Hey Everyone,


Hope everyone is keeping safe. I just wanted to drop in a quick announcement and some thank you notes!

I would be leaving Topcoder next week and going forward all Topcoder announcements will be made from the Topcoder_Updates account. Feel free to drop a message to Topcoder Updates or email at [email protected] if you have any questions related to Topcoder Competitions.

And most importantly Thank You! Thank you to each one of you who competed and made this community a living example of a great community. I was very lucky to have driven a part of it at Topcoder Competitions. 

I am and will always be a competitive programming community fan even though I don't compete anymore. Most of the friends I have made and the learnings I have had are because of this community. Meeting you all at various events, chatting with you all during the contests, seeing you help each other & grow, and of course celebrating each other's success and more importantly just learning from all of your experiences. I had a great time, all those tournaments, Humblefool Cups, TCC, TCOs, University Contests, SRMs, all-nighter contests, leaderboards. It has been a great ride!

While I was at Topcoder, we made a constant effort to make the contests as educative and exciting as possible to give back to the competitive programming community that has helped most of us in various ways.

I know a long time concern has been the arena and the website navigation. The senior management at Topcoder understands the importance of Competitive Programming and is also working to address the current pain points, not only from the arena perspective but also from a UX perspective to make things easier. So good things are coming.

I tried my best to serve this community and hope I was able to do a good job at that.  I will be around, on the other side as a member, learning and growing, with everyone.

Thank You Again!

Topcoder SRM 814 is scheduled to start at 21:00 UTC-4 on Sept 29, 2021.

Registration is now open for the SRM in the Arena or Applet and closes at 20:55 UTC-4. The coding phase will start at 21:05 UTC-4, so make sure that you are all ready to go. Click here to what time it starts in your area.

Please take a look at our How to Compete guide to understand Topcoder Algorithm rounds better.

Some Important Links:: Match Results (match results, rating changes, challenges, individual test case results), Problem Archive, Problem Writing, Algorithm Rankings, Editorials and Older Editorials(SRM 710 and before),

Best of luck!
- The Topcoder Team

Topcoder SRM 813 is scheduled to start at 11:00 UTC-4 on Sept 17, 2021.

Registration is now open for the SRM in the Arena or Applet and closes at 10:55 UTC-4. The coding phase will start at 11:05 UTC-4, so make sure that you are all ready to go. Click here to what time it starts in your area.

Please take a look at our How to Compete guide to understand Topcoder Algorithm rounds better.

Some Important Links:: Match Results (match results, rating changes, challenges, individual test case results), Problem Archive, Problem Writing, Algorithm Rankings, Editorials and Older Editorials(SRM 710 and before),

Best of luck!
- The Topcoder Team

Topcoder MM 129 - is now live!

Your chickens have escaped from your barn and you need to catch them quickly! Luckily you have some friends who volunteered to help. You are given an NxN grid representing the layout of your farm. Each cell is either empty, a chicken, a wall or a person. Each turn you can move one or more people into an adjacent cell (horizontally or vertically) that is empty or contains a chicken. If the person lands on a chicken then you get (N*N - turnNumber + 1) points and that chicken is collected from the grid. Now the chickens make their moves. These chickens are clever so they will try to move away from the people. Specifically, a chicken will try to move into an empty adjacent cell (horizontally or vertically) that is not adjacent to a person. If there are multiple such cells then one will be selected at random, but if there are no such cells then the chicken will stay where it is. Your task is to score as many points as possible within N*N turns.

Here is an example solution for seed=1:

Problem Setter: dimkadimon
Problem Testers:JacoCronje, sullyper,and kphmd

Compete here!

Best of luck!
- the Topcoder Team

Topcoder SRM 812 is scheduled to start at 21:00 UTC-4 on Sept 1, 2021.

Registration is now open for the SRM in the Arena or Applet and closes at 20:55 UTC-4. The coding phase will start at 21:05 UTC-4, so make sure that you are all ready to go. Click here to what time it starts in your area.

Please take a look at our How to Compete guide to understand Topcoder Algorithm rounds better.

