Text by Matt Partridge, photo by Harry van der Krogt

Matt: Thank you for answering some questions, Jean-Yves! Could you tell me the story from the beginning, how did the 2024 Congress come about?

JY: I remember the last time we had the Congress in France, it was in Bordeaux in 2011 and we can’t say it was a full success. I was there just as a player, but just after that I became Vice-President of the EGF so I had some feedback from the players about how it went. Then one day I had the idea of organising the Congress when I had the time, which would mean when I retired after 35 years working at Airbus. The project had been in my head for a long time and I had some discussions with organisers in other French cities; what always stopped them from organising an EGC was the cost of accommodation. So I knew that that was something I would have to address in order to have a successful event.

Four or five years ago, I started to think about where we could organise it, and there is a new exhibition park that opened near Toulouse airport called Meet. It’s a huge complex with hotels and a tram connection to the centre of the city, I thought that might be the place. But it’s managed by a company that wants to have a return on the investment made by the region, I knew they would demand quite a large fee for hosting an event. Then, a go-playing friend of mine suggested ENAC, the national civil aviation school of France. He graduated from the school maybe forty years ago and had good connections to the director of the school. He spoke to him and arranged a meeting for me in January 2021, during the pandemic.

That was the starting point of our collaboration, the contact at that point was already very good. We drew up a proposition and some materials describing the game of go and the event, and we had an agreement in principle to move forward. I applied in the summer of 2021 to the French and European Go Federations to host the EGC in 2023, as the only applicant I was accepted. Then the school told me that they had planned construction work in the canteen that might not be ready in time for 2023, so we had to delay our plans to the year after. This meant that the 2023 Congress had to take place in Leipzig, Germany, but I was happy to have an extra year to prepare.

Matt: What was your vision for a Congress in Toulouse?

JY: We had lots of memories of the Congress in Bordeaux, and we had an archive of information with the FFG about the organisation. I’ve participated in many EGCs so I knew the principle of a Congress, about the specific events and side tournaments that should take place even if there is no fixed contract between the EGF and the Congress organisers. That’s something I’m working on, to have a more formal agreement in place. One of my focus areas in Airbus was project management, so I’m very keen to anticipate, to define the organisation in advance and to come prepared.

I started assembling my team in September 2022, it took time to formalise an agreement with the school. It was quite some time before they signed, it finally came in January this year. I split up the phases of the organisation like a game of go: fuseki, chūban, yose and counting. The fuseki phase was very long; the chūban phase started early this year; the yose phase was during the Congress itself and the counting phase begins towards the end of the Congress as we review the game, step back, review the finances and see what lessons we can pass on to the next organisers.

Matt: Is there a piece of advice you would already give to the organising team for the 2025 Warsaw EGC?

Be ready to adapt to various situations that are unplanned. Something I also consider very important is to communicate in advance with all the participants. We opened a public discord and we had plenty of email exchanges months before the start date about accommodation, for example. We tried to reply to and help everyone, and give lots of information about how to come, where to stay, where to eat and what to do in Toulouse. Perhaps we could have explained better what a Congress exactly is, I noticed there were some people who didn’t quite know what to expect from the event, especially those who hadn’t been to an EGC before.

The team is also very important; when you start, you are alone. Now there are over a hundred volunteers, some part time and some full time. This was a very good principle, which Loïc Lefebvre suggested from the start. First, I defined ten or so people to manage individual areas, like communication, volunteers, tournament organisation and professional relations. Then it was up to those people to build their own teams. The team spirit is very important: you build the team without knowing each other face to face, that was quite difficult. I like to know people so that I can adapt my management style to them, it’s difficult if everyone is a stranger and the only communication is via email or video.

Matt: Were you able to enjoy the Congress when it was underway? Or were you too busy putting out fires?

Firstly, if you are the organiser, you cannot play. Your mind is not on the game. It was a little frustrating, the final between Thomas and Andrii was the first game I was able to concentrate on. I want to play more as soon as the Congress is over, I haven’t played as much recently. Otherwise, I wasn’t as stressed as I expected, because the reaction of the team when we had problems was excellent, for example during the first round of the Open Tournament. The weather and the extreme temperature was a problem at the beginning, during the first few days. But I never felt overwhelmed by stress, just tired from going home, immediately falling asleep and getting up again.

Matt: Could you ever imagine organising a Congress again?

Yes, overall it was a pleasure. Everything went very well and I would not hesitate to organise a large event like a Championship again. The work isn’t over for us yet, we still have to pay all our invoices, compensate the volunteers and finish counting the game. Eventually, we will know whether we won by half a point, by ten points or if we lost by twenty points. But our prediction is that we will be ahead in the final count. [Writers note: Jean-Yves let me know since our interview that his prediction was correct!] Anyway, with the experience that I and my team gained, why not help the next Congress in Warsaw? Now is the time for all of us to join the team for the 2025 EGC!

Matt: Well said, Jean-Yves. On behalf of all the volunteers, the players and me personally, thank you very much for organising such an excellent Congress.

Did you know that a special exhibition of art-related go took place during the 2024 EGC? Maybe you found it tucked away behind the two amphitheatres, or maybe you missed it. Either way, here’s a report and some beautiful photos from Zoé Constans to tell us all about it!

This was a group exhibition of artists who play go, or go players who create art. From amateurs to professionals, from beginners to dan-level players, the exhibition featured watercolours, digital drawings, calligraphy, landscapes, stories, portraits and more. The exhibition, therefore, gathered different perspectives on go through the artists’ eyes. This exhibition showed us how go is international. Beautiful and detailed watercolors by Hugo Maussion show how the community can be diverse and spread around the world. Celia chose a smaller format to depict: in watercolor sketches she depicted her go encounters while living in Korea, in a temple, a kwon and a café. Cindy Lin in Japan chose to represent what the game of go means to her through Japanese culture. Zoé Constans, in a 3D paper installation, used the codes of traditional Korean bookshelf painting to depict the connection between the ancient and the present, the seriousness of the game and the casual atmosphere of a café where everyone can learn to play. Go is first and foremost a game that we all enjoy. Olivier Besson used the software cGoban to create fun comic strips. Camille Lévêque’s art is famous in the go community, and she joined the fun of the exhibition with her imaginative digital artworks depicting animals and beautiful scenery to enjoy go in.

It’s also a game enjoyed a lot by children, and Kim Da Joung depicted the discovery of go through a cute rabbit family. Woomin Yi also drew how the game can gather friends together. Go is also an inner world, as you can see in Hye Jun Lee An’s blue painting, where go becomes an inner landscape of the player, accompanied by the soft presence of a cat. François Leroy shows us his own inner world with go and art; while doing calligraphy, he thinks of himself playing a game. Virgule’s illustration represents Fu Hao, a historical figure, immersed in a game, with the appearance of a war general and the look of a decision-maker in the moment of victory. This exhibition showed the artwork of three artists who contributed directly to making the European Go Congress in Toulouse beautiful through their skill: Camille Lévêque, Virgule Art and Zoé Constans. It was also an occasion to see more from some artists who already participate with their art in the go community, like Hugo Maussion’s watercolors. It also served as an invitation for new artists to depict their go experience. There are many other artists who play go, and players who create artwork throughout the world. We hope this exhibition will provide inspiration and highlight the importance of human eyes in depicting the experience and feeling of playing go.

He didn’t come to Toulouse to lose

The 2024 European Championship was full of surprises, none bigger than how I managed to make it until the finals without making such a bad pun. We saw upsets in the very first rounds, professional players eliminated by amateurs and players from the lower half of the rating list reaching the latter stages of the tournament. After ten days, European has a new Champion in the form of the old Champion: Andrii Kravets 1p. Andrii is the first person to defend the title since 2021 and, given both the level of the competition and chaotic results this year, this is a great achievement.

On Sunday 4th, both the final and small final to decide the third and fourth places were played out, let’s take a look and see what happened:

The small final

In this game, between Fredrik Blomback 7d and Denis Karadaban 6d, Denis capitalised on an early mistake from his opponent to pull ahead in the opening. The commentators speculated that Fredrik’s disappointment at not reaching the final, compounded no doubt by fatigue at playing for eight straight days, meant that he went into this game at a psychological disadvantage. In any case, Denis retained a slight lead until a mistake of his own after 90 moves granted Fredrik a stronger position and the opportunity to cut off a group of stones in the centre.

The tables seemingly turned, the critical moment came at move 143. Denis threatened to kill a group of nine stones on the right side of the board with a single move, and Fredrik chose not to save it. Instead, he opted for an all-out attack of Denis’ dragon in the centre. Killing it would win him the game, but if Denis found a way to live, his loss would be certain. Fredrik was able to keep a cool head in this do-or-die fight, and 50 moves later Denis’ group died and he was forced to resign. Fredrik may have fallen short of the podium again this year, but his results since 2022 have been greatly encouraging. As with Ali Jabarin 2p, Fredrik has repeated proven that he is able to perform consistently against top contenders. We can imagine it is only a matter of time before he reaches an EC final at last.

