travel form - provides TopCoder with the appropriate travel information for your trip to the onsite tournament rounds
  • Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability and Publicity Release
    • TopCoder must receive the original copy of a notarized affidavit unless a notarized affidavit is already on file with TopCoder. The document must be postmarked by May 11, 2007, and must be sent in such a manner that it will arrive at TopCoder no later than June 3, 2007.
    • If TopCoder already has a notarized affidavit and a tax form on file for a contestant, that contestant may affirm the affidavit online.
  • Applicable tax form (unless one is already on file with TopCoder)

Failure to submit the above items on time will result in a forfeiture of advancement as an onsite finalist. In that case, the next highest scorer from Online Round #4 will advance.

All prizes (cash prizes and participatory prizes) will be sent within 60 days of the Championship Round. Unclaimed or undeliverable prizes will be forfeited. Competitors who do not submit the required information listed above by the applicable deadlines 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, certain contestants will be required to submit a completed (i) Competitor Questionnaire, (ii) Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability and Publicity Release, (iii) IRS Form W-9 or W-8BEN, as appropriate if one is not already on file with TopCoder, and (iv) Travel Form. In completing the Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability and Publicity Release, a cash prize winner (a) confirms his/her eligibility, (b) represents and warrants that he/she has not cheated; that the idea for the code and/or challenge submitted is his/hers alone, (c) verifies the accuracy of the demographic information submitted to, and contained in, the TopCoder member database, (d) authorizes TopCoder to publicize the tournament's results, (e) agrees to sign any applicable forms required by tax authorities, (f) licenses to TopCoder rights to all information submitted during the tournament (including rights to source code and other executables), and (g) 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 cash prize winner fails to return the Questionnaire, Affidavit, W-9 or W-8BEN, or travel form, as specified, the cash prize winner will be disqualified and the prize money won by the disqualified cash prize winner will be forfeited. Providing false information in the registration process or in the required forms described in this paragraph will disqualify a cash prize 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, including tournament sponsors, 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.

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/tc, and will be displayed for at least 3 months after the end of the tournament.

This tournament is brought to you by TopCoder, Inc. (http://www.topcoder.com/) 703 Hebron Avenue (now 95 Glastonbury Blvd), Glastonbury, CT 06033. AOL LLC is not responsible for any aspect of the Tournament.

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