Capital Math Classic Competition Rules

Competition floor

1

The competition floor is located inside of the PNC Diamond Club. 

Each team will be assigned a table with four chairs. 

Once teams enter the PNC Diamond Club, only the student teams are allowed on the competition floor.

Teacher-Coaches and Parents will be seated in the Mezzanine.

Materials students will get

2

Each student will receive a Capital Math Classic shirt to wear during the competition. 

Each team will receive a “Starting Lineup Kit” with: 

  • Two standard four-operation calculators (add, subtract, multiply, divide)

  • Two pencil sharpeners  

  • Two erasers

  • Eight pencils

Team envelopes will include plain white paper and grid paper for additional scrap work.

Competition format

3

Teams will have 45 minutes to solve as many problems as possible and earn the highest total point value.

Each team will receive a team envelope with their competition problems. 

Elementary teams will receive 16 problems (four problems for each of the categories). Secondary teams will receive 20 problems (five problems for each of the categories). 

Teams may divide work among members or work collaboratively on any problem. All solutions submitted represent the work of the entire time.

Teams can solve the problems in any order. 

The math problems vary in point-value and difficulty. 

The four problem categories include:

  • Concentration & Persistence: These puzzles require sustained attention, noticing patterns, holding multiple ideas in mind, and persisting, similar to baseball players staying locked in during long innings or between pitches. 

    Data Analysis & Decision Making: These problems require analyzing DC Nationals players stats, similar to how players and coaches use numbers to make decisions, spot trends, and set goals. 

    Process & Precision: These problems require trusting the steps and executing a procedure accurately, similar to the mechanics and fundamentals that baseball players practice repeatedly.

  • Visualization & Spatial Reasoning: These problems require drawing a picture to better understand the problem and determine the best path to the solution, similar to baseball players picturing their swing or fielders anticipating the ball’s path.

What is a correct solution?

4

Solutions to problems must include written work and units. If a question asks “how many dogs…”, then the units are dogs. A correct solution would be “8 dogs.” 

Teams may submit one problem at a time for judging. Teams must wait until their judge is finished assessing whether a problem is correct or incorrect before submitting another solution. 

If a solution is correct, the judge will put the problem in the team’s green folder. 

If a solution is incorrect, the judge will hand the problem back to the team to attempt.

Competition scoring

5

Within each grade band, teams will be ranked by the total number of points earned at the end of 45 minutes. 

  • 1st place: highest score

  • 2nd place: second highest score

  • 3rd place: third highest score

If there is a tie, the tiebreaker will be the team that reached their final score in the shortest amount of time, based on the timestamp recorded by judges when all problems are solved correctly.

After the competition, the Capital Math Classic Scoring Team will calculate the total points for the correct solutions. All scoring decisions are final.

Technology use

6

Cell phones or smart watches (including Apple watches), or other electronic devices may not be visible on the competition floor. If a team has members with these electronic devices visible on the competition floor, the team will be disqualified.