As a curtain-raiser for his coming reports on European Go events, our correspondent Charles Matthews brings you the background of the game's development in the region.
IF YOU JUDGE BY tournament activity, Europe is the most important centre for Go outside the Far East. Its development has already spanned half a century, starting in the Central European countries of Germany, Austria and the former Yugoslavia, spreading westwards in the 1960s and 1970s, then north to Scandinavia and into Eastern Europe.
The German Fritz Dueball achieved dan level in the 1930s, and received tuition from Segoe Kensaku, great teacher of three masters in Go Seigen, Hashimoto Utaro and Cho Hun-hyun. While individual oriental players have always made a difference by their teaching, Go in Europe grew without major participation from the oriental ethnic communities.
How matters now stand can be gauged from the EGF rating list
(frame version with breakdown by 33 countries);
it shows ratings for nearly 4000 players computed Elo-style from a database of about 1000 tournaments. There is no residence requirement, or minimum participation for inclusion. That means that the top ten includes short-term visitors from the East, as well as players trained as pros who have settled in Europe.
The Romanian Catalin Taranu (now professional 4 dan) and Hans Pietsch (3 dan) of Germany play in Japan as Nihon Ki-in professionals; they follow in the footsteps of the American Michael Redmond (8 dan), the strongest westerner ever.
Just below these in the ratings can be found some of the national champions.
If you look at strength in depth, Germany is the top country, with 200 dan players, followed by France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom with 100. But if the level of the top few players is considered, at 5 dan and above, relative newcomers Romania and Russia must be mentioned, with Finland coming up too.
Here are links about national championships (for some reason European Go pages are particularly frame-encrusted):
Please send further information and links.
Performance in national championships is the usual way to participation in the
World Amateur Championships (1999 results)
run annually in Japan by the International Go Federation, and an aspiration for ambitious dan players. Over fifty countries take part, of which half are in the EGF.
The players entered by the oriental countries with professional systems tend to be of professional level, though either young or not pursuing a career in Go, so that a European winner is unlikely - it's a bit like the Olympic boxing the year the future Muhammed Ali entered. A result in the top ten is very creditable for a European. In 1999 the Hungarian teenager Diána Köszegi caused something of a sensation by placing ninth.
Top players also undertake coaching at national level, or private teaching as distance learning: in Germany Franz-Josef Dickhut; in the Netherlands the Guo Juan Internet School; in the United Kingdom Matthew Macfadyen.
The largest European Go event of the year is the European Go Congress (EGC history)
of two weeks, in Germany in 2000. There is a European Pair Go (mixed doubles) Championship, held in Brno in April this year. A European Team Championship took place in 1999, but was affected by the Kosovo situation. There are European Youth Championships (Cannes 1999).
The European Grand Prix was won in 1999 by Victor Bogdanov 6 dan of Russia. This circuit of about 20 major tournaments is currently between sponsors, and will restart as the Toyota Tour at Milan at the end of April; but its component events continue (see calendar). Other top events include the Fujitsu (qualifying stage for a pro-am event in Japan) and Obayashi tournaments.
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Go Institutions
Although there are probably 10,000 or more players in Europe, they are still spread quite thin except in a few centres. To find clubs and players near you, contact your national association or look for a club web page. Here are places to start:
© Charles Matthews 2000
