The Grand Slam is one of the most prestigious go competitions in Europe, with a first prize of €10,000. Last year it unfortunately had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, many countries have loosened their travelling restrictions, perhaps due to successful vaccination campaigns. The Grand Slam 2021 is scheduled for 16–19 December and will take place in Belgrade, Serbia.

The tournament will bring together 16 strongest European go players who will battle in a single-elimination competition. All eight professionals certified by the EGF qualify automatically, while the other eight players had to pass a selection. Three of the participants were selected at the Grand Slam Qualification tournament, which took place in Vienna on 11–12 November: Nikola Mitic 7d, Oscar Vazquez 6d, and Matias Pankoke 5d. You can find photos from the event at the EGF’s photo album on Flickr.

Below is the complete list of participants of the coming Grand Slam:

• Ilya Shikshin 4p
• Artem Kachanovskyi 2p
• Mateusz Surma 2p
• Pavol Lisy 2p
• Ali Jabarin 2p
• Stanisław Frejlak 1p
• Andrii Kravets 1p
• Tanguy Le Calvé 1p
• Alexander Dinerchtein 3p
• Lukas Podpera 7d
• Nikola Mitic 6d
• Benjamin Drean-Guenaizia 6d
• Oscar Vazquez 6d
• Viktor Lin 6d
• Cornel Burzo 6d
• Matias Pankoke 6d

For more details visit the web page of the Grand Slam 2021.

The previous Grand Slam was held in 2019 in Berlin. The winner was Mateusz Surma 2p.

Report by Artem