Sudoku and Logic

Sudoku and Logical Puzzles

CZECH OPEN 2024- 7^thCompetition in Solving Sudoku and Logical Puzzles

13^th July 2024

Organizer: AVE CHESS z.s.

Festival director: Karel Sterba

Time schedule:

Saturday 13^th July	10.00 - 10.25	Registration
	10.30 - 12.30	Puzzle Tournament Categories A/B – 2 Rounds
	13.30 - 15.30	Sudoku Tournament Categories A/B – 2 Rounds
	16.30 - 16.45	Prize Giving

Starting fee: 6,5 EUR

Late registrations: Those players whose application will be registered after 30th of June 2024 will pay additional charge of 2 EUR for each competition.

Material prizes in all four tournaments.

BASIC INFORMATION

- There are two separate competitions, a competition in solving sudoku and a competition in solving logical puzzles, both held in category A and B.

- Anyone can participate without age and performance limitations (the category A contains harder puzzles designated for experienced players, the category B is more beginner-friendly).

- Logic competion offer wide scale of puzzles, the basic types includes a principles of number placement (Kakuro, Sudoku), object placement (Battleships, Starbattle), shading (Tapa, Nurikabe), region division (Shikaku, Fillomino), loops/paths (Masyu, Slitherlink) and others.

- Sudoku is one of the logical puzzles, the principle is to place numbers into the given grid so that they do not repeat in any rows, columns and outlined regions. In addition to this classical version there are sudoku variants where numbers in cells have to comply with other given conditions (sums, parities, extraregions, bigger/smaller etc. and also combinations of sudoku with other logical puzzles). Thanks to popularity of sudoku and its basic principles, the competitons devoted only to sudoku solving were separated (from other logical puzzles) as a worldwide trend.

- The way to find a solution in logical puzzles does not require knowledge of foreign language (competition booklets are preprared in Czech as well as in English language).

- The competitor will be given a set of puzzles which he/she solves within given time limit.

- For each correctly solved puzzle the competitor will get the predetermined number of points (depending on the difficulty of the puzzle).

- If the competitor solves correctly all puzzles within the given time limit, he/she gets time bonus for each minute saved.

- Criterion used for competition ranking is the total number of points in two rounds.

- HALAS – Czech Puzzle Association organizes the sudoku nad logical puzzle competitions every year incl. Czech Sudoku Championship and Czech Puzzle Championship.

DETAILED RULES

Competition process

The organizer will announce in advance tournament schedule and special conditions.

The player must arrive on time, sign in at the registration desk and take a seat. The seat is either individual or the table is separated by a partition.

The organizer opens the competiton, subsequently introduces tournament rules, scoring system and person appointed as the tournament referee.

Prior to each of the competition round the organizer will announce time limit and time bonus for submission before the time limit. The organizer will distribute the competition booklets and make sure that puzzles are not visible before the start of the round.

During each individual round competitors must remain silent not disturbing other competitors. It is strictly forbidden to use any electronic devices.

The organizer keeps an eye on the time throughout the competition rounds, reminds competitors its remaining amount in a respectful way, and gives the signal when the time is over. After that, the competitor has to stop solving immediately, otherwise he/she may face disqualification.

If the player is sure that some puzzle has no solution within the given set of rules, he/she can get full credit of points by clear indicating that the puzzle is not valid next to it. If some puzzle has more than one valid solution, full points will be awarded for any solution that satisfies the given set of rules.

Booklets checking and dealing with protests

Players are asked for re-checking their competition booklets which were handed them out after the evaluation by the organizer. They are allowed to make an objection if they find their booklets evaluated incorrectly. The deadline for players’ objections is up to 10 minutes following the distribution of booklets from the last competition round.

If the protesting player is not satisfied with the verdict of the organizer, the matter will be passed to the tournament referee. The referee will decide either alone or is allowed to cooperate with a committee consisted of experienced players formed by himself/herself.

If the protesting player is not even satisfied with the verdict of the tournament referee, he/she can file a protest to the board of the HALAS - Czech Puzzle Association. The board has to make a decision in 10 days and inform about it both the player and the organizer. If its decision affects tournament results, all players will be informed on the website of HALAS - Czech Puzzle Association.

Scoring and ranking

The cover page of the competition booklet should contain a list of puzzles in that round and their points distribution. The points value of each puzzle is also written next to the puzzle.

The tournament ranking is determined by the sum of points awarded for correctly solved puzzles in all rounds and bonus points for submission before the time limit.

If the competition is called in category A and B, the tournament ranking will be determined for both of them. Category A tends to be aimed at experienced players, whereas category B is intended for less experienced players and newcomers.

Complete on-line your obligatory applications together with accommodation orders by 30^th June 2023 on http://www.czechopen.net/en/contact-and-applications/ or by e-mail to ave-kontakt@outlook.cz. In the application, also specify the competition, e.g. „sudoku A + logic B“.

Playing halls, place of registration, accommodation and secretariat:
IDEON congress centre, Jiraskova 1963, 530 02, Pardubice, Karla IV. Bus stop - connection from the railway station by bus No. 6 or 8 (5th stop)