Some Important Links:: Match Results (match results, rating changes, challenges, individual test case results), Problem Archive, Problem Writing, Algorithm Rankings, Editorials and Older Editorials(SRM 710 and before),

Best of luck!
- The Topcoder Team

Topcoder SRM 811 is scheduled to start at 12:00 UTC-4 on August 21, 2021.

Registration is now open for the SRM in the Arena or Applet and closes at 11:55 UTC-4. The coding phase will start at 12:05 UTC-4, so make sure that you are all ready to go. Click here to what time it starts in your area

Please take a look at our How to Compete guide to understand Topcoder Algorithm rounds better.

Some Important Links:: Match Results (match results, rating changes, challenges, individual test case results), Problem Archive, Problem Writing, Algorithm Rankings, Editorials and Older Editorials(SRM 710 and before),

Best of luck!
- The Topcoder Team

Topcoder SRM 810 is scheduled to start at 12:00 UTC-4 on July 24, 2021.

Registration is now open for the SRM in the Arena or Applet and closes at 11:55 UTC-4. The coding phase will start at 12:05 UTC-4, so make sure that you are all ready to go. Click here to what time it starts in your area

Please take a look at our How to Compete guide to understand Topcoder Algorithm rounds better.

Some Important Links:: Match Results (match results, rating changes, challenges, individual test case results), Problem Archive, Problem Writing, Algorithm Rankings, Editorials and Older Editorials(SRM 710 and before),

Best of luck!
- The Topcoder Team

Rookie SRM 6 is scheduled to start at 11:00 UTC-4 on July 16, 2021.

Registration is now open for the Rookie SRM in the Arena or Applet and closes at 10:55 UTC-4. The coding phase will start at 11:05 UTC-4, so make sure that you are all ready to go. Click here to what time it starts in your area.

The Rookie SRMs are open to everyone and have some special prizes. They are only rated for members who:
- Have never competed in Rated Algorithm Contests OR
- Have competed in equal to or less than 5 rounds OR
- If their current rating is less than 800 rating points.

Prizes:: Topcoder T-shirt for Top 20
*Prizes are only for members who are eligible to be rated

Please take a look at our How to Compete guide to understand Topcoder Algorithm rounds better.

Some Important Links:: Match Results (match results, rating changes, challenges, individual test case results), Problem Archive, Problem Writing, Algorithm Rankings, Editorials and Older Editorials(SRM 710 and before),

Best of luck to you in the Arena!

• The Topcoder Community team

Update:: With lockdown restrictions now lifted in our T-shirt Vendor's city, SRM 800 T-shirts have been shipped and Rookie SRM 3 and 4 T-shirts are going out this week. Sorry for the delay. Thanks for understanding.

Topcoder SRM 809 is scheduled to start at 07:00 UTC-4 on July 13, 2021. 

Registration is now open for the SRM in the Arena or Applet and closes at 06:55 UTC-4. The coding phase will start at 07:05 UTC-4, so make sure that you are all ready to go. Click here to what time it starts in your area

Please take a look at our How to Compete guide to understand Topcoder Algorithm rounds better.

Some Important Links:: Match Results (match results, rating changes, challenges, individual test case results), Problem Archive, Problem Writing, Algorithm Rankings, Editorials and Older Editorials(SRM 710 and before),

Best of luck to you in the Arena!

• The Topcoder Community team

The Round 3 of the Algorithm Competition of 2021 Topcoder Open is happening! It will take place on Thursday, July 8 at 07:00 UTC -4.

Please note that you must register for this round in the Arena. Registration is now open for the round in the Arena or Applet and will close 5 minutes before the match begins, so make sure that you are all ready to go. Click here to what time it starts in your area.

There will be a parallel rated round for those who are not eligible to compete.

Members eligible to compete in the Parallel Round include:
- Who did not qualify for Round 3
- Qualified for Round 4 or TCO21 Algorithm Finals from Online Stages 1, 2, 3 and 4

Don’t know how to compete in Topcoder Algorithm Competitions?
Check out this guide to successfully compete in an algorithm match.

You can compete using:

• Topcoder Java Applet - You can refer to this guide here to set up the applet. (Note that those who have Java 8 installed on their machine will see a security issue — You will have to add Topcoder in security exceptions in Java Control Panel. Please refer to the details in the guide.)
• Topcoder Web Arena(Beta) - Please watch this video for step by step guide

Some Important Links Match Results (match results, rating changes, challenges, individual test case results), Problem Archive, Problem Writing, Algorithm Rankings, Editorials and Older Editorials(SRM 710 and before),

Best of luck to you in the Arena!

