Knowledge Master Open
Knowledge Master Open is a computer quiz contest held twice a year, run by Academic Hallmarks. The contest has five divisions using three sets of questions: high school, middle and junior high school, and 5th and 6th grade.
Format
The tournament's "official" date is on a Wednesday, but teams may compete earlier, as long as scores are reported by the end of the official contest day. Teams may consist of any number of students.
The contest consists of 200 multiple-choice questions (100 questions for the 5th/6th grade division) in a variety of categories. Questions has five answer choices and teams are given two chances to answer each question. Five points are awarded for a correct answer on the first attempt with bonus points based on how quickly the team answered.
| Time | Bonus Pts. |
|---|---|
| 0-7 seconds | 5 |
| 8-12 seconds | 4 |
| 13-17 seconds | 3 |
| 18-22 seconds | 2 |
| 23-29 seconds | 1 |
| 30-60 seconds | 0 |
Two points are awarded for a correct answer on the second attempt, with no bonus points possible. No points are deducted if both answers are incorrect.
Teams are given up to three five-minute timeouts. Teams are only allowed to use pencil and paper; assistance from outside resources, including adults and spectators, is prohibited.
During the contest, awful puns are occasionally displayed between questions, each playing on the word "auk", referring to the "Great Auk" which is the mascot of the competition.
At the end of the contest, statistics are displayed indicating how well the team did in each category. Results are reported via telephone by reporting the number of correct answers, number of points, number of second chance answers, and a "score code" generated based on the aforementioned values that is used to authenticate the total number of points reported.
Scores are usually posted to the contest's website the Friday following the official tournament date.