Editorial Board
Please read this document carefully, even if you participated in our contest last year.
We hold contests in mathematics, physics, and computer science.
Our contests have are of difficulty levels, and contestants may compete individually or in teams; details are provided below. The contests run for 9 months, from September 2026 until the beginning of June 2027. New problems are set each month, and contestants may submit their solutions until the beginning of the following month. The final results of the contest will be announced by August 2027 and in the upcoming KöMaL issue in September 2027. Prizes will be presented next autumn at the KöMaL Youth Conference.
Participation in our point contests will remain free of charge in the 2026/2027 academic year. Nevertheless, we ask parents and relatives of our contestants, as well as institutions and companies supporting them, to help ensure the continued existence of KöMaL through subscriptions and donations.
Any primary or secondary school student may enter our contests.
Under the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), parental consent is required to register the personal data of contestants under 16. In their case, a parental declaration is also required and can be provided during registration.
Until the parental declaration has been received, the contestant's name cannot appear in the results list..
Our data protection policy is available at https://www.komal.hu/oldal?lap=AdatkezelesiTajekoztato.
If this is your first time participating in a KöMaL contest, please register on our website. Here you will need to enter your name, date of birth, your school's name and grade. Your login password will be sent to you in e-mail.
If you have registered before, you do not need to register again; you can continue to use last year's password. Nevertheless, you will need to review your personal settings. Teams, however, must be registered again each academic year.
After a successful registration, you can provide additional information, such as the names of your teachers who prepare you for contests and your postal address (we will send certificates to this address for those graduating in 2027), and you can state whether you consent to publication of detailed scores or to your participation in specific contests.
You enter an individual point contest by submitting your first solution.
You may also join the contests later during the academic year.
IMPORTANT! You can upload solutions only after registering. In the contest, we evaluate only solutions entered or uploaded by the relevant deadline. Solutions submitted without registration, by post, or by e-mail will not be taken into account.
In KöMaL contests, grades are numbered from 1 to 12. This numbering may differ from the numbering used at your school. Those who are now beginning the final year before their school-leaving examination are considered to be in Grade 12. Those expected to finish secondary school in 2028 or 2029 are considered to be in Grades 11 and 10, respectively.
Students participating in an \(\displaystyle 8+5\)-year programme, such as students in language-preparatory classes, are considered to be in Grade 9 for two consecutive years. If your grade number has not increased by 1 compared with last year, please notify the editorial office by e-mail (editors@komal.hu).
After registration, you cannot change the identifying information (name, school, grade, e-mail address) yourself. If any of these change, please contact the editorial office by e-mail to have the changes recorded.
We strongly advise everyone not to repeat the registration or create multiple registrations! There is no situation in which multiple registrations would help; they only cause confusion. For example, you may end up appearing in the contest twice, but with half the score in each entry.
You can submit a photograph of yourself. To do so, simply send a photograph of yourself to the editorial office by e-mail at editors@komal.hu. Choose a light, plain background. We will resize the photographs to a uniform size, so it is advisable to use a reasonably high resolution.
In addition to the traditional individual point contests, we also announce point contests for teams.
The general rules of the team contests are the same as those of the traditional individual contests (see the descriptions of the contests below), and their problems are the same as those of the individual contests.
Team members must also register individually if they have not registered before. Only then can the team be registered. Members may come from different schools and different grades. A team competes in the category corresponding to that of its oldest member by grade.
A person may be a member of several teams and may also compete individually, but there are some restrictions. A person may participate exactly once in any given point contest. Anyone competing in the C team contest may not enter any of the individual K, B, C, or A point contests. Likewise, a person may not compete simultaneously in the G team contest and the individual P contest in physics.
The C team contest is announced in two categories: Grades 5–10 and Grades 11–12; the B team contest is announced for all grades in a single category; the M and P team contests each in one category: Grades 9–12; and the G team contest in one category: Grades 9–10.
