Frequently Asked Questions

How do I sign up for the North American practice contests?

All you need to do is this:

  1. If you don’t already have one, create an account on Open Kattis. Please note that you should create a personal account under your own name. Don’t create a “team account” (there is an option to create teams composed of multiple individual accounts; see below).
  2. Before or during a practice contest, go to the practice contest’s page on Open Kattis and click on “Join the Contest”. Links to the Kattis contests can be found on the main page. You can also see a list of upcoming contests in Open Kattis’s Contests page.
  3. By default, you will appear on the scoreboard under your own name. Once you join the contest, you will be given the option to create a team. You can associate your team with your university, and give your team a custom name. We encourage you to include your school’s name in your team name, as it will not appear automatically on the scoreboard (only your university’s logo will appear).

Do I need to participate as a team?

No, you can participate individually as well.

If I do create a team, does it have to have three contestants?

No, teams can have any number of contestants.

When do the practice contests start?

All the practice contests start promptly at 12pm Central time. If you click on the “12pm-5pm” link on any of the contests in the main page, it will take you to a page showing the start time in your time zone.

On Open Kattis, you will also see a countdown clock in each contest.

Are the practice contests only for North American teams?

No, they are open to everyone. However, they are scheduled at times that are convenient for the North American teams, and the selection of problem sets has been led by North American coaches.

Where can I find solutions and data for a given practice contest?

After a practice contest is over, we will post that information on this website. You may also want to sign up for our mailing list, where we send announcement about upcoming practice contests, and follow-up messages after a contest is done.