Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Teams from 17 countries compete at International Informatics Tournament in Shumen

Biserka Yovcheva: Bulgaria is among the leading countries in competition informatics in Europe, along with Russia, Romania and Poland

Shumen University
Photo: Radio Shumen, BNR

The 14thInternational Autumn Tournament in Informatics "John Atanasoff" will be held at the Shumen University from November 23 to 27. The forum is conducted under the patronage of President Rumen Radev. A total of 392 competitors from 17 countries will take part in it, and for the first time they will include teams from Peru, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Great Britain. Cuba has also shown interest in the event. 

The teams of Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Great Britain will compete in person, and those of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Egypt, Israel, Pakistan, Peru, Slovenia, Serbia, Ukraine will participate online. ‎

"Competitors from Russia will also participate in the tournament but outside the ranking”, Biserka Yovcheva, chairperson of the organizing committee of the tournament and head of the training school of mathematics and informatics "A and B", told BTA. “We don't think that children should be made victims of the follies of adults, and that's why we give Russian children the opportunity to compete with their peers." ‎

Biserka Yovcheva, chairperson of the organizing committee

Yovcheva also expressed regret that the teams of Ireland and Iran would not be able to participate because they were late with their registration:‎

"There is still no other similar competition, which is held according to the rules of the International Informatics Olympiad, but in two age groups - junior and senior," she noted. “The first is for participants up to 15.5 years of age, and the second - for high-school students. The biggest competition in the world for students is the ‎International Olympiad in Informatics, and for those at a younger age ‎‎- the European Youth Olympiad created on the initiative of ‎Bulgaria".‎


Bulgaria is among the leading countries in competitive informatics in Europe, along with Russia, Romania and Poland, Yovcheva explains. At the competition in Shumen, there will be two official Bulgarian teams in senior and junior age groups, and the hosts from the city will be represented in both age groups with one team each. In parallel with the international tournament, the 12th edition of the National Autumn Tournament in Informatics will be held, the first edition of which took place in Shumen in 2001, with a separate ranking for the participants from Bulgaria, Yovcheva added. ‎


During the tournament, an international seminar for team leaders on the problems of competition informatics will be held. They mainly concern the program for the younger age group and in particular how far the difficulty of the problems to be solved should  go.‎


Compiled by Darina Grigorova

Editing by Elena Karkalanova


Photos: Facebook/IATIShumen, private archive



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Mimi Nicheva

Bulgarian Sunday School in Athens Hosts Conference on AI in Education

Over 80% of Bulgarians are expected to start using artificial intelligence in the next three years , across all age groups. Today, it is almost impossible to find a Bulgarian student who does not turn to ChatGPT when preparing homework. This..

published on 10/31/25 6:01 PM

Balkan Developments

Serbians around the world mark one year after Novi Sad tragedy On November 1, Serbians abroad will join the call of students in Serbia to mark the anniversary of the collapse of the canopy of the Novi Sad railway..

published on 10/31/25 2:35 PM
Photo: Sts. Cyril and Methodius School in Athens

Conference in Athens discusses relationship between artificial intelligence and teaching

"We cannot escape from modern technologies, but we must think about how we can use artificial intelligence to improve the quality of education without losing human contact," said Mimi Nicheva, head of the Bulgarian Sunday School "Sts...

published on 10/31/25 8:19 AM