October 6, 2005
Internet, October 6, 2005. The Russian Open Cup VI in Internet search starts today. Yandex invites everyone who has command of the Russian language and the keyboard to take part in the contest. The prize fund is RUR 815,000.
Our current generation of children grow not with communism, but with Internet. Therefore, the Cup features a traditional junior competition. This year is the first time when the juniors can compete not just for their personal victory, but also for the glory of their schools: there is a special award program for schools and computer science teachers. And naturally, special Yandex prizes will be awarded to the best players in each region of Russia and the foreign countries.
“Almost five years have passed since the first Cup, and now there is no need to prove that Internet is an all-purpose reference tool. Internet search has become as habitual as walking or talking, and as necessary as brushing teeth in the morning,“ says Natalia Ostasheva, head of the search competition. “Information volumes are growing, time is ever more valuable, so Internet search is a skill no less vital than usage of the phone, transport, or washing machine. No less vital, and no more difficult.“
This year, the Cup puts up three large money awards. “The Man Who Found Everything“ gets a prize equal to the height of Dukla in East Beskids, in millimeters. Second place gets a sum equal to the length of the river Ylesha, Myosha, or Sogne Fjord, in meters, or, as a last resort, to the boiling point of hexamethylene diamine (multiplied by 1,000). Third place gets the length of the Gheorghe Arm at Sfintul Gheorghe Cape, in meters. All sums are in rubles.
As for the exact amount of each prize, the contestants can find that themselves, for practice before the first stage of the Cup begins.
The principal sponsor of this year’s Cup is Ozon.ru, the leading online shop in the Russian Internet (Runet).“Ozon and Yandex have a long-lasting relationship: our cooperation began in 2000, when the Internet in Russia was still at an early stage of development. Over these years, Yandex evolved into the largest search system, and Ozon became the biggest online shop in the Runet,“ tells Bernard Lukey, CEO of Ozon. “We are confident that our further cooperation will be long and fruitful. We wish good luck to the contestants of the Yandex Cup, and have special gifts for the winners: VIP status with Ozon for one year.“
The first stage competitions of the Cup will be held from October 12 to 31. The final will take place in Moscow on December 8. The winner gets the Cup, the title of “the Man Who Found Everything 2005“, and the first prize.
