↵
↵
**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, [user:misof,2026-09-22], 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: [user:Radewoosh,2026-09-22] / 10.000 €↵
- 2nd place: [user:Petr,2026-09-22] / 5.000 €↵
- 3rd place: [user:peti1234,2026-09-22] / 2.500 €↵
↵
[Full standings](https://www.wincentdragonbyte.com/scoreboard/finals2026)↵
↵
↵
↵
Was it hard enough? Apparently, yes. After the contest, [user:Petr,2026-09-22] told us:↵
↵
_“The challenge was much harder than I expected.”_↵
↵
We also asked [user:Errichto,2026-09-22] 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](https://www.wincentdragonbyte.com/archive).↵
↵
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](https://www.wincentdragonbyte.com/).
↵
**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, [user:misof,2026-09-22], 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: [user:Radewoosh,2026-09-22] / 10.000 €↵
- 2nd place: [user:Petr,2026-09-22] / 5.000 €↵
- 3rd place: [user:peti1234,2026-09-22] / 2.500 €↵
↵
[Full standings](https://www.wincentdragonbyte.com/scoreboard/finals2026)↵
↵
↵
↵
Was it hard enough? Apparently, yes. After the contest, [user:Petr,2026-09-22] told us:↵
↵
_“The challenge was much harder than I expected.”_↵
↵
We also asked [user:Errichto,2026-09-22] 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](https://www.wincentdragonbyte.com/archive).↵
↵
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](https://www.wincentdragonbyte.com/).
