The finals of the ICPC World Programming Championship in July 2020 will be hosted by Moscow for the first time, and it will be organized by the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. On the eve of an important event for the capital open the summer training season.
Why participation in training camps is a sure way to victory, said Philip Rukhovich, trainer of Moscow Workshops ICPC, two-time winner and winner of the All-Russian Olympiad for School Students in Informatics 2007-2009, four-time winner of the ICPC semi-final and ICPC 2014 finalist.
Philip, together with Evgeny Belykh, a member of the MIPT Shock Content team, which took 10th place and received a bronze medal at the ICPC 2019 final in Porto
How and when to participate in training campsTraining camps traditionally include lectures, seminars and contests. Depending on the level of knowledge, students can participate in four divisions:
A: preparation for victory at the ICPC finals;
B: preparation for the semi-finals of the championship;
С: preparation for qualifying rounds and ¼ of the ICPC championship;
D: For those new to the ICPC world.
The first ones Discover Vladivostok in collaboration with Moscow Workshops ICPC are held from July 6 to 13, 2019 at the Far Eastern Federal University. Following them, on July 7, the training camp in Grodno in Belarus opened. Young programmers from China, Mexico, Egypt, India, Lithuania, Armenia, Bangladesh, Iran, other countries and different parts of Russia came to train.
Fee Schedule for the second half of this year:
July 6-13 - Discover Vlasivostok in collaboration with Moscow Workshops ICPC for divisions B and C.
From 7 to 14 July - Discover Grodno in collaboration with Moscow Workshops ICPC for divisions B and C.
From 7 to 14 September - for the first time Discover Baikal in collaboration with Moscow Workshops ICPC for divisions C and D.
From 21 to 29 September - for the first time Discover Singapore in collaboration with Moscow Workshops ICPC for divisions A and depending on the set B or C.
From 5 to 13 October - for the first time Discover Riga in collaboration with Moscow Workshops ICPC, division A will be opened, as well as division B or C.
And the last chance to prepare before the series of ICPC semi-finals - training camp Moscow International Workshop ICPC, which will be held on the MIPT campus for the strongest divisions A and B from November 5 to 14.
They say genius is 1% talent and 99% hard work. Can the same be said for students who are into sports programming?
I agree with this. Of course, innate talent in this area and predisposition are important. It will be a little easier for such guys, but without hard work and a lot of training, without constant work, no success is simply possible. But more than that, we can talk about talent, the right selection of a team, and many more factors. It is clear that each Olympiad has its own strengths. Someone remarkably codes the most complex systems, someone coolly solves mathematical problems. But whoever they are, first of all, erudition is needed. It often happens when a team that initially did not gush with some kind of superpowers takes hard work, a cosmic amount of training and achieves great success, up to winning the world championship in sports programming. Of course, work is extremely important here, this is the most primary. The most important factor that can help is to enjoy it all. In my opinion, in order to achieve success in sports programming, you need to love it very much, love solving problems.
What skills and knowledge do students need to participate in training camps?
We do not have a fundamental selection, students come and participate. The level of knowledge required will depend on which division they enter. Our most difficult division is A. A beginner team does not need to go there. Division A was created for the most experienced participants who already know all the algorithms, have many years of experience in solving problems and will train for the championship at the 2020 finals in Moscow. For those who are preparing for the semi-finals, for slightly less experienced participants, there is division B. There are also thematic contests and lectures on complex algorithms.
Beginners are interested in division C, which will be at the training camp in Grodno. A minimum experience of participating in ICPC competitions is required, there will be lectures on simpler algorithms. But you can’t say that you can come from scratch. What is required for successful participation in the training camp? Confident command of the entire team in one of the programming languages, primarily C++ and Java, to a lesser extent Python, basic algometric training, at least minimal. Nevertheless, our program is compiled based on the knowledge and skills of students. We interview participants about their skills and try to make a program that will be interesting and effective for the teams that come to the training camp.
Does the training format greatly affect the result? Preparing at home or coming to training camps - is there a fundamental difference?