The final

Let’s turn now to the main event: the 2024 European Championship Final. Andrii, showing no visible nerves at the prospect of defending his title, got off to a good start, while his opponent, Thomas Debarre 7d, might have been more daunted by the prospect of playing in his first major final. Andrii began as he often does with the White stones, calmly building a framework; commentator Antti Törmänen 1p characterised his 34th move as a clear invitation to invade. Thomas complied immediately, jumping in and attempted to exploit some corner aji to make efficient life. Andrii unashamedly countered with an empty triangle, with AI approval in fact, and Thomas followed with a misjudged wedging attack. Where he sought to find strength, the position delivered weakness; Thomas’ group suddenly found itself struggling between two strong groups with little hope of finding eyes. At this point, AI analysis provides a clean kill, but could Andrii find it? The commentators remarked that the Andrii of three or four years ago would have attacked relentlessly, trying to win quickly and ruthlessly. Thomas was running very low on time already, and Andrii spent many minutes in deep reading. Finally, he opted first for peace, proposing to let Thomas live and take a robust position in the centre in return. The two struggled for twenty more moves until Thomas’ group was finally alive, and Andrii had to swallow his disappointment; if he was going to win, he would have to earn it in the long run.

In the post-final interview, Andrii said he felt a great frustration and that it took fifteen minutes or so to readjust to a long game. Thomas, in turn, felt relief after emerging from the most dangerous stretch of the game relatively unscathed; the second half was fairly straightforward for him to play. He pushed and probed at Andrii’s centre territory, reinforcing his points on the sides where he could. However, Andrii showed his remarkable ability to play solidly once again, and there was little Thomas could do to reverse a modest, yet stable lead. After an accurate endgame by both finalists, Andrii was ahead by 4.5 points.

Thomas can be proud of drawing a wave of French support behind him, riding their victory in the Team Championship a week earlier. He raised eyebrows with the level of his play, and with the fact that he knocked out a string of Europe’s strongest on his way to the final. With his notably accurate endgame play and confidence with his results here, we can expect him to return next year in good stead to perform well again.

Andrii Kravets 1p, with a promotion likely imminent, seemed something of a changed man in his post-final interview. What last year was surprising and hard to define, was now clearer and easier to identify: Andrii possesses remarkably consistent strength, new-found patience in attack and, especially this year, an ease and comfort in being named Champion for the second year running. As I saw him allow himself a modest smile and calmly explain his thoughts on the game and his win, then happily accept handshakes and words of congratulations from friends and strangers afterwards; it was clear that he didn’t come here to lose and had proved himself a worthy Champion once again.

Semifinals – There can be only two

We’ve reached the penultimate day of the 2024 European Championship! Thirty-two players entered this tournament a week ago, just four of them battled in Saturday’s semi-final round. Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the group is that of the six professional players we started with, only Andrii Kravets 1p was left. With their survival in the running at stake, each one of them was eager to play their best and earn a place in Sunday’s final!

Andrii had remained rock steady in his games so far, with several convincing wins behind him. His opponent, Denis Karadaban, began the EC with three straight wins, taking down 2022 Champion Benjamin Dréan-Guénaïzia 7d, Fredrik Blomback 7d and Lukas Krämer 6d on the way. After a two-day rest, he knocked out Cornel Burzo 6d in similar fashion.

Having advanced through the competition similarly, it is fitting that Andrii should be his opponent. Their game saw Denis launch an ambitious attack in the early middlegame, surrounding Andrii’s group on the left side. Andrii found a way to struggle out of danger, however, and forced Denis to make painful life for two groups successively. Unable to find a way to make the most advantage of his comfortable position, however, the score quickly became almost even again. Denis fought to hold on to a modest four or five-point lead going into the endgame and, as Andrii threatened to resurrect a group unless his opponent found the perfect counterplay, Denis connected in the wrong place to grant Andrii’s group unconditional life and an insurmountable lead.

Denis must at least exit the Championship with pride, having proven his mettle against some of Europe’s finest competitors and seemingly shown off an impressive step forward in ability. To lose due to a misread after a week’s competition and four hours’ play should be no source of shame. We look forward to seeing him build on his success here, and congratulate Andrii on reaching the EC final for the second year running!

While Andrii already waiting in the final round, it took another hour or two to decide his challenger. Fredrik Blomback 7d, after placing fourth and third in the two previous ECs, must have been eager to improve his position in podium this time. He, too, entered the semifinals with confident wins behind him; after defeating the number one seed Dai Junfu 8d and Mateusz Surma 3p, he must have thought he was capable of beating anyone. After knocking out Tanguy le Calvé 1p and Ali Jabarin 2p, Thomas Debarre 6d must also have drawn confidence from his performance so far.

In their game together, a 351-move marathon, it was Fredrik who quickly gained the upper hand. Showing perhaps some nerves, competing in the final stages of the EC for the first time, Thomas entered a sacrifice sequence that unfortunately ended in Fredrik’s favour. Thomas gave up a group of eleven stones in the corner, capturing three in the process, but the attack he was able to launch as a result was too poor a compensation.

After 120 moves, however, a blunder from Fredrik and a struggle on the lower side of the board brought the balance of points almost back to even. After multiple timesuji and frantic struggling for points in a gruelling 100+ move endgame, the dust finally settled and Thomas Debarre stepped out of it alive. Fredrik’s hopes at a place on the podium were dashed, he must content himself with fourth or fifth place at best. But, considering the consistency of his performances in these three previous Championships, and his ability to knockout top heavyweights regularly, Fredrik has proven himself a fine competitor and a reliable source of fine go at the highest European level.

The final is set! 2023 Champion Andrii Kravets 1p will face his challenger, Thomas Debarre 7d. Not since 2021 has a Champion successfully defended their title, could we see Andrii repeat his solid final-round performance from last year and claim the trophy for a second time? Or could we see the first French Champion since 2015 crowned at this, a French EGC, a week after France won the Team Championship also? In either case, let us hope that on Sunday morning both our finalists will wake up in their best form, ready either to claim the title or have no regrets in coming second.

Both the final, and the small final to decide the fourth and fifth places, will be broadcast live and commentated on the EGF Twitch channel. Don’t miss the final of the 2024 European Championship, starting tomorrow at 10am!

Round 5 – Last Chances

As the undefeated players in this year’s European Championship enjoyed their second rest day, the remaining games were played out in the lower bracket. This means that our quarter-final pairings are set! To remind you, Denis Karadaban 6d, Andrii Kravets 1p, Ali Jabarin 2p and Mateusz Surma 3p won all their games in the first three rounds, earning them a direct place in the final knock-out stage of the Championship. Let’s dive in to the games and find out who joined them!

On the first board, Ashe Vázquez 7d sought to recover the excellent form they found in the 2023 EC, in their game against Cornel Burzo 6d. Antti Törmänen 1p, commentating the game on Twitch, felt that Ashe played a little slack in the early stages, allowing Cornel to play his kind of game.

In Fredrik Blomback 7d’s game against Florent Labouret 6d, the balance was nearly always in Fredrik’s favour. Florent’s group in the upper right died after 87 moves, and not even playing sharply in later fights could rebalance the score. Facing a deficit of around 14 points after 200 moves, he resigned. Florent can be proud, however, of impressive games in this tournament, especially his first-round win against Stanisław Frejlak 1p. Fredrik, meanwhile, will be pleased to enter the quarterfinals, matching his performance last year.

On board 3, Thomas Debarre 7d faced Lukas Krämer 6d; we can say that both competitors were in dangerous form, having previously beaten the likes of Tanguy le Calvé 1p and Dai Junfu 8d, respectively. The game remained remarkably competitive for almost 150 moves, with each player building a small lead only for the other to claw the balance back to even again a dozen moves later. An overly defensive, fifteen-point blunder on Lukas’ part, however, handed a group of stones and a comfortable advantage to his opponent. Thomas was able to hold onto this lead for almost 200 moves of endgame to secure his place in the final knock-out stage.

The final game of the day, between Denis Dobranis 5d and Lucas Neirynck 6d, featured an enormous flying knife joseki variation in the top right of the board, which only concluded after 85 moves. Even 50 moves after that, the board position was still only slightly in Lucas’ favour. A few exchanges later, however, Lucas was able to give up his bottom-left group in exchange for the entire top-right corner – the same corner that they had painstakingly shared out in the flying knife opening. After such a loss, Denis was unable to find his way back into the game. His position collapsed and it was Lucas Neirynck who stepped into Friday as our final quarterfinalist.

With our four quarter-final match-ups complete, the competition becomes a do-or-die knockout to decide the winner! Only three more wins stand between our remaining eight players and the 2024 European Champion title. Over on the EGF Twitch commentary, the question has been lingering in the air over whether it is better to sail through the early stages and conserve your energy for the final games, or whether fighting out of the lower bracket can put a player in the right mindset to make it to the end of the competition. In any case, the conclusion of the tournament is not to be missed! Make sure to tune in each day to the EGF Twitch channel at 10am, with commentary starting at little later.

