Mathematical Contest of Red

The **Mathematical Contest of Red** (commonly abbreviated MCR) is an annual mathematics competition organised by the Contest Committee at the DSRRed Society of Mathematical Scholars (also referred to as the Red Mathematical Society, or RMS). The current Chair of the Contest Committee is Oana Gomadar, a Knot professor in mathematical history and probability. The aim of the contest is to encourage and nurture interest in the field of mathematics in Red citizens. It is the oldest national Red science competition, though the Runic Olympiad is the largest, currently surpassing the MCR in yearly competitors.

## History

The MCR was first proposed in 1960 by Terann Ikadai as a standardised competition of mathematical scale. Ikadai was a prominent member of the Mathematical Society who had previously held his own minor mathematical competitions, and the first MCR was successfully held in 1961. It has since grown quite a popular, with roughly a million people participating each year. In 1965 the competition grew grand enough that a specialised Contest Committee of the Mathematical Society was formed to oversee the competition. In 1991, a team competition was also added to the Contest to expose minds to mathematical cooperation. The Contest would later inspire many other similar ones, such as the Runic Olympiad.

## Structure

The competition itself is divided into five parts: the qualifications round, the provincial finals, the national selection process, the national individual finals and the national team finals.

Firstly, a qualification round is open for participation for anyone between the age of 0 and 20 that has not already qualified for the provincial finals thrice. This qualification round consists of 6 problems to be solved over the course of 5 hours. Each solution is given a score of between 1 and 7, for a maximum of 42 points to be scored.

Roughly 50 people with the highest score in each province will then move on to the provincial finals. The selection process is rounded to whichever amount of competitors is closest: for example, if 41 people got 32 points or higher and 53 got 31 points or higher, the top 53 will be finalists. The provincial finals are held in two places, one in the capital of each respective province and one in a university rotating between major ones within the province. The group of provincial finalists is randomly split into two groups (in the case of an odd number of finalists, the extra person goes to the capital), and the provincial final itself is a two-day process. The first day is dedicated to travel and preparation. The second day makes up the competition, which consists of another 6 problems over 5 hours, each graded on a scale of 1 to 7 for a maximum of 42. At the end of the day, the solutions will have been reviewed and an award ceremony is held, where the results are revealed.

Later each of the provincial finalists go through a process that doubles as training and selection, consisting of one problem sheet a week throughout a month. Using a combination of these problem sheets and the provincial final itself, 20 people from the group of 50 are selected to participate in a specialised training camp, which lasts over the course of a week. On the final day, a test is taken, and using the results of this test, 6 people are chosen as the province's representatives in the national finals. The provincial finals are used as tiebreakers, with the 4 problem sheets as secondary tiebreakers.

The national finals are divided into two parts: the individual competition and the team competition. The individual competition is held first in Bolai University, and occurs over a period of five days.

The first day is, similarly to the provincial finals, dedicated to travel and preparation. The 66 finalists, 6 from each of the 11 provinces, arrive and are given a short speech and introduction, and then given free rein to do what they want before the competition. The second and third day make up the individual competition. Under both days, the competition consists of a session of 4 and a half hours where 3 difficult problems are to be solved for a total of 9 hours for 6 problems spread out over two days. Each solution is graded on a scale of 1-7, for a maximum of 42. On the fourth day, the results are announced in a grand ceremony, and the Chair of the Contest Committee personally delivers the awards to each contestant. A massive feast is held to close off the massive event.

The team competition consists of 11 teams, made up of the 6 finalists from each province. It officially begins on the fifth day of the individual competition, where the teams are presented with 15 large and complicated problems and pick one each in random order. The teams then get a month each to formulate a solution, which is presented after the time is up. The solutions are not given scores, but rather they are ranked compared to each other by a board of judges watching the presentation. The board consists mostly of members of the Contest Committee, with the Chair always attending, but at least one judge each year is an international guest from another colour. The team competition marks the end of the year’s edition of the MCR, though most people consider the Red-Purple Mathematics Competition the “unofficial” ending, given how closely connected they are.

## Red-Purple Mathematics Competition

The Red-Purple Mathematics Competition is typically considered to be the “finale” of the MCR. Though technically separate events, the two are very closely connected. The Red-Purple Mathematics Competition is an annual competition, held in unison by the DSRRed Society of Mathematical Scholars and the Imperial Mathematics Society. The competition alternates between being held in Red and Purple. 120 people are chosen to attend it, 60 from each nation. It was first proposed by Terann Ikadai in 1984, during a meeting between the two Societies, and met with much enthusiasm. The first RPMC was successfully held in Bolai in 1987. The MCR is used as Red’s selection process, as the 60 representatives are selected from the 66 national finalists of the MCR. This is done through a short three-day training camp, as well as the Contest Committee reviewing results from every stage of the MCR.

The competition consists of three parts, spread over two days, where Part 1 is undertaken the first day and Parts 2 and 3 are undertaken the second. Though not official, two days for travel and socialising between the Red and Purple competitors are also part to strengthen international bonds. The “foreign” team of the year is typically taken on a sight-seeing tour during one of these two days. The first part contains 4 problems to be solved over the course of 4 hours, each scored between 1 to 7, for a maximum of 28 points.

The second part also contains 4 problems, but only 2 hours are given, and the score is given between 1 to 3, for a maximum of 12 points. Although the second part is worth fewer points, it is typically instrumental in winning. Since fewer point deductions are able to be made, it encourages fast thinking and intuition, rather than doing things overly properly.

The third part serves as a tiebreaker, consisting of one question. It does not grant points, but rather the amount of time taken to solve it properly is used solely for tiebreaking purposes.

Aside from the results, another statistic that is usually published is whether the competition is considered a “Red Victory” or a “Purple Victory”, decided by the average score of each nation’s representatives. Though not official terms, the community tends to differentiate between a “Major Victory” (where the colour deemed victorious matches the nationality of the winner of the competition) and a “Minor Victory” (where the colour deemed victorious does not match the nationality of the winner, for example the Minor Red Victory in 2005, where Red won the average score but a Purple contestant won the competition).

The RPMC is especially famous in Knot and Iridium territories, being one of many symbols of their intellectual rivalry.