Hey everyone!

Good news — Russian AI Cup 2016 has started! This competition is being held for the fifth time, and this time, hopefully, we will make happy all the fans of the MOBA game genre — you will be controlling a wizard, and together with 4 teammates you will try to destroy enemy base with magic and help of minions.

Try yourself in creating an artificial intelligence, it's simple and fun. Go to Russian AI Cup site and enter the battle. Good luck!

What is it?

Russian AI Cup — largest annual artificial intelligence programming contest in Russia, and third open competition for talented IT-specialists that is part of Mail.Ru Group strategy of forming and developing competitive Russian IT-industry on a global scale.

Following programming languages are supported: C++, C#, Java, Pascal, Python 2, Python 3 и Ruby. Anyway, as previously, we are ready to support language packages, realized by the community.

We welcome both beginners and professionals to the championship. No special skills are needed, just basic programming level is enough.

When?

• Sandbox: open for everyone starting on November 6, 21:00 UTC and finishing on December 25, 21:00 UTC; first and fourth weeks will be beta-testing weeks, this time it is possible that the system is unstable, and significant changes in the rules can be made. Rating in the Sandbox will be reset on November 13 at 21:00;
• Round 1: November 25, 21:00 UTC — November 27, 21:00 UTC;
• Round 2: December 9, 21:00 UTC — December 11, 21:00 UTC;
• Finals: December 16, 21:00 UTC — December 18, 21:00 UTC.

Prizes

Best strategies that made it to the Finals and took top places, as well as best wizards from the Sandbox, will receive prizes. Also, all participants of Round 2 will receive a T-shirt, and all finalists — a hoodie with contest symbolics.