The 14^thInternational Autumn Tournament in Informatics "John Atanasoff" will be held at the Shumen University from November 23 to 27. The forum is conducted under the patronage of President Rumen Radev. A total of 392 competitors from 17 countries will take part in it, and for the first time they will include teams from Peru, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Great Britain. Cuba has also shown interest in the event. 

The teams of Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Great Britain will compete in person, and those of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Egypt, Israel, Pakistan, Peru, Slovenia, Serbia, Ukraine will participate online. ‎

"Competitors from Russia will also participate in the tournament but outside the ranking”, Biserka Yovcheva, chairperson of the organizing committee of the tournament and head of the training school of mathematics and informatics "A and B", told BTA. “We don't think that children should be made victims of the follies of adults, and that's why we give Russian children the opportunity to compete with their peers." ‎

Yovcheva also expressed regret that the teams of Ireland and Iran would not be able to participate because they were late with their registration:‎

"There is still no other similar competition, which is held according to the rules of the International Informatics Olympiad, but in two age groups - junior and senior," she noted. “The first is for participants up to 15.5 years of age, and the second - for high-school students. The biggest competition in the world for students is the ‎International Olympiad in Informatics, and for those at a younger age ‎‎- the European Youth Olympiad created on the initiative of ‎Bulgaria".‎

• Bulgarian students win medals at international competitions in informatics
• Bulgarian students win medals at the European Girls’ Olympiad in Informatics in Antalya
• 7 medals for Bulgarian students at European Junior Olympiad in Informatics
• Bulgarian pupils win medals at European Junior Olympiad in Informatics

Bulgaria is among the leading countries in competitive informatics in Europe, along with Russia, Romania and Poland, Yovcheva explains. At the competition in Shumen, there will be two official Bulgarian teams in senior and junior age groups, and the hosts from the city will be represented in both age groups with one team each. In parallel with the international tournament, the 12^th edition of the National Autumn Tournament in Informatics will be held, the first edition of which took place in Shumen in 2001, with a separate ranking for the participants from Bulgaria, Yovcheva added. ‎

During the tournament, an international seminar for team leaders on the problems of competition informatics will be held. They mainly concern the program for the younger age group and in particular how far the difficulty of the problems to be solved should  go.‎

Compiled by Darina Grigorova

Editing by Elena Karkalanova

Photos: Facebook/IATIShumen, private archive