IGF has no political or religious objectives. As the participation in our championships shows, the IGF considers it a main objective to strive for the inclusion of women, children and the elderly. Any barrier for these groups will be actively tackled. In our World Championship in 2005 the youngest player was 12 and the eldest 75. Our championship is open to men and women and several times a woman achieved an award-winning position (i.e. finished in the top 8). Our positive action policy is highlighted by our support for Pair Go (a discipline where a woman and man form a team together). Go is a sport of harmony, in which the players cooperate to construct a world on the Go board. We believe that Go, as a means of communication that transcends the barriers of race, religion, age and language, is going to play an ever more important role in the hearts and lives of men, women, young and old. From this philosophy players get a great deal of responsibility to ensure a proper conclusion of a game. Furthermore, the rules of Go are very simple and pure, so a problem almost never occurs during a tournament. If it does happen, there are qualified referees and tournament organisers who have the capacity to realise an acceptable outcome for all parties involved. Therefore, the IGF is willing to adopt and implement the World Anti-Doping Code. We would like to stress that the IGF feels that SportAccord can assist us and other members to improve our organisations so that we live up to the requirements that society, our members and the players will expect. Fair play, arbitration and doping are a top priority and we look forward to cooperating on these issues.

Objectives

The IGF strives to promote the sport of Go, as laid down in our statutes. The aims of the IGF are to advance the techniques and spirit of Go throughout the world, to promote amicable relations among the members of the IGF, and to improve the organization of world Go. The members of the IGF are the organizations connected with Go in each country or territory.

• The IGF carries out the following main activities.
• The organization of the World Amateur Go Championship and other international Go tournaments.
• The publication and distribution to members of up-to-date information on world Go activities through a periodical bulletin and/or the IGF home page on the Internet

Other activities contributing to the international development of Go.
The IGF works together with organisations that share these objectives in order to be able to reach our mutual aims effectively and efficiently.

Strategic Plan

In line with the SportAcord mission, the IGF has made cooperation between Mind Sports and with Sportaccord a priority in our mid-term plan. From the moment the IGF was accepted as member of SportAccord, we have actively participated in the establishment of the International Mind Sport Association (initially known as the World Mind Sports Federation or Confederation). The IGF is proud to be among the founder members of IMSA. The cooperation within the IMSA is instrumental in realising long-term goals of the IGF:

• Promoting the sport of Go around the world
• Increasing the number of members of the IGF
• Strengthening the organisation and administration of the IGF and our members, e.g. by distributing promotion and teaching materials
• Increasing the playing level by sending coaches to instruct players and developing the Internet as an opportunity to play and promote Go worldwide.