Baltic Way
The Baltic Way Mathematical Team Contest is held annually international mathematics - competition . A special feature of the competition is that it is an international team competition for schoolchildren: it shares this characteristic only with the (more research-oriented) International Tournament of Young Mathematicians (ITYM).
History of the competition
The competition was created in 1990 as part of the Baltic states' efforts to become independent : the year before, people formed a human chain from Vilnius to Tallinn ( Baltic Way ) at a large demonstration .
The mathematics team competition of the same name has also been held since 1990, initially only between the Baltic states themselves. From the beginning, however, the aim was to allow all states around the Baltic Sea to participate; Germany was added in 1997 as the last country bordering the Baltic Sea. (The fact that Iceland is taking part - although not touching the Baltic Sea - is because Iceland was the first European country to diplomatically recognize the three new old Baltic republics.)
The "regular cast" in the Baltic Way is Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Poland, Russia with a team from St. Petersburg and Germany with a team from the coastal federal states. The competition is held annually in a different one of these states; the organizer may invite a host country, so to speak an "honorary Baltic country", to gather a dozen teams. This option has been used five times: Israel was invited in 2001, Belarus in 2004 and 2014, Belgium in 2005 and the Netherlands in 2015.
Structure of competition
The teams each consist of five members who still have to go to school. In a 4.5-hour exam, the team has to solve 20 tasks from the classic areas of competitive mathematics, namely from the areas of algebra, discrete mathematics (combinatorics), geometry and number theory. The level of these tasks comes close to that of the International Mathematical Olympiads (IMO).
Since no team member can solve all the tasks in the time available, it is important to make arrangements in the team about processing and proofreading: The five must also be able to work together.
It follows from all this that the team must consist of young mathematicians who have made it to at least one of the IMO candidates in the field of competitive mathematics.
The German team is headed from Rostock and Hamburg; In the last few years Hans-Dieter Gronau (Rostock) was the director and Klaus Henning (Hamburg) the deputy. The preparation for the team typically begins in September, in October the team members come together for a seminar and in November the respective competition takes place.
The event itself always takes place during a cold season in the corresponding area - but beyond the math, there is always a lot of sightseeing and doing together.
Previous competitions of the Baltic Way
Web links
- Estonian Math Competitions. Baltic Way Mathematical Contests.
- Baltic Way 2002
- Baltic Way 2007
- Baltic Way 2009
- Baltic Way 2010
- Baltic Way 2011
- Baltic Way 2012
- Baltic Way 2013
- Baltic Way 2014
- Baltic Way 2015
- Baltic Way 2016
- Baltic Way 2017
- Baltic Way 2018
Individual evidence
- ↑ Since both teams not only achieved the same total number of 95 points, but also achieved the same number of points in each task, 1st place was shared.