As you may have noticed, we are lucky enough to have many special guests from Japan, Korea and China. These professional players have come all this way to accompany you during the Congress, by reviewing your games, giving lectures and playing simultaneous games. Here’s a short report from Rémi Cornaggia on what they’ve been up to so far:

Last Friday, Gao Xing 5p and Wang Tao 6p arrived from China. As soon as Saturday, they were giving simultaneous games to the young participants of the SEYGO tournament, along with Yu Xiadoan 2p who kindly volunteered to help when she arrived.

After four intense days of games, reviews, activities and excursions, they are going back to China today with beautiful souvenirs made by Zoé Constans. We’re sure they won’t forget their first experience in France, and wish them a safe trip home!

Meanwhile, Young Sun Yoon 8p, Michael Chen 1p and Antti Törmänen 1p had no problems filling the massive Bellonte amphitheater with their lectures…, and more are yet to come. Michael and Antti have also appeared on the EGF Twitch channel, commentating the games of the European Championship. You can also often find Young Sun Yoon at the Awesome Baduk booth, reviewing games all day long, assisted by Choi Wonjin 3p.

Nearby, in the Costes amphitheater, passionate teachers and players offer their time giving reviews, including Hayashi Kozo 7p (always the first to arrive and last to leave) and Fan Hui 2p, as well as France’s own Guillaume Ougier 5d and Denis Karadaban 6d. The peak of activity is always around 3:30pm, when the simultaneous games begin.

Last but not least, Catalin Taranu 5p arrived on Tuesday and will be giving lectures, including a special seminar on Friday at 3pm (check the program online), as well as reviewing games: look for him around campus, he might appear near the bar!

And that’s just all the pros who are here already, there are more on the way!

PS. Have you seen that you can now find details on all the teachers (both pros and others) on the website? Take a look: https://egc2024.org/fr/teachers.html

Photos by Harry van der Krogt and Jean-Yves Pagazoglou

Round 4 – Battles in the lower bracket

While the players with three straight wins pass directly into the quarter-final stage of the 2024 European Championship, set to begin this Friday, the fourth round provided us with four exciting games in the lower bracket. For these players, who had dropped a game earlier in the tournament, each game was do or die, as a second loss would mean their elimination from the Championship.

On the first board, Rémi Campagnie 6d built an early leave after an invasion sequence that our commentator, Lukas Krämer 6d, had trouble justifying. While Denis Dobranis 5d lived within Black’s framework, Lukas pointed out that Rémi became so strong on the outside that simply living was not enough compensation. By the 150th move, Rémi had a modest lead going into the endgame. Denis, however, was able to erode it point by point until the score shifted in his favour and he finally won by a couple of points only.

In Ashe Vázquez 7d’s game against Lukáš Podpěra 7d, the final result was even closer. The score remained remarkably even for the first 90 moves, until a few unfortunate exchanges ceded a group of Ashe’s stones in the corner and handed Lukáš a comfortable lead. Showing impressive stamina in the endgame, however, Ashe was able to recomplicate the situation and played so sharply that they filled the last dame and, under Chinese rules, ended up with a half-point lead. As has happened before, Lukáš performed very well, only to fall short by the smallest of margins.

On board three, the opening saw Thomas Debarre 7d and Ho Yeung Woo 6d each build their own framework, meaning a struggle in the upper left of the board could determine the final board situation. After 90 moves, Ho Yeung was able to hold onto a solid lead only for a dozen moves, until Thomas equalised the position again. The endgame saw the balance of points slide gradually in Thomas’ favour, until finally he ended up with a narrow win and the chance to play on in the Championship.

The final game saw Dai Junfu 8d face Fredrik Blomback 7d, both eager to stay in the competition: Junfu as the strongest player by rating in this competition, and Fredrik as a past third-place and fourth-place competitor. The first fight saw Fredrik build a modest lead, only to lose it to a misread. Junfu had chances in the midpoint of the game to regain control, but it was Fredrik that finally gained the upper hand and held onto a seven or eight-point lead throughout the endgame. When asked after the game whether he felt Junfu was tired, after playing first the PGETC finals and then three rounds of the EC, Fredrik instead felt that Junfu’s style of playing quickly in order to place time pressure on his opponents might have been his undoing. Although Fredrik felt the pressure, having to think almost exclusively on his own time, his use of time was to his benefit.

On Thursday, the remaining four games in the lower bracket will be decided. Those who win will have fought their way successfully back into the upper bracket. Starting on Friday, the knock-out stage of the European Championship will be played out. Tune in to live coverage on the EGF Twitch channel to keep up with the results as they come in!

Round 3 – The brackets stabilise

While the first two rounds provided no shortage of upsets, things were much more predictable in round three of the 2024 European Championship. In the main bracket, featuring those players as yet undefeated, each game provided an expected result. Denis Karadaban 6d continued his excellent form after beating past Champions and strong contenders alike; in this round he bested Lukas Krämer 6d to secure himself a place in the quarter finals and, more valuably, a two-day break from competition.

On the three remaining boards, we saw the three professional players sail into the knock-out stage of the EC also. Despite Cornel Burzo’s best efforts to throw off Ali Jabarin 2p’s preparation (playing an unconventional 5-3, 6-3 corner enclosure) Ali finally slew Cornel’s dragon and, while both players missed valuable key points in the middlegame, the AI graph was clearly in Ali’s favour throughout the game. Mateusz Surma 3p’s game against Lucas Neirynck 6d went similarly; while not a perfect performance, Mateusz was in control the whole way.

More fireworks were present in Stanisław Frejlak 1p’s battle with unofficial rival Lukáš Podpěra 7d; these two somehow always manage to meet each other in the games that really count. Lukáš leads in the head-to-head score, but Stanisław has a tendency to clinch the games that matter most, such as the final of the 2021 Pro Qualification. In their third-round game, commentator Jeff Su 6d was unhappy with Lukáš’ passivity with the 64th move after Stanisław invited an attack, but AI felt Lukáš was already ahead comfortably and held onto an ~11-point lead for the final 75 moves.

As Stanisław Frejlak 1p thus bowed out of the running for this year’s EC, so did Artem Kachanovskyi 3p. Artem has struggled to find form in the Toulouse heat, dropping three games in the PGETC finals and losing first to Cornel in round 2 and to Rémi Campagnie 6d in this round. Rémi will next face Denis Dobranis 5d, who fights on in the lower bracket after besting 2022 Champion Benjamin Dréan-Guénaïzia 7d and multiple past Champion Rob van Zeist 7d.

What to watch on Wednesday

Only four players will finally emerge after the next two rounds to rejoin the main bracket in Friday’s quarterfinals, and the draw is still packed with fierce competitors. Ashe Vázquez 7d will next face Lukáš, which could prove to be the highlight of round 4. Dai Junfu 8d, showing no signs of being discouraged after his second-round loss, will battle Fredrik Blomback 7d to remain in the competition: this will be a game to keep an eye on!

While today’s play saw both brackets play out a little more predictably, it’s still far too early to call a winner. Will we see another professional sail right through to the final, as last year, or will someone be spurred on by an early loss to emerge from the lower bracket and claim the title? Don’t miss the four games broadcast live on OGS from 10am, with commentary starting on the EGF Twitch channel later, to find out!

Round 1 – An open field

Day 1 of the European Championship saw ups and downs for French players, entering the event fresh off their team’s win in the Pandanet Go European Team Championship. The celebrations may have had more of an effect on some than others: Tanguy le Calvé 1p and Benjamin Dréan-Guénaïzia 7d both lost in the first round, while compatriots Thomas Debarre 7d and Florent Labouret 6d made it through. Florent provided an upset of his own, beating Stanisław Frejlak 1p.

Dai Junfu 8d, the top French player, passed into the second round without too much difficulty, along with the other professionals: Artem Kachanovskyi 3p, Mateusz Surma 3p, Ali Jabarin 2p and Andrii Kravets 1p. With mixed results amongst the pros, and confident wins from lower-ranked amateurs, one gets the feeling that the winner is by no means a foregone conclusion.

Round 2 – Champions fall and contenders emerge

Going into round 2, we need look no further than the first board to see that this is still anyone’s game. Dai Junfu 8d was knocked down into the lower bracket by Lukas Krämer 6d, breaking his streak of four wins from the PGETC finals and his first-round performance in this competition. Only slightly less surprising were the fates of Benjamin and Artem. Benjamin lost in the lower bracket to Denis Dobranis 5d, ending his chances of repeating his 2022 victory.

Artem struggled similarly in his game against Cornel Burzo 6d; Cornel managed to make it into the kind of game he likes to play, Artem found few opportunities to gain control and lost by a small margin in the final count. No stranger to serious competition, however, we can expect Artem not to go out without a fight. Fredrik Blomback 7d, who placed 3rd in 2022 and 4th in 2023, also faces the same battle after being beaten in another impressive performance by Denis Karadaban 6d. After besting two top contenders, Denis may have the form to make it very far in this competition.

