Jonas Welticke 6d Wins Grand Slam Tournament

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The seventh edition of the Grand Slam took place in Niš, Serbia, on December 1–4. The sixteen strongest European players gathered to struggle in a knockout for the largest winner’s prize money in the West – €10,000.

Jonas Welticke 6d made a sensation and won this year’s Grand Slam tournament, defeating Artem Kachanovskyi 2p in the semi-final and Pavol Lisy 2p in the final.

Fredrik Blomback 6d demonstrated great performance as well, beating Mateusz Surma 2p in the quarter-final and Artem Kachanovskyi 2p in the match for third place. It’s worth noting that Fredrik took third place in this year’s European Championship, too.

Final standings, top four:

  1. Jonas Welticke 6d
  2. Pavol Lisy 2p
  3. Fredrik Blomback 6d
  4. Artem Kachanovskyi 2p



For more details, see the web page of the CEGO Grand Slam 2022.

Below you can see a record of the final game between Pavol and Jonas.

 

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Report by Artem

Grand Slam Tournament to Begin Soon

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2021 Grand Slam final in Belgrade: Artem Kachanovskyi 2p vs. Tanguy le Calve 1p

The seventh edition of the Grand Slam – the most prestigious European go competition – will take place in Niš, Serbia, on December 1–4. Sixteen top European players will battle in four rounds of knockout for the winner’s prize of €10,000.

The winners of the past editions are:

  • Berlin, 2015: Ilya Shikshin 1p
  • Berlin, 2016: Ali Jabarin 1p
  • Berlin, 2017: Artem Kachanovskyi 1p
  • Berlin, 2018: Ilya Shikshin 2p
  • Berlin, 2019: Mateusz Surma 2p
  • Belgrade, 2021: Artem Kachanovskyi 2p



For the list of participants, schedule, and more information, visit the 2022 Grand Slam web page.

Report by Artem

European Youth Go Team Championship Starts

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The 9th European Youth Go Team Championship (EYGTC) started on November 12, with 16 teams playing in the first round.

Traditionally, this event has four rounds, scheduled from November to February of the next year with one game per month. For each round, the national youth teams nominate five members: one player from the U20 category and two players from each of the U16 and U12 categories. When two teams face off, players from the same age category are paired up. The games are played online on the OGS.

For more information, visit the web page of the 9th EYGTC.

Below you can find a record of the game played on round 1 between Lubin Wilhelm 2d (France) and Stjepan Medak 1d (Croatia).

 

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13th Pandanet Go European Team Championship Starts

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The 13th Pandanet Go European Team Championship (PGETC) brings together 36 teams, split into leagues from A to D. In each league, teams play out an online round-robin, ending in the spring next year. The top four teams of the A league qualify for the face-to-face final, traditionally held at the European Go Congress in July. For more information, visit the web page of the PGETC.

The first round of leagues A and B took place on October 18th. The results of the first round in league A are:

Ukraine v. Serbia: 4-0
France v. Austria: 2-2
Czechia v. Netherlands: 3-1
Poland v. Israel: 1-3
Romania v. Hungary: 2-2

The draw between the teams of Austria and France was unexpected since the latter is one of the traditional favourites of the tournament. Below you can find a record of the game between Viktor Lin 6d (Austria) and Dai Junfu 8d (France).

 

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European Pair Go Championship 2022 in Strasbourg, France

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The champions, Ariane Ougier 4d and Benjamin Dréan-Guénaïzia 7d

This year’s European Pair Go Championship took place on October 8–9 in Strasbourg, France, and brought together 21 pairs from various European countries.

After six rounds, Benjamin Dréan-Guénaïzia 7d and Ariane Ougier 4d remained undefeated, thus becoming the new European Champions. It’s worth noting that Benjamin also won the individual European Championship earlier this year.

For more details, see the article on the EGF website.

Below you can find a record of the deciding game that was played on the fourth round.

 

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Rita Pocsai 5d Wins European Women’s Go Championship

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This year’s European Women’s Go Championship took place on September 24–25 in Budapest and brought together 40 participants.

After five rounds, three players topped the tournament table with four wins. According to tie-breakers, the final order was the following:

  1. Rita Pocsai 5d
  2. Ariane Ougier 4d
  3. Manja Marz 3d



Thus, Rita Pocsai 5d became the new European Women’s Champion.

Below you can find a record of the game between Anna Melnyk 2d and Rita Pocsai 5d, played on the third round.

 

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Martin Ruzicka Wins European Student Go Championship

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Top three: Elian Grigoriu, Martin Ruzicka, and Mirta Medak

The European Student Go Championship took place on 17–18 September in Trier, Germany, and brought together eleven participants. After five rounds, Martin Ruzicka 4d remained undefeated and won the tournament. He was followed by Elian Grigoriu 6d and Mirta Medak 2d, both of whom only lost to the winner.

Below you can see a record of the game between Martin and Elian, played on the fourth round.

 

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64th European Go Congress: Conclusion

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The 64th European Go Congress (EGC) took place in Vatra Dornei, Romania, from July 22nd until August 7th. It brought together over 300 go-lovers from Europe and beyond. For many it was a great occasion to see each other after a long break – the last EGC was held in Brussels in 2019, and since then it has been cancelled due to the worldwide COVID pandemic.

As per tradition, this year’s EGC featured events such as the Pandanet Go European Team Championship, European Championship, Open European Championship, Rapid Tournament, Weekend Tournament, Pair Go Tournament, etc.

Even though this year the Asian participants still had difficulties traveling to Europe, some players did come: the winner of the Open European Championship was Choi Wonjin 1p, followed by their countrymates Kim Yuchan 1p and Kim Dohyup 7d.

Vatra Dornei is a picturesque town located in the Carpathian mountains – the participants could enjoy hiking in breaks between playing their favourite game.

You can find more photos from the 64th EGC in the photo album by Harry van der Krogt.

While it’s not yet decided where the EGC will take place next year, the EGC 2024 will be held in Toulouse – their website already works and accepts registrations.

Report by Artem

Benjamin Dréan-Guénaïzia Wins European Championship 

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This year’s European Championship took place at the European Go Congress in Vatra Dornei, Romania, from July 24th until July 31st. The tournament brought together 32 top European players, who battled in a double-elimination system until the quarter-final, followed by a knockout.

In the final, Benjamin Dréan-Guénaïzia 6d beat Artem Kachanovskyi 2p, thus claiming the European Chamionship for the first time. At the end of this article, you can see a record of the final game between Benjamin and Artem.

The third and fourth places went to Fredrik Blomback 6d and Nikola Mitic 7d, respectively.

For more information, please visit the web page of the event.

 

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Ukraine Wins Pandanet Go European Team Championship

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The final of this year’s Pandanet Go European Team Championship (PGETC) took place in Vatra Dornei, Romania, on 22–23 July. Traditionally, it is a part of the European Go Congress, preceding the rest of the tournaments, such as the European Championship.

The four teams that qualified for the final were France, Ukraine, Czechia, and Poland.

Ukraine scored two wins on the first day against Poland and Czechia, while France tied with Czechia and defeated Poland. Ukraine tied with France on the second day, while Czechia beat Poland. Therefore, the final order of the teams is as follows: Ukraine, France, Czechia, and Poland.

For more detailed results, see the web page of the event.

It’s worth noting that Ukraine won the PGETC final only once in the past – at the EGC 2016 in St. Petersburg.

Below you can find a record of the game played in the last round of the final on the first board of the match between France and Ukraine – Tanguy Le Calve 1p vs. Artem Kachanovskyi 2p.

 

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