Mateusz (right) with Martin Stiassny, President of the EGF
Below you can see the deciding game between Mateusz and Andrii. For more game records and complete results, see the web page of the 7th European Professional Championship.
Report by Artem
Two important European events will be held in Hamburg soon: the European Youth Championship and the European Professional Championship.
The Youth Championship is scheduled for 21–23 March and will be split into three age categories: U12, U18, and U21. The organisers also invite all the participants to a Youth Camp preceding the main event for three days, 18–20 March, where professionals and top European amateurs will teach. You can find more details here.
The 7th Professional Championship is planned for 20–23 March. Six European professionals will play a round-robin during the first three days. If any participants have equal scores after the round-robin, additional games will be played on the last tournament day as tie-breakers.
List of participants:
The games will be broadcast on the OGS and commented live on the EGF Twitch channel by the top European players.
Besides the generous prize money, the three players topping the tournament table will qualify for the European team in the Chinese C League, which is supposed to be held this summer. For more information, visit the web page of the 7th European Professional Championship.
Report by Artem
Round 5 of League A of the Pandanet European Team Championship was held on 30 January and the online stage of the tournament passed the middle of the season, which consists of nine rounds.
Results of the matches on round 5:
Ukraine v. Sweden: 4-0
Hungary v. Germany: 1-3
Netherlands v. Poland: 2-2
Israel v. Romania: 4-0
Czechia v. France: 1-3
After five rounds, the team of France leads with nine points, Ukraine goes second with eight points, and three teams follow with seven points: Czechia, Israel, and Germany. After the online stage is over, the top four teams of League A will qualify to a face-to-face final at the European Go Congress 2024 in Toulouse.
Below is a record of the game played between Lukas Podpera and Tanguy Le Calve on the first board of the match between the Czech and French teams.
Report by Artem
Xingke Sun 7d bested Guanyu Song 7d in the American Collegiate Go Association’s debut event, the ACGA Virtual Pilot Tournament. The 28 December online event attracted undergraduates and graduates from over 20 universities across Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Both Song and Sun are recognised as top amateurs in North America. Song, a University of Toronto student, won the three-round single-elimination North American qualifier held on 23–24 December 2023. Meanwhile, Xingke Sun, a University of Wisconsin Madison student, won with a 5-0 record in the 2023 Chicago Rapid held in November.
In their ACGA Virtual Pilot Tournament final match, a decisive ko fight unfolded in the top right corner. Sun, playing white, resolved the ko to secure a favorable position that solidified his lead. (See the game here).
Taylor Shu 6D, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology student, clinched third place by triumphing over opponents Qingyang Tang 6d, Ninghan Duan 7d, and Moxuan Liu 6d.
More than 70 players gathered at the San Francisco Go Club earlier this month for the North American Ing Go Cup. Demonstrating their exceptional skill and strategy, Rui Naiwei and Duan Ninghan shared first place in the Open section, while Jeremy Chiu claimed third place.
‘Integral to the event’s success was the generous sponsorship of the Ing Foundation, whose support was instrumental in bringing this vibrant gathering to life,’ reports the SFGC. ‘Their contribution not only facilitated the tournament but also reinforced the spirit of the Go community.’ The 7 January tournament, divided into various sections including an open section and a handicap section, saw players of all levels vying for top honours. ‘The presence of 9-dan professional players Jiang Zhujiu and Rui Naiwei elevated the event, infusing it with their profound expertise and inspiring the participants,’ added the SFGC.
Click here for the complete report, including winners in other divisions.
Podium of the TIGGRE – Ellie Cup. Kim Dohyup, the winner, is in a black jacket 7th from the left
The TIGGRE – Ellie Cup is a large annual European competition traditionally held in Grenoble, France. This year it took place on 28–29 January and brought together 158 participants. The winner was well-known to European Go fans, Kim Dohyup 7d, who remained undefeated in all five rounds. Ali Jabarin 2p and Lukas Podpera 7d lost one game out of five and finished second and third, respectively.
Complete results and more information can be found on the TIGGRE – Ellie Cup website.
Below is a record of the game from round 5 between Kim Dohyup 7d and Cornel Burzo 6d.
Report by Artem
The North American Online League (NAOL) is wrapping up its inaugural year with the conclusion of its sixth 2-month season, gearing up for Season 7, scheduled to kick off in 2024.
Registration* for the upcoming season is now open, marking a milestone for the league as it continues to gain momentum. Access to the league and game reviews remains a complimentary offering for members of the American Go Association (AGA), as well as members of the Canadian and Mexican Go associations.
In the course of 2023, the NAOL has seen an impressive tally of over 1600 matches played, reflecting the vibrant engagement within the league. Emphasising its international character, the league boasts participation from three countries, including Mexico (32 players), Canada (90) and the US (253).
The community-oriented enhancements implemented in 2023 have further enriched the player experience. Participants now have the ability to specify their general availability aligned with appropriate time zones, facilitating smoother scheduling. Additionally, players can optionally include their Discord handles, fostering better communication and connectivity within the league. Further streamlining the process, automatic match reminders and scheduling notifications are dispatched via email, aiding players in keeping track of their engagements.
