CodeChef Go for Gold Initiative
Help India Win The ICPC World Finals
Welcome Letter
Hi all,
Since we created CodeChef in 2009, a platform to help Indian programmers become the best in the world.
CodeChef's growth has been outstanding in this short while surpassing all our expectations:
- 1,500,000+ programmers from 12,000 institutions.
- 4200+ programming contests
- Over 100 million+ submissions
We're proud of CodeChef, but we know we still have a long way to go. That's why we announced the Go for Gold Project in 2010.
The goal of the Go for Gold Project is ambitious: We want an Indian team to win the ICPC contest, one of the biggest competitive programming challenge in the world.
We realize that the change won't happen overnight, so our plan is to support learning and reward improvement. We're providing ongoing scholarship, incentives, promotion, tech assistance, and training for Indian students.
With a little push to get started, we think you can change the world.
We are committed to being completely transparent about our activities, motives, and finances. On this page you will find details on our allocated budgets, the manner of our budget allocation, and a list of activities that we will conduct under the Go for Gold project.
A year after the launch of the Go for Gold Initiative, two Indian teams have managed to do better than what any Indian team has ever done, at the ACM ICPC 2012 Warsaw finals. It is the first time India has managed to make its mark within the top 20 and we can't wait to see who's next!
Go for it.
Bhavin Turakhia
CEO, Flock, Zeta and Radix
CodeChef Go For Gold Cup And Cash Prize
How do you win?
The Go for Gold Cup and cash prize will be awarded to any Indian team that finishes higher at the ICPC than any other Indian team has in the history of the contest.
Current rank to beat: 29 18
What do you win?
1. The prestigious Go for Gold Cup on behalf of your college (The winners of the Go for Gold Cup will have their names inscribed on the Cup.)
2. A cash prize calculated by using the Golden Rule.
How much is the prize?
The cash prize for any year is computed as follows -
Prize = (Rs. 161803 * 1.61803^1.61803) * (log (base 1.61803) (N+1))
1. N is the number of years since the last time the prize was won (Current value of N is 8)
2. 1.61803 are the first 6 digits of the golden ratio (go for gold)
Each year the prize is unclaimed, it increases further. The below table shows how this prize would grow if it were unclaimed for the next 8 years -
| Year | Cash Prize (Rs.) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 507,720 |
| 2 | 804,717 |
| 3 | 1,015,441 |
| 4 | 1,178,890 |
| 5 | 1,312,438 |
| 6 | 1,425,351 |
| 7 | 15,23,161 |
| 7 | 16,09,435 |
How is the prize money distributed?
1. The winning team will dedicate 33% of the prize to their college to spend towards anything related to enhancing the IT infrastructure (internet connection, laptops, computer room)
2. The remaining prize will be divided amongst the team members
Can more than one team win per year?
More than one team can win the title. If multiple teams win, they will all have their names inscribed on the cup. However the cash prize will only be awarded to the team that finishes the highest. Additionally, the cup will only be given to the college of that team.
ICPC Sponsorship Program
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Mailers to CodeChef Members | We'll send emails about your contest to our active registered CodeChef members. |
| CodeChef Website | We will put up banners, links and content promoting your contest on our website. |
| Facebook, Twitter, & Blog | We have over 650,000 fans and followers on our Facebook page, LinkedIn Page, Twitter account and blog. We will publicize your contest through all of our social streams. |
| Contest platform & Judge | A proven software platform for contest organizers to create and test problems using the SPOJ judge. Your team will have direct access to this platform and have a web-based interface to upload problems, test them, run the contest and view the statistics. |
| Contest problems | We're happy to introduce you to the very same freelancers that we use for problem setting and testing. They have considerable experience in ensuring that contest problems are functional and fair and of the best quality. |
| Other Giveaways | Based on availability and budgets, we would also provide giveaways to participants in other select contests |
We have dedicated a substantial budget to fund our contest sponsorship program. In return, we only ask for branding placements and that contests use the CodeChef platform:
1. The Go for Gold logo on the contest website, collateral, mailers, posters, banners on venue, print materials, in press releases and other PR material. These promotions help us get the Go for Gold message out there and encourage participation
2. Usage of CodeChef as a coding contest platform for the online version of the contest. We would provide a web interface to contest coordinators to manage the platform just as they would manage any other platform. This can also be leveraged to increase participation by using our existing member base. At CodeChef we are committed to transparency and equitable partnerships with all contests.
Travel Sponsorships
CodeChef is happy to provide travel sponsorships to the members of the top programming teams in the country.
Who is eligible?
Team members representing an Indian University at the ICPC World Finals are eligible for the sponsorship.
What's included?
For select teams, we will offer:
1. All the team members representing an Indian University at the ICPC World Finals will be eligible to apply for travel sponsorship. Teams will be communicated about the application process over an email.
2. Team uniforms (you can't wear these at the actual ICPC, but you can sport them anywhere else)
3. ... and more
Guidelines for availing sponsorship
1. The ICPC Travel Sponsorship will no more be given to the Team. Starting this year, it will be given to the individual member of the team based upon their candidature for the sponsorship
2. Upto 50% travel sponsorship;
3. Also from this year onwards, we have imposed an additional constraint that the sponsorship goes to only those teams which get into the top 50 teams at the World Finals.
4. You must submit the original copies of all your tickets and boarding passes (against which you will be claiming the sponsorship). Please make sure that you don't dispose/misplace them after your journey.
5. Producing any false or misleading information could result in forfeiture of the Sponsorship for the individual. Please ensure your details are filled in correctly.
6. CodeChef reserves the right to modify the terms and conditions of this travel sponsorship at any time.
Note: Earlier we used to give it to every team unconditionally, but now we have converted this into a need based application. We get the students to submit their details on an application form which also helps us to assess the need of each student to avail this amount.
Winners Of GoForGold In Past
Back in 2012, Team Proof - IIT Delhi and Team TuringMachine – IIIT Hyderabad jointly secured the 18th position in the “Olympics of Programming Competitions” the ACM ICPC World Finals 2012.
Kunal Jain (Team TuringMachine, IIIT Hyderabad)
Team Proof - IIT Delhi
Go For Gold For Schools
In alignment with our goal, we have extended this program to the Indian Middle/High School students. As a part of this program, we want an Indian student to win the Gold medal at the International Olympiads in Informatics, which is considered the Olympics of programming for School Students.
We realize that that change won't happen overnight, so our plan is to support learning and reward improvement. We're providing ongoing scholarship, incentives, promotion, tech assistance, and training for Indian students.
To know more about Go For Gold for Schools, visit here.
Project Goals
All our educational initiatives are designed to push Indian software developers to improve and become leaders in the industry. We devote considerable time and resources to programs that we feel can kickstart young people's ambition and motivation.
The Go for Gold Project is no exception. We know that it won't be easy to capture first prize at the ICPC Finals, so we've structured the Project for the long-term.
We're challenging Indian programmers make incremental improvements upon what their peers have done. We see this as a process that will happen over many years, and we're happy to provide training and guidance along the way.
The structure, goals and finances of this project are transparent and easily accessible to anyone who wishes to view them. We welcome questions and are happy to discuss the project in further detail.