Turing-Tape Competition

The School of Computer Science at the  University of Nottingham and the School of Computing at Teesside University are pleased to announce the start of the Turing-Tape Competition in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Alan M. Turing.

The Turing-Tape Competition is about finding the best solutions to a collection of one-person, solitaire-like games played on a Turing tape (a one-dimensional tape divided into squares).  The solution of simple examples of Turing-tape games can be done by hand but the games quickly become too complex and are best solved using machine assistance.  The games combine the mathematics of polynomial division with the algorithmics of program construction and, we believe, offer an appropriate and educational insight into the sort of pioneering work undertaken by Turing.  Apart from the simplest example, the games are entirely novel so that solutions cannot be found on the Internet.

The competition will be run in several stages.  The competition opens on April 1st when details of how Turing-tape games are formulated will be released together with three example games for familiarisation purposes.  Then batches of games will be released at regular intervals up until July 15th.  These games will increase in difficulty and are for competitors to practise on.  The competition asks for the "best" solution to each of the games; a table of top scores will be maintained throughout the practice period.  The top scores will be divided into four categories: pre-university, undergraduate, postgraduate and other.

The competition ends with a grand final.  The games in the final will be released on August 26th and the deadline for submission of entries will be September 16th.  Top scores will not be published during this period; the results of the competition will be announced on September 30th.

Students registered at a UK educational institution are also eligible to compete for cash and other prizes.  All competitors (whether or not a UK student)  will be entitled to a discount of 20% on the purchase price of the book "Algorithmic Problem Solving" by Roland Backhouse, courtesy of the publishers John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Full details of the competition  can be found at http://algorithmicproblemsolving.org/competitions/turing-tape-games/

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