The Bernard Novelli Prize:

Programming a mathematical game ------------------------------

Bernard Novelli turned solving logic grids into an art form. His dedication led him to run game-based workshops in schools, helping young people discover the richness of reasoning from middle school onward. Through his many publications, his creativity gave readers hours of intellectual enjoyment. To bring his passion to a new audience, he drew on his programming talent to develop new and original games himself, which readers of Tangente can still discover on the Infinimath.com website.

To pay tribute to him, the Tangente team created the Novelli Prize for high school and even middle school students. The aim of the competition is to create a program based on a mathematical game, whether an existing one or one invented for the occasion.

Sponsored by the SIF (Société informatique de France), CASIO calculators, the Magma Mobile video game studio and *Programmez !* magazine, the competition has already rewarded many young people. The 2018 winners will be announced at Tangente Day on December 2 at the Musée des Arts et Métiers. But the 2019 competition takes things a step further: schools are being invited to incorporate it into their computer science teaching.

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A new challenge: getting schools involved ---------------------------------------------------------------

Beginning with the 2018–2019 school year, middle and high school teachers can organize the Novelli Prize with their students. To register a school, simply email [email protected] by January 15.

The rules of the game and the programming language will then be freely determined by the organizing teachers. Once they have supervised the projects, the teachers will select between one and three entries to represent the school at the national jury meeting.

As in previous years, young people may still register as "independent entrants" (individually or as a group; pre-registration by January 15, 2019, on the www.tropheestangente.com website). No programming language is prescribed.

For the theme, entrants are encouraged, though not required, to draw inspiration from one of Bernard Novelli's grid-based games. One point to note: if they do, the jury will take algorithms for generating grids with a unique solution into account in its assessment.

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Ten free CASIO calculators to encourage high schools to enter ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Python is now available on some calculators, including the CASIO Graph 90 + E. An article published in Tangente Éducation 46, an issue freely available online at Tangente-education.com, even shows how to program a game in Python: Mastermind.

CASIO, a partner of the Novelli Prize, has come up with an original incentive. The first ten high schools to register to organize the competition during the 2018–2019 school year and choose Python as their programming language will each receive a free CASIO Graph 90 + E calculator shortly after registering. However, the projects' AI does not have to be programmed on the calculator.