With the help of returning Slugger and World No. 10 GM Hikaru Nakamura, it is my pleasure to announce that the Seattle Sluggers have officially qualified for the 2018 PRO Chess League! Here is a link to the detailed qualifier article:
Other Sluggers who helped the team qualify include GM Georgi Margvelashvili, IM Bryce Tiglon, and FM Anthony He! We finished in second place with 35 points behind the new Chinese team, the Chengdu Pandas, and half-a-point ahead of 3rd place finishers, the Australia Kangaroos.
Here is the tentative 2018 Sluggers Roster:
| Pos | Name | FIDE Rating (Sept 17) |
| 1 | GM Hikaru Nakamura | 2781 |
| 2 | GM Gabriel Sargissian | 2652 |
| 3 | GM Tigran Petrosian | 2615 |
| 4 | GM Victor Mikhalevski | 2547 |
| 5 | GM Giorgi Margvelashvili | 2530 |
| 6 | IM Georgi Orlov | 2481 |
| 7 | IM Bryce Tiglon | 2439 |
| 8 | FM Roland Feng | 2369 |
| 9 | FM Anthony He | 2281 |
| 10 | NM Kyle Haining | 2169 |
| Alt | Benjamin Mukumbya | 1924 |
Matches will take place on Wednesday evenings and occasionally on Saturday afternoons with a tentative start date of Wed. January 17, 2018.
