• 10.11.2025 11:49

The Tula State University team won the ICPC quarterfinals!

The quarterfinals of the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) for the Central Russia Regional Contest 2025 concluded in Yaroslavl.

The ICPC is the oldest and most prestigious programming competition in the world, with a history spanning over half a century.

During the tournament, teams solve 12 to 15 algorithmic problems over five hours. The winner is the team that correctly solves the most problems the fastest.

The selection for the ICPC finals is a multi-stage process. All universities worldwide are divided into regions based on their geographic location, where the quarterfinals and then the semifinals are held. Tula State University competes in the quarterfinals in the Central Region of Russia.

This year, 45 of the strongest teams from Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Ivanovo, Oryol, Rybinsk, Tver, Tula, Cherepovets, Yaroslavl, and other Russian cities, who successfully passed the preliminary qualifying round in September, participated in the quarterfinals.

Our university was represented by four teams: "TulaSU 5: kak nibud" (Lev Provotorin, Darya Salygina, Lukmon Khikmatov), "TulaSU 7: Barbies and Tim" (Timur Zagidullin, Sofiya Zagrebova, Sergey Chumakov), "TulaSU 13: VibeCodeforces" (Konstantin Bessarab, Andrey Fesunov, Artem Poyarkov), and "TulaSU 20: Motley Crew" (Pavel Balyshev, Valery Dulov, Abuzar Akhmadov).

All of these students are studying at the Tula State University School of Sports Programming under the guidance of Galina Valeryevna Basalova, PhD in Engineering, and Yuriy Aleksandrovich Basalov, PhD in Physics and Mathematics.

Following the quarterfinals, the fourth-year student team "TulaSU 5: kak nibud" won first place and became the Central Russia Champion in programming. The students repeated and strengthened their success from last year.

"We were offered very interesting problems. We had to come up with an optimal algorithm and apply it to each one. We agreed to try to solve the problems on the first try to avoid penalty points. That's the tactic we chose, and it worked!" Lukmon Khikmatov shares. "My impressions of the quarterfinals were nothing but positive! We achieved our desired result—we took first place! This was my fourth time participating in this competition. Last year we won, and this year we did everything we could to retain our title. Winning is always a great feeling, of course. And winning twice in a row is even more so!"

The other Tula State University teams also performed well. The students showed impressive results and took the top spots in the standings.

The next stage for our winning team will be the semifinals of the 2025 ICPC World Championship, which will take place in mid-December in St. Petersburg.

Alongside the student competition, the Central Region School Team Olympiad was held for school teams in Russia's Central Region.

The "BugHunters" team won the right to participate in this competition. It included Zakhar Kovalenko, Kirill Perezyabov, and Mikhail Trusov, who also study at the Tula State University School of Competitive Programming. The young Tula programmers solved six problems in the final round and took a respectable place in the middle of the standings.

"The ICPC Central Russia Regional Contest is a very important stage of the season. It brings together the strongest student teams from Central Russian universities," emphasizes Galina Valeryevna Basalova. "Our senior team, made up of fourth-year students, is the most experienced. Its members have been involved in competitive programming for several years and have achieved significant results during this time. It's important to understand that this team's success is no accident. It was preceded by a great deal of hard work. The students practice several times a week for many hours.

All Tula State University teams, the professor continues, actively prepared for the competition. This is why they performed so well. The teams included students of all ages, from first-year undergraduates to master's students. Many of them were trying their hand at a competition of this level for the first time, and they performed well.

"I wish all our team members to keep up their progress, to continually develop in the field of algorithmic programming, and to achieve new successes!" says Galina Valeryevna. "Our winners have no time to rest on their laurels. They will begin preparing for the semifinals tomorrow."

Tatyana Krikunkova

Photos provided by the heroes of the material