A birdie week

TopCoder SRM 736 started the Aug 13 - Aug 19 week (problems, results, top 5 on the left, my screencast, analysis). This was the first round under the new system in which one can qualify for the last online round and even to the onsite round of TopCoder Open 2019 by placing well in all SRMs in a quarter. rng_58 has claimed the early lead in that leaderboard by winning the SRM by less than one full point!

Codeforces then held two rounds based on VK Cup Finals problems, starting with Round 504 on Friday (problems, results, top 5 on the left, analysis). Just as in the official round, the hardest problem remained unsolved, but this time the winner was determined on challenges. ko_osaga found 9 opportunities and got a clear first place as the result. Well done!

Facebook Hacker Cup Round 3 on Saturday selected the 25 lucky finalists going to Menlo Park (problems, results, top 5 on the left, analysis). Xiao was quite a bit faster than the rest of the pack, qualifying to the onsite finals in style. Congratulations to Xiao and to all finalists!

Finally, another VK Cup-based Codeforces Round 505 wrapped up the week (problems, results, top 5 on the left, analysis). Once again the hardest problem remained unsolved, and once again it took solving all remaining problems plus finding a few challenges to earn a victory — and Swistakk did just that.

Thanks for reading, and check back for more!