What to look out for tomorrow

Let’s hope that round 3 will provide just as much entertainment as the first two days of play! Lukas Krämer and Denis Karadaban will face each other after knocking out tournament favourites, this will be a game not to be missed. In the lower bracket, keep an eye on Ashe Vázquez 7d’s match-up against Matias Pankoke 6d. Ashe is off to a slightly shakier start than their excellent run in last year’s EC, but they cannot be counted out just yet. Artem, Fredrik and Junfu can also afford no more mistakes from now on if they want to stay in the running.

As always, games start at 10am local time, with commentary starting later on the EGF Twitch channel!

The second event to finish today was the second stage of the 2024 SEYGO tour, a series of youth tournaments that usually feature four stages and the European Youth Go Championship. Participants earn SEYGO points simply for taking part, but gain more points by scoring wins and reaching the later stages of a tournament. At the SEYGO event that preceded the EGC, 49 young players aged 18 or younger from 12 European countries and China played a five-round tournament, starting as a regular open tournament. In later rounds, the top 8 or top 16 players in each age category (U12 and U18), play a “knock-out” in order to determine the podium positions.

In the U12 Category, Lilly Hu 1k of Austria came third, second place was taken by Bartik Dach 3d of Czechia and the overall winner was Bende Barcza 2d of Hungary. In the U18 category, third place went to Antoni Bugaj 2d of Poland, Stjepan Medak 4d of Croatia took second and Shukai (Kirby) Zhang 5d of Germany placed first.

Interview with Damir Medak, SEYGO organiser

After the Opening Ceremony, I sat down with Damir to ask him about what makes SEYGO so special. Firstly, he said that what young players really enjoy is a tournament aimed specifically at them. It’s more enjoyable for them to play in a room of their own and against other children instead of players much older than them. They also always get something from taking part, alongside receiving SEYGO points just for entering, they might go home with some little gifts, a certificate or a prize. Depending on sponsorship and the number of players, the top three players in each age category receive SEYGO vouchers.

Instead of handing cash over to the kids, the idea is to give them support in their burgeoning go careers. The vouchers can be redeemed for things like covering travel and accommodation costs for SEYGO tournaments or the EYGC, EGF Academy fees or lessons with European professional players. The aim is to help talented children, especially those whose national federations have fewer resources to support them.

When I asked Damir about the differences between organising a youth tournament versus an adult one, he first pointed to logistical differences. For example, it’s important to find venues in places that will offer children other activities, close to playgrounds or parks. The participants, their parents and guardians often also need more help finding accommodation or organising travel.

The most interesting difference Damir notes, however, is in the behaviour of the players. The children arrive knowing the rules, and learn quickly how to behave. They are respectful to their opponents and the room is silent during and after play; in short, they haven’t learned the bad habits of adult players!

I asked Damir what he felt about the current situation of youth go in Europe and he expressed some disappointment that young players are supported more in some countries than others. This year saw the first edition of the Pandanet Youth Go European Team Championship, mirroring the PGETC in format and sponsorship. All of Europe was invited to present a team of young players of any rank, the only restrictions were that the fourth board be reserved for a female player and the fifth for a player under the age of twelve. Oddly, many of the strongest go-playing countries with the most successful adult teams didn’t manage to put together a youth team. In this inaugural edition, only eight teams will take part. The PGETC features 35.

Damir is hopeful that the number of participating countries in the youth edition will double every two years, and his motivation for youth go is infectious. When I asked him what keeps him motivated, he spoke of the unique joy in go of fighting with your opponent on the board, then making friends with them afterwards. He talked of taking his three children to international youth tournaments abroad and watching them make international connections instantly.

Go, he says, is unique in that you fight with your opponent over the board, then make friends with them afterwards. In his eyes, go isn’t about sitting and learning at home, it’s about kids making friends with other kids from all across Europe; that’s what the EGF is all about, that’s what SEYGO is all about.

The finals of the 2023/24 Pandanet Go European Team Championships, which began last September, were played out on Friday 26th and Saturday 27th July. The situation coming into the final round was already tending towards a clear conclusion: France remained unbeaten on board one and only a dramatic turnaround would have cinched the title for the Ukrainian team.

Artem Kachanovskyi 3p of Ukraine fought valiantly against Dai Junfu 8d of France on the top board, causing the usually lightning-fast Junfu to slow to a more cautious speed. Although Artem managed to keep the position even after many complicated exchanges, time pressure nevertheless weighed in the end more heavily on him than his opponent and a single mistake cost him the game. Similarly close losses on two other boards finally settled a result of 3–1 in France’s favour. While Ukraine triumphed in the 2023 and 2022 editions, this time it was France’s year to reclaim the European Team trophy after their past successes in the 2019, 2020 and 2021 finals.

The French team’s victory was confident. Although Junfu has ceded games in the online stages before, when it came to this year and these finals, he performed at his best. Tanguy le Calvé 1p on the second board also scored solid wins that propelled the team towards victory, often backed up by the second and third boards. A French win on French soil during a French EGC must taste especially sweet.

In the battle for the third and fourth places, Poland, although succeeding on individual boards, were unable to win their matches in any of the three rounds. In the third round played this afternoon, Stanisław Frejlak 1p beat fellow pro Jan Šimara 1p on the second board, while Czechia won on the remaining three boards. Thus Czechia claimed bronze in the team Championships but, bearing in mind that the PGETC is played out between the strongest players from 35 countries, even placing fourth should give a sense of achievement.

It’s summer 2024; the organisers are rushing about making the final touches; scores of players and spectators are flocking to France; the world holds its breath for the greatest sports event France has ever seen. All this can mean only one thing: The 2024 European Go Congress is about to begin!

This weekend, while the rest of the world trains its eye on Paris (apparently there’s some other event going on there), the go world descends upon Toulouse en masse. After years of meticulous planning and in impeccable style, the EGC has hopped across the border from Leipzig, Germany to Toulouse, France.

The jewel in the scheduling crown is as usual the European Championship, the most prestigious European title. Let’s take a look back at what happened last year, and consider five things to keep an eye on when it all kicks off on Sunday the 28th at 10am.

A winner in fighting form

Andrii Kravets 1p had a blistering run last year, sweeping the 2022/23 Pandanet European Team Go Championship with an almost perfect score and battling through the individual Championship to claim both the team trophy and his first major solo title. The commentators last year all saw a change in his play, becoming more defensive and calm. The Champion himself only felt that he played as he always had, but with a new mindset: instead of hoping for a short, dramatic game, he expected to play for as long as it would take to win. With encouraging results in the meantime and new-found form, Andrii returns in good stead to defend his title.

Waiting in the wings

While Andrii’s overall win made for a great story last year, we could say that the real fireworks were lower down the scoreboard. Ashe Vázquez 7d chose the black stones and played a stylish double 5-4 opening at every opportunity, only taking White in order to try to throw off Fredrik Blomback 7d with mirror go in the small final. Claiming the bronze was their reward, which will no doubt only increase their motivation for a shinier medal this year! Similarly, Fredrik himself has shown similarly impressive abilities in previous ECs, taking down both seasoned amateurs and top professionals on the way to claiming the third and fourth places in 2023 and 2022. Could he or Ashe make it to the top spot this year?

A familiar new face

Stylishly entering the European Championship for the very first time at the very top of the rating list is Dai Junfu 8d, a legend of French go. Despite a trophy cabinet full of French local and national titles, perhaps the temptation of a French EGC was too much to resist. In any case, Junfu enters this EC as a bankable favourite: with an almost three-year streak of taking the top spot in tournaments (broken only by Yang Yaoling 7d in this year’s Paris International), as well as positive or near-even records against the strongest amateurs and pros alike, Junfu might just soar through the competition to claim the title at first attempt.

Get ready, runners-up

Not to be discounted, however, are our ever-motivated cadre of professionals, two of whom might have special reason to want 2024 to be their year. Ali Jabarin 2p fell only at the final hurdle last year, placing as runner-up for the fourth time. Although a source of disappointment, great encouragement can be taken from such consistent performance against Europe’s very best players. Artem Kachanovskyi 3p (newly promoted), too, … Second in ranking only to Dai Junfu, Artem has every reason to go into this year’s EC with great confidence. He has been hovering near the very summit of European go for years now, despite being knocked out in the 2023 quarter-finals by Fredrik Blomback to claim fifth place. Could this be the year that Ali or Artem finally battle through to the very end?

The final result remains unclear, but we can be sure that ten days of exciting games await us! Don’t forget that the top boards of the European Championship will be broadcast live, with professional commentary on the EGF Twitch channel. We have an exciting schedule lined up of special guests from Asia, as well as well-known figures in the European go scene, so you don’t want to miss it! The first round of the 2024 EC kicks off on Sunday 28th at 10am.

Hi, Go Magic team, and hello readers! As we are getting much closer to the start of the EGC, we wanted to introduce you to one of our sponsors: Go Magic, a learning platform for go players providing video lessons, a skill tree, coaching services and regular posts and content about the world of go.

Today we are joined (virtually) by Anton, Vadim, Mike (Mikhail), Eugenia, Hoang and Tony (other Anton).

