Background
The International Mathematics Tournament of the Towns is a mathematical competition which originated in Russia. Currently, students from more than 100 cities in countries around the world, including Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Columbia, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Russia, Slovenia, Ukraine, and the United States take part in the Tournament of the Towns.
Format
Most mathematical competitions are usually multi-level and higher levels are offered only to students who excel on a lower level. In the Tournament of the Towns everybody is admitted to any level.
There are two levels of difficulty in the Tournament of the Towns:
Level A: where some problems are as challenging as problems of the International Mathematical Olympiad
Level O: the main purpose of which is to attract every student interested in mathematics. However, Level 0 is still hard and challenging
Most problems of the Tournament of the Towns don’t require special knowledge or highly developed technical skills but require an imagination and fresh ideas.
Most students are not equally good in all types of problems but in other mathematical competitions to score well students need to solve all the suggested problems. In the Tournament of the Towns you have a choice: you can solve up to three problems out of suggested 5-8 because only three of your best scored problems are counted.
Although the Tournament of the Towns is not divided by grades (there are only by Junior and Senior divisions), every grade is assigned a special coefficient to ensure fairness.
Location
Most sessions take place in the Bahen Centre for Information Technology, 40 St. George St. Exact details are sent to registered participants closer to the competition date.
Training
The Tournament of Towns is a mathematics competition which requires advanced problem solving skills, aimed at students in grades 7 – 12. If you are interested in developing your problem solving skills, you may enjoy the opportunity to get involved.
The next Tournament is scheduled to take place in February.
Sessions are held by Olga Zaitseva (Academic Director of Tournament of Towns, U of T) and a group of Tournament of Town participants.
No preregistration is required. Teachers and parents are invited.
Problems for each coming preparation session will be posted one week prior to it here
Samples
Samples of Tournament of Towns competitions can be found here
Schedule
Fall Round
Preparation Sessions are typically held in late September/early October
O-Level is typically held the second Sunday of October
A-Level is typically held the last Sunday of October
Solutions and Appeals are typically held in late November/early December
Spring Round
Preparation Sessions are typically held in late January/early February
O-Level is typically held the second Sunday of February
A-Level is typically held the first Sunday of March
Solutions and Appeals are typically held in late April/early May
Exact dates are posted here closer to the dates
Awards Ceremony and Honours
Each year there is an awards ceremony typically held in May. In addition, the top 3-4 students each year are invitied to a Summer Conference in Russia.