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SRM Official Rules & Qualification |
Official Rules and Regulations
No purchase necessary to enter or win.
Prizes
Each competition room will have a maximum of 20 coders. There will be 2 divisions. Division one is 1200 rating and up, while division two is below 1200 or non-rated. The single round match room assignments will only place members of like divisions together. Any member who changes divisions as a result of a rating change will compete in their new division in the next rated event following the rating change. Coders must place with a positive (greater than zero) point total to collect any prize.
All prizes will be calculated at the conclusion of the competition, based on the final scores of the coders in each room according to the following rules:
- The total prize purse is $5,000.
- 56% of the total purse will be awarded to division one competitors, 24% to division two competitors. The remaining 20% of the prize purse will be awarded to 20 competitors chosen uniformly, at random, from both divisions.
- The first place coder in each room will receive 100% the room award.
- In the event of a tie for any prize winning position, the sum of the awards of the tied competitors will be distributed evenly.
- Prizes will only be awarded to competitors who finish with positive (greater than zero) scores.
- Any and all applicable taxes on a prize are the sole responsibility of the prize winner
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When to start the Competition
TopCoder members must register from within the TopCoder Arena for this competition. Registration is from 04:00 AM EDT to 06:55 AM EDT. To register, login to the TopCoder Arena application, click on the 'Active Challenges' menu, choose the event to register for, and select the 'Register' option. TopCoder members from all over the country will be participating in this event, but when not indicated, start times will be communicated as Eastern Time, so contestants in different time zones must adjust accordingly. All competitors who have registered for the competition will be assigned to a specific competition room. TopCoder will perform the room assignments prior to the start of the competition, in a manner such that only coders in the same division are placed in the same room and the room assignments within each division are random. The competition will begin at 07:10 AM EDT.
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Upon Entering an Online Tournament Round
Each online tournament round consists of three phases: the coding phase, challenge phase, and the testing phase. - 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.
- 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 award 50 points to the challenger, and any points gained by the submitter for the problem will be lost. Unsuccessful challenges will cost the challenger 25 points as a penalty, applied to their total score in that round of competition.
- The Automated Testing Phase is applied to all submitted code that has not already been successfully challenged. If TopCoder finds code that is flawed, the author of that code submission will lose all of the points they 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.
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Scoring during Online Tournament Rounds
The prize winners of each room will be determined as follows: Coder standing in each room is determined by comparing the final point values for all coders in the room. Those with the top three positive point values in the room, place in first, second, and third (only first and second place prizes will be awarded for a division two room). In the event of a tie, all coders who have greater than zero points tied for a prize placement will split that prize money combined with the prize money of lesser place(s) equal to the number of coders tied. For example: if three coders within a room are tied for first place with positive point totals, they split the combined prize money for first, second and third place. No other coders are paid. If two coders are tied for first place with positive point totals, they split the first and second prize money combined, and the coder with the next highest positive point total wins the third place prize money.
All contestants, who opened any problem during the round, will have their ratings adjusted up or down to reflect their performance, based on TopCoder's rating formula. Contestant ratings play no role in a Coder's final standing in the competition room.
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 that 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.
Prize winners will be notified via e-mail within 10 days of the completion of the tournament that they have won a prize and will be forwarded an affidavit of eligibility to be completed and returned to TopCoder. Prizes will be presented within 10 days of making an eligibility determination. Unclaimed or undeliverable prizes will not be awarded.
As a condition of winning and redeeming a prize, winners will be required to return within 60 days of receipt a completed (i) Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability and Publicity Release, and (ii) IRS Form W-9 or W-8BEN, as appropriate. In completing the Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability and Publicity Release, a winner (i) confirms their eligibility, (ii) represents and warrants that they have not cheated; that the idea for the code and/or challenge submitted is theirs alone, (iii) verifies the accuracy of the demographic information submitted, (iv) authorizes TopCoder to publicize the tournament's results, (v) agrees to sign any applicable forms required by tax authorities, (vi) grants to TopCoder a perpetual, royalty-free, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce and publish any and all information submitted during the challenge (including source code and text posted by you) into any form, medium or technology, and (vii) releases TopCoder from liability arising out of any prize won. The Form W-9 or W-8BEN is required by the IRS for tax reporting purposes. If prize notification is returned as undeliverable, or 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, sponsors, advertising and promotion agencies, 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.
Verified winners agree to use their name, 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 winner relating to TopCoder and any and all rights to said use, without further compensation.
TopCoder, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to disqualify any person tampering with the entry process, the operation of the Web site, the competition process, or is otherwise in violation of the rules. TopCoder reserves the right to cancel, terminate or modify the competition 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.
TopCoder does not require assignment of winning submissions in this competition.
Participants
The match is open to all members who are at least 13 years of age.
In order to be eligible for prizes in this competition, each competitor must be a TopCoder member in good standing, greater then 18 years of age, and must not be a resident of Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, the Quebec province of Canada, or anywhere else where this competition is prohibited by applicable law.
All competitors must be registered members of TopCoder, and must have agreed to the rules on this page by the 04.11.2012 06:55 AM EDT registration deadline.
Employees of TopCoder and those involved in the development, production (including prize suppliers and sponsors), 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 win prizes in this competition.
Other
The tournament is void in whole or in part where prohibited by law.
A winners list of coder handles for all competitions will be available on the web site at http://www.topcoder.com displayed for at least 3 months after the end of the competition.
This tournament is brought to you by TopCoder, Inc., 95 Glastonbury Blvd, Glastonbury, CT 06033.
