China Wins 1st China v. Europe Online Go Tournament

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Yu Suhao 6d (China)

The 1st China v. Europe Online Go Tournament took place on the YIKE Go Server from March 31 till April 12. Ten European players competed against ten Chinese players in a ‘win-and-continue’ format.

After losing on the first round, the European team won the following two games. After that, Yu Suhao 6d from China came into play, and eliminated all the remaining European players by winning nine games in a row. The result is a victory of the Chinese team with 10-2 score.

For more information, please see the following links:
Results and game records
Review of the tournament on the EGF website

Report by Artem

Mateusz Surma EGF 2p Confirmed for Bootcamp at 4th Latin American Go Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina

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The Argentinian Go Association has previously announced that Mateusz Surma 2p from the European Go Federation will be running an intensive training bootcamp at the 4th Latin American Go Congress, from October 5th to 9th 2020, prior to the main Championship weekend of the Congress from October 10th to 12th.

Mateusz has previously held a two-week boot camp in Sao Paolo, Brazil, during the 3rd Latin American Congress in 2019 where 12 players from Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Mexico, and Brazil did intensive training consisting of daily tournament games, game reviews, and life and death problems.

We interviewed Sebastian Rios 3d from Mexico, who participated in the 2019 bootcamp with Mateusz, to gather his impressions:

In which way was the boot camp a new experience to you?
Sebastian: Having the chance to get direct feedback from a pro was a great experience. Mateusz broadened my horizons, and he made me realise mistakes in my game which I did not notice before.

Do you think the bootcamp helped improve your level? If it did, why?
Sebastian: I think it did help me improve. The thing I liked the most were Mateusz’s game reviews. Nowadays, before making a move, I ask myself many of the questions he made during the reviews.

What are the reasons that would make you participate again in such an event?
Sebastian: Having contact with the go community is always very nice, also for keep improving.

So, if you are interested in improving your play with one of the strongest players in Europe, Buenos Aires 2020 bootcamp is worth considering!

Follow any updates on the bootcamp on the Congress website or in Argentina Go Association Facebook page.

Report by Emil García

4th Pandanet Latin American Go League Launches with Increased Roster of 14 Countries

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In 2020, two new teams are joining the Pandanet Go Latin American Team Championship: Panama and Cuba. This adds up to a total of 14 countries that are playing in the 4th season of this event, which started in January.

Cuba’s participation was made possible by the support of the American Go Foundation, which provided the funds for the internet connection of Cuba’s team. Internet connection on the island country is still quite expensive to afford.

A new feature for this season is that the 14 teams are divided in two leagues. At the end of the season, the top two teams of league B rise to league A, and the bottom two teams of league A correspondingly fall to league B.

The league is played over eight rounds. Every team plays all six teams in its league and two teams from the other league. At the end of the season, the top two teams in league A play a final match at the 4th Latin American Go Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina in October.

The 5th Round is taking place on April 19th UTC-6 on the Latin American Team Champ room on the Pandanet go server.

Report by Emil García

Latin American Youth Teams to Travel to the US Go Congress 2020

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The American Go Foundation is sponsoring two Latin American Youth teams to visit the 2020 US Go Congress. The first chosen team is the winner of the 2019 Orion Tournament, an online team match organised by the ‘Asociación de Go Latino Juvenil‘ and supported by the Ibero American Go Federation, FIG. The second team comes from a recently approved sponsorship which is intended to broaden the spectrum of Latin American youth players to visit the US Go Congress.

For the first team, the winner of the 2019 Orion tournament turned out to be Mexico’s ‘Escuela de Arte Pipiolo’, whose three players and a team leader have all costs covered at the congress.

For the second team, Chile was appointed by the Ibero American Go Federation to build up the team. According to FIG, if this kind of support keeps continuing, each year a different country will be chosen to participate. For this team, too, all costs within the congress for three players and their team leader.

The US Go Congress will take place in the YMCA of the Rockies, Colorado, from August 1st to 9th, and there the children will have the chance to play in the US Open, attend lectures by professionals and participate in the numerous side tournaments the congress has to offer, such as pair go and lightning go.

There’s no doubt that this is a great opportunity for cultural exchange and to make new friends through playing go.

Report by Emil García

1st China v. Europe Online Go Tournament Has Started

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On March 31, a new competition has started: The 1st China v. Europe Online Go Tournament.

The tournament has a ‘win-and-continue’ format. There are two participating teams, European and Chinese, each consisting of ten players. Each round, one game is played between a pair of players from the two teams. The winner keeps playing in the next round, while the loser gets eliminated. The tournament continues until one of the teams doesn’t have any players left. The other team becomes the winner of the tournament.

The European team consists of some strong amateur players and a few professional players. The Chinese team has amateurs players only, a few of which are top Chinese amateurs and former world champions.

