At the European Youth Go Championship held at Ustron in Poland on 1 to 4 March, the winner in the unrestricted (Under-18) class was Pal Balogh 4 dan of Hungary, just ahead of compatriot Diana Koszegi 5 dan on tie-break. Both had five wins over six rounds, in a huge field of 76 competitors bulked out by kyu players from Eastern Europe; 18 dan players took part.
Pal Balogh (Permission from EYGC)
Ilya Chikchin (Permission from EYGC)
The Under-12 group had a clear winner in Ilya Chikchin 2 dan of Russia with a perfect six wins. There were 65 participants in the section, including no fewer than 25 Romanians. In second place was Jan Prokop 4 kyu of Czechia.
On the final day a ten-strong European Youth Team headed by Koszegi and Balogh took on a team of Japanese amateurs led by the professional player Okada 7 dan, with top boards Yanagita Nobuo 6 dan and Kuribayashi Yuji 5 dan. Games were split equally on the first six boards, but the European tail proved stronger and the match went Europe's way 7-3. Shigeno Yuki 2 dan, Nihon Ki-in pro based in Milan, attended.
Shigeno Yuki awards prizes (Permission from EYGC)
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Older News From 20 December 2000: FIGG ITALIAN OPEN
In the FIGG Italian Open held from 7-10 December at MSO Italy in Milan, the winner was Shigeno Yuki 7 dan, more usually to be found instructing school classes in capture go using the Yasuda method, who was undefeated on seven wins in a field of 60 players. A match for the title of Italian Champion will take place between the top native players, both from Milan, Paolo Montrasio 1 kyu, who placed second with 5/7 and Enzo Burlini 2 dan, fourth on four wins.
Winner Shigeno Yuki 7d
In the other go events Tatsutomi Hiroyuki of Japan won the Handicap 13x13, Tanaka Masanori also of Japan won the Handicap Lightning, and the Handicap 9x9 was won by Hung Fioramonti (results page ).
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Older News From 2 December 2000: AGI ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Italian Open Championship organized by the AGI (Associazione Goistica Italiana) took place in Naples on 4 and 5 November. The winner was Raffaela Giardino 1 dan of Milan, with 4/5 in a McMahon tournament with 33 players. The 21st Italian Championship of the Federazione Italiana Guioco Go (FIGG) will be an open McMahon of seven rounds, and will take place on 8 to 10 December at MSO Italy as part of the Italian Go Congress.
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Older News From 30 November 2000: UKRANIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Ukrainian Go Championship took place from 19 to 22 October in Kiev. Winner was Mikhail Galchenko 5 dan (European rating 2508) with 6/7, followed by Dmitrij Bogackij 6 dan (2539) and Dmitrij Jacenko 5 dan (2453), both on five wins, in an eight player round-robin. Players from Kiev dominated, with six of the entrants and all the top places, but participants came also from Dnepropetrovsk and Odessa.
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Older News From 21 November 2000:
GERMAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
German Champion Franz-Josef Dickhut 6 dan retained his title in an eight-player all-play-all tournament held in Hamburg on 16-19 November (official results page). He won all seven games, ahead of the other 6 dans Christopher Gerlach (2572) and Egbert Rittner (2543), both on five wins. Dickhut, from Bochum, is rated 2630 on the European scale, and runs distance teaching for Go players. Game records from the event can be found on his web pages.
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FRENCH CHAMPIONSHIPS
It is the season for national championships, after the summer's international events. French Champion Pierre Colmez 5 dan (2566) was less fortunate, being dethroned by Jeff Seailles 5 dan (2578) in two straight games of a best-of-three match, played at Avignon on 28 October.
Game 1: Colmez threw away by a blunder in a favourable position
Game 2: a close game led to Seailles' victory by 0.5 point, for his third tenure as French Champion.
