The Computer Olympiad is a multi-games event in which all of the participants are computer programs. The purpose is to find the strongest programs at each of the games, partly as an academic exercise and partly because the competitions are fun!
The Computer Olympiad was created by David Levy in the late 1980s. The inaugural event took place at the Park Lane Hotel in London in 1989 and the following three years saw the event grow in popularity - twice more it was held in London (1990 and 1992) and once in Maastricht (1991). Following the 1992 event attempts were made to find a new organiser who would increase its scope and plan the organisation of the Olympiad each year. Unfortunately no-one came forward and the event has not taken place since. Now, due to popular demand, we are reviving the Computer Olympiad and bringing it into the Mind Sports Olympiad where we expect it to become a regular feature.
This year's Computer Olympiad took place from August 21st-25th and will be played in the largest area at Alexandra Palace, the West Hall. We are planning tournaments for 15 different Mind Sports:
- Amazons
- Backgammon
- Bridge
- Chess (World Microcomputer Chess Championship)
- Chinese Chess
- 8x8 Draughts
- 10x10 Draughts
- Go
- Hex
- Lines of Action
- Othello
- Oware
- Poker
- Scrabble
- Shogi
A tournament will take place for each Mind Sport provided that there are at least two programs entered for that particular game. A preliminary detailed tournament schedule has been announced on the QMW site; entries are still possible, but higher "late entry" fees are payable. MSO Gold, Silver and Bronze medals will be awarded to the leading programs in each tournament. Whether or not there are cash prizes will depend on whether we are able to secure sponsorship for the Computer Olympiad.
The Tournament Director of the Computer Olympiad will be Professor Jaap van den Herik from the Computer Science Department at the University of Maastricht; one of his colleagues, Professor Jos Uiterwijk, will also be the Chairman of a computer games workshop taking place on the evenings of August 22nd, 23rd and 24th, starting at 8pm. For full details of the workshop and the procedure for the submission of papers, please contact Professor Uiterwijk on uiterwijk@cs.unimaas.nl.
Participants in the Computer Olympiad should bring their own computers if possible as we have no sponsoring company to provide the computers for this event. Alternatively we can help participants to hire computers (at their own expense) if they give us the specification.
For the World Microcompuer Chess Championship the playing code must execute on a single processor but for other tournaments in the Computer Olympiad any hardware is permitted provided that it is on site.
5th Computer Olympiad
taking place at MSO 4 |
Computer Olympiad site at QMW
(has detailed rules for each game
and latest news announcements)
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Introduction
Rules
Entry Form
Questions or entries?
Send e-mail to Don Beal
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