The tournament is played online on YIKE Go Server daily at 12:00 UTC+2.

For more information please see the following links:
Official tournament webpage
An article about the 1st China v. Europe Online Go Tournament on the EGF website

Report by Artem

WAGC 2020 in Vladivostok Postponed to Summer 2021

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The 2020 World Amateur Go Championship (WAGC) will be postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 2021 WAGC was originally to be organised by the Korea Baduk Association, but the Baduk Association and the Russian Go Federation have formally agreed that in 2021 the tournament will be held by Russia.

The exact date of the 2021 WAGC is not yet known, but the tournament is planned to be held in the summer.

European Go During COVID-19 Outbreak

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Since the coronavirus (COVID-19) appeared in Europe and people realised how serious the danger is, many emergency measures have been applied: borders are closing, flights are cancelled, and in many countries people are asked to stay home in quarantine. Obviously, such a situation strongly influences go life in Europe as well.

The European Youth Go Championship in Croatia was the last tournament before countries started to apply powerful measures such as closing their borders. In fact, the tournament took place just as some countries started applying such measures. Some of the participants even had to ask for the help of their countries’ embassies to return home, because their flights and bus trips were getting cancelled.


The European tournament calendar at the time of writing

As there is still hope for the better, some tournaments such as the European Professional Championship and the Grand Slam Qualification have been postponed instead of being cancelled.

Beside all the bad news, there are some good news as well. A new project is starting soon, called the European Professional Online Go League. The games are going to be commented live by one of the European pros. The start is on March 21, 18:00 CET. For more information see the article on the EGF website.

Report by Artem

European Youth Go Championship 2020

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The European Youth Go Championship 2020 took place on 12–14 March in Stubicke Toplice, Croatia. In total 162 young players from all over the Europe competed in three different categories: under 12, under 16, and under 20.

Besides the traditional participation spots at the World Youth Go Championship, among the prizes this year there were also vouchers which can be used for learning or tournament activities.

After six rounds of intense struggle the winners were:
U12: Vsevolod Ovsiienko, 2d, Ukraine
U16: Linh Vu Tu, 4d, France
U20: Anton Chernykh, 6d, Russia

For more information please see the EYGC 2020 website.
Report by Artem


Winners of each category: Vsevolod (left), Linh (middle), and Anton (right)


A participant of the U12 tournament recording their game

European Go: Start of Year 2020

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TIGGRE – Ellie Cup 2020 in Grenoble, France

Year 2020 started traditionally for European Go with the Grand Prix Finale 2019. This tournament brings together the 16 players with the highest Grand Prix scores in the preceding year. The Grand Prix consists of tournaments in which players collect so-called Bonus points. This year the Grand Prix Finale was held from 16 to 19 January in Leksand, Sweden. The winner of the tournament, and therefore the Grand Prix 2019, was Mateusz Surma 2p(Poland). The runner-up was Artem Kachanovskyi 2p (Ukraine).

On the 1st and 2nd February, a tournament called ‘TIGGRE – Ellie Cup’ took place in Grenoble, France. The tournament had 157 participants from 16 countries. The winner was Wu Tian 2p (China), who defeated Ilya Shikshin 3p (Russia) in the final game.

The Winter Go Festival took place in Vatra Dornei, Romania from 9 to 16 February. The festival consists of various events: a SEYGO Tour competition for youth players, an international pair go tournament, and the VaDo Cup international tournament. A total of 57 players participated in the VaDo Cup, while 46 young players competed in the SEYGO Tour. The winner of VaDo Cup this year was Kim Youngsam 7d (South Korea).

The Cup of Consulate General of People’s Republic of China took place on 23–24 February in St Petersburg, Russia. The tournament brought together 133 players from 7 countries. The winner was Kim Seongjin 7d (South Korea), followed by Kim Youngsam 7d (South Korea) and Ilya Shikshin 3p (Russia).


European and Korean players reviewing a game at the tournament in St Petersburg

For more information you can see the following articles:
European Grand Prix Finale 2019, IGF website
TIGGRE – Ellie Cup 2020, EGF website
Winter Go Festival 2020, EGF website
Cup of Consulate General of PRC results, European Go Database

Report by Artem

2020 World Amateur Women’s Go Championship Cancelled

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Cancellation of the 2020 World Women’s Go Championship (WAWGC) was determined on 18 February due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The WAWGC was planned to be held from 1 till 8 May 2020, before the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.

However, because of the current status of the Coronavirus, the Nihon Ki-in board discussed about whether to cancel the WAWGC in Japan at the board meeting of 18 February.

A director of Nihon Ki-in said: ‘we are obliged to cancel the tournament due to the threat and the uncertainty of the Coronavirus’.

The Nihon Ki-in also decided to postpone the World Go Championship 2020 which was planned to take place in Tokyo from 17 March.