The top three (3) performers, per the leaderboard, of each stage from the First2Finish Competition will win a prize and/or a trip to compete in the TCO17 Finals in Buffalo, New York, USA on October 21-24, 2017.

Topcoder shall determine at its sole discretion which First2Finish Competitions are Tournament-eligible. The First2Finish Competition is part of the Tournament, and by participating in the First2Finish Competition, you agree to the rules on this web page as well as the Tournament rules and the topcoder Terms of Use (collectively, the “Rules”).

Topcoder reserves the right to add or remove competition tracks as needed. Competition stages and prizes may be changed at any time at Topcoder’s sole discretion.

Schedule

During each Stage, Contestants who participate in Tournament-eligible First2Finish Competitions on the Topcoder website will receive points for that Stage as outlined in these Rules.

Only Tournament-eligible First2Finish Competitions in which registration has opened during the four (4) Stages shall be included in determining points for that Stage.

All Tournament – eligible First2Finish Competitions will be clearly marked on the active challenge listing page.

First2Finish Online Competition Stages Dates
Stage 1	September 1 – November 30, 2016
Stage 2	December 1 – February 28, 2017
Stage 3	March 1 – May 31, 2017
Stage 4	June 1 – July 31, 2017

Competition Scoring

Scoring in the First2Finish Competition is determined based on the final ranking for a Contestant’s submission in a Tournament-eligible First2Finish Competition (as applicable) in accordance with the rules of such competition.

Scores will be rounded to two decimal places.

Upon the completion of all Tournament-eligible First2Finish Competitions, the individual scores that a Contestant receives during all Stages will be added for a cumulative score.

The total placement points to distribute per challenge is based on the total cash prize purse of that challenge.

Placement Ties

In the event of a tie for a Stage, the tie will be resolved in the following manner:

The tied Contestant with the highest number of first place submissions will receive a higher placement in the First2Finish Competition in that Stage.
If a tie still remains, then the remaining tied Contestant with the highest number of second place submissions will receive a higher placement in the First2Finish Competition in that Stage.
If a tie still remains, then the remaining tied Contestant with the highest number of third place submissions will receive a higher placement in the First2Finish Competition in that Stage.
If a tie still remains, then the remaining tied Contestant with the highest number of fourth place submissions will receive a higher placement in the First2Finish Competition in that Stage.
If a tie still remains, then all remaining tied Contestants will receive the same placement.

Tie for Prizes

In the event of a tie, the tie will be resolved in the following manner:

The tied Contestant with the highest number of first place submissions across the First2Finish Competition Stage will receive a higher placement in the First2Finish Competition.
If a tie still remains, then the remaining tied Contestant with the highest number of second place submissions across the First2Finish Competition Stage will receive a higher placement in the First2Finish Competition.
If a tie still remains, then the remaining tied competitor with the highest number of third place submissions across the First2Finish Competition Stage will receive a higher placement in the First2Finish Competition.
If a tie still remains, then the remaining tied competitor with the highest number of fourth place submissions across the First2Finish Competition Stage will receive a higher placement in the First2Finish Competition.
If a tie still remains, then prizes will be divided equally between tied Contestants.

Prizes

Any and all applicable taxes on prizes are the sole responsibility of the prize winner.

Stage 1-4 Online Winners	Prize
1st Place	Trip to TCO17 Finals
2nd Place	Trip to TCO17 Finals
3rd Place	Trip to TCO17 Finals

Onsite Final Winners	Prize
Champion	$10,000
2nd place	$1,500
3rd place	$500

Prior to Contestants receiving their cash prize, they must complete all work for all underlying First2Finish Competitions and Tournament and First2Finish Competition-related work, such as final fixes.

Contestants are eligible to win only one trip to the onsite tournament regardless of the track they compete in (as long as the Final schedules do not overlap). However, contestants with more than one win across different tracks will receive $500 in lieu of each extra trip won.