Yes, at the very least, I believe it would be technically legal. Whether it would be allowed by the ICGA's tournament rules is another question (I haven't studied the rules, and I have no desire to do so). However, if somebody decides to do this, I hope they will rename the engine -- even if changing that single text string is the only modification they do to the source code -- in order to show clearly that the engine is not entered by the official Stockfish team.michiguel wrote:Anybody can get SF, modify it lightly (or not...?), and enter, as long as they recognize the other authors in the license. GPL allows to do that and the GPL gives explicit permission.
As to why I personally don't want Stockfish to participate: Although I had great fun in all the computer chess tournaments in which I have participated (twice in Mainz, and twice in Łódź), I have come to the sad conclusion that the negatives of the competitive side of computer chess far outweigh the positives. Competition is toxic to the community, as is evident from the current thread. Seeing people I respect and admire fight like they do in this discussion (and I am talking about all sides of the debate here) makes me depressed and disappointed.
From the outset, Glaurung/Stockfish has been an attempt to demonstrate that cooperation and openness can be just as effective as competition and secrecy in computer chess, while making the community friendlier and more welcoming. From the perspective of chess strength, it's been successful beyond my wildest dreams, but it has failed miserably at improving the community.