The 2nd LAGC turned out to be a mixture of cultural exchange, Go frenzy and emotional overflow. Here comes the full report:

Most of the participants arrived on Friday 12th afternoon on which the registration opened at Porta Hotel Antigua, where friends from old times met and new friendships began to grow.
The Guatemala Igo Club staff was very caring and gave the participants a feel of being home from the very start. The Hotel setting was superb, filled with artesanal crafts and in a colonial and cozy architecture. On Saturday morning the start flag was waved. Welcoming words from Jose Romero Guatemala Igo Club president and Emil García Ibero American Go Federation president were given. Next a very emotional speech was given by Edgardo Cáceres who talked about Hans Pietsch and his enormous legacy, tears couldn’t be stopped since it was in his arms where Hans gave his last breath 15 years ago.

After the opening ceremony the 20th Ibero American Go Championship started. A 43 player field stored the back of the Congress Hall for the first 2 rounds. After the rounds, lunch buffet was served besides the pool giving the participants a feel of luxury and comfort.
After lunch Zirui Song’s 1p lecture on his own game at the US Go Congress was given. Simultaneously the final match of the 2nd Pandanet Go Latin American Team Championship was played between Mexico and Chile, in which Mexico defended the title with a perfect 3-0 score.
Later on simul games offered by Cho Hye-yeon 9p, Eun-kyo Do 1p and Zirui Song 1p, the first two from Korean Baduk Association and the latter from American Go Association were given.The day ended with the first round of the 3rd Ibero American Pair Go Championship with 6 couples playing. A nice dinner on a traditional restaurant on the iconic street of the Arc in Antigua was held after the busy first day.

Second day held the next two rounds of the Ibero Championship, a lecture about Under the stones was given by Cho Hye-yeon 9p while simultaneously the 2nd Latin American Youth Go Championship took place. Afterwards simuls were given again by the 3 invited pros.
At last, the second round of the Pair Go Championship was played and a Crazy Go activity was run by Terry Benson, president of the American Go Foundation, who by the way gave many insights to the organizers about his experiences in building Go Congresses and Go organizations.

The third day the schedule went pretty way the same with the distinctive that Eun-kyo Do 1p gave her 1st lecture as a professional player (she recently became pro in Korea, at the age of 33, giving hope to many elderly players in achieving this goal).
Finally the closing ceremony was full of emotion and happiness with words from Edgardo Caceres, Eduardo Lopez vice president of IGF who celebrated the uprise of this new movement in Latin America and Jose Romero delivering trophies and awards to Abraham Florencia of Mexico who came up as Ibero Champion, to Mexico as Pandanet Champion, to David Ramirez of Colombia as Youth Champion and to Eun-Kyo Do and Hector Paiz from Guatemala as Pair Go Champions.

It was a fantastic event which strengthens the Latin American Go community and in which the Guatemala Igo Club got a perfect 10 in organization. Congratulations!! Check out the event’s full album on the Congress Website. Host country for the next Latin American Go Congress it’s still not decided, but candidates have already raised their hand. Soon a Ibero American Go Federation assembly will take place where next year venue will be decided! Stay tuned for more info on the Ibero Go Federation webpage.

Report by Emil García-president of the Ibero American Go Federation-