Website of The International Go Federation

Group photo with participants and organisers

As also reflected in the name, the Silk Road tournament unites Europe and China in a single go competition. Europe can nominate both amateurs and professional players, while China is allowed to nominate only amateurs. The five previous editions took place in China. So far Europeans have won the tournament twice, while Chinese players have won three times.

This year it was the sixth edition of the tournament, and the first time when it took place in Europe. Vienna, the capital of Austria, was chosen for hosting of the competition. From November 1 to 3, 60 players competed to decide the winner. Along the European and Chinese players, there were also several participants from Malaysia and Thailand.

Europe was represented by its top players, and the competition was very fierce. Altogether there were eight rounds, after which three players had only one defeat. The order of the top three places was decided by tiebreaker criteria. Here is the final order:

1. Artem Kachanovskyi 2p (Ukraine)
2. Li Jiaqi 6d (China)
3. Ilya Shikshin 3p (Russia)

The fate of the 1st place was decided in the last round in the game between Artem and Li. You can find the game record below.

You can see the tournament table and the tournament web page for more information.

Next year the Silk Road tournament will again return to China.

Report by Artem

From October 10th to 14th, Sao Paolo, Brazil was the host city of the 3rd Latin American Go Congress. The venue was Brazil’s Nihon Ki-in building which was founded by Iwamoto Kaoru 30 years ago. The atmosphere was very cozy and participants had the chance to play in a variety of events such as:

Group photo after the closing ceremony

• The traditional 21st Ibero American Go Championship
• Final match of the 3rd Pandanet Latin American Team Championship
• 4th Latin American Pair Go Championship
• 3rd Latin American Youth Championship

The four-day event also came along with four professional players’ participation: Cho Hyeyeon 9p from Korea, Feng Yun 9p from USA, Mateusz Surma 2p from Poland and Zhao Yuhong 5p from China. It’s worth mentioning that this is the first time that a Chinese pro comes to a Latin American country.

On Thursday, October 10th, a welcome dinner was celebrated, hosted by Celso Scaff, Brazil Nihon Ki-in advisor. Traditional Brazilian music was played and this was the first chance for the players to meet and greet each other. Players from Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Japan, and of course Brazil were found.

On Friday the 11th the matches began. The first two rounds of the Ibero American Go Championship were played with a lunch break in between. After each round, very interesting game commentaries were given by the pro players. Later on, simultaneous games were arranged so that each professional would play five games.

On the morning of Saturday the 12th, the final match of the Pandanet Latin American Team Championship took place. The top two teams in the League, Colombia and Mexico, were facing each other. The team for Colombia was Felipe Burgos, Fernando Manrique, and Brandal Henao; and for Mexico, Abraham Florencia, Emil Garcia, and Sebastian Rios. The match went 3-0 for Mexico which makes them the champion for the third time in a row. After the match, Mateuz Surma 2p reviewed the first-board game between Abraham and Felipe for everybody.

Afterwards, another twp rounds of the Ibero Championship took place on the same scheme as the day before. In the evening, what has by now become a Latin American Go Congress tradition took place: Crazy Go, run by Terry Benson. Several kinds of boards and variations were on display, through which contestants could enjoy go in a relaxed and playful atmosphere. Afterwards, pro players and contestants got the chance to enjoy an exquisite Brazilian spades dinner buffet and toast for the beautiful job done by the Brazilian Go Association.

On the morning of Sunday the 13th, the 4th Latin American Pair Go Championship was played among seven couples of different nationalities. After three rounds there was only one undefeated pair, Cho Hyeyeon 9p and Theo Oliveira 12k. Even though their level difference was really big, they accomplished an almost flawless gameplay, so claiming the title.

Later on, the last two Ibero Championship rounds were played. On the fifth round, the top board match between Argentina’s Fernando Aguilar and Mexico’s defending champion Abraham Florencia brought together some of the best go in Latin America. It was a tense match in which Mexico´s Abraham Florencia managed to prevail. You can watch a video broadcast of the match here.

On the sixth and final round only two players remained undefeated, Abraham Florencia 5d and Yuichiro Shimawaki 7d from Japan, who had defeated Brazilian Wang Seng Feng on the previous round. The final game was highly attractive and many of the contestants who had already finished their games gathered to watch the live broadcast made on the Brazil Nihon Ki-in twitch channel. You may watch the video here. In the end, the Japanese player Yuichiro Shimawaki ended up as the reigning champion. You may view the final standings of the Championship through this link.

