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A guide to Indian ICPC 2026

·1107 words·6 mins
aryanc403
Author
aryanc403
CodeChef
Table of Contents

This is a practical guide to the Indian ICPC 2026 cycle.

Intro to ICPC 2026 slides
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Present fullscreen

Speaker
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Meet aryanc403
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As a participant
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  • Asia West Champion at the ICPC World Finals 2021.
  • 2nd runner-up at the CodeChef SnackDown Finals.
  • ex Grandmaster on Codeforces.
  • 7★ on CodeChef.
  • 5× ICPC Regional Qualifier: 4th at Gwalior 2020, 10th at Amritapuri 2020, and 7th at Amritapuri 2019.

On other side
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  • Indian ICPC roles: committee panelist, contest admin, tester, and problem setter.
  • Indian IOI Training Camp roles: committee panelist, tester, and problem setter.

What is ICPC?
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The International Collegiate Programming Contest is an algorithmic programming contest for college students.

  • Teams of three represent their university.
  • Teams solve problems together under time pressure.
  • It is one of the oldest and most prestigious programming contests in the world.

Path to World Finals
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  1. Common India online preliminary contest
  2. Onsite regional contest
  3. Asia West Continent Championship
  4. ICPC World Finals

Eligibility
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  • All team members must be enrolled in the same degree-granting institution.
  • A team consists of 3 student contestants.
  • A faculty coach registers the team in ICPC systems.
  • A student can be part of only one team in a contest year.

For ICPC Regionals 2026/27, a student must meet the basic enrollment rules and one of these period-of-eligibility rules: first began post-secondary studies in 2022 or later, or was born in 2003 or later.

  • Eligibility is determined as of the first qualifying contest or 1 October 2026, whichever favors the student.
  • A person who has participated in 2 ICPC World Finals can no longer participate.
  • A person who has participated in 5 regional contest years usually can no longer participate.

Final eligibility is decided by the official ICPC regional rules.

Indian regional sites in 2026
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Amritapuri
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  • Locations: Kollam, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Mysuru
  • Host: Amrita University
  • Seats: 350+ onsite; all-female team slots: 20
  • Official site: amritaicpc.in

Chennai
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  • Location: Chennai
  • Host: SRM Institute of Science and Technology
  • Seats: 120 total; all-female team slots: 4
  • Official site: icpcchennai.vercel.app

Kanpur
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  • Locations: Kanpur, Gandhinagar, Pune
  • Hosts: CSJM University, IIT Gandhinagar, IIIT Pune
  • Seats: total not yet announced; all-female team slots: 5
  • Official site: kanpur.indiaicpc.in

Mathura
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  • Location: Mathura
  • Host: GLA University
  • Seats: 100 total; all-female team slots: 5
  • Official site: mathuraicpc.in

Contest flow
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Important dates
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Event Contest Date Website
India online preliminary 3 October 2026
Chennai regional contest 10-11 December 2026 Chennai
Kanpur regional contest 22-23 December 2026 Kanpur
Mathura regional contest 27-28 December 2026 Mathura
Amritapuri regional contest 1-2 January 2027 Amritapuri
Asia West Championship 20-21 March 2027 Asia West

Common preliminary
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  • Online contest date: 3 October 2026.
  • Online contest of around 3 hours.
  • Single common contest for all Indian regional sites.

Onsite regionals
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  • Usually around 5 hours.
  • Usually around 8-12 problems.
  • Teams can apply to at most 2 Indian regional sites.

Selection
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The common online contest is for Kanpur, Mathura, Chennai, and Amritapuri. A team may register for at most two Indian regional sites. Registration and preliminary fee payment are separate for each selected site, and each site prepares its own onsite selection result from teams registered for that site.

Amritapuri Regional
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  • Registration: 15 June - 25 September 2026.
  • Onsite regional contest: 1-2 January 2027.
  • Locations: Kollam, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Mysuru.
  • Seats: 350+ onsite slots.
  • All-female team slots: 20.
  • Selection is based on preliminary performance.
  • Usually a mix of top-ranked teams and highest ranked teams from colleges.
  • Detailed onsite selection formula: not announced yet.

amritaicpc.in

Chennai Regional
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  • Registration: 1 August - 25 September 2026.
  • Onsite regional contest: 10-11 December 2026.
  • Location: SRMIST Chennai.
  • Seats: 120 total onsite slots.
  • All-female team slots: 4.
  • Discard teams solving zero problems.
  • Select top 20 teams overall.
  • Fill remaining 96 slots institute-wise.
  • Fill 4 all-female team slots similarly.

Chennai selection criteria

Kanpur Regional
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  • Registration: 6 August - 25 September 2026, 5:00 PM IST.
  • Fee payment deadline: 26 September 2026, 5:00 PM IST.
  • Onsite regional contest: 22-23 December 2026.
  • Locations: Kanpur, Gandhinagar, Pune.
  • Total onsite seats: not yet announced.
  • All-female team slots: 5.
  • Selection is based on preliminary performance.
  • Slots are expected to increase significantly because Kanpur moved from one site to three sites.
  • Detailed onsite selection formula: not announced yet.

kanpur.indiaicpc.in

Mathura Regional
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  • Registration: 6 August - 25 September 2026, 5:00 PM IST.
  • Fee payment: 15 August - 27 September 2026, 5:00 PM IST.
  • Onsite regional contest: 27-28 December 2026.
  • Location: GLA University, Mathura.
  • Seats: 100 total onsite slots.
  • All-female team slots: 5.
  • Discard teams with zero preliminary solves.
  • Select top 15 teams directly.
  • Remove them, then rank institute toppers by preliminary performance.
  • Fill remaining slots, repeating institute-wise backfill if needed.
  • Fill 5 all-female slots similarly afterward.

mathuraicpc.in

Regionals to Asia West Championship
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  • Teams are invited based on performance at their regional contest site.
  • Only the top few teams from each site are selected.
  • Minimum 5 teams from each site are eligible.
  • The RCD selects teams using the regional contest ranklist.
  • Champion teams get World Finals slots, but still participate in AWC.
  • Other teams from champion institutes are not eligible for AWC.
  • Team composition cannot be changed.
  • AWC date: 20-21 March 2027.
  • 2027 host sites: Greater Noida, Dhaka, Topi, and Tehran.

See icpcwestasia.netlify.app.

Regionals to World Finals
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Regional winners qualify directly, then additional teams qualify through championship ranking and slot allocation.

How to Register
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  1. Each contestant creates an account at icpc.global/register.
  2. Ask a professor to act as coach.
  3. The coach creates the team and adds all contestants.
  4. Choose up to two Indian regional sites.
  5. Pay separately for each regional site.
  6. Submit payment confirmation if required by the site.

Registration Links #

How to Prepare
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  • Solve past ICPC contests with your team.
  • Upsolve everything you could not solve.
  • Get extremely fast at easy problems.
  • Practice as a team with 3 people and 1 computer.
  • Practice consistently using past ICPC contests, Universal Cup, Indian ICPC Camp 2026, ICPC Camp, Codeforces/AtCoder, and problems 200-300 rating above your level.

More preparation guidance is in the roadmap-to-red-in-2-mins channel.

Practice Contests for Regionals
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Codebook
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  • A pre-prepared document for use during the ICPC Regional contest.
  • Teams can quickly look up prepared solutions, algorithms, and implementation templates instead of writing everything from scratch.
  • Think of it as your team’s printed competitive-programming manual.
  • The codebook must be 25 pages or fewer.

Sample codebook: KACTL

Further Questions?
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Mail regional contest directors for site-specific issues. Contact details are on official regional websites.