IT'S THE TCLROBOTS CHALLENGE #1 !!!

To go along with my new game, TclRobots, I'm moderating a tournament.
Here are the rules:


TclRobots Challenge #1 Rules

1.  Have Fun!  There are no prizes except for the "thrill of victory"
    and recognition among other Challengers.

2.  Write your own TclRobots Challenge entry using TclRobots version 1.0 
    as distributed on harbor.ecn.purdue.edu.

    ftp://harbor.ecn.purdue.edu/pub/tcl/code/tclrobots-1.0.tar.gz

3.  One entry per contestant only.

4.  Submit your TclRobots Challenge #1 entry to me via email by 
    1:00pm MDT (19:00 GMT), Friday, September 30, 1994.  No entries will
    be accepted after the deadline.
    
    You should use the following comment block as the first lines of your
    entry:
	  
	  # TclRobots Challenge #1
	  #
	  # Author's name: (your first and last name)
	  # Author's email address: (email address)
	  # 
	  # Strategy: (optional, use as many lines as necessary)
	  #

5. Email your entries to 
	
	tpoind@advtech.uswest.com
		
    I will acknowledge receipt of your entry.  Your entry will be named
    with your email id (less domain) and a suffix of .tr, e.g. "tpoind.tr"

6.  I will not be submitting an entry.

7.  I will not run any matches or divulge any information about the 
    number of contestants or types of entries prior to running the
    tournament.  I will announce the start of the tournament and number
    of entries after the entry deadline on comp.lang.tcl.

8.  The Challenge consists of several preliminary tournaments, a semi-final
    tournament, and a final battle.  Winner will be determined as follows:

       a. All matches will be run on a 50mhz 486 PC running Linux.
	  No other significant processes will be running on the machine
	  during the Challenge.

       b. Entries will be randomly grouped in lots of 7-10 entries each.  
	  No entry will compete in more than one group.  Number of groups 
	  will be determined by the number of entries and at the moderator's
	  discretion.  If there are less than 14 entries submitted, then the
	  preliminary tournaments will be skipped.

       c. Preliminary tournaments will be run on all groups of entries, using
	  the TclRobots "Tournament" dialog.  A time limit of 10 minutes per 
	  match will be used.  This is a one-on-one battle against 
	  each other entry in a group.  Three points are awarded for each
	  win, one point for a tie, and zero for a loss.

       d. Should the tournament(s) be interrupted for any reason (power outage,
	  crash, etc.),  current results will be discarded and the 
	  current tournament restarted.
	
       e. The top 10 entries, based on points accumulated in the preliminary
          tournaments, will compete in one semi-final tournament.  The same
	  time limit and scoring as in the preliminary tournaments will
	  be used.

       f. The top four robots from the semi-final tournament competition will 
          be chosen to compete in a four-way battle.  A time limit of 4 hours
	  will be imposed for the final battle.  A tie will be declared if 
	  more than one robot file is still running after the time limit.

9.  The winning entry will be announced on comp.lang.tcl, along
    with results from the tournament.  Decision of the moderator is final.
    
    I plan to start the tournament by 5:00pm 9/30/94.  

    (This could take a while...  A 10 entry group runs 45 individual matches,
    and with a time limit of 10 minutes per match, a minimum of 6 matches 
    per hour can be run.)
 
10. A tar file of all entries and results will be posted on
    harbor.ecn.purdue.edu.  If you don't want your entry published, then
    don't enter.
    
    Note:  results may not be entirely reproducible on any given occasion 
    due to the random startup nature of TclRobots, and the random
    assignments to preliminary tournaments.

11. The winner (or winners in case of a tie) will receive a 
    TclRobots Challenge #1 First Place certificate.  Other entries that
    finish in the top four will receive an Honorable Mention certificate.

12. I'm moderating the TclRobots Challenge #1 as a personal service. As such,
    it has nothing to do with my employer.


