The World Amateur Go Championship (WAGC) is organized under the auspices of the International Go Federation. Held annually since 1979, the WAGC brings together top amateur players from all over the world for a week-long Swiss-style tournament. Players representing over 60 countries now compete in the event. American players have competed every year, placing in the top ten several times.

The selection process in the United States requires regular participation in the US Open, and promotes recognition of consistent performance and participation. Contenders should be prepared to commit as much time to competing for this prize as they would when competing in the WAGC itself.

Selection Process

To be eligible for selection as WAGC representatives, players must comply with the AGA's policy of the selection of international representatives. In particular, each WAGC representative must:

• hold US citizenship
• have been physically resident in the United States for six of the past twelve months
• have held continuous AGA membership for the past year
• have completed ten AGA-rated games within the past year
• comply with relevant drug testing policies
• not be selected to represent the US at the Korean Prime Minister's Cup tournaments immediately preceding or following selection as the WAGC representative

Information about the AGA and IGF's policies on drug screening can be found on the general tournament information page. The selection process uses a point-based system, in which WAGC Qualfying Points are awarded to US citizens based on their final standings in the US Open, a six-round Swiss-McMahon event played each year at the US Go Congress. The available eligible player with the highest five-year cumulative WAGC Qualifying Point total is selected each year as the US representative to the WAGC.

WAGC Qualifying Points are awarded at the US Open as follows:

• 1st: 25 points
• 2nd: 20 points
• 3rd: 15 points
• 4th: 10 points
• 5th: 10 points
• 6th: 5 points
• 7th: 5 points
• 8th: 5 points

Points are awarded for the relative standing of US citizens within the tournament field, so that the top placing eligible player receives 25 points regardless of their final standing in the tournament. Ties within the tournament are broken using the SOS followed by the SDOS systems. Points are split evenly between players who remain tied.

Points expire in one of three ways:

• Five years after being awarded
• The US representative to the WAGC loses all accumulated points
• As the result of a three month lapse in AGA membership (effective Dec. 1, 2008).

An administrative document describing the WAGC selection procedure is available here.

Current Standings

The WAGC point standings (as of October 16, 2014) are:

WAGC representatives are marked with an asterisk. The years listed are US Go Congress years; the WAGC events take place in the following year in the spring. Only players with active points are represented on the spreadsheet.

Past Representatives