We launch four types of competitions, in increasing order of difficulty in categories K, C, B and A. A student can participate in multiple points competitions, but can only choose one of the individual K and B points competitions. If you are a ninth grader, you can declare in your personal settings which competition you would like to participate in.
For each of our competitions, it is valid that we only evaluate one solution for one solution.
Only Grade 9 students may enter the K point contest. It is intended primarily for those who are just getting acquainted with KöMaL. From September to May, five problems are published each month in nine rounds. A complete solution to each problem is worth 5 points. Of these, at most three problems are shared with the ABACUS point contest. These problems are provided to KöMaL by the ABACUS mathematical journal, although a modified version of a problem may appear in KöMaL.
Grade 9 students who enter K may not be members of a team entered in the C point contest.
We recommend the exercises in the C point contest to readers who find the problems in categories B and A too difficult or unusual. Here we regularly publish exercises more closely related to the school curriculum. Those who would like to go somewhat – but not much – beyond the framework of school mathematics, who want to think about problems more interesting than routine exercises, or who intend to take the advanced-level mathematics school-leaving examination may find suitable problems here.
The first two exercises of the C point contest are the same as the last two exercises of the K point contest, and are marked K/C. Only students in the 9th grade or language preparatory year can participate in the K point contest, but they can compete in both the K and C point contests at the same time – in the latter with 10th graders in the same category. For contestants competing in both the K and C categories, the points awarded for their solutions count toward both point contests.
The individual C point contest is evaluated in four age groups: Grades 5–8, 9, 10, and 11–12; the team contest is evaluated in two age groups: Grades 5–10 and 11–12. Anyone entering the C team contest may not enter the individual K, C, B, or A contests, but may enter the B team contest.
In the B point competition, we set a total of eight problems per month, but each month we count up to six solutions for everyone in the point competition (in which, however, we count the non-competitive ones first, see below). Therefore, it is not necessary to solve all the problems for a successful competition; each person thinks about which examples they would like to work on and how they could achieve the most points.
The order of the B problems corresponds to the school curriculum: within a problem series, the lower-numbered ones are recommended for the younger ones. The problems can usually be awarded a maximum of 3, 4, 5 or 6 points. (The score published is intended to indicate the difficulty of the problem.)
The results of the individual B points competition are recorded in five age groups: up to the 8th grade, and in the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades; the team competition is evaluated in a single age group. No one may compete in the B team competition and the B individual competition at the same time.
The A point contest is intended for the most highly prepared students. We recommend it primarily to those preparing for a career in scientific research or for international contests.
Two or three A problems are set each month, with up to 7 points available for each problem. Participants in the A contest are not separated by grade; they all compete together.
We hold three physics contests: categories M, G, and P. A student may enter several point contests, but may choose only one of the individual G and P point contests. Participants in Grade 10 or below must indicate in their personal settings which of the P and G contests they wish to enter.
One measurement problem is set each month for all age groups together. Solving the problem is worth 6 points.
Even individual contestants may enlist the help of one person (a family member, classmate, or friend) to carry out the measurement. Give the helper's details alongside the contestant's details at the beginning of the measurement report. The contest may also be entered as a two-person team, meaning that individual contestants and teams compete in the same contest. Anyone entering the M contest as a team member may not also compete individually in the M contest.
Only students up to Grade 10 may participate in the G point contest. We recommend it to readers who find the P problems too difficult or unusual. In this category, contestants will mostly find exercises more closely related to the school curriculum, so those who do not yet have much problem-solving experience can also compete successfully. By solving and submitting the G exercises, they can also prepare to perform successfully in the P point contest in subsequent years.
Each month we set four G exercises, the achievable scores are indicated after the tasks. Everyone is free to choose from the set exercises, but the solution of a maximum of three tasks per month (first the non-competitive ones) will be counted in the point competition.
The results of the individual G point contest are recorded in three age groups: up to Grade 8, Grade 9, and Grade 10. The team contest has a single age group: Grades 5–10. Anyone entering the G team contest may not enter the individual G or P contests (but may enter the P team contest).
