European Go Federation

European Go Federation

Formation	1957
Type	Sports federation, International Go Federation
Headquarters	Amstelveen, Netherlands
Membership	Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom
Official language	English
President	Martin Stiassny
Website	www.eurogofed.org

The European Go Federation (EGF) is a non-profit organization with the purpose of encouraging, regulating, co-ordinating, and disseminating the playing of the board game Go in Europe. The EGF was founded in 1957, the same year that the inaugural European Go Congress (EGC) took place in Cuxhaven, Germany. The Congress has been an annual event every year since then, held each time in a different European city. ^[1] The European Go Championship takes place during the EGC, as well as the Annual General Meeting (AGM). In 2014, the European Professional System was established by the European Go Federation. ^[2]

Membership is open to any Go-organising association in a country in or near Europe. There are currently 35 full members, and two suspended members. ^[3]

Function

The EGF elects an Executive Committee which supervises a number of commissions in charge of normal activities in between the AGMs.

Major European tournaments do not fall under the Executive Committee's supervision, but are directly co-ordinated by the EGF itself. Major events organised by the EGF include the European Grand Prix; the Pandanet European Team Championship; European Youth Go Championships in three age categories; the European Youth Team Championship; the European Pair Go Championship, the European Women's Championship; the European Student Championship and the European Championship, held during the annual European Go Congress. ^[4] An official Rating List is maintained by processing the results of as many European tournaments as possible. ^[5]

The European Go Federation is a member of the International Go Federation. ^[6]

Members

Country	Member name
Armenia	Armenian Draughts and Go Federation
Austria	Austrian Go Federation (Go Verband Österreich)
Belarus (membership suspended)	Belarus Go Federation
Belgium	Belgian Go Federation (Belgische Go Federatie - Fédération Belge de Go)
Bosnia	Go Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Go Asocijacija Bosne i Hecegovine)
Bulgaria	Bulgarian Go Association (Bulgarska Go Asotsiatsija)
Croatia	Croatian Go Alliance (Hrvatski Go Savez)
Cyprus	Cyprus Go Association (Kypriakos Syndesmos Go)
Czech Republic	Czech Go Association (Ceska Asociace Go)
Denmark	Danish Go Association (Dansk Go Forbund)
Finland	Finnish Go Association (Suomen Go-liitto ry)
France	French Go Federation (Fédération Française de Go)
Georgia	Georgian Go Federation (საქართველოს გო-ს ეროვნული სპორტული ფედერაცია)
Germany	German Go Federation (Deutscher Go-Bund)
Hungary	Hungarian Go Association (Magyar Gószövetség)
Iceland	Icelandic Go Association (Hið Íslenska Gofélag)
Ireland	Irish Go Association (Irish Go Association)
Israel	Israeli Go Association (Agudat Ha-Go Ha-Yisraelit)
Italy	Italian Go Federation (Federazione Italiana Giuoco Go)
Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan Go Federation (Kazakhstan Go Federation)
Lithuania	Lithuanian Go Association (Lietuvos Go Asociacija)
Luxembourg	Go Club Luxemburg (Le Club de Go du Luxembourg)
Netherlands	Dutch Go Association (Nederlandse Go Bond)
Norway	Norwegian Go Association (Go i Norge)
Poland	Polish Go Association (Polskie Stowarzyszenie Go)
Portugal	Portuguese Go Association (Associação Portuguesa de Go) Archived 2020-07-10 at the Wayback Machine
Romania	Romanian Go Federation (Federatia Romana de Go)
Russia (membership suspended)	Russian Go Federation (Rossiiskaya Federatziaya Go)
Serbia	Serbian Go Federation (Go Savez Srbije)
Slovakia	Slovak Go Association (Slovenská Asociácia Go)
Slovenia	Slovenian Go Association (Go Zveza Slovenije)
Spain	Spanish Go Association (Asociacion Española de Go)
Sweden	Swedish Go Association (Svenska Goförbundet)
Switzerland	Swiss Go Association (Schweizer Go Verband - Fédération Suisse de Go - Federazione Svizzera di Go)
Turkey	Turkish Go Players' Association (Türkiye Go Oyunculari Dernegi)
Ukraine	Ukrainian Go Federation (Ukrainska' Federatsiya Go)
United Kingdom	British Go Association (British Go Association)

Note: On 3 March 2022, the EGF decided during an emergency general meeting to suspend indefinitely both the Russian and Belarusian associations due to the 2022 Invasion of Ukraine by Russia. All planned or future events organised by the EGF were cancelled and players from both countries were banned from representing their nations at European events. The first major event affected was the 2022 European Youth Go Championship held between the 10 and 12 March in Czechia. ^{[7] [8]}

EGF Professional players

The EGF established a professional system in 2014 with Chinese sponsorship. Top European players are invited to take part in a Qualification Tournament, with one or two of the most successful competitors being awarded professional status. Professionals can then be promoted by earning points from wins against other professional players in major tournaments. As of 2023, there are nine such players, who enjoy benefits including automatic qualification to the Grand Slam and the opportunity to represent Europe in major international tournaments.