- The Topcoder Community team

Topcoder SRM 808 is scheduled to start at 07:00 UTC-4 on June 25, 2021. 

Registration is now open for the SRM in the Arena or Applet and closes at 06:55 UTC-4. The coding phase will start at 07:05 UTC-4, so make sure that you are all ready to go. Click here to what time it starts in your area

Please take a look at our How to Compete guide to understand Topcoder Algorithm rounds better.

Some Important Links:: Match Results (match results, rating changes, challenges, individual test case results), Problem Archive, Problem Writing, Algorithm Rankings, Editorials and Older Editorials(SRM 710 and before),

Best of luck!
- The Topcoder Team

Topcoder SRM 807 is scheduled to start at 07:00 UTC-4 on June 9, 2021. 

Please Note: The round will consist of 5 problems with the difficulty level of Div II, and it will only be rated for Div II participants. (Members rated < 1200). Also, this round will not award points towards TCO21 Stage 4.

Registration is now open for the SRM in the Arena or Applet and closes at 06:55 UTC-4. The coding phase will start at 07:05 UTC-4, so make sure that you are all ready to go. Click here to what time it starts in your area

Please take a look at our How to Compete guide to understand Topcoder Algorithm rounds better.

Problem Writer: misof

Learn more about problem writing and testing opportunities.

Some Important Links:: Match Results (match results, rating changes, challenges, individual test case results), Problem Archive, Problem Writing, Algorithm Rankings, Editorials and Older Editorials(SRM 710 and before),

Best of luck!
- the Topcoder Team

The second Round 2 of the Algorithm Competition of 2021 Topcoder Open is happening! Round 2B and and its Parallel Round will take place on Wednesday, June 2 at 07:00 UTC -4

Both the matches will be **rated**.

Please note that you must register for this round in the Arena. Registration is now open for the round in the Arena or Applet and will close 5 minutes before the match begins, so make sure that you are all ready to go. Click here to see what time it starts in your area.

In order to advance to Online Stage 3, you will need to place within the** top 200** of any Round 2. Read more about the Algorithm Competition and view the whole schedule here. 

Members eligible to compete in the Parallel Round include:
- Members who have qualified to Round 3 from Round 2A
- Members who did not qualify for Round 2
- Members who didn't compete in Online Round 1
- Qualifiers for Round 4 or TCO21 Algorithm Finals from Online Stages 1, 2 and 3

Don’t know how to compete in Topcoder Algorithm Competitions?
Check out this guide to successfully compete in an algorithm match.

You can compete using:

• Topcoder Java Applet - You can refer to this guide here to set up the applet. (Note that those who have Java 8 installed on their machine will see a security issue — You will have to add Topcoder in security exceptions in Java Control Panel. Please refer to the details in the guide.)
• Topcoder Web Arena(Beta) - Please watch this video for step by step guide

Did you qualify for Round 3 or Round 4 or Algorithm Finals from Online Stages 1,2 and 3? We have a **parallel-rated round** for you to compete.

Best of luck to you in the Arena!

- The Topcoder Community team

Hello Everyone,

Topcoder SRM 806 is scheduled to start at 11:00 UTC-4 on May 26, 2021. 

Registration is now open for the SRM in the Arena or Applet and closes at** 10:55 UTC-4. **The coding phase will start at **11**:**05 UTC-4**, so make sure that you are all ready to go. Click here to what time it starts in your area

Please take a look at our How to Compete guide to understand Topcoder Algorithm rounds better.

Problem Writer: misof

Learn more about problem writing and testing opportunities.

TCO21: This is the second SRM of Stage 4 of TCO21 Algorithm Tournament. Learn More

Some Important Links:: Match Results (match results, rating changes, challenges, individual test case results), Problem Archive, Problem Writing, Algorithm Rankings, Editorials and Older Editorials(SRM 710 and before),

Best of luck!
- the Topcoder Team

Hello Everyone!

The TCO21 Algorithm Round 2A and its Parallel Round is scheduled to be held on Saturday, May 22 at 12:00 UTC -4.

