About 2000 math enthusiasts from around the world participated in the Online World Math Contest on August 28, organised by the Swiss Federation of Mathematical Games and supported by the Department of Computer Science.
On Saturday, August 28, two thousand participants from fifty countries came together online to solve mathematical puzzles together. From France to Ecuador, from Hong Kong to Bangladesh, every person from the age of nine was invited to participate, be they a pupil, a university student, a professional mathematician or just someone who enjoys riddles. "We want to share our love of mathematics and show to children, as well as to society in general, that logic can be fun", says Ghislain Fourny, Vice President of the Swiss Federation of Mathematical Games (FSJM), which organised the contest.
The FSJM created the online competition after the international final of the 35th Championship of Mathematical and Logical Games had to be cancelled. The regional final had already taken place in May, and so the organisation selected forty of the best young Swiss finalists to join the Online World Math Contest from a weekend-long Summer camp in Yverdon-les Bains.
"Such events are not only a great way to give children their first exposure to a competition in a friendly setting, but they also help us find and support mathematical talents early", explains Fourny, Senior Scientist Focus Education at the Department of Computer Science. "Some of the children who take part in our contests during primary school go on to participate in the mathematics and science olympiads a few years later."
Fourny was instrumental in bringing the Championship of Mathematical and Logical Games to the German-speaking part of Switzerland by co-founding a local association focused on organising qualification rounds and regional semi-finals. He had participated in the championship himself as a student, winning the international finals in Paris in 1998 and 1999. "I made a lot of friends through this contest and wanted to introduce it to others", he says. "It is a delight to see it grow and to hear from the teachers that the children are asking to participate again next year."
The FSJM is supported by the Department of Computer Science and the Chair of Information Technology and Education, which help organise the local semi-finals in the main building of ETH Zurich.
How sharp are your math skills?
Test yourself with this question from the Online World Math Contest:
A letter always represents the same digit which is not 0. The number written as AB is equal to the sum of the four digits of the number
written as BABA. What is the number written as AB?
Too easy? All the contest questions are available external page here.