Professional Players of the EGF ^[9]

Player	Nationality	Year Became Pro	Promotion History
Ilya Shikshin	Russian	2015	Promoted to 2p in 2018, to 3p in 2019, to 4p in 2021.
Artem Kachanovskyi	Ukrainian	2016	Promoted to 2p in 2018, to 3p in 2024.
Pavol Lisý	Slovakian	2014	Promoted to 2p in 2018.
Mateusz Surma	Polish	2015	Promoted to 2p in 2019, to 3p in 2023.
Ali Jabarin	Israeli	2014	Promoted to 2p in 2018.
Andrii Kravets	Ukrainian	2017
Tanguy le Calvé	French	2019
Stanisław Frejlak	Polish	2021
Jan Šimara	Czech	2023

Current title holders

Below is a summary of the current holders or most recent winners of the major EGF-organised events.

Title	Title Holder	Notes
European Championship	Andrii Kravets 1p [10]	Held August 2024 in Toulouse, France. Kravets successfully defended his title from 2023.
European Women's Championship	Li Ting 1p [11]	Held September 2024 in Bratislava, Slovakia.
European Grand Prix Finale	Cornel Burzo 6d [12]	Held December 2023 in London, UK.
European Grand Slam	Mateusz Surma 3p [13]	Held October 2023 in Prague, Czechia.
Pandanet European Team Championship	France [14]	Finals held August 2024 in Toulouse, France.
European Pair Go Championship	Milena Boclé 3d and Florent Labouret 5d [15]	Held April 2024 in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
European Student Championship	Martin Ruzicka 4d [16]	Held September 2022 in Trier, Germany.
European Youth Championship – U20 Category	Benoit Robinchon [17]	Held March 2024 in Hamburg, Germany.
European Youth Championship – U16 Category	Yuze Xing 5d [18]	Held March 2024 in Hamburg, Germany.
European Youth Championship – U12 Category	Bartik Dach 2d [19]	Held March 2024 in Hamburg, Germany.
European Youth Team Championship	Ukraine [20]

See also

• Nihon Ki-in (Japanese Go Association)
• Hanguk Kiwon (Korean Go Association)
• Zhongguo Qiyuan (Chinese Go Association)
• Taiwan Chi-Yuan (Taiwanese Go Association)
• American Go Association
• List of Go organizations
• Transatlantic Professional Go Team Championship

References

1. "List of European Go Congresses". Archived from the original on 2012-08-09. Retrieved 2019-05-26.
2. "1st European Pro Qualification 2014". 2014. Archived from the original on 11 January 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
3. "EGF Members". Archived from the original on 2009-08-07. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
4. "EGF Top Events". eurogofed.org. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
5. "E.G.D. - European Go Database | EGF ratings system". Europeangodatabase.eu. Archived from the original on 2012-10-04. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
6. "List of official members of the International Go Federation". Archived from the original on 2012-02-05. Retrieved 2009-08-27.
7. "European Go Federation". European Go Federation. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
8. "EGF Suspends Russia | British Go Association". britgo.org. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
9. "European Pros". www.eurogofed.org. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
10. "European Championship 2024". www.eurogofed.org. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
11. "European Women`s Championship | Tournament card | E.G.D. - European Go Database". www.europeangodatabase.eu. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
12. "7th European Grand Prix Finale 2023". eurogofed.org. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
13. "European Go Grand Slam Tournament". eurogofed.org. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
14. "Pandanet: European Team Go Champs". Pandanet: European Team Go Champs. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
15. "European Pair Go Championships 2024". www.eurogofed.org. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
16. "European Student Go Championship 2022 | Tournament card | E.G.D. - European Go Database". www.europeangodatabase.eu. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
17. "European Youth Go Congress 2024 U21 | Tournament card | E.G.D. - European Go Database". europeangodatabase.eu. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
18. "European Youth Go Championship 2024 U18 | Tournament card | E.G.D. - European Go Database". europeangodatabase.eu. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
19. "European Youth Go Championship 2024 U12 | Tournament card | E.G.D. - European Go Database". europeangodatabase.eu. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
20. "European Tournament Results". www.eurogofed.org. Retrieved 2024-08-10.

External links

• Official site
• Pandanet Go European Cup
• Sensei's Library (an online Go library)