Both the matches will be **rated**.

Please note that you must register for this round in the Arena. Registration is now open for the round in the Arena or Applet and will close 5 minutes before the match begins, so make sure that you are all ready to go. Click here to what time it starts in your area.

Members eligible to compete in Round 2A include:
- Members who won an Automatic Berth* a.k.a Bye* for Round 1
- Advancers to Round 2 from Round 1A or Round 1B

Members eligible to compete in the Parallel Round include:
- Members who did not qualify for Round 2
- Members who didn't compete in Online Round 1
- Qualifiers for Round 4 or TCO21 Algorithm Finals from Online Stages 1,2 and 3

Don’t know how to compete in Topcoder Algorithm Competitions?

Check out this guide to successfully compete in an algorithm match.

You can compete using:

• Topcoder Java Applet - You can refer to this guide here to set up the applet. (Note that those who have Java 8 installed on their machine will see a security issue — You will have to add Topcoder in security exceptions in Java Control Panel. Please refer to the details in the guide.)
• Topcoder Web Arena(Beta) - Please watch this video for step by step guide

Best of luck to you in the Arena!

- The Topcoder Community team

Rookie SRM 5

Rookie SRM 5 is scheduled to start at 07:00 UTC-4 on May 14, 2021. 

Registration is now open for the Rookie SRM in the Arena or Applet and closes at 06:55 UTC-5. The coding phase will start at 07:05 UTC-5, so make sure that you are all ready to go. Click here to what time it starts in your area.

The Rookie SRM is open to everyone and has some special cash prizes. It will only be **rated** for members who:
- Have never competed in Rated Algorithm Contests OR
- Have competed in equal to or less than 5 rounds OR
- If their current rating is less than **800** rating points.

Prizes:
Topcoder T-shirt for Top 20
*Prizes are only for members who are eligible to be rated

Best of luck!
- the Topcoder Team

Update on SRM 800, RSRM 3, and 4 T-shirts: We are ready to ship out the t-shirts for SRM 800, Rookie SRM 3, and 4, They will be going out next week. Sorry for the delay. Thanks for your patience!

Topcoder SRM 805 is scheduled to start at 12:00 UTC-4 on May 08, 2021. 

Registration is now open for the SRM in the Arena or Applet and closes at 11:55 UTC-4. The coding phase will start at 12:05 UTC-4, so make sure that you are all ready to go. Click here to what time it starts in your area

Please take a look at our How to Compete guide to understand Topcoder Algorithm rounds better.

Problem Writer: misof

Learn more about problem writing and testing opportunities.

TCO21: This is first SRM of Stage 4 of TCO21 Algorithm Tournament. Learn More

Some Important Links:: Match Results (match results, rating changes, challenges, individual test case results), Problem Archive, Problem Writing, Algorithm Rankings, Editorials and Older Editorials(SRM 710 and before),

Best of luck!
- the Topcoder Team

The second attempt of the first Online Round of the 2021 Topcoder Open Algorithm Competition has arrived! Round 1B will be held on Wednesday, April 28, 2021 at 07:00 UTC -4.

Did you win an 
- Automatic Berth a.k.a Bye for Round 1 or 
- Qualified to Round 4 from Online Stages 1 and 2 or
- Advanced to Round 2 from Round 1A? 
We also have a  parallel-rated round for all those who won an Automatic Berth a.k.a Bye for Round 1, qualified to Round 4 and from Online Stages 1 and 2 or and advanced to Round 2 from Round 1A.

How many will qualify?
The 750 highest scorers from each Round 1 will win a spot in Round 2 of the Algorithm Competition.

How to Compete?
Please note that you must register for this round in the Arena or Applet. 

Registration is open for the round and closes at 6:55 UTC -4. Be sure you register early to guarantee your spot in the round as registration is limited to the first 2,500 competitors. Please take a look at our How to Compete guide to understand Topcoder Algorithm rounds better.

The Topcoder Open Algorithm Competition consists of an Onsite Finals and there are three ways to advance to the Onsite Finals:

• Four online stages,
• Four online rounds,
• Up to five onsite regional rounds followed by one online wild card round.

