European Go Federation facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
European Go Federation

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

The European Go Federation (EGF) is a group that helps spread and organize the game of Go across Europe. Go is an ancient board game played with black and white stones. The EGF is a non-profit organization, meaning it doesn't aim to make money.

The EGF started in 1957. In the same year, the very first European Go Congress (EGC) was held in Cuxhaven, Germany. This Congress is a big annual event that happens in a different European city each year. During the EGC, the European Go Championship takes place. Also, the EGF created a special system for professional Go players in Europe in 2014.

Any group that organizes Go in a country in or near Europe can join the EGF. There are currently 35 full member countries.

What the EGF Does

The EGF has a special committee that helps run its activities. This committee oversees many smaller groups. These groups manage the daily tasks between the big yearly meetings.

The EGF directly organizes many major Go tournaments in Europe. These are not handled by the smaller committees. Some of the big events include:

• The European Grand Prix
• The Pandanet European Team Championship
• European Youth Go Championships for different age groups
• The European Youth Team Championship
• The European Pair Go Championship, where two players team up
• The European Women's Championship
• The European Student Championship
• The European Championship, which happens during the annual European Go Congress.

The EGF also keeps an official list of player ratings. They do this by looking at the results from as many European tournaments as possible. This helps players see how they compare to others.

The European Go Federation is also part of the International Go Federation. This means they work with Go organizations around the world.

Member Countries

Many countries are part of the European Go Federation. These include countries like Armenia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

In March 2022, the EGF made a decision to temporarily stop the membership of the Go groups from Russia and Belarus. This was due to the conflict happening in Ukraine. Because of this, players from these two countries could not represent their nations in European events. The first big event affected was the 2022 European Youth Go Championship.

European Professional Go Players

In 2014, the EGF started a system for professional Go players in Europe. This was made possible with help from China. To become a professional, top European players compete in a special tournament. The best players from this tournament earn the title of "professional."

Once a player is professional, they can move up in rank. They earn points by winning games against other professional players in big tournaments. As of 2023, there are nine professional Go players in Europe. These players get special benefits, like being able to play in major international tournaments.

Current Champions

Here are the most recent winners of the main events organized by the EGF:

See also

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