History of IGF
The sport of Go is over 3000 years old. Originating in China, it first conquered East Asia where Go is considered an essential element of education and culture. Because of these dimensions, the Go associations in the Asian countries have always had strong ties with government, business and media. This makes Go in Asia not only the most played mind sport, with over 40 million participants, but also a spectator sport, with even more fans following games and tournaments in newspapers and on television.
Since the beginning of the last century the sport of Go has spread around the world. In the Americas this development started in Brazil and the USA. In Europe Go was introduced in Germany and the Netherlands. The European Go Federation was founded in 1959.
In particular, Japan has supported the overseas promotion of Go. A major turning point was the organisation of the first World Amateur Go Championship in 1979, supported by the Japanese government, the Japan Go Association and Japan Airlines, This event brought together the top players and officials from the major Go-playing countries. This gathering led to the founding of the International Go Federation on 18th March 1982, with 29 founding members. As of June 2007 the IGF has 70 members on all continents. In three years six new members on three continents joined the IGF. In the same period participation in our World Championship increased from 56 to 65 countries, and then more. At the moment we are in contact with four new countries on four continents, so we are confident of reaching 75 members in 2008.
Of the 70 members of the IGF, Europe counts 35 countries, Asia 15, the Americas 15, Africa 3 and Oceania 2 countries. The total number of players in these countries is well over 40 million, the overwhelming majority in East Asia.
The Ranka Yearbook is published annually, 20 times up to 2005.
The International Go Federation is a founding member of IMSA and was granted full membership of the General Association of International Sports Federations on 7th April 2006 at the 40th General Assembly in Seoul, Korea, a step which should help IGF members in seeking membership of their respective NOC or national sports authority. Provisional membership had been gained on 20th May 2004.