TCO21 Algorithm Competition Schedule:
Round 1A: April 17 at 12:00 Round 1B: April 28 at 07:00
Round 2A: May 22 at 12:00
Round 2B: June 2 at 07:00 
Round 3: July 8 at 07:00
Round 4: July 31 at 12:00

All times are in UTC -4.

Some Important Links:: Match Results (match results, rating changes, challenges, individual test case results), Problem Archive, Problem Writing, Algorithm Rankings, Editorials and Older Editorials(SRM 710 and before),

Best of luck to you in the Arena!
- The Topcoder Community Team

Single Round Match 804 & International Coding Challenge

Topcoder and Cognizance'21 IIT Roorkee are excited to bring you International Coding Challenge along with SRM 804. The round is scheduled to start at 07:00 UTC-4 on April 23, 2021. 

Please Note: The contest will be rated but won't award you points on the TCO21 Stage 4 leaderboard. The contest's number of problems will differ from a traditional SRM. The problems are intended for division 1 but the registration is open to everyone. All contestants will participate in the same division. The Coding Phase duration will be 150 mins instead of the traditional 75 mins.

Prizes: 
Winner: $200
Runner-Up: $100

Registration is now open for the SRM in the Arena or Applet and closes at 06:55 UTC-4. The coding phase will start at 07:05 UTC-4, so make sure that you are all ready to go. Click here to what time it starts in your area

Some Important Links:: Match Results (match results, rating changes, challenges, individual test case results), Problem Archive, Problem Writing, Algorithm Rankings, Editorials and Older Editorials(SRM 710 and before),

The first Online Round of the 2021 Topcoder Open Algorithm Competition has arrived! Round 1A will be held on Saturday April 17, 2021 at 12:00 UTC -4 and you are invited to compete.

How many will qualify?
The 750 highest scorers from each Round 1 will win a spot in Round 2 of the Algorithm Competition.

How to Compete?
Please note that you must register for this round in the Arena or Applet. 

Registration is open for the round and closes at 11:55 UTC -4. Be sure you register early to guarantee your spot in the round as registration is limited to the first 2,500 competitors. Please take a look at our How to Compete guide to understand Topcoder Algorithm rounds better.

Don't forget! There will be one more Round 1 — Round 1B on Wednesday, April 28, 2021 at 07:00 UTC -4.

New to Topcoder and the TCO21? The Algorithm Competition is one of the most fierce and popular tournaments. Battle up against some of the biggest names in coding. Learn more.

The Topcoder Open Algorithm Competition consists of an Onsite Finals and there are three ways to advance to the Onsite Finals:

• Four online stages,
• Four online rounds,
• Up to five onsite regional rounds followed by one online wild card round.

TCO21 Algorithm Competition Schedule:
Round 1A: April 17 at 12:00
Round 1B: April 28 at 07:00
Round 2A: May 22 at 12:00
Round 2B: June 2 at 07:00 
Round 3: July 8 at 07:00
Round 4: July 31 at 12:00

All times are in UTC -4.

Some Important Links:: Match Results (match results, rating changes, challenges, individual test case results), Problem Archive, Problem Writing, Algorithm Rankings, Editorials and Older Editorials(SRM 710 and before),

Best of luck to you in the Arena!
- The Topcoder Community Team

Single Round Match 803

Topcoder SRM 803 is scheduled to start at 11:00 UTC-4 on March 31, 2021. 

Registration is now open for the SRM in the Arena or Applet and closes at 10:55 UTC-4. The coding phase will start at 11:05 UTC-4, so make sure that you are all ready to go. Click here to what time it starts in your area

Thanks to Arpa for writing the problem set. Also, thanks to misof for testing and coordinating the round.

Please Note: As the final SRM of the stage, this is your last chance to earn points towards the TCO21 Regional Events qualification and TCO21 Online Stage 3.

Some Important Links:: Match Results (match results, rating changes, challenges, individual test case results), Problem Archive, Problem Writing, Algorithm Rankings, Editorials and Older Editorials(SRM 710 and before),

Best of luck!
- the Topcoder Team

Topcoder SRM 802 is scheduled to start at 07:00 UTC-5 on March 19, 2021. 

