If there is one thing that differentiates “greats” from the rest, it has to be their constant pursuit for perfection. They never get satisfied with being “good-enough”; they want nothing but to be the best. When the time comes, they put in all that they got in their quest for being the best. This holds true in all spheres of life, and we recently witnessed an instance in our September Cook-Off 2013.
After being denied the top spot in the September Challenge 2013 by kgcstar, the mighty ACRush came all guns blazing in our first of the two ACM ICPC warm ups, the September Cook-Off. And, in typical ACRush-style, he took away the contest flawlessly. While the problems from our young problem setter Roman Rubanenko were putting everybody to tough test, ACRush was leading the pack of very few programmers who were not much troubled by the Big Number and Tree that came in their way. Following him at the second spot in the international rank tables was qwerty787788, who was making his debut in our Cook-Offs, and we must say, going by what we saw, we might be looking at a new star in the making.
While, the international rank tables were glittering with the presence of a pro and a sensational debutant, the story of the Indian table was not any different. With the ACM ICPC India regionals approaching, the Indian students too seemed all geared up for the contest. The contest did not see a plethora of submissions in the initial few minutes, but as the contest progressed the numbers started soaring. While the seasoned djdolls lead the Indian charts, so was sidsgr88, who in no means is new to CodeChef, but was making his first appearance atop the table. And as always we were happy and excited to have a new name among the leaders. So, make sure you all give us such opportunities a little too often.
As of now, let us have a look at who stood where in the rank tables.
Starting with the Global top ten:
Now, the Indian top five:
The final stats for the contest were as follows.
The numbers do not reflect the true story of the contest. But with a grueling problem set, the pressure of doing well at the fast approaching ACM ICPC, and the immense competition pouring in from peers all over the globe, the contest certainly did satisfiy the competitive buds of the participants.
Whether you successfully cracked all the problems in the given duration of the contest, or had a tough time getting an AC, we would want you to go through the comprehensive editorials for all the problems to help understand the best possible approach towards solving them all. This will strengthen your ACM ICPC preparations, and will certainly help you do well during the contest.
If for some reason, you have missed the September Cook-Off, do not get disheartened. We still have our mega warm up round in October Cook-Off 2013. Top 75 Indian participants from our mega warm up round will get their ACM-ICPC expenses reimbursed, you can find all the details here.
We hope you had fun in the September Cook-Off. If you did, then do share with us your feedback, suggestions, or complaints. We have always loved receiving them, so keep sharing them with us at feedback@codechef.com.
See you all at the impending September Lunchtime 2013, gear up to see the young minds in action.
Till next time, adios everybody.
Regards,
Rudreshwar,
Team CodeChef
“There’s an easy way of doing that.” This magical sentence can make anyone happy, irrespective of what they are doing at the time it is said. Let’s take you back to the days when finding a problem that required the knowledge of DP, used to require a special skill set. Steps needed were:
It was possible and it was tiresome. Those days are over now. Allow, us to present to you our new “Problem Tags” feature. With this feature you will be able to:
You will also be able to sort the search results on:
Furthermore, on the problem tags page you will be able to filter the results on:
Now, isn’t that cool? We think it is. But, there are certain things you need to know before you start using this feature.
We know, at some point you all have faced trouble reaching to a problem of your choice at one go. But not anymore. Now, go and search for your favourite problems in an easy and seamless manner. If you think, there is something missing from the feature, or something that can make it even more awesome, do write to us at feeback@codechef.com.
So, next time you find yourself wondering about a problem on CodeChef, remember, “There’s a “tag” for that?”
Till next time, adios everybody.
See you at the contests.
Regards,
Rudreshwar,
Team CodeChef
If it wasn’t for the final hour of the September Challenge 2013, the contest would have gone down in our history, without even creating a ripple in our memories. Just like all of you, we too were enjoying the final few hours of the contest, thanking our problem setters, Kaushik Iska, Roman Furko, Roman Rubanenko, Sergey Nagin, Surya Kiran, Tuan Anh, Vitaliy Herasymiv, and Vivek Hamirwasia, our testers Sergey Kulik and Mahbubul Hasan, and our editorialist Utkarsh Lath, for yet another fulfilling contest. The contest was equally enjoyed by newcomers and seasoned campaigners, which is always a pleasing sight.
The September Challenge 2013 ran its course rather smoothly, with submissions flowing calmly on all the problems. The smooth course of contest was a tad harder for the users trying their hands on Two Roads, but still some of the many who tried, got AC. While Two Roads was proving a tough nut to crack, problems like Chef and Integers, made life a little easier for the participants. The participation and the enthusiasm of the contest was smooth all through the contest duration, however, the final hour of the contest saw heaps of action.
Just like a pre-written script of an action movie, the final hour of the challenge brought the biggest fight. After the calm nine days, the race to the top among the big three got fierce and we started seeing frequent name change atop the rank tables in the final stages of the contest. After holding the top spot for, probably the longest time in the contest, kutengine, was replaced by the ever dominant ACRush. But, just when a lot of us had considered the fate of the contest sealed, the new rising star from North Korea, kgcstar came out of nowhere and swept the contest away. Before we could understand what had just happened, the ranking charts changed and changed for the last time in the contest. The September Challenge 2013 was over and we had our winners. And now, let us introduce them to you.
Let us first put our hands together for the Global top ten:
And now, let’s give a big round of applause to our Indian geniuses.
After the big guns, it’s now time to acknowledge our little masterminds. So, give it up for the top five school students:
Let’s start with the geniuses overseas:
And, now our Indian kids;
Now, a special mention to the special achievers, who got highest scores for challenge problems except for out winners.
First, the top three global:
And now, the Indian top three:
The participation for this contest was a tad on a lower side in comparison to the last contest, but still the numbers were satisfactory and we were pleased to have all of you. Now, let us present to you the stats for the contest.
All those numbers and names made the September Challenge a fun filled learning experience for everyone who participated in it. And we hope you have taken a lot of learning and fun out of the contest.
Now, as we move towards our September Cook-Off 2013, we would like you all to pull up your socks, as it is the first of the two ACM ICPC warm ups CodeChef will be hosting this year. Oh yes! the ACM ICPC India regionals is fast approaching and we want you all to be at the top of your game, to secure a slot for the world finals.
So, do not forget to mark your calendars for the first ACM ICPC warm up, the September Cook-off, taking place on 22nd September, 2013. Hope to see you all going all out in the contest.
If you have any doubts, queries, or suggestions, feel free to write them to us at feedback@codechef.com.
Till next time, goodbye everybody.
See you at the contests.
Regards,
Rudreshwar,
Team CodeChef
