Hello Codeforces!

DragonByte 2026 is over.

From September 18–20, Bratislava hosted the Wincent DragonByte Finals 2026. Competitors faced a 3.5-hour contest with challenging problems. No internet, just pure skill, logic, and creativity.

Our goal was simple: make DragonByte genuinely hard, even for very strong competitive programmers. We think we managed that.

During the finals, misof, who led the team behind the problems, looked at the preliminary standings and said:

“The TOP 3 is OK, but I expected them to have +100 more points on average. The rest is suffering.”

That was a pretty accurate summary of the day.

The podium

• 1st place: Radewoosh / 10.000 €
• 2nd place: Petr / 5.000 €
• 3rd place: peti1234 / 2.500 €

Full standings

Was it hard enough? Apparently, yes. After the contest, Petr told us:

“The challenge was much harder than I expected.”

We also asked Errichto what he thought:

“A few years back, for us competitive programmers there was a competition called Google Code Jam. For us, it was ‘The Contest.’ I think DragonByte is, in terms of quality, the closest thing to Google Code Jam, and nowadays the hardest individual coding challenge that exists.”

That was probably the best validation we could ask for.

Want to try the problems? The DragonByte archive is here.

Give them a try. And if they make you suffer a little, that is probably working as intended.

Thanks to everyone who registered, competed, discussed the problems and helped us make DragonByte 2026 happen.

Want to be among the first to hear when the challenge returns next year? Drop your email address here.

Time remaining until the end of the Qualification round: less than 5 hours.

Grab your last chance now

SIGN UP ON THE WEBSITE

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As the registration deadline is approaching (June 27th), we'd like to share a few important insights:

• We expect between 800 and 1,200 participants, so you'll be challenged a lot!

• misof is the main coordinator as he has 25 years of experience with preparing similar coding contests

• The qualification round is running right now and will only last for 48 hours.

SIGN UP ON THE WEBSITE to receive a calendar invite.

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Hi everyone,

DragonByte Coding Challenge 2026 registration closes in a few days.

The problems are ready. The test data is ready. The judges are ready.

The only open question is whether your handle will appear on the leaderboard.

DragonByte is a competitive programming contest organized by Wincent together with misof and his team.

Last year was our first edition. We learned a lot, received great feedback, and this year we are back with a stronger challenge.

The format includes an online qualification round, a main online contest, and an onsite final in Bratislava for the top 20 participants.

And yes, there are prizes:

• €10,000 for 1st place

• €5,000 for 2nd place

• €2,500 for 3rd place

If you qualify for the onsite finals and meet the eligibility criteria, we will also help with travel and accommodation costs up to €400.

If you enjoy algorithmic problems, competitive programming, and the feeling of finally getting an accepted solution after staring at a problem for far too long, you will probably enjoy DragonByte.

Registration closes June 27th, same day as the Qualification round ends.

Register here

See you in the contest.

Hi everyone!

DragonByte is back.

Last year was the pilot run. We wanted to see whether we could build a serious competitive programming contest with good problems, fair testing, and an onsite final worth bringing people to Bratislava for.

It worked. So we are doing it again.

Wincent’s DragonByte is for people who like algorithmic problems, ICPC-style contests, and the satisfying moment when a clean solution finally passes.

The contest is organized by Wincent together with misof and his team of experienced competitive programming organizers. The goal is simple: make the problems fun, challenging, and well prepared.

The 2026 format:

• Registration is open until June 27.

• Qualification round: June 26–27. A 48-hour online round where you can get familiar with the format, solve problems, and qualify by reaching the required point threshold.

• Main online round: July 17. A 3-hour ICPC/Codeforces-style contest.

• Onsite finals: September, Bratislava, Slovakia. The TOP 20 participants will be invited.

A change since last year: The first two rounds are now open to everyone! Onsite finals eligibility is still restricted (essentially, to adults from Europe). The exact eligibility criteria, rules, and legal details are available on the website.

What’s in it for you?

