Hi,

I would not call myself an exceptional programmer, but I can write EAs from scratch. Anyway, first you have to be aware that the MT4 backtester is highly unreliable even with 90% modeling quality. You also have to realize that the backtester relies on the assumption that all of your orders would have been filled without slippage and that there would have been no broker downtime -both these factors are very real realities when trading with an EA live.

So, I would say that you should go for it. If your EA is as good as you say it is then you may indeed win the competition, if the competition is run again later this year. You could then use any money won to trade with on your own live account with your EA - so you have nothing to lose!

Good luck