Scoring and Advancing during Online Regional 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 Competition Round Structure ) 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 Regional Round One
- Up to 200 coders per region (totaling 1,000) will compete - A total of 500 competitors, comprised of 20 room winners and 80 wildcard competitors (based on total points across all rooms) per region, will advance to the next round.
Online Regional Quarterfinal
- Up to 100 coders per region (totaling 500) will compete - A total of 200 competitors, comprised of 10 room winners and 30 wildcard competitors per region, will advance to the next round.
- Each of the 200 advancers will win $50 each
Online Regional Semifinal
- 40 coders per region (totaling 200) will compete - A total of 50 competitors, comprised of 4 room winners and 6 wildcard competitors per region, will advance to the next round.
- Each of the 50 advancers will win $50 each
Online Regional Final
- 10 coders per region (totaling 50) will compete
- The winner of each of the five (5) regions will be crowned that Regional Champion, and will win $600 each. Each Regional Champion will automatically advance to the onsite Semifinal Round. (NOTE: All Regional Champions must participate in the onsite Semifinal Round to receive his / her prize.)
- The remaining eleven (11) spots in the onsite Semifinal and Championship Rounds will be handed out based on total points across all rooms (regardless of region).
In order to advance, a coder must finish with a greater-than-zero point total. If a room has no contestants who have more than zero points, the automatic berth for that room will be placed into the regional wildcard pool. Any tie in points for an automatic berth in a room or for the last spot of the wildcard pool 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 February 14, 2003
Onsite Semifinal and Championship Rounds
The sixteen (16) advancers from the Regional Championship round will travel to the University Park Hotel in Cambridge, MA on Thursday,
April 3rd to compete in the Semifinal round of the tournament being held on April 4th. All contestants must arrive at the University Park
Hotel no later than 5:00PM on Thursday, April 3rd. If a contestant is unable to attend the onsite rounds, he/she will forfeit his/her spot in
the tournament, which will be given to the next highest overall scorer from the Regional Championship round.
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 University
Park Hotel 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 February 17, 2003) for each room will be similar. The dates and times of the onsite Semifinal and
Championship rounds are as follows:
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