The final crosstable update has been uploaded for the qualifying round. Any engine that finished in the top 20 will qualify for stage 2 in Tier A while any engine that finished between 21 and 40 will start in stage 2 Tier B. Any other engine not covered by these two criteria will have the rest of the season off to prepare for season 2! :) The two exceptions to this are Red Queen which is being disqualified for suicidal play and iCE which is being disqualified for showing tablebase hits when no tablebases are allowed or installed. Red Queen failed to qualify for stage 2 anyways but iCE will be replaced with NirvanaChess as iCE finished just above the Tier 2 cutoff in 39th.
In other news, Season 2 is already looking a little more interested as two new engines have been purchased: Komodo TCECr and Deep Fritz 14. At this point, the only top commercial engine that has no representation in this league is Shredder and hopefully that can be rectified before too long.
I hope everyone has had a safe and happy Christmas day and that all are looking forward to the group stage and longer time control matches. The stage 2 group elimination phase for season 1 will start sometime before the new year as time allows. Please continue to check back for regular updates.
In other news, Season 2 is already looking a little more interested as two new engines have been purchased: Komodo TCECr and Deep Fritz 14. At this point, the only top commercial engine that has no representation in this league is Shredder and hopefully that can be rectified before too long.
I hope everyone has had a safe and happy Christmas day and that all are looking forward to the group stage and longer time control matches. The stage 2 group elimination phase for season 1 will start sometime before the new year as time allows. Please continue to check back for regular updates.