European Go: Start of Year 2020
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).
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