Rounding up, the congress turned out to be a fantastic experience on which the effort of Brazilian organisers such as Felipe Van Riemsdijk and Thiago Augusto among others is something worth to acknowledge. The next Latin American Go Congress in 2020 will take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, so stay tuned for new updates!

Report by Emil García

The 2020 Australian Go Congress will be held between 13th to 16th February 2020 in Sydney.

There is a prize pool of $10,000 shared across the divisions, so 30 people will receive a cash prize.

As with previous Congresses the first two days are dedicated to teaching, simultaneous games and ‘side’ tournaments; the tournaments are played over the weekend. Full details of the timetable and registration are on the Congress website.

Among other participants, there is a Korean tourist group who will take time from playing golf and sightseeing to play at the Congress: we expect around 20 players ranging in strength from 1 kyu to 5 dan from that group.

There are pages also in Chinese, Korean and Japanese on the Congress website.

You can keep track of this event and more on the IGF Events Calendar. If you have your own submission to the calendar, don’t hesitate to fill out our Event Submission Form!

The impressive tournament venue

This year the European Student Go Championship took place on 28–29 September in my home town Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. It was my pleasure to be present there both days, reviewing games for the participants and helping the organisers of the tournament.

Participants on a stroll after the tournament

I was a bit jealous of the participants for their being able to play in such luxurious conditions. All participants had free accommodation and there was €1.000 prize fund, but the winners also got prizes provided by the European Go Federation: trips to the World Student Pair Go Championship in Japan and the ‘College Championship’, sponsored by the Ing Foundation.

The winner of the tournament was Lukas Podpera 7d from Czechia. He won all the five games he played.

Here are the top three places:

• Lukas Podpera 7d (Czechia)
• Alexander Matushkin 5d (Russia)
• Valerii Krushelnytskyi 5d (Ukraine)

Besides the tournament itself, thanks to the sponsor there were many things to enjoy: e.g., pizza for lunch, free rides on an electrical scooter, and a party at a pub after the end of the tournament.

For more information please read an article on the EGF website.

Report by Artem

From August 19th to 25th the Chinese Weiqi Association (CWA) celebrated its 3rd Chinese Go Congress in the city of Rizhao, Shandong province, China.

‘New China’s Weiqi Achievements over 70 Years’ exhibition

On the last days of the Congress, from August 23rd to 25th, the ‘Worldwide Weiqi Organization Leaders Friendly Match’ took place. In it representatives of go associations from over 55 countries, including Japan and Korea, gathered for a shared presentation on history and development of go in their communities.

The three-day event started on the 23rd with the opening ceremony and a banquet dinner on the Landbridge Jinjiang Hotel bowl room. Welcoming words were given by Yi Wang, Vice President of the IGF and Secretary General of the CWA.

Final match between FineArt and Golaxy

Next on Saturday 25th, participants were taken to the Rizhao Technology and Cultural Centre, the Congress main venue. On the main hall, CWA President Mr Lin Jianchao gave a conference about China’s new perspective on go and their philosophy of the game.

After the conference, participants were taken to the exhibitions the congress venue offered such as the ‘New China’s Weiqi Achievements over 70 Years’ and the ‘New China’s Weiqi books over 70 years’ which consisted of a large photograph record and a book display. We found out there that Mr Lin Jianchao is actually a General of the Chinese Military.

Friendly match with Chinese officers and players

On this same day the final match of the ‘2019 China Securities Cup World A.I. Weiqi Open’ was being played between FineArt and Golaxy. The winner turned out to be FineArt by two games to three. You may check the kifus here. It’s also worth mentioning that the Golaxy team had its go android playing games with the assistants.

On the top floor games of the Huawei Cup China City League took place, where we had players such as Chen Yaoye and Ke Jie. On the other hall of the Centre, most of the space was for tables on which massive tournaments took place. In the remaining space a big vendor area offered several kinds of go equipment and supplies.

Associating activity

At the end of this day, a friendly match was played between the international leaders and Chinese officials and players. Some of them were professional and some other had bonds with the Chinese Weiqi Association. After the game, with the aid of translators, the international leaders got the chance to talk to their Chinese counterparts about ideas to promote go worldwide.

On the last day of the event a worldwide go leaders associating activity took place in the Landbridge Hotel bowl room. A round table setting was arranged so each country representative had the chance to talk about the history of go in his/her country and of what they are doing to promote the game.

At last at the Technology and Cultural Centre a closing ceremony with a Shaolin exhibit and Chinese opera took place and farewell words from General Lin were given.

Undoubtedly this turned out to be a great experience for all the Associations representatives and it raises a lot of expectations on the new role China intends to play in the international go scene.

You may look at a very extensive photo album on the Congress here.

Report by Emil García