Professional system

CEGO European pro qualifying tournament

May 23, 2014

The first two European professional players will be decided with a tournament that will start in Strasbourg, Maison de la région on Friday, May 23rd. 16 participants selected by the European Go Federation will play two rounds. The players who will lose the two games will be knocked out. The tournament will go on in Amsterdam (May 29th – June 1st) with 12 players. After rounds 3 and 4 in Amsterdam (May 29th-June 1st), one player with 4 points will become professional. The 4 players with 3 points will play the last two rounds in Vienna (June 20-22nd) and the winner of these two rounds will become the other professional player. The pairing for the first round in Strasbourg shoud be: 1-16, 2-15… (EGF ratings). The first two rounds will take place at the FEC, place Saint-Etienne, on Friday, May 23rd. The Four players with two wins will me directly qualified tor the top 16 of the Strasbourg tournament (May 24-25th at the Collège Saint-Etienne). The rest of the top group will be decided according to the EGF ratings.

Plus…

Further information about professional systems

• Chinese professional system
• Japanese professional system
• Wikipédia
• Sensei Library

There are also professional systems in Korea, Taiwan and the USA.

Chinese sponsorship

The European Pro system will be supported by Chinese partners and the European Go Federation (EGF). China has been promoting mind sports for several years and has organized international events such as the World Mind Games held every year in Beijing. (Go starts at 35 :45)

EGF – CEGO partnership  

The European go federation (EGF) and the Chinese investors group CEGO have set a partnership in order to promote professional go in Europe (CEGO-EGF agreement).

The European pro system has been created thanks to this agreement.

This partnership enabled five young European go students, Rémi Campagnie (France), Benjamin Teuber (Germany), Lukas Kraemer (Germany), Zeno van Ditzhuijzen (The Netherlands) et Andrii Kravets (Ukraine) to follow a 6-months intensive training session in China (report by Benjamin Teuber).

Following this internship in China, all candidates to the pro qualification tournament are invited to take part to an online training until the tournament in May.

Participants list

• Pavol Lisy (Slovakia)
• Mateusz Surma (Poland)
• Thomas Debarre (France)
• Andrii Kravets (Ukraine)
• Benjamin Teuber (Germany)
• Cornel Burzo (Romania)
• Csaba Mero (Hungary)
• Christian Pop (Romania)
• Jan Simara (Czechia)
• Ali Jabarin (Israel)
• Fredrik Blomback (Sweden)
• Jan Hora (Czechia)
• Viktor Lin (Austria)
• Timur Sankin (Russia)
• Lukas Podpera (Czechia)
• Dusan Mitic (Serbia)

Sponsors

Link with the Strasbourg tournament

The four players who win two rounds on friday will be directly qualified for the top 16 of Strasbourg tournament (May 24-25th at Collège Saint-Etienne), the 12 other players of the top group will be decided according to the EGF ratings.

Referee

Li Ting, Chinese professional player living in Vienna.

Games played in Strasbourg

SGF available during the tournament (May 23rd).