This year's Country Cup started twenty-four days ago on November 1. Although we are not yet half-way through the competition, we already see a lot of impressive results from the participants. Especially the USA is turning out to be a favorite for the title this year. Australia is a contender for the title too, and Germany is probably not going to be too far off either. It is interesting that those three countries are currently leading the ranks. Germany came in fifth last year, USA only tenth, and Australia was not even close to victory finishing 32nd. From the usual top countries only Indonesia seems to be doing as expected, it is currently ranked fourth. Greece (14), Poland (18), and two-time winner Romania (13) are far behind. Or are they just holding back their scores until the last second? We will find out in the next coming weeks.

In any case, this year's Country Cup is turning out to be one of the best edition we have ever seen. With twenty-four days on the clock, the submission counter is already at 860. To compare: our most successful edition in that regard was 2011, when participants submitted 1042 benchmark results. At HWBOT we feel very happy to see so many people enjoying the Country Cup. After all, the 2009 edition of the Country Cup introduced our in-house developed competition engine!

We wish everyone the best of luck. Above all, enjoy and spread the OC love!

Check out the competition page for more information, click. Here are some interesting system pictures from the competition.