Everyone chooses their own format of preparation, but for successful participation it must be systematic. You can’t go through one training session at the training camp and immediately defeat everyone in the competition. My opinion is that it is necessary to participate in the training camp. First, you arrive in another city, which, perhaps, you have never been before. You can travel, because Moscow Workshops are held all over the world without exaggeration. The next ones will be held in Vladivostok and Grodno. But the most important thing in the training camp is the atmosphere. If you are writing a contest from home, then you are training as usual, and all around you are the same everyday things. And if you came to the training camp, then you escaped from the everyday environment and are focused only on the training camp. This is such an intensive when you do not think about anything, not about additional things, not about studying, not about work. You are focused on training. You can communicate with experienced participants, ICPC veterans. This is a great opportunity to meet like-minded people who also love programming. After all, the most important component of sports programming is the very ICPC community, those very connections. The guys will know a huge number of strong people in this area, and this will help them in their future careers.
How do fees affect the climate within the teams? Does it help them in decisive competitions?
Of course it helps and very well. At least because the classic training goes like this: three people got together, wrote content and went home. It won't work that way in a gathering. There the team spends a week and a half together, the participants live together, train together and in this sense breathe in unison. Gatherings are very conducive to team building. There is no better way to get to know each other and understand how to use each other's strengths in order to maximize the result in the contest.
Traditionally, international camps take place in a highly competitive environment. How does communication with future rivals for the championship affect the guys when they understand that some teams are stronger, some are weaker?
It all depends on the focus of the guys on the job. Theoretically, it could be that the team arrived, found itself in the nth place, got upset and lost faith. But the training camp is good because the result of the training camp itself is not important, it will not be taken into account at the championship itself. At any contest, the winner is the one who here and now solves more of the proposed tasks. There are also such precedents that teams that have been leading in contests for a long time cannot get to the final. There is a purely sporting principle here: not the one who has more experience and, according to some parameters, the stronger squad wins, the one who shows the best result here and now wins. But if you train with the strongest, this allows you to more objectively assess the real level. If you do not occupy a very high place, then you understand that you need to train more actively. At the training camp, you get a complete idea of what you need to pay attention to. And psychologically, training with the leaders, we begin to reach out for them. And at the training camp you can communicate with them, exchange solutions, ask something. You can even catch some trends in how problems are solved in different countries, because even the mentality can influence the methods of solution. This is another point why it is worth participating in the training camp, and not preparing from home.
Does it happen that strong teams come to training camps and start losing ground to those who were initially a little weaker?
There are many reasons why a command on some contexts shows a weaker result. Starting with banal fatigue, because this may be the third training camp in a month. There are more and more Moscow Workshops gatherings, so it is possible that the guys are already competing with all their might. The issue of rest during training is no less important. There is a risk of overdoing and burning out. Right before important competitions, a week or two ahead, the task is not to waste energy on unnecessary contests, but to concentrate on the upcoming one and give it to the maximum. For example, at the semi-finals of the World Programming Championship, in which guys from leading technical universities from different countries participate. Traditionally, the contest takes place on Sunday, and the arrival and opening - on Saturday. The guys themselves usually arrive on Friday morning, and their task is to relax as much as possible on this day, disconnect from studies and gain impressions of the new city.
The ICPC 2020 final will come to Moscow. Will the pre-final excitement affect the Moscow training camp or is the work going on as usual?
The final in Moscow is an exceptional event. Of course, this is not the first final in Russia, but for the first time he will come to Moscow. I will say that this does not mean that it is necessary to prepare for the final in the capital, but not for others. But we are definitely worried. After 5 years, the final returned to Russia, it is a great honor, but also a colossal responsibility. Both the organizers and the participants of our camps need to prepare hard, for which we are waiting for all students who are passionate about Olympiad programming.
Since September, we have been opening weekly trainings for Muscovites on the MIPT campus in Klimentovsky lane, which will be a huge help for those who want to develop in algorithmic programming and successfully defend the name of the capital at the ICPC finals.
Source: habr.com