We set nine theoretical problems each month, not in order of difficulty, but in order of age. The scores are listed after the problems. Everyone is free to choose from the theoretical problems set. A maximum of three solutions per month for students in grades 5-8, and a maximum of four solutions for students in grades 9-12 are included in the points competition (however, the non-competitive ones are included first).
The theoretical competition is summed up and evaluated individually by age group (up to grade 8, grades 9, 10, 11 and 12), and the team competition is evaluated in a single age group: grades 5-12. Anyone who participates in the team competition cannot participate individually in the P competition.
Four I-type problems are set each month for all age groups together. Each problem is worth 10 points. Some problems can also be recommended to primary school students, while most rely on secondary school studies. Our main aim is for these problems to help contestants prepare for the standard- and advanced-level digital culture school-leaving examinations and for computer science contests. Some of the problems may also help with preparation for domestic and international programming contests.
New problems will bee posted each month, from September to May. You can find the problems both in the printed journal and on our website.
On our website, except in September, we publish the problems on the 28th day of the relevant month. Annual subscribers can access the text of the next problems from the day after the submission deadline for the previous month's problems and can begin working on them. If you subscribe to KöMaL, enter your subscriber code in your personal settings to gain earlier access to the problems. You can find the subscriber ID on the label attached to the cover of your September issue.
Our subscribers who are not contestants (for example, because of their age) can access the problem texts in the same way.
One subscriber ID may be used by only one person.
Please study the solutions published in our previous issues and on our website; they can be very helpful in understanding the format and level of detail we expect in submitted solutions.
External assistance, in particular using artificial intelligence, is not allowed to solve the problems.
Describing a solution means guiding the reader through the steps of your solution. Write so that your reasoning is understandable to others. Aim for a concise, easy-to-follow description. Careful writing takes time, so do not leave it until the last moment!
Full points are awarded only for complete solutions; no points are awarded for merely stating the result. All stated claims must be justified. Without a derivation or reference, we accept only theorems included in the secondary school curriculum. For well-known theorems (e.g. Menelaus' theorem, Hölder's inequality, etc.), it is sufficient to refer to them by name; otherwise, you must state the theorem used and provide the cited source (title, page number, or Internet address). When referring to a theorem, you must also show why its conditions are satisfied and how the next step in the proof follows from the theorem.
It has happened several times that a problem was included in a library of examples or found on the Internet. We have also seen examples where a journal article or a previous KöMaL task included a proof of a statement that was essentially equivalent to the one set out in the task, or even more general. Our goal is still to develop the problem-solving abilities of our competitors, not to test the search engines, therefore we do not award points to those papers that only provide the location of the solution or describe that the problem is a special case or trivial consequence of a more difficult theorem. The train of thought leading to the final result must be described in detail.
Artificial intelligence (AI) should not be used to solve the problems. Browsers may be used without AI, as may other search methods. However, if you use or quote material found in books or on the Internet in your solution, you must identify the sources used. Verbatim quotations must be placed in quotation marks in addition to identifying the source.
For physics problems, the problem statement may not contain all the specific information required for a numerical solution, such as certain material constants or numerical values of geographical or astronomical quantities. In such cases, you may look up the necessary data either in the Függvénytáblázatok (Tables of Functions, Mathematical, Physical, Chemical, and Biological Relations) or on the internet.
It is advisable to structure longer, more complex lines of reasoning and divide them into parts. Use paragraphs, sections, headings, and subheadings. It is easier to refer to auxiliary statements, formulas, and figures if you number them.