1) Your platform is quite unique in the go community. It’s a huge amount of work, how challenging has your adventure been so far?

Vadim – There were lots of technical challenges that Anton had to overcome and a lot of financial hardship that the team had to go through together. I’d say most of Go Magic’s challenges still lie ahead. Making the game of go attractive to many people who have never played it and then teaching them to play – that’s a tough one.

Anton – The main challenge is marketing, because the market of English-speaking go players is quite small. To address this, we focused on expanding the market and attracting new people to play go. I believe that commercializing go is the best approach, because it is driven by a financial motivation.

We were also significantly impacted by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022¹. Fortunately, most of our team had migrated from Russia to Georgia in 2021, but it was still a tough challenge both psychologically and financially. The platform’s release was scheduled for March 2022, and we had planned to take a vacation afterward, but instead, we had to work three times harder to save the project as our sales plummeted to almost zero. Despite our international team, we faced discrimination, which, though understandable, was painful. It’s less prevalent now, but it is still difficult for me to talk about my origin, even though I had no choice in where I was born.

the Go Magic user dashboard

Did you stop on the road because of doubts or fears?

Eugenia – If we had stopped on the road because of doubts and fears, we wouldn’t be talking today! I think during these years each of us had a screaming thought of “Just screw it, I am so done with it!” many times, but then we looked at what had already been achieved, imagined what lies ahead and from the bottom of the heart whispered with love, “I’m so not over it”.

2) What are your plans for the future? Have you considered providing new content to target more dan-level players?

Anton – Our ambitious plan is to create an online go platform similar to chess.com – a modern website (and app) that provides everything a player needs: playing, learning and communicating. We started with interactive courses and then added a skill tree. Currently, we are working on adding the ability to play games on the platform and have AI-assisted game reviews. We are also upgrading our league to enhance community development.

Regarding strong players, they are a minority, so it is not profitable to target them. If someone has independently reached 1-dan or higher, they know how to study go without us. Nonetheless, we have seven courses that will interest dan-level players.

Vadim – Yes, we have lots of ideas to try and implement. Mini-games, other game modes, the most convenient joseki dictionary, AI tools and many others.

Eugenia – Honestly, we have so many ideas, but so few resources to actually execute them. This is a real problem and some sacrifices have to be made. I dream of the day when a trial period for new users, Go Magic merch, a convenient referral program and other things I’ve put in the ideas folder will get the green light.

3) How do you manage to work together, as you’re always in different places? How does it work for recording the lessons?

Vadim – It was technically easier when we all lived in the same apartment for a year or so. Communication tends to be easier when you can just give your teammates a holler and they hear you from the next room. Recording a lesson is not just filming. It all starts from concepts, writing the script, finding the right examples and arranging them in the best order. When filming finally starts, it could take anything from an hour or two, to half a day or even more. Then editing begins, which is usually done by Mike and me in close collaboration. Mike does the editing magic and I come up with extra things for him to do. :)

Extra things to do coming up!

Mike – We, the core of the Go Magic team, were living in close proximity for a long time, and that allowed us to get this far. Working with people who live in different geographical locations was indeed challenging, as they could sometimes just disappear. But those who were able to get through the challenges are true gems, and contributed (and keep contributing) a great deal to the project.

Oh, so you guys lived together for a while, was it hard?

Eugenia – The guys mentioned the constrained co-working/co-living that came about in Georgia. I met them for the first time during that exact period and, surprisingly for me, jumped in to volunteer for the project in exchange for a shared meal and a mattress on the floor. It was only for three months, but these conditions do take a mental toll. I will never forget this ambivalent feeling of, “Look, I love you, but also wish you would get out of my sight”. At the moment it felt very challenging, but now I remember this time as one of the warmest in my life. These are people who drove me insane at moments with heated arguments, and these are people who I appreciate and respect the most. I think this period formed some unbreakable bond between us and I feel a connection to them no matter where everyone is currently located – and I love them no matter our differences and disagreements. Maybe that’s what family is, huh? Go Magic is a family, in a way. And the family is growing.

Mike – We are looking for more of you who would like to make their own move on a board in order to keep go moving forward on a global scale. Please visit https://gomagic.org/jobs/ and leave us a message if you want to participate and contribute! :)

Are we allowed a sneak peek behind the scenes?

Mike – Sure, here is one of my favorite pieces, and it depicts the hurdles quite well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QVNqVyK5go

4) Now I have technical questions for you. Let’s start with Hoang, who designs the Go problems. What’s the most challenging part of that work?

Hoang – Many factors, such as knowledge of different Go concepts, calculation ability and construction of the lesson’s structure are taken into account for creating problems. To sum it up, the major challenge of my work is, of course, raising the quality bar of a problem as high as possible. I define a high-quality problem as one that not only provides valuable knowledge on a skill set, but also consists of a clear explanation to help users fully understand the problem. Even though most of the original problems that I have created are already pretty good, some of them I still would like to improve. From time to time I receive reports that students don’t understand some problems or their solutions. Sometimes it is hard to anticipate the confusion that students might feel when tackling the problems so all the feedback I get is extremely valuable. Therefore, after completing the Skill Tree, I plan to upgrade all the previous problems generally. Having learned from past mistakes, I am certain that the upgraded versions of the problems will be even better than it is now. I’d like to thank you for all the constructive feedback, as well as for your patience with us.

5) How would you define the best approach for teaching? In Europe it’s often a vast debate, as many consider we should start with atari go or, on the contrary, avoid it. In your team, I assume opinions may diverge on that question. Do you often discuss it?

Anton – Yes, we had many discussions on this topic when preparing the course for beginners. For example, we debated whether to use Japanese or Chinese rules. We chose Japanese because they are the most popular among English-speaking players, though Chinese rules are generally more convenient for beginners.

Atari Go is crucial for beginners as it develops important skills and provides smooth immersion. Many strong dan players did not face issues when starting go, so they might see atari go as a game that only teaches stone capturing. However, a personalized approach is ideal: some people might not need atari go or even a 9x9 board, finding it too boring. A good teacher should identify this quickly. For the majority, though, atari go and a 9x9 board are definitely beneficial.

Mike – We do have different opinions, and we’re trying to accommodate the strengths of each approach in our courses. I think the presence of different opinions allowed us to make our teaching content more complete and broad, and the feedback from our users supports my opinion. We can’t make it perfect, but we’re not far from it!

6) In the last years, we see more and more Go Magic posts about the international go World, events in Asia and so on. Do you think Europe needs to put more emphasis on its ties with Asia, starting by sharing common news?

Vadim – I don’t think Europe or anyone else needs ties with Asia to enjoy the game of go. I have a feeling that go is perceived very differently in Asia (as a hobby for senior citizens) and I’m not sure we want to move in that direction. However, sharing the infosphere is essential. Since most of the big games and matches are played in Asia, it would be great to let those interested have simple access to them.

Right now, there doesn’t seem to be any single place on the internet where western players can get all of that information quickly. For example, I’m in South Korea now and when I was visiting the Korea Baduk Association building, Shin Jinseo was playing a match there. Later that day I tried to read more about it or download an sgf, but apparently if you can’t read Korean, getting that information right there on that day is nearly impossible.

Mike – During my brightest years of learning go (around 2010), I always felt the urge to get deeper into go culture, but the Eastern go world was very closed to outsiders. I remember that we would share rare, low-quality videos recorded from Japanese TV channels, and it was everything we had. But even today, the division between Eastern and Western go worlds is still quite big. We can’t do much on that regard just yet, but as you’ve noticed, we’re trying to break this wall with the resources we have. If today’s players are just as passionate as I was during my best years, I feel like it’s our duty to influence the situation in a positive way.

Anton – Go is a fantastic tool for uniting people of different nationalities, races, ages and religions. I always say that go is not about the board and stones; it’s about the people who play. Sharing go news is essential, but there is no good media outlet that publishes news globally. We considered creating a weekly show on our YouTube channel dedicated to news, but we currently lack the resources. We are always open to cooperation and would be glad to create a good YouTube show or a go media outlet with someone.

7) what do you expect from the EGC? For yourselves, as go players, but also as Go Magic?

Vadim – I don’t have many expectations, but I do hope to visit one of the next EGCs. This is probably the biggest go enthusiast’s feast in the world. Kudos to the organizers!

Anton – I have no specific expectations either :) However, the EGC provides a great opportunity for players to come together, share their passion and learn from each other. It’s invaluable! Organizing an EGC is always a serious challenge, so I wish the organizers good luck and minimal unexpected difficulties!

Eugenia – Unfortunately, this year I am the only one who will be able to make it to the venue. EGC 2024 has an incredible organizing team that I admire a lot, there is no doubt that it will be a wonderful event!

As a Go Magic team member, I hope that many go players will discover our platform and fall in love with it as much as we fell in love with making it. And I am sure I’ll meet a lot of interesting people with whom I will have a lot to talk about. Find me at the venue!