If you qualify for the onsite finals, we will help with travel and accommodation up to €400.

The top prizes are:

• 1st place: €10,000

• 2nd place: €5,000

• 3rd place: €2,500

So, if you want a reason to stretch your algorithmic muscles, join us: https://www.wincentdragonbyte.com

See you in the contest.

Hello Codeforces,

From September 12–14, Bratislava hosted the Wincent DragonByte Finals 2025, bringing together 20 top finalists from Europe and the US. Competitors faced a 3.5-hour contest with 5 challenging problems — no internet, just pure skill, logic, and creativity.

Winners:

1st place (€10,000): Kevin Sun (ksun48)

2nd place (€5,000): Andrew He (ecnerwala)

3rd place (€2,500): Dilhan Salgado (dnialh)

Full results are available here: DragonByte Finals 2025 Scoreboard

A huge thanks to everyone who participated and followed along. We can’t wait to see you again next year for another unforgettable DragonByte Finals!

As is the registration deadline approaching, we'd like to share a few important insights:

1. We expect between 500 and 1,000 participants, so you'll be challenged a lot!
2. misof is the main coordinator as he has 25 years of experience with preparing similar coding contests
3. The qualificiation round will only last for 48 hours, starting on June 27th. SIGN UP ON THE WEBSITE to receive a calendar invite.

====

We wanted to let you know about a new coding competition that’s just kicked off — it's called Wincent DragonByte, and it's the first time it’s happening. It is a joint effort of people at Wincent and experienced competitive coders (mainly) from Slovakia, with misof as the main coordinator, who has 25 years of experience with preparing coding contests. We will do our best to make the problems fun, challenging and well prepared.

This is a pilot run, so the format is simple:

• Registration is open now until June 28.
• There’s a 48-hour qualification round on June 27–28 — get to know the format, solve a few problems to reach a reasonable point threshold, and you’re in.
• The Online Round happens on July 12 (3 hours, classic ICPC/Codeforces-style contest). And then the top 20 go to Bratislava, Slovakia, in September for the finals.

SIGN UP ON THE WEBSITE to receive a calendar invite.

What’s in it for you?

• If you’re in the top 256, you’ll get a special edition DragonByte t-shirt.
• If you get to visit Bratislava, we’ll help you with €400 for travel/accommodation.
• And if you finish in the top 3, you get €10k / €5k / €2.5k.

It’s open to adults based in most of Europe, the US, or Canada — we had to limit scope this time around due to some legal and logistical constraints. They know it’s not ideal and are hoping to expand eligibility in the future. Full eligibility criteria are on the website.

If you’re curious or just want a reason to stretch your algorithmic muscles, check it out: wincentdragonbyte.com

Hi everyone!

We wanted to let you know about a new coding competition that’s just kicked off — it's called Wincent DragonByte, and it's the first time it’s happening. It is a joint effort of people at Wincent and experienced competitive coders (mainly) from Slovakia, with misof as the main coordinator, who has 25 years of experience with preparing coding contests. We will do our best to make the problems fun, challenging and well prepared.

This is a pilot run, so the format is simple:

• Registration is open now until June 28.
• There’s a 48-hour qualification round on June 27–28 — get to know the format, solve a few problems to reach a reasonable point threshold, and you’re in.
• The Online Round happens on July 12 (3 hours, classic ICPC/Codeforces-style contest). And then the top 20 go to Bratislava, Slovakia, in September for the finals.

What’s in it for you?

• If you’re in the top 256, you’ll get a special edition DragonByte t-shirt.
• If you get to visit Bratislava, we’ll help you with €400 for travel/accommodation.
• And if you finish in the top 3, you get €10k / €5k / €2.5k.

It’s open to adults based in most of Europe, the US, or Canada — we had to limit scope this time around due to some legal and logistical constraints. They know it’s not ideal and are hoping to expand eligibility in the future. Full eligibility criteria are on the website.

If you’re curious or just want a reason to stretch your algorithmic muscles, check it out: wincentdragonbyte.com