Figures are an important part of solving geometry problems, as they allow the steps of the solution to be followed and checked. Always include the necessary figure! Solutions without a diagram or containing an inappropriate diagram will not be considered complete. You will not receive points for steps in your reasoning that do not include the required diagram. For more complex diagrams, not only draw certain geometric objects in the diagram, but also define them in text. For example, "let \(\displaystyle P'\) be the mirror image of the point \(\displaystyle P\) on the line \(\displaystyle e\)". When submitting electronically, make sure that the resolution is appropriate. The resolution is appropriate if it fits on the computer screen and the important details are clearly visible.
We do not accept results calculated using computer programs as solutions to mathematics problems, including online services such as Wolfram Alpha. If you examine more than thirty cases when the number of cases could have been substantially reduced, we also regard this as equivalent to having written a program to perform the calculations. We also do not accept solutions prepared using artificial intelligence (AI), including those prepared using AI built into search engines! We consider submitting such a solution a particularly serious offense!
The measurement description (measurement report) must contain a clear description of the measurement principle (with a schematic drawing of the experimental setup and, if appropriate, photographs), a sufficient number of measurements of adequate accuracy (in a clear table, including units), an evaluation of the measurement data (preferably presented graphically), and an estimate of the order of magnitude of the error. Do not give measured and calculated quantities with an unnecessarily large number of decimal places; use only the precision consistent with the estimated error. The measurement report should be relatively concise, but clear enough that anyone could repeat the measurement based on it. If there are very many (more than 50) measurements, it is sufficient to submit only a ``representative'' portion and give only the average of the rest. A report longer than 6 pages should also contain a short summary (approximately 1/2 page).
You must prepare solutions to the I-type programming problems in one of the following languages: Basic, C, C++, C#, Java, Pascal, or Python. You may use any development environment; we recommend the development tools listed in the advanced-level school-leaving examination software list available on the website of the Educational Authority.
For solutions to the application tasks set in the I point contest, we likewise recommend the tools from the above software list. We will evaluate the application tasks using the applications listed there. Any other applications that may be used are specified in the individual problem statements; these are mostly freely available programs.
You can prepare your mathematics and physics solutions on our website or upload them as completed files. Solutions to computer science problems can only be uploaded.
You can edit your math and physics papers on our website or upload them as a finished file. You can only upload solutions to computer science problems.
Those papers that contain solutions to multiple problems in one file or are unassessable due to their appearance are classified as not assessable. Not assessable is also classified as a solution, where instead of regular formulas, there are difficult-to-understand character sequences, for example x2+(1+5+2sqrt(5)x2)/4 or (1+roott5)/2*x.
The Electronic Workbook is part of our website. It allows you to directly enter and edit your solutions. You can modify and edit your solutions up until the submission deadline.
We use the TeX system to edit formulas. We recommend that you take our TeX course.
You can prepare your solutions on your home or school computers and upload the finished file to our website. When submitting your math or physics solutions, use PDF or JPG format, which are readable on various operating systems! The document should have a header at the beginning: the problem number in red, your name, class, city, school.
Write your handwritten solution on white paper without lines or grids, and then upload it in a suitable quality, as a single PDF or JPG file to the Workbook.
Make sure that the image is clearly legible and the resolution is neither too high nor too low. (A 200 dpi image – unless you're writing in extra-small font – is usually easy to read.) If you're taking photos, it's a good idea to take several photos in diffuse (natural) light and use the best one. Rotate the photo to portrait orientation, crop the edges around it so that only the solution remains on the photo, and finally scale it to the appropriate size and resolution.
You can use a variety of image editing programs and phone apps to process photos.
You can only upload the solutions to the IT problems as finished files to the Workbook. If the solution consists of multiple files, you must send a folder containing all the files and the documentation, with the same name as the problem number, compressed into a ZIP file. Make sure that the compressed files do not contain executable files (e.g. the .exe file created during development).
For programming problems, the first lines of the source code should contain a comment
We ask that in programming problems, the input and output of the program always be implemented as specified in the problem. This is necessary because we run the submitted programs on a variety of test data, and we try to automate this.