Ok, a final question to conclude. If you were on the edge of the world stuck between a mountain and the sea, and aliens came to kill you, how would you convince them not to kill you and rather, to start playing go? (Let’s say that Vadim has the hiccups and can’t do the talking for the first five minutes, and let’s say they have the physical ability to hold go stones)

Vadim – I have the hiccups? Then I guess I have no choice but to let other team members do the talking, pray that they say the right things and play some extraterrestrial tesuji.

Tony – I would present go as our ultimate treasure and offer to share the knowledge, hoping that this will suffice. Then, I’d bring Vadim some water to help him recover more quickly :)

Mike – I would say, “First, try to kill me on the board!”

Thank you all for this great discussion! And for curious readers, we encourage you to check out the full story of Go Magic and discover the platform!

Hello, Prof. Lindauer! You will be a keynote speaker at the 2nd International Conference on Go Studies, we are very excited to have you there. Could you please introduce yourself and tell us about your go journey?

My name is Marius Lindauer, and I’m a professor of Machine Learning at the Leibniz University Hannover, where I head the Institute of Artificial Intelligence (LUH|AI).

I started to play go when I was sixteen years old, so at a time when I could easily beat an AI after playing for a few months. With the advent of AlphaGo and its successors, no one can (reasonably) do it these days, even after spending their entire life studying.

Like many in my generation, Hikaru no Go was why I started playing go. I was very fortunate to meet awesome players in my neighbourhood in Berlin very quickly. Two years later, I joined the board of the Berlin Go Association (GoVB) for roughly a decade and served as the Vice President of the German Go Federation (DGOB) for another year – a very formative time for me. 

For my professional career, go playing also had quite an impact. It is one of the reasons why I looked into AI and tried to develop a go AI and general-game-playing AI at the beginning of my PhD. Admittedly, my friends and I weren’t very successful compared to human playing capabilities back then, but it helped me understand AI’s limitations and opportunities. Maybe without go, I would never become an AI researcher.

With AI, the go landscape changed a lot, from new tools to new trends of play and AI vocabulary. What do you think about this, is it ethical to see AI taking over the go discipline in such a powerful way? Is AI the new standard?

For me, playing go was always like reaching for the stars. It is a never-ending story of improving oneself, developing better strategies, sharpening our minds and extending our creativity. With the advent of AI, this has not changed at all, but in addition to playing with other go players (which is still the most enjoyable way of spending time with go for me), we now have another tool at our disposal: AI. Now that AI programs have become so strong, it is only reasonable to use it to explore the many possibilities of go even further and step into new undiscovered lands. 

AI, in general, is becoming increasingly powerful and can do many tasks for us, even surpassing our own capabilities by quite a bit. We are only at the start of this journey, and there will be much greater disruptive changes beyond go AI because of new AI systems. On the one hand, I believe that we as humans should be more humble – we are not the best at everything. On the other hand, we must re-learn how to make the best use of AI systems. Our goal should not be to match the standards of AI, but we have to strive to use it in the best possible ways that will augment our capabilities and thus lead to a bright future.

AI is sometimes described as learning by itself, almost magically. You have been working on reinforcement learning. Could you walk us through all the human efforts and engineering steps to develop such a model? What is a typical time-frame between pitching an idea and having a first prototype?

There are many different ways how to approach a project based on AI. Reinforcement learning is one of them, that is, we want to teach an agent to achieve goals by performing a sequence of actions in a defined environment. For go, this means that the states of the environment are the positions on the go board; the actions are placing (and capturing) stones and the goal is to win. This concept is straightforward for games such as go. In practice, it is often much more complicated: How can we reward an agent such that it learns the “correct” behaviour to achieve its goals and will not find undesired shortcuts? How can we represent the states of an environment such that they are sufficiently informative to determine what is the best action but, at the same time, do not provide unnecessary or overly-complex information? How can we define a range of actions that allows for sufficiently fine-grained control but, at the same time, do not blow up the complexity of the problem?

Next, we need to collect data by letting the agent try things out. In a real-world scenario, we cannot crash super expensive robots all the time; so, we need simulations. This is, again, very trivial for go (for example, playing some random games as an internal simulation), but very complex for real applications. Going from an imperfect simulation to physical systems comes with a bunch of further challenges. On top of these, we need to decide which of the many existing reinforcement learning algorithms is reasonable. The famous AlphaGo combined Monte Carlo Tree Search with Deep Neural Networks. Although this is a fairly simple combination (in view of what we know now, eight years later), Google Deepmind needed to apply state-of-the-art optimisation approaches (such as Bayesian Optimisation) to get the best out of the system. All in all, coming up with a first prototype can take only a few weeks assuming one has sufficient computing power and a reasonable simulation – my students often have to implement first prototypes of their ideas within a week – but deploying a robust, trustworthy and well-performing reinforcement learning agent can take months or even years depending on the complexity of the underlying task to be solved. (Side note: My research is on automated machine learning to make this development process much more efficient and faster, hopefully enabling everyone to use AI flexibly in the future.)

Could you (try to) explain what were the key challenges of AI in the Go world and how Google Deepmind first, followed by others, overcame them by developing new models?

Researchers tried for many decades to find smart ways to search through all possible combinations of how one could play a game of go. With theoretically 3³⁶¹ possible positions on the board and many more possible game sequences, they tried to tame this instance complexity by implementing many human heuristics of how the game would proceed (e.g., how to play a ladder). Looking back, this was doomed to fail. The intuition and flexible recognition of high-level patterns were simply missing. Deep neural networks closed this gap by predicting the next move from tens of thousands of games – strangely enough, leading to a rather Japanese style of playing at first because they found more games from Japanese players on the internet. Only using deep neural networks is also not sufficient, since humans do not build alone on intuition but also read ahead how the game will proceed. So, said in simple terms, a combination of look-ahead computation (using Monte-Carlo Tree Search) with computational intuition (using deep neural networks) was the breakthrough for developing super-human-level go AIs.

Did the development of go AIs have a meaningful impact on your own research?

In the early days of my research career, I dreamed of building my own go AI. However, I was also a bit too late with my ideas. That Google Deepmind more or less solved AI for go was sad on the one hand because yet another challenge in AI research was gone, but on the other hand, it was one of the many puzzle pieces showing the great potential of AI in many different applications. The AlphaGo paper by Google Deepmind has been cited more than 18,000 times, showing the significant impact of this research.

Big leaps forward have since been achieved in AI, image recognition in 2012 thanks to Deep Convolutional Networks, mastering go in 2017 thanks to Reinforcement Learning, “smart” chatbots recently with Transformers. What kind of disruptive innovation might happen in the future? Which underlying AI technology might be the next “boom” in the next years?

So far, we have not even fully understood the disruptive changes that Large Language Models like ChatGPT have brought us. It will change so many things, like art, education, jobs, politics, law and much more. Although many people believe that Large Language Models are a fairly recent breakthrough, that is not quite true. In fact, the major breakthrough was a paper in 2017 called “Attention is All You Need”, which introduced Transformers. In the last few years, we have just better understood how to make the best use of Transformers and scaled it up to crazy sizes. In that sense, we have had no major breakthrough in the last seven years, but many important small breakthroughs across the board. Major challenges ahead of us include teaching AI causality (i.e., having a deep logical understanding of what consequence follows what action) and how to make AI energy efficient. Using ChatGPT just once requires roughly 30 times more than a single search query at Google – with already more than 180 million users of ChatGPT, this won’t scale further if energy is a limited resource.

Despite the visibility brought to the game by AI, go is facing popularity challenges in some countries. Is there more to discover with AI and go, or have we reached a limit?

We should ask ourselves why we played go in the first place. Do we play go instead of chess because chess was “solved” by computers in the 90s? Do we play go because we believe that we are superior to computers? In fact, this might be true for some players. But overall, I believe that we play because of the beauty of the game in the face of its simplicity. In an age in which everything moves very fast (especially the advances in AI), it is ever more important to slow down and contemplate our own life – I believe that go is ideal for that. Furthermore, a decreased attention span because of modern media and games has cost us quite a bit of our own mental capabilities. Go is an opportunity to sharpen the mind and to learn how to focus on things. This has not changed in an age of AI, but this will become more and more important in the future. We have to reflect on the reasons why we believed that go is an amazing game, that is not only fun but also supports us in shaping ourselves.

Go is often compared to real life, through its principles but also through the way it structures space, building areas, attacking, putting pressure on the opponent, killing and so on. In old times, and maybe even now, it was not rare to have war chiefs with decent go abilities, in China, for example. If we consider the very large gap between the average go player and AI, isn’t it frightening, in the sense that if go is a metaphor of life and war, then AI simply killed the game. It gives us goosebumps if we imagine what it means on a bigger scale, don’t you think?

I don’t believe that every go player would be a great war strategist. Although it might help us learn strategic thinking and has a frightening complexity, the real world is much more complicated than go. Even with the advent of ChatGPT and co, it is still true that current AI systems do not have a real understanding of the world. Thus, asking an AI to fight a real war would be naive (and I can only warn about it). 

