Foreign Tournament Report

BGA President Gerry Gavigan welcomed 22 women, from ten countries around Europe, to the European Women's Go Championship. It was held at the London Go Centre on the 3rd and 4th October and was fought over five rounds.

Ting Li (6d) from Austria was unbeaten to take the title for a remarkable fourth year in a row. Second place went to Milena Bocle (3d) from France, who only lost to the winner (as shown in the photo of Ting Li below). Olesia Marko (4d) from Ukraine topped the group on three wins to take third place. Each was awarded with a glass trophy.

British representative Bruno Poltronieri 4d secured an excellent 7th place finish at the 46th World Amateur Go Championship (WAGC), held in Mungyeong, South Korea from 6-13 September.

Competing against representatives from 52 nations over eight rounds, Bruno finished with an impressive 6–2 record. His campaign featured victories over 5 dan players from France and Ukraine, only losing games to a 5 dan from Poland and a 6 dan from Singapore. This result marks the first top 10 finish at WAGC by a British player in 34 years—since Matthew Macfadyen’s 5th place in 1992.

After finishing second in League B (behind the Netherlands) the UK team had to play a promotion match against the team second bottom in League A. At one point it was expected this would be Hungary, but Israel ended in the ninth slot on tie-break. Italy was bottom and automatically relegated. Israel fielded a strong team and only Damen Woo, playing on board one, managed to win for the UK, so the match was lost 1-4 and the UK remain in League B next season.

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In the last round of the Pandanet Go European Team Championship the UK managed to beat Finland and hold onto the second place in the B League. Unfortunately Michael Chang forgot that his game was an early start and it was forfeited to Olli Ervelä. However the other three UK players won by resignation to take the match 3-1. This means the UK will have to play Israel in a play-off to gain promotion to the A League.

The eighth match of the B-League season, on 14th April, was against our old friends and league rivals Ireland. Gavin Rooney was expected to play board three for Ireland, but in the end James Hutchinson had to move up a board with John Courtney playing board 4, Karl Irwin and Philippe Renaut on boards 1 and 2. The UK team fielded its strongest team to try and cement our second place; this tactic worked as Damon Woo, Michael Cheung, Bruno Poltronieri and Jake Game all won by resignation.

In the sixth match of the 2025–2026 B-League season the UK team played Switzerland winning 4-0. Congratulations to Michael Cheung, Bruno Poltronieri, Jake Game and Ryan Zhang. This made the team third after leaders Croatia had their first five match wins voided after a player used AI. Netherlands now lead the table, ahead of Sweden, with what is probably an unassailable lead. Next match is 14th April against fourth-placed Ireland.

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In the sixth game of the 2025-2026 B-League season the team played top team Croatia. All games ended in resignations. Two games were played early, with the UK equal going into the Tuesday night after Jun Sun won on board one. Unfortunately he was the only winner meaning the match was lost 1-3. The Netherlands defeated Austria to stay second, one point behind Croatia. The UK slipped to fourth on tie-break behind Sweden who tied with Switzerland. The next match is on 17th March with UK against Switzerland.

League Page with game records

In the fifth game of the 2025-2026 B-League season the team played Belgium. Three games were played at the weekend, with the UK ahead going into the Tuesday night. Bruno managed to win on time to take the match. Croatia won again, beating Sweden, to remain top. The Netherlands defeated Ireland, four games to nil, moving to second place, with the UK in a creditable third place. The next match is on 24th February with UK against Croatia.

League Page with game records

In the fourth game of the 2025-2026 B-League season the team played Austria. One game was played at the weekend and Michael's great win meant the team only had to win two games on the night. The team did not drop a single game to win the match four games to nil. This win moved the team up to fourth place on five points. Croatia became remained top on seven points, ahead of Sweden and Netherlands on six. Ireland lost to Switzerland (with just a win for Gavin Rooney) to move down to fifth. The next match is on 3rd February with UK against Belgium.

In the third game of the 2025-2026 B-League season the team had to play the team from South Africa (who are allowed to play in Europe as they have no near Go neighbours). One game was played at the weekend and Jake's win meant the team only had to win two games on the night. As expected Victor Chow beat our board one, Damen Woo, but we won on the other two boards. This win moved the team up to seventh place. At the top Croatia became clear first by beating Ireland, with John Courtney the only Irish winner. The next match is on 13th January with UK against Austria.