Website of The International Go Federation

The 43rd World Amateur Go Championship was held in Shenzhen, China, on 14–19 December. The 2023 World Amateur Champion is Kim Jung Seon from South Korea, sweeping the field with a 7-0 scorecard. Chinese player Yang Chukun placed second with 6 wins. Lai Yu-Cheng (Chinese Taipei) came third. Players from 3rd to 11th place all had 5 wins and were separated only by SOS and SOSx tiebreakers. Full results are shown below (click on the image to open a larger version).

The host city’s stated aim is to be a leading hub for Weiqi, simultaneously staging the 3rd GBA Cup Chinese Master Championship in the same impressive venue, the 1990 Bao’an Cultural Center. The Cup is a major pro tournament in China, attracting many professional players who dropped in to observe the amateur games. Winner of the qualifying tournament Yang Kaiwen defeated Defending Champion Ding Hao to take the CN¥500000 first prize.

A notable feature of the amateur event was the youth of some of the players, with 6 of the players under 21 years of age. Yang Chukun is only 14 and is clearly destined for stardom. Sornarra Pongsakarn (Thailand), who took 6th place, is just 16. The youngest player was 10 year old Barcza Bende (Hungary). His fighting style caused problems for all his opponents and netted him four victims.

There were more new faces than usual, players who will be going home freshly inspired and at least one stone stronger.

For all players present and visiting officials, the organisation and hospitality provided was exceptional. The level of support, particularly from the amazing team of volunteers from Bao’an weiqi clubs and universities, was unprecedented: it seemed there were helpful young people in yellow vests on every street corner making sure no-one got lost!

The International Go Federation held its Board and Annual General Meetings under the chairmanship of President Chang Hao. Regrettably missing was Vice President Thomas Hsiang, long a guiding hand for the IGF, who has had to retire for medical reasons; Professor Hsiang will continue to assist the IGF in the role of Counsellor. His position as Vice President will be assumed by Martin Stiassny, President of the European Go Federation. New members countries admitted to the IGF are Kyrgyzstan and the Dominican Republic, bringing the total number of countries to 79. An innovation of particular note was agreement to provide financial assistance for countries outside the ‘3 Powers’ China, Japan and Korea, to host the WAGC — to date only Bangkok and Vladivostok have done so. The intention is to enhance the international status of the IGF, and incidentally to lessen the constant burden on the original three countries as finding sponsorship becomes increasingly difficult.

Next year Japan takes the rotating Presidency of the IGF. The WAGC will be held in Tokyo, on the occasion of the celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the Nihon Ki-in.

Report by Neville Smythe

Lukáš Podpěra 7d and Adriana Tomšů 2d, pair from Czechia

The 33rd World Amateur Pair Go Championship was held in Tokyo on 2–3 December. This event brought together 32 pairs from Asia, Europe, and America. China’s Wang Chen 8d and Chen Si 6d remained undefeated after five rounds and thus were crowned the champions.

Europe was represented by pairs from six countries: Czechia, Germany, United Kingdom, Poland, Israel, and Spain. After five rounds, the most successful was the pair from Czechia: Lukáš Podpěra 7d and Adriana Tomšů 2d, who took 14th place. Manja Marz 4d and Johannes Obenaus 6d, the European Pair Go Champions from Germany, finished 15th.

For the complete results, see the web page of the 33rd World Amateur Pair Go Championship.

Report by Artem

This year’s Grand Slam tournament sponsored by the CEGO took place in the picturesque center of Prague on 19–22 October. The 16 strongest European players gathered to battle in a knockout for the most prestigious European title.

After four rounds, Mateusz Surma 3p remained undefeated and thus claimed the Grand Slam, repeating his success from 2019 in Berlin. He took home the largest prize in the European go scene: €10,000.

In the final Mateusz beat Fredrik Blomback 7d by 4.5 points. You can see the record of this game below. Fredrik has been demonstrating high performance recently: he took 3rd place in the Grand Slam last year, and 4th and 3rd places in the European Championship this year and last year, respectively.

In the match for the 3rd place, Pavol Lisy 2p beat Nikola Mitic 7d.

For more information, visit the web page of the CEGO Grand Slam 2023.

Report by Artem

Participants of the European Student Championship in Timisoara

This year’s European Student Championship was held on 15–16 September in Timisoara, Romania. The Student Championship is traditionally one of the smallest EGF events and this time it brought together five participants who played out a round robin.

Dobranis brothers Denis 5d and Darius 3d topped the tournament table in the end with one defeat only. They tied in all the tie-breakers but since Denis beat his brother in the last round – he was crowned the champion. Third came Boris Dovcik 2d who lost only to Denis and Darius; the fourth and fifth places went to Daniel Dobridoreanu 1d and  Daria-Maria Mesesan 3k. respectively.

The complete tournament table is available at the EGD.

Report by Artem

Last June, the Ibero American Go Federation decided in an extraordinary assembly to designate the Dominican Republic as the host country for the 5th Latin American Go Congress, to be held on 12–16 October in the Caribbean city of Punta Cana.

Within this event the following Championships will take place:

• 23rd Ibero American Go Championship
• 5th Latin American Youth Go Championship
• 6th Ibero American Pair Go Championship
• 3rd Latin American Female Go Championship
• Final match of the 7th Pandanet Latin American Go Team Championship between Brazil and Peru

In addition to these events, the congress will feature professional players who will do lectures, game reviews and play simultaneous games with the participants.

The venue of the Congress will be the Hotel Impressive Punta Cana, located on the coast of the Caribbean Sea. Some cheaper hotels close to the venue include Palmas de Punta Cana, Terraza Art Villa Dominicana, and Hotel Art Villa Dominicana.

The event is co-organised by the ‘Asociación Dominicana de Go’ and the Mexican Go Association.

For further information and to register, please visit the Congress website.