Match Forum

Registration is now open for the SRM in the Arena or Applet and closes at 06:55 UTC-5. The coding phase will start at 07:05 UTC-5, so make sure that you are all ready to go. Click here to what time it starts in your area

This SRM will award points towards Stage 3 of TCO21 and also the qualifications for TCO21 Regional Events

Some Important Links:: Match Results (match results, rating changes, challenges, individual test case results), Problem Archive, Problem Writing, Algorithm Rankings, Editorials and Older Editorials(SRM 710 and before),

Best of luck!
- the Topcoder Team

2021 Humblefool Cup Prelims

The fifth edition of the much-coveted Humblefool Cup is here. While we couldn’t host the finals of the 2020 event because of the pandemic and lockdowns during this time last year, we hope to bring you an exciting tournament this year.

Topcoder and the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Allahabad are excited to bring back the Humblefool Cup Algorithm Match in fond memory of Harsha Suryanarayana [humblefool].

Harsha is considered to be the best coder India has ever produced. A Topcoder member since 2005, humblefool – as he is known within the coding community –  was a TCO Finalist twice. Up until his tragic death in an accident in 2014, humblefool was at the top of his game in SRMs and personally trained and motivated many other members.

The Humblefool Cup is organized every year to preserve his legacy and contribution to the Community.

2021 Humblefool Cup Prelims is scheduled to start at 12:00 UTC-4 on March 17, 2021. Registration is now open for the SRM in the Arena or Applet and closes at 11:55 UTC-5. The coding phase will start at 12:05 UTC-5, so make sure that you are all ready to go. Click here to what time it starts in your area

Prizes:

Qualifying Round

The top thirty(30) students located in India will be invited to compete onsite or online at the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad. The best-ranked student in the qualifying round (not located in India) will be awarded $100 prize money.

Onsite Finals

The top thirty students from the qualifying round will compete onsite or online (to be announced later) to win the Humblefool Cup Medal and $600 in cash and goodies. The finalists will also receive Topcoder Humblefool Cup t-shirts.

Choose Your Competition Arena

There are two ways to compete in Algorithm Competitions or Single Round Matches (SRMs). Read here to find which works best for you.

Some Important Links

Match Results (match results, rating changes, challenges, individual test case results), Problem Archive, Problem Writing, Algorithm Rankings, Editorials and Older Editorials(SRM 710 and before),

Learn more about problem writing and testing opportunities.

Best of luck!
- the Topcoder Team

Rookie SRM 3

Rookie SRM 3 is scheduled to start at 12:00 UTC-5 on March 06, 2021. 

Registration is now open for the Rookie SRM in the Arena or Applet and closes at 10:55 UTC-5. The coding phase will start at 11:05 UTC-5, so make sure that you are all ready to go. Click here to what time it starts in your area.

The Rookie SRM is open to everyone and has some special cash prizes. It will only be rated for members who:
- Have never competed in Rated Algorithm Contests OR
- Have competed in equal to or less than 5 rounds OR
- If their current rating is less than 800 rating points.

Prizes:

Topcoder T-shirt for Top 20
*Prizes are only for members who are eligible to be rated

Choose Your Competition Arena

There are two ways to compete in Algorithm Competitions or Single Round Matches (SRMs). Read here to find which works best for you.

Some Important Links:: Match Results (match results, rating changes, challenges, individual test case results), Problem Archive, Problem Writing, Algorithm Rankings, Editorials and Older Editorials(SRM 710 and before),

UPD: Sorry for the delay — T-shirt winners are now announced: https://discussions.topcoder.com/discussion/4135/rookie-srm-3-t-shirt-winners/p1?new=1

Best of luck!
- the Topcoder Team

Topcoder SRM 801 is scheduled to start at 07:00 UTC-5 on February 24, 2021. 

Registration is now open for the SRM in the Arena or Applet and closes at 06:55 UTC-5. The coding phase will start at 07:05 UTC-5, so make sure that you are all ready to go. Click here to what time it starts in your area

This SRM will award points towards Stage 3 of TCO21 and also the qualifications for TCO21 Regional Events

Some Important Links:: Match Results (match results, rating changes, challenges, individual test case results), Problem Archive, Problem Writing, Algorithm Rankings, Editorials and Older Editorials(SRM 710 and before),

Best of luck!
- the Topcoder Team