Furthermore, we should always ask ourselves what is the value of human life. For me, it has the greatest value of all, and I would never like to see an AI make decisions about the life and death of humans, especially not in a war situation. Nevertheless, there is so much more we can achieve with AI in the face of major challenges, such as climate change and diseases. Therefore, we should focus on how to use AI to solve these challenges instead of creating new challenges because of AI.

Thank you very much for your time!

Dear reders, Prof. Lindauer. will deliver the keynote presentation at the International Conference on Go Studies during the EGC, on August 7th. You can check his profile here. To offer a talk tailored to your interest, please let us know by 2024 June 30th any questions regarding AI you may have to Prof. Lindauer here. He will base his keynote presentation on the questions submitted.

Thank you very much!

Hi Žiga!

Thank you for agreeing to answer a few questions for the EGC2024 news. We want to know a bit more about our supporters and sponsors and I'm sure it will be highly interesting to all the Go community.

Please tell us who you are and how you discovered Go, to start with!

Hey, my name is Žiga Hajduković, I'm a 2-kyu Go player and I run a research and development studio. At Razum (which translates to reason, mind), we focus on designing and developing mobile apps.

I discovered Go a quarter of a century ago during my summer student job, when an older physics student was playing it on his computer and I, as a fan of abstract board games, was immediately curious. So, I started clicking away in igowin to warm up.

I actually quit Go a couple of times as it was too frustrating. Then I started playing online with a co-worker, and I was hooked!

It wasn't until 2016 that I first played a live game on an actual board with actual stones, it was in a tournament in Bled. I lost, to Mirta Medak and her father, Damir. I didn’t go to another tournament until three years later. But after the COVID-19 pandemic settled down, I got my daughter (now thirteen) into the game, and we started going to tournaments a lot more, so now I am REALLY hooked!

We would love to know more about Razum. What attracted you as a company to get involved in the game of go? Or rather, how did the go world invade your company?

Well, as a company we took a dive into Go as I had this idea last year to make 9x9 Go sets as New Year business gifts for our partners, instead of the usual bottles and practical thingies.

But, my idea was bigger than that. As we work together with our partners in fairly large teams (30+), we also feel the natural need to socialize outside of work commitments. Also, working on a project together for years inevitably brings friendly relationships with it.

So, I started organizing Go workshops with our partners and friends as a sort of a team-building exercise.

Of course, it’s all very lightweight, with emphasize on socializing, but it was really well received. I made them bring their newly-acquired Go sets, explained the rules briefly and off we went! They all played a couple of 9x9 games each.

We are an R&D company with a focus on top-quality custom mobile app development. This means we only have the highest-quality talent in our team, and we only work with partners who are also interested in the excellence we deliver. I believe this focus on quality requires great mental effort, and this is where Go comes in. I think it’s the perfect game to practice to keep your mind sharp and focused. Not to mention the countless other skills and types of thinking one can deduct from Go and apply to real life problems.

Having said that, Go is not the only game to do that, I just happen to like it most. We play chess and Magic the Gathering in our company regularly, as well, to just name a few of the physical board/card games. There’s also Age of Empires, Hearthstone and others that we play online in the evenings.

Do you have perhaps some ambitions at EGC 2024 to find like-minded future collaborators?

Honestly, I am hoping to meet some potential talented people, but also potential clients. I believe partnerships with common interests can have greater chances of success. I would love to see our company developing a Go-related app in the future!

How do you imagine the EGC2024 in Toulouse? Which event are you looking forward to the most?

After my experience at EGC2023 (my first EGC), I am most keen on taking part in the main tournament.

But some of those side events, like playing a game with a 9-dan pro, are such an amazing opportunity!

Also, I have fond memories of Hwang Inseong’s lectures featuring Kung Fu Panda, and special game type events, like Chess & Go.

To be honest, everything about an EGC is just brilliant, so I am expecting a lot of mind-bending new experiences!

What does go represent for you, if we can start a philosophical discussion? Many go principles can be applied in real life and in business, and it also teaches important values. Has it ever been useful in your life?

I agree so much with the principles of Go being applied to real life and business. One of the best aspects of Go I find is the fact that it is not (usually) about annihilating your opponent, but one only has to win by an ever-so-tiny margin, even just half a point. And the whole game reflects that principle, where with every move you are trying to tip the balance of the whole game (or life) little by little in your favour.

I think the usefulness of Go in my life comes a lot from the mental abilities that I gain playing Go, like focus and ability to make decisions under pressures of time and other things.

If you could travel in time and space, which Go player would you like to play with and why?

This may sound strange, but I haven’t explored Go history and famous Go players much yet.

Having said that, I recently took a dive into the history of Go in Slovenia. Turns out Slovenia had quite a formidable Go player base in the 60s and 70s.

Just recently purchased the first Slovenian book on Go (GO IGRA (translated: THE GAME OF GO), by Ervin Fink) on an online flea market.

So, I would have to say I’d love to travel back to the 60s or 70s and play with Ervin Fink and other players from that era who brought the game to Slovenia and ignited the Go revolution, firstly within the Chess playing community and beyond it later. I’d have loved to be a part of that discovery phase of the game.

What did you feel when Google Deepmind first announced its achievements with the human-machine battle involving Fan Hui 2p, followed by the AlphaGo match? Do you think we still have soooo much to discover (and suffer) about AI go, or are we already doomed forever?

Amazed. I remember watching the Lee Sedol games streamed live online. It was just astonishing. As I mentioned, I taught myself Go with the help of a (fairly primitive) AI 25 years ago. Another thing is, I was always into AI, ever since I started to learn programming.

Now, with GPT, we are also starting AI projects within our company, so I am really excited about this next “AI era”. I think we definitely have “soooo much to discover” still. AI (i.e. AlphaGo, KataGo...) is still quite a blackbox – it shows variations, but it’s not really capable of teaching. There is still the “solving” of the game left for us to do, like how Othello was recently solved. That is, if we want to go mathematical on it. We’re definitely not doomed, apart from not being able to beat AI anymore.

I definitely enjoy the new AI tools popping up (like KaTrain and AI-Sensei) and gladly use them while I teach and learn!

Alright, now let’s talk about your country! What is the go scene like in Slovenia?

We have around 42 active players (that is more than 20 per million capita!), ranked from 20-kyu to 5-dan, and we meet on a weekly basis at a couple of locations around the country, most prominently in Ljubljana. We organize five regular yearly tournaments, participate in various events (like Japanese-themed days) to promote Go and, this year, we also started several Go classes. There’s a weekly open class now in the library in the centre of our capital Ljubljana and we also started a go class in three primary schools across Slovenia.

TLDR: We are planning nothing short of a rebirth of Go in Slovenia!

Do you have a Go-related short anecdote?

Ha, I think I do. So, as I mentioned, I just started a Go class in our local school this year. My daughters signed up (duh!), along with some of their friends and also a small number of first graders (six years old).

So, I manage to find and collect all the Go students that applied, and we come into the designated classroom for the first time. And this boy (six years old) asks: “Is this where we are having the classes?”

I respond, cautiously: “Yes. You don't like it?”

And the boy goes: “Oh! I thought we're having Go classes in the gym!”

🤷Might be the intro text on next year’s application form….

The application form intro text for the school Go class goes like this (translated):

Go is one of the oldest board games. Legend has it that it was invented by a Chinese general over 3,000 years ago to teach his son how to think strategically. The game requires long-term planning, assessment of the situation and the ability to read the opponent’s intentions. All this, in turn, helps to develop many skills such as critical thinking, patience, concentration and empathy.

Join us at the Go club, become part of this magical game and discover if you have a general within you!

Thanks to Žiga for answering our questions! We’re looking forward to meeting you at EGC2024. We will keep an eye on the progress of Go in Slovenia!

Hi Loïc! You’re one of the organisers of EGC2024 and a very active Go player in general. You were at EGC2023 in Germany and used the opportunity to advertise our Congress and recruit volunteers to help out next year. You also joined the EGC2023 staff, didn’t you? Can you tell us a bit about your experience in Leipzig?

Yes, it was not only a great Congress but also a good experience. Although, I only joined the EGC2023 “crew” in the second week after it had already warmed up and got off to a good start during the first week. Regarding the advertisement I was doing for EGC2024, there were some lovely cards made by our communications team (you) that children and adults alike were collecting. But I wasn’t just advertising the Congress, I also registered a bunch of people and gave them information about what we have planned!

What is it like to wake up in the morning and think that you’re going to meet players who are prepared to travel a long way to Toulouse just to help out?

I think I know most of them at least a little bit. In France, we’re lucky to have a host of volunteers ready to help out with tournaments, whether it’s setting them up or running the very vital bar. For the ones I don’t know, I hope we’ll be able to have a chat beforehand, but for sure it’s a great challenge to volunteer for this Congress. There are also people from abroad who want to help, sometimes because they are accompanying someone, sometimes out of pure devotion. One example is this German guy who came every day by car to take registrations and who lived more than an hour and a half away!

Do you have moments of doubts and low morale, when you wonder what you’re doing there and whether everything is really going to work out, and whether the volunteers aren’t just applying to become volunteer because they are in a “yeah EGC2023 was so great” mood, and eventually will give up when EGC2024 arrives?

