About CodeChef Monthly Programming Contests: CodeChef was created as a community platform to help coders compete against each other and make it big in the world of computer programming. CodeChef conducts 3 rated contests every month with participation from programmers all across the globe. Each of the 3 contests has a different duration and a different style of ranking.

Who can participate: Our contests are open to programmers from all across the globe.

Divisions + Rating System: To ensure that users of all levels have problems to solve, we have two divisions based on their CodeChef rating.  You can know in detail about the Divisions + Rating System here.

Prizes: As a token of motivation, we also give Cash Prizes and CodeChef Laddus to winners of the contest. However, our sole intention lies in making our users learn new concepts while competing.

Click below for the list of our ongoing, upcoming and past contests

All Contests

CodeChef Long Challenges

About the contest: CodeChef’s Long Challenge is our signature monthly coding contest which spans a duration of 10 days. The coders compete while also improving their overall algorithmic knowledge. The 10 days contest duration gives one enough time to efficiently tackle a problem by reading the concepts one doesn’t know, and also gain practical experience by coding the solution to the problem, thus improving their skills significantly. The contest packs the excitement of coding with the fun of learning into one compelling challenge.

Schedule of the contest: The contest begins on the first Friday of every month at 15:00 hrs IST.

Duration of the contest: 10 Days

Ranking system: Long Challenge is a score based ranking style contest. The problems in the contest are partially graded and you are awarded a score when your code passes our test data.

Prizes:

Division 1:

• Indian Participants: 1st prize: INR 12000, 2nd prize: INR 8000.
  Top 20 in the ranklist will receive 300 laddus. Additionally, they get bonus laddus (Bonus = n - contest rank), where ‘n’ is 21.
  Top 5 School Students will receive 300 laddus.
  Top 3 Challenge Scores (except winner) will receive 300 laddus.
• Global Participants: 1st prize: USD 400, 2nd prize: USD 300.
  Top 10 from ranklist will receive 300 laddus. Additionally, they get bonus laddus (Bonus = n - contest rank), where ‘n’ is 11.
  Top 5 School Students will receive 300 laddus .
  Top 3 Challenge Scores (except users who received laddus in the previous 2 points) will receive 300 laddus.
• Global Women Participants: Top 5 women participants, given that they are among top 100 in the ranklist will receive 300 laddus.

CodeChef Cook-Offs

About the contest: CodeChef Cook-Off is our signature monthly offering which runs for 2.5 hours. Programmers compete neck to neck for the top positions. This contest, unlike the Long Challenge, needs quick decisions and active coding skills to prove one’s might.

Schedule of the contest: You can compete in the Cook-Off on the second last Sunday of every month from 21:30 hrs IST.

Duration of the contest: 2.5 hours

Ranking system: Cook-Off is an ACM ranking style contest. The Chef awards one point for solving a problem, regardless of the level of difficulty of that problem. The solution must pass all the test cases as no partial credits are awarded. Wrong submissions have penalties, and ties are broken based on the time taken along with the penalties.

Prizes:

Division 1:

• Indian Participants: Top 10 from the Indian ranklist will win 300 CodeChef laddus.
• Global Participants: Top 10 from ranklist will win 300 CodeChef laddus.

CodeChef Lunchtimes

About the contest: CodeChef Lunchtime is our signature monthly challenge from the code kitchen that lasts for 3 hours. Top coders from across the globe compete neck to neck, to grab the best positions. The contest is designed for students of high school and middle school though we invite everyone to participate.

Schedule of the contest: You can pack your lunch boxes of code on the last Saturday of every month from 20:00 hrs IST.

Duration of the contest: 3 hours

Ranking system: This is an IOI ranking style contest. This means that the problems will be partially graded. You will be awarded partial points for passing certain subtasks. You can submit solutions as many times as you'd like, and there are no penalties for incorrect submissions. Only your best correct submission will be considered. Those who achieve the score first will be placed higher in the rank-list in case of a tie.

Prizes:

Division 1

• Indian Participants: Top 10 school students from ranklist will receive 300 laddus & a certificate. Additionally, they get bonus laddus (Bonus = n - contest rank) where'n' is 11.
• Global Participants: Top 10 school students from ranklist will receive 300 laddus & a certificate. Additionally, they get bonus laddus (Bonus = n - contest rank) where 'n' is 11.

• Indian Participants: Top 5 school students from ranklist will receive 50 laddus & a certificate. Additionally, they get bonus laddus (Bonus = n - contest rank) where 'n' is 6.
• Global Participants: Top 5 school students from ranklist will receive 50 laddus & a certificate. Additionally, they get bonus laddus (Bonus = n - contest rank) where 'n' is 6.

Contact us

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to drop us an email at: help@codechef.com