Not all contests allow unrated participation, but sometimes I just want to take part without worrying about my rating. Having an unrated option would encourage learning and experimentation, especially for participants who want to practice in a real contest environment without pressure. Moreover, this could help reduce cheating: people who only want to participate for fun or practice could choose the unrated option,while those who cheat would be less motivated to affect rated standings. In short,every contest should offer an unrated participation option.

Hi everyone,

First, I know Codeforces mostly follows an ICPC-style scoring system, and that works well for most contests here. But maybe if we add the option to sum points for subtasks, some gym contests and training rounds could become even better—especially for those preparing for Olympiad-style competitions.

Currently, when a problem has subtasks, Polygon awards points based only on the highest subtask solved. For example, if you have:

Subtask 1 worth 9 points

Subtask 2 worth 15 points

and you solve both, you still get only 15 points instead of the sum, 24.

In contrast, IOI and many other Olympiads add up the points from all subtasks solved, so your total reflects every piece you managed to complete. A good example of this system in action is oj.uz, a popular Olympiad-style online judge that sums partial points across subtasks.

This matters because partial progress should be rewarded fairly. Summing points for subtasks reflects how real Olympiads score problems and motivates participants by recognizing every solved part. It also gives setters more flexibility in designing challenges.

My suggestion is simple: Polygon should add an option to sum points of all subtasks solved, rather than taking only the maximum. This could be a toggle so existing rounds aren’t affected, but it would be a great feature for IOI-style contests and training rounds.

https://i.imgur.com/8m0Bzw7.png For example, in the photo, she scored 62 points on problem D by solving subtasks. Without partial points, she would have only gotten a maximum of 40 points.

I believe this small change would make Polygon more versatile and closer to real Olympiad conditions, benefiting both problem setters and competitors.

Update : And by the way, if someone doesn't want to open it, they simply don't have to; this is for those who want to write and solve questions like that