Each season in the NAOL structure comprises five round-robin games for players grouped alongside six similarly rated peers. Game ratings are published on Leago, the league’s designated management software. Matchdays are fixed on Tuesday evenings, with selected games being subjected to review sessions on Wednesday evenings. Notably, each player is entitled to one or more reviews per season from the NAOL’s team, comprising esteemed high dan and professional reviewers.
The NAOL team, highlighted recently in the E-Journal, is a formidable assembly, consisting of key figures integral to the league’s success. The team’s lineup features Milan Mladenovic, NAOL TD; Nick Prince, Leago creator; Michael Chen (1p), Shawn Ray (4d), Ben Mantle (5d), Kevin Yang (7d), Josh Allen (5d), Chris Sagner (5d), Yilun Yang (7p), and Alexander Qi (1p).
* Must be a resident of the U.S., Canada, or Mexico; to register, change Season 6 to Season 7 at the top of the Leago page, then click Sign In and you will be prompted to join.
Guanyu Song will represent North America at the 22nd World Students Go Oza Championship in Tokyo, Japan in February 2024.
The World Students Go Oza Championship was founded in 2003 and continues to be organised by students as a way for top undergraduate university players around the world to meet and compete with each other and determine the world’s top student player.
Song won the North American qualifier in late December. The qualifier consisted of the eight highest-rated players among those registered and was a 3-round single-elimination tournament held on KGS on 23–24 December. The first round saw no upsets with the top four seeds, all 7d players, taking down their opposition. The second and third rounds were held the next day, both with an online proctor to ensure the integrity of the games. Guanyu Song 7d and Lambert Lee 7d took down Shang Zhou 7d and Brady Zhang 7d respectively, setting the stage for the final round. Lambert had won the qualifier last year, and winning the final game would qualify him to be the North American representative for a second year in a row. ‘However,’ reports Justin Teng, ‘Guanyu held strong and defeated Lambert by killing a large dragon, and overall Guanyu exhibited stable play throughout the tournament.’
Song is currently studying computer science at the University of Toronto and planning to pursue further education in the field of artificial intelligence. ‘I learned Go at a young age in China and moved to Canada when I was 14,’ he said. ‘Since then, I’ve been very active in the North America Go community through teaching and competing. I love to explore different cultures and meet new friends, which makes this championship an invaluable opportunity for me.’
European Grand Prix Finale podium, left to right: Stanislaw Frejlak 1p (3rd place), Lukas Podpera 7d (runner-up), Cornel Burzo (winner), Martin Stiassny (EGF President)
The European Grand Prix Finale, a tournament concluding the Grand Prix tournament series, took place in London on 28–31 December last year. Ten participants were split into two groups playing out a round-robin followed by the semi-finals and final.
The winner was Cornel Burzo 6d, who finished second in his group and defeated Ho-Yeung Woo 6d and Lukas Podpera 7d in the semi-final and final, respectively. Third came last year’s winner Stanislaw Frejlak 1p. For more information, see the 2023 European Grand Prix Finale web page.
Below you can see a record of the final game played between Cornel Burzo 6d and Lukas Podpera 7d.
Report by Artem
Mateusz Surma 3p wins CEGO Grand Slam 2023
The European Go scene was full of exciting events in 2023. Let’s recall the most important of them.
The Grand Prix Finale, concluding last year’s Grand Prix series, took place in Grenoble, France on 25–27 January. The winner was Stanislaw Frejlak 1p.
The 7th Professional Qualification Tournament consisted of two stages held in Brno, Czechia on 25–26 February and 10–12 March, respectively. Jan Simara beat Lukas Podpera in the final match and thus was certified a professional player by the EGF.
The 28th Youth Go Championship took place on 22–25 March in Ankara, Turkey and brought together 87 players from 11 countries. The winner in the U12 category was Alper Sulak 2d, U16 – Vsevolod Ovsiienko 5d, U20 – Denis Dobranis 5d.
The Women’s Championship took place in Strasbourg on 13–14 May. Li Ting 1p remained undefeated and thus was crowned the Champion.
The 6th Professional Championship took place online on 21-25 June and brought together eight European professional players. The winner was Mateusz Surma 2p who was also promoted to 3-dan professional after this victory.
The 65th European Go Congress (EGC) took place in Leipzig on 22 July–5 August and traditionally hosted the European Championship and the Pandanet European Team Championship, won by Andrii Kravets 1p and the Ukrainian Team, respectively. The biggest event of the EGC, Open European Championship, brought together almost 700 participants from more than 30 countries. The winner was Ryu Insu 7d.
The Pair Go Championship was held on 16–18 August in Leksand, Sweden and the winners were Manja Marz 4d and Johannes Obenaus 6d from Germany.
The Student Championship was held on 15–16 September in Timisoara, Romania. The Student Championship is usually one of the smallest EGF events and this time it brought together five participants who played out a round robin. The winner was Denis Dobranis 5d.
The 2023 Transatlantic Professional Go Team Championship was held online. The NAGF (North American Go Federation) team won the first two rounds on September 16th and 30th with a score of 3-0. The EGF team won the last round on October 7th with a score of 2-1, so the final score was 2-1 in favour of the American team.
The Grand Slam was organiSed in Prague on 19–22 October. Mateusz Surma 3p was victorious, repeating his success from 2019 in Berlin.
It was a bright and successful year for European Go. Let’s hope that the next year will bring us even more joy on the Go board and beyond!
Report by Artem