I’m more the type of person who trusts people. There might be some who won’t show up..., but I also know that other volunteers will appear to replace them. As for the volunteers in charge, I’m not worried, we’ve got a solid crew. Of course, I’m not saying that it will be all perfect, setting everything up will be a challenge for sure. But the volunteers are aware that we’ll have to put our backs into it at the start and we’ll be joined by a lot of players who will also be lending a hand to support the workload of the other volunteers.

What else did you learn in Germany, from your encounters with the Go community and the German crew? Is there a magic formula for organising a Congress?

A magic recipe??? And why not a divine move while we’re at it? There’s obviously something to be learned from every EGC. There are things that work one year and not the next, things that work all the time (and also things that never work, but that’s something we’ll avoid repeating!) I’ve learnt from my years as a volunteer that you have to do things seriously, but with some detachment. We’re not perfect, we don’t organise this every year – we’re amateurs after all. But we do plan ahead, we think things through in advance with a lot of brains. Then we try to work out who will be the best people to get the machine running, and whether they’re willing to join the team (if they’re not already in it).

Alright! 2024 is going to be awesome! Did you find enough volunteers? Are they enthusiastic? What are you most looking forward to at EGC2024? (without betraying too many professional secrets...)

It’s going well, the crew is growing and growing. I’ve already got over 70 volunteers responsible for various tasks, from setting up the clocks to organising the whole EGC.

As I was saying, we’ll need a lot of little helping hands on the first few days, especially to answer simple questions about the clocks, how to find your table etc., but it will be easier after a couple of days.

I think we’ll still be able to find people and skills because with the French Go Federation we are about to organise some training courses (in tournament management and other areas). There will be a session in Montpellier for the southern leagues, and a session near Paris for the northern leagues, followed by a more in-depth online session.

What I’m most looking forward to…, hmmm, I think, it’s the communication team’s stand-up routine during the ceremonies with the duo Milena B + Quentin R! :D**

In any case, if you’re reading this and it inspires you to join us, don’t hesitate to send a message to volunteers@egc2024.org !

I see, it all sounds very promising! Thank you for your time and good luck with the EGC2024 crew.

Dear Go players!

First of all, Happy New Year and happy year of the Rabbit!
In this newsletter, we’ll first make a small but very very important announcement. Most of you might have guessed already 😏:

The European Go Congress 2023 will happen this summer!

Now, let’s get serious, here is the summary of this newsletter!

• A few words about EGC2023
• Registered participants: sleeping places!
• A sneak peak of the empty venue

EGC2023

The European Go Congress 2023 will take place in Markkleeberg, near Leipzig, in Germany, from the 22nd of July to the 5th of August. And yes, you can already register, book hotel rooms and train your Go skills. Also, we highly recommend you register to their newsletter as well: since the event is already in the “upcoming” part of your brain, it will be useful to follow closely any new development regarding the schedule and events!

For a bit of context, the 2023 EGC was supposed to take place in Ukraine. It was first cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, then in 2021 for the same reason, then postponed to 2023 and now postponed to better days.

In autumn 2022, Germany volunteered, despite the very short preparation time, to organize the 2023 edition. We sincerely hope that it will be a grand success and that you’ll join and make you all even more eager to join in 2024.

As we speak, more than 360 players already plan to participate!

And of course, we (the EGC2024 team) will also be there to introduce you to the French city of Toulouse and tell you more about the events we have planned. Aaaaand as always, we’ll come with surprises ;-)

Sleeping places for registered players

Good news (oh yeah, one more), we’ve negotiated sleeping places and rooms on site in student studios.

Priority will be given to the first-registered players, of course, and we’ll also save rooms for groups who said they will bring kids from a Go school but still don’t know precisely who will come.

We’re also working to get better prices for you for flight tickets and nearby hotels.

And a few pictures from the place!

Welcome!

If you see this, it means you found the place, congratulations! 🥳

If you can see the venue like this, you probably have a sort of 360° creepy vision but hey, maybe it helps on the go board!

A typical view from the eyes of a Go player taking a fresh air intensive breath, answering the “you won?” from his friend with “nah, still playing but tsssh I messed up a sequence although I was leading so much…” before getting back to the board with a small coffee or tea and renewed energy and ambition.

If you win 10/10 games, you may call this “the divine path to glory”

Next time, we may tell you more about the city itself and exciting updates.

Meanwhile, we sincerely hope to see you in the coming tournaments and at EGC2023!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. We still have a bit of time to go before 2024, your questions also help us improve the event and make it better for you.

All the best!

   The EGC2024 team

🎉 Dear Go friends!

300 players..(ok..🤐 "almost" 300!!) that's the number of players who registered two years in advance to the EGC2024! Incredible!!😱✨ Of course, such a number has very big consequences...

1) we are even more motivated, thank you for your trust! 💪🫂

2) we can already start planning accomodation options. We'll plan something for the volunteers, of course, and we also want to save the cheapest rooms for the players from countries with lower wages, and for groups with small budget coming from far away.

As you may know, France is not very cheap 🥲💸 , so as a Go community, we hope we can deal with it and help you plan in advance. We will do our best to make it possible for everyone to enjoy the Congress 💪✨.

3) Speaking of groups... some of you already plan to go with their Go school but don't know yet who, nor how many kids. And time flies... and fees also fly... and stress can reach hights 📈. No no no, that's not good! 😤

👍 So no worries! If you want to take part in the congress with a group (eg: National Youth team, Go school...), you can contact us! We will discuss group fees and will also help to arrange accomodation options once we get closer to 2024. 🫂

4) That was all... ah, and : Thank you all!! You're so awesome 😎

5) Have a great day and see you in some time for the next pack of news!

In the meantime, if you have any questions, write us!

If you have no questions, you have the right to remain silent!

if you want some more updates - not now but at some point - you can subscribe to our newsletter! 😗 👉 egc2024.org.

Maybe we'll tell you about your secret account on the website....

The team.

📢 Dear Go friends and readers of the newsletter! Our team is back from the EGC 2022, that took place in Vatra-Dornei, Romania. It was a wonderful experience and an incredible Congress. Applauds to the organizers! We were very happy to meet many players motivated to re-join the EGC in the coming years. See that, already 100 players registered for 2024!!!!!

In Romania, we had the chance to introduce in details the EGC 2024 to the EGF members during the Annual General Meeting and the players in general, and also discuss about organizing a congress. We could benefit from a lot of advices and experience from the EGC2022 and previous Congresses. It will be more than useful to prepare you a great event ☝️That's one of the powers of the Go community: sharing advices and tips, helping everyone improve, be that in Go or in EGC organization.

But ok, let's get to the point. Some veeeery important information:

[📣 Extra-important]

💶 • Early-bird fee will last until August 31st - register today to benefit from the special early entry fee, only 90€ for the two weeks!

💸 • ...and, if you register early, please consider also paying by the 31/08 :-) otherwise your early bird fee might...fly away!

[📣 Less important but still very important]

✨😳 • we had a nice walk in the future tournament place, the ENAC in Toulouse. It's big, nice, comfortable...We can already imagine the gobans, the stones sound ..."shtrshtr" when in the bowl, then "pa!" on the board. We can hear the "hhhhhmmmhffff" of strong players who misread a complicated situation and bow over the board in search of a desperate tesuji. We can picture the rengo tournament and the blitz tournament with clocks suffering from our love of Go 🥰 We can see the European Championship with its serious atmosphere and cameras looking with approbation at the moves of the top players, the big silence soon replaced by the growing whisper of game commentators after someone lost by 0.5...

Soon we'll share new updates, you can follow us on social medias - Facebook & Twitter

🍻 🇯🇵 🇨🇳 🇰🇷 • ah, yeah, we have one more big news! The website is now available in Japanese and Chinese, so you can share it with your Japanese and Chinese speaking friends. Korean should follow soon. Big thanks to our translators! 🥳

[📣 Maybe not important to you but important to us and you'll read it anyway]

• You're amazing, have a nice day and play a great Go 🤗

  The team.

Dear go friends!

As you may have heard (otherwise, probably you wouldn't be reading this at this moment), the European Go Congress 2024 will take place in France in Toulouse!

It will take place in the National School of Civil Aviation, and we are planing many many activities, also some game of Go.

We're super happy for this opportunity to organize such an awesome event and we want it to be an amazing experience for you as well.

To learn and prepare, what better choice than coming ourselves to a wonderful congress? We are right now participating to the EGC 2022 in Romania, Vatra-Dornei. The congress is going well and it's good to finally be all able to meet, play go and games and have fun. Despite the COVID uncertainty and the difficult political situation, the organizers and volunteers managed to prepare an incredible event and there are still a bit more than a week to go (or Go?)!

So we're looking forward to the EGC 2023 and then EGC 2024! In fact, you can already register and get the very very very early bird price!!

For the two weeks, if you register now it costs 90€.

And to be informed of all the updates, you can also subscribe to the newsletter.

See you around at the EGC 2022!

The team.