American Go E-Journal » Russia

Mark Your Calendar: 2017 Go Events

Monday December 19, 2016

European Go Congress 2017: The 2017 European Go Congress has been moved from Turkey to Sochi, Russia (Sochi). More details here.

Australian Go Congress: The Australian Go Association, Sydney Go Club and Sydney University Go Club have announced that the 2017 Australian Go Congress — the third such Congress — will be held at Sydney University between September 28th and October 1st 2017. Further details will be released in the coming year.

Canadian Open 2017: After two years in eastern Canada, the Canadian Open is tentatively scheduled for Vancouver on the July 1st to 3rd weekend. Once the venue is confirmed the Canadian Go Association will post more details.

Osaka Go Camp/Japan Go Congress: The Kansai Kiin will host the 5th annual Osaka Go Camp June 25th to July 13th, 2017. The second Japan Go Congress will be held from July 14th to 17th. Registration is now open; click here for details on both. This year more than 80 participated in the camp and 300 attended the congress.

US Go Congress: And while we’re at it, just a reminder that the US Go Congress will be held August 5-8 in San Diego, California. Read the latest news here.

We love to hear about and promote go events around the world; send us details at journal@usgo.org

Categories: Australia,Europe,Japan,Russia,U.S./North America

European Go Congress 2016 Gets Under Way in Saint Petersburg

Monday July 25, 2016

The 60th European Go Congress got under way on July 23rd in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The Congress is being held at the Hotel Azimut, a couple of kilometres south of the historic centre of the city. 456 players took part in the first round, including seven Europeans with pro status. Among the guests are professional players including Cho Hye-Yeon 9p, Shao Weigang 9p, Yamashiro Hiroshi 9p, Muraoka Shigeyuki 9p, Ohashi Hirofumi 6p and many others.

In addition to many tournaments, Congress organizers have prepared some special events. On July 25 Google DeepMind representatives will give an update on AlphaGo, on July 27 Cho Hye-Yeon will take on Zen AI and two chess Grandmasters will clash in a go battle.

Traditionally the first days of the EGC are marked by the Pandanet Go European Team Tournament finals. Team Ukraine, led by recently-minted European pro Artem Kachanovskyi, prevailed over Team Russia 3-1 in the finals, with a sensational victory by Andrij Kravec over Alexandre Dinerchtein (photo at left), sealing the championship. Russia took second place, France 3rd and Romania 4th.

– Daria Koshkina, with additional reporting from the EGC 2016 site; photos: EGC 60 opening ceremony (right); Dinerchtein vs Kravec

Categories: Europe,Russia

Two Chess Grandmasters to Clash in Go Match at EGC

Thursday July 21, 2016

The 2016 European Go Congress, which starts tomorrow in Saint-Petersburg, Russia, features many special events. One of

them is a go/chess match between two chess Grandmasters. In one corner is Alexander Morozevich (right), three-time champion of the Chess Olympiad and two-time Russian Champion. He achieved 3k on KGS and played at some recent Russian tournaments. He started playing go as a hobby and enjoys studying and practicing. His opponent is a Swedish chess Grandmaster Tiger Hillarp Persson, also a two-time champion of his native country, and a winner of several individual bronze medals in the Chess Olympiad. He started playing go in 2011 and reached 1 dan in 2015. He believes that learning the principles of go can improve skills for all chess players. The match is scheduled for July 27 and will include two go and two chess games with reviews (and one additional match in case of a draw) and a simul with both Grandmasters. Organizers hope the event helps go to captivate more chess-lovers. Click here for more information.
– Daria Koshkina; photo from EGC 2016 website

Categories: Russia

More than 200 set record at historic simul in Saint Petersburg

Friday June 3, 2016

Henceforth, May 21 will be a memorable date in the history of Russian go. On that date, more than 200 go fans gathered in Saint Petersburg, Russia, for a massive simultaneous go game. The event took place on the street near architectural masterpiece the Kazan Cathedral. Even cold wind and drizzling rain did not deter players who turned out to challenge their country’s strongest go masters, including Alexander Dinerchtein 3P, Ilya Shikshin 1P and Natalia Kovaleva, who’s been European Female Champion. Some passersby got intrigued and played go for the very first time in their life, adding to the game’s fanbase. Every participant got a memorable souvenir and anyone who could defeat a master got an additional prize. Overall 218 people played on 191 boards, setting a national record. Click here for a video of the event (added 6/9).
– report by Daria Koshkina; photos by Mikail Krylov

Categories: Russia

Go Growing in Russia as Organizers Prepare to Host European Go Congress

Saturday November 7, 2015

With go growing more and more popular in Russia, game organizers held a press conference October 22 in Moscow on the eve of the 21st edition of the Cup of the Ambassador of Japan, the oldest go tournament in the country. New clubs are opening up, the number of players is increasing and notable international competitions are taking place, the organizers reported. Russia will host the 60th Polymetal European Go Congress next year in Saint-Petersburg.

In another major development, the National non-Olympic Sports Committee and the Russian Go Federation signed an official contract assuring the Committee’s support for developing this intellectual sport in Russia. Moreover, go is officially included in the list of sports by the Ministry of Sports of Russian Federation.

“The number of Russian athletes taking part in international go competitions grew by 70% since 2012,” said Boris Grishin, deputy director for the Summer Athletics Development department at the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation. “Go is successfully developing in Russia and the results of which are noted by our European colleagues,” said Maxim Volkov, the president of the Russian Go Federation.
– Ludmila Nemchinova

Categories: Russia