Directors from Latin America and China

On April 27, the signature ceremony of the ‘Strategic Cooperation Agreement’ between Ibero American Go Federation and the Chinese Weiqi Association CWA took place through an online ceremony.

Latin American directors Treasurer, Diego Guerrero from Venezuela, Secretary, Luciano Salerno from Argentina, and President, Emil García from Mexico connected via Voov, which is China’s Tencent video conference platform in its International version.

CWA officers were physically present in Beijing, with the presence of CWA’s Secretary General Wang Yi, Vicepresident Chang Hao and President Lin Jianchao among others.

During the ceremony, pre-recorded speeches from Latin American National Association’s Presidents were given by both Chinese Weiqi Association and Ibero American Go Federation presidents, where it’s worth pointing out Mr Lin Jianchao’s words: ‘The cooperation will focus on the practical difficulties and needs encountered in the development of weiqi in Latin America … The Latin American region has made significant progress in weiqi and has become one of the regions with the most potential for the development of weiqi in the world.’

The 3-year agreement aim is to promote the development of go in Latin America, and to deepen exchanges and cooperation between China and Latin American people through go. It is based on seven main points:

1 Weiqi Equipment Support Program
Go Equipment and electronics will be provided from China to develop local gameplay in Latin America

2 Weiqi Cultural Forum
A platform for exchanging cultural perspectives between both parties where topics of shared interest will be discussed.

3 Latin American Go Congress
Its organisation will be supported by the CWA along with the participation of Chinese professional players both online and onsite.

4 Latin American Weiqi Championship Circuit
Supported by the CWA, assistance will be provided to organise National Weiqi Championships held by each National Go Association taking part in the Circuit, which must be no less than four countries per edition. Winners of each of the Championships in the Circuit will play in a final match to decide the ultimate Circuit Champion.

5 China-Latin America Series
Team matches between China and Latin America are divided in four categories: Youth, Female, Mixed Doubles and Open.
This has already started as an online match and has the expectation of becoming a live match either in China or a Latin American country in the near future.

6 Development of Youth and Women
Competitions, training, and exchanges are forecasted.

7 Talent Training Program
Assistance to train players, trainers and referees with the assistance of Chinese players, trainers and referees will be given as a seminar during the Latin American Go Congress.

As of now the 1st Female Latin America-China Series has taken place and the Youth Series will be played in July. It’s also worth mentioning that five countries have proposed themselves to be part of the 1st Latin American Weiqi Championship Circuit for this year, these being: Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Mexico.

This seems to be a very promising scenario for Latin American Go, so we expect to hear more about this agreement soon.

Report by Emil García