It is against the spirit of the competition to use other people's work one-for-one, so we do not accept solutions generated with the help of artificial intelligence! Using them makes independent thinking and creativity unnecessary, the development of which is the goal of the competition. Such solutions often contain complicated and incorrect thought processes, so during the evaluation, the works of competitors who live far from each other show similarities. We also evaluate such works as non-competitive, since their solution is not independent, but relies on the same external source.
We welcome any questions or complaints related to IT problems to the address inf-szerk@komal.hu.
The submission deadline for mathematics is the 10th day of the month following the publication of the paper, and for physics and computer science the 15th day. If this falls on a Saturday or a public holiday in Hungary, the deadline is the next business day. Postponing submission to the last day or minutes of the deadline poses a serious risk! Some internet error or server overload may occur at any time, which may result in the solution being submitted late or not being submitted at all!
We continuously publish the standings of the point contests and the detailed results of our contestants on our website. We also notify contestants by e-mail of changes in their scores. Sometimes our graders send written feedback in addition to the score, for example drawing attention to shortcomings in a solution. However, graders are not required to do this, as they often have to grade on the order of hundreds of solutions, frequently while pursuing their university studies.
After your solutions have been graded, you can send a short question or message to the grader in the Electronic Workbook, and the grader can reply there as well. Different problems are generally graded by different graders, so always ask only about the problem in question.
Be polite. Ask your question in a manner that you would consider appropriate face-to-face, even when speaking to your teachers or parents.
If a dispute or appeal remains unresolved, you may contact the editorial office. We accept appeals for two weeks after the problem has been graded at editors@komal.hu címen.
It is forbidden to discuss the set problems with others before the submission deadline or to ask for or accept help from others in solving the problems. Using artificial intelligence (AI) to solve a problem, including AI built into search engines, is also considered such discussion or assistance! The solution must be entirely the contestant's own work, including figures and wording. Jointly created or copied papers – including the original author's work – are considered non-competitive. Points are not awarded, but they are considered submitted papers. Team members may discuss and discuss the problems in the given competition with each other, and then submit a (joint) solution to each problem. Copies of papers in groups will be returned to the class teacher. In more serious cases that jeopardize the entire point contest (e.g. discussing problems on Internet forums), the contestants concerned will be disqualified. As stated earlier, solutions must meet requirements not only in content but also in form.
Illegal, unreadable, unevaluable papers are not evaluable, whether due to garbled writing or photocopying or image alignment. Such papers are considered to have been rejected.
Other formal errors create additional work for graders, so points are deducted for them. Typical examples include:
For each such mistake, 1 point is deducted from the points otherwise earned for the given solution, so even more than that for a single problem – for example, a two-page solution, written on roughly squared paper and submitted in two jpg files, results in a 3 point deduction –, but no more than the point the solution would have otherwise earned.
The final results of the contests will be published on our website, expected in August after all solutions have been graded, and subsequently in our September 2027 issue. Photographs of the highest-achieving contestants will be published in our December 2027 issue. The best contestants will receive prizes from the MATFUND Foundation for Secondary-School Mathematics and Physics, as well as material prizes and certificates, at the 2027 KöMaL Youth Conference.
By participating in the contest, a contestant consents to the publication of their solution anonymously, as well as to the publication of an edited version under their name.
We are happy to receive problem proposals, articles, reports on extracurricular work, and school papers suitable for publication. Anyone may propose beautiful, interesting, and non-standard problems for publication as set problems. We primarily welcome proposed problems (together with their solutions) at the e-mail address of the appropriate editorial committee (mat-szerk@komal.hu, fizszerkbiz2021@googlegroups.com, illetve inf-szerk@komal.hu), but proposals may also be submitted by post.
Finally, we wish everyone a successful contest.
KöMaL Editorial Board
We announce contests in mathematics, physics and informatics, altogether in 20 categories with different difficulties. Each contest lasts for 9 months, from September 2025 until the beginning of June 2026; new problems are posted in every month from September to May, and solutions can be submitted before early next month.
