Qualification

Qualifying Procedure for 2011 UK WPC/WSC teams

2011 World Puzzle Championship (WPC) UK A Team: (4 persons)

The following people will earn a place in the team:

1) The top performer in the 2011 (UKPA) UK Puzzle Championship.
2) The top performer in the 2011 US Puzzle Championship (excluding the team member already selected).
3) The top two performers in the 2011 UKPA Puzzle Ratings Table (excluding the two team members already selected).

For each selection stage, should the qualifying person be unable or unwilling to travel to the event, the offer will pass down the respective list until the team place offer is accepted. Clarification: One person from the UKPC will go. One person from the USPC will go. 2 people from the rankings will go. Note that the continuity member proviso has been removed, as it is expected that at least one of the selected team will have prior experience of a WPC. Even if that were not the case, the presence of a captain with prior experience on site is considered sufficient.

WPC Puzzle B Team: (4 persons)

The WPC B team score will NOT feature on the official results, nor will the scores of any of the individuals in the B team. Therefore, priority for places in this team will be offered to people already travelling to the event as part of the UK WSC Team(s).

2011 World Sudoku Championship (WSC) UK A Team: (4 persons)

The following people will earn a place in the team:

1) The top two performers in the 2011 (UKPA) UK Sudoku Championship.
2) The top two performers in the UKPA Sudoku Ratings Table (excluding the team member already selected). Fallback rules as per WPC team selection.

WSC Sudoku B Team:

This year, up to 6 people from each participating country can feature on the official WSC leaderboard. Places on the WSC B team will first be offered to WPC team members already travelling to the event. After this, the first remaining place in this team will be offered to the highest ranked available person in the 2011 UK Sudoku Championship. Finally, any remaining places in this team will be offered to the highest ranked available persons in the 2011 Sudoku ratings table. Note that the overall B team position, and the performance of the last 2 members of the WSC B team will NOT feature on the official results.

Ratings Tables:

For 2011, there shall be four eligible contests for each table. A competitor's best 3 results will be considered for their ranking. The contests have provisionally been determined as being the monthly Puzzle, and monthly Sudoku contests on the LMI site, for April to July 2011 inclusive. These have been chosen since they are likely to represent a consistent international competitor participation for a fairer comparison. A competitor's ranking score in a contest is calculated on their performance against the mean score of all scoring entries to that contest. A score of zero results in zero ranking points, while equalling the highest achieved score (of ALL entries) earns 100 points. A result equalling the average non-zero score for that contest earns 50 points. Any score either side of the mean is scaled proportionally.

Ratings Table Formula:

if raw_score<contest_avg_score then ranking_points = raw_score *50 / contest_avg_score
else : ranking_points = 100 - ((contest_max_score-raw_score) *50 / (contest_max_score-contest_avg_score))

Ties:

If two or more players are tied, then that tie is broken by examining performances in the highest priority qualification route. If still tied, then by performances in the second highest qualification route, and so on. For WPC Teams, this is 2011 UK Puzzle Championship, then USPC (US Puzzle Championship), then Puzzle Rankings table. For WSC Teams, this is UK Sudoku Championship, then Sudoku Rankings table. If players are tied in all criteria, the winner will be determined by an independent drawing of lots.

Eligibility:

Any person who has the right to possess a full UK passport, and has the right to travel to the WPC/WSC host nation (Hungary in 2011) is eligible for selection.

UK Sudoku Championship 2011

The 2011 UKSC (United Kingdom Sudoku Championship) is scheduled to take place on the weekend of 11-12 June 2011

If you wish to participate in the contest, you will need to register on the UK Puzzle Association forum.
The test will feature a range of puzzles typically found in the world championship. It will be a mix of common and rare/new puzzle types.

An instruction booklet will be published on the contests page of this site around 1^st June 2011, detailing the puzzle types that will appear in the main test, along with examples of each.

If you wish to practice in the meantime, see the puzzle links and competitions areas of the forum.
All puzzles will be logically solvable, and feature a range of difficulty levels.

UK Puzzle Championship 2011

The first UKPC (United Kindom Puzzle Championship) is scheduled to take place on the weekend of 25-26 June 2011

All other details as per UK Sudoku Championship above.

USPC

The USPC (USA Puzzle Championship) has always proved to be a good indicator of potential WPC performance, and has been used by the UK, and many other countries, as a basis of team selection for several years.

If you wish to participate in the contest, and we strongly suggest you do, whether you are serious about being part of the UK team or not, please follow these simple guidelines.

Print out past USPC contests from here
Practice, while timing yourself honestly. Solving speed is critical!
Register to compete
Follow all the instructions & links on the registration page
Do the practice test, as if you were sitting the real test.
The provisional date for this event is the evening of Saturday 18^th June 2011.

Eligible Ranking Contests 2011

Every month at Logic Masters India (LMI), a declared 'Monthly Puzzle Contest' and 'Monthly Sudoku Contest' are held.
The exact dates are not usually set until around 2 weeks before the contest takes place.
When known, the dates will be announced on the main website, and in the forum.
A mailling list has been set up, to notify registered UK users of these events.

Remember that your best three results from the four contests held April to July will be used to calculate your rating in each discipline.
The purpose of the scaling formula is to accurately compare your performance against the average mark, which may be higher or lower depending on the difficulty of the test.
In the meantime, you might like to practice from the contest archive at Logic Masters India. Follow links in the contest forum.

Costs

The UKPA does not presently have a primary sponsor. Therefore, in the event that we fail to raise sufficient funds to fully finance sending the team to Hungary, team members will be chosen in order of eligibility, that are prepared to self-fund travel and entry to the WPC/WSC.

Current costs, aside from travel to the event, are expected to be 400 EUR per person. This price includes accommodation for the full duration of the event, all meals, airport transfers, a day trip, and entry to the competition itself. Aside from the immense fun that is to be had from competing, and meeting like-minded individuals, it presents very good value by itself. Every person who has been to a WPC or WSC has enjoyed themselves immensely, and would thoroughly recommend the experience to anyone!

Sponsor appeal! If you are a company or a person with philanthropic tendencies, or you know of one, please consider helping us help the UK succeed on the international stage by sponsoring an individual, or the whole team. Even taking out one of our corporate membership packages would help tremendously. Thank-you!