Youth Go News 45 - February 2026

Editor, Toby Manning.

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Your Newsletter

This is your Newsletter: We welcome contributions from our readers; if you have any news, an interesting article or suggestions for inclusion in future newsletters please send it to ynews AT britgo.org. If you are a parent or teacher reading this, please pass it on to your children!

NEWS

Pandanet European Go Team Championships

The Pandanet Youth Go European team Championship 2026 started on 21 January. This year there are 12 teams taking part split across two leagues (A and B). The UK is in the top league, but facing strong opposition will be fighting to retain their place in league A.

This year's UK youth team has 12 players in the team with 5 selected for each match of which at least one must be female and at least one U12. Some of last year's team are now too old or are prioritising important exams, so we welcome six new players to the team this year. Team manager Alison Bexfield looks at results in the youth tournaments through the year - particularly the British youth face to face event - and those who attended the youth Go camp to spot emerging talent. The full team this year comprises Ryan Zhang, Daniel Yang, Lea Wong, Lukasz Kudla, Blake Shamoon, Andrew Volovich, Jin Cheng, April Chen, Chenbei Ding, Emily Gan, Sophia Gan and Fane Dhamari.

In the round 1 match against Romania we were the underdogs on paper, but had a chance to win if we had an upset on the more closely matched boards and held on to the two boards where we were ranked higher on paper. However in the end the Romanian team prevailed 5-0 against us. The score line does not do justice to the games, several of which proved exciting to watch and where we definitely had chances. Both Daniel and Fane made their debuts for the team in this match.

UK Go Challenge

The 2026 UK Go Challenge for UK schools (and other youth clubs) is here!
As before, our annual competition on 13x13 boards, that features heats run by each club, is back.
All the information on how to join in and run your heat is on the UK Go Challenge website.
The caption on the 2026 logo, as shown above, was suggested by Clarence Qin.

TOURNAMENTS

London Youth

18 youngsters took part in the 2026 edition of the London Youth at the London Go Centre on 7 February. The winner was Ryan Zhang, second was Hayes Lee and third was Natalie Hung (seen above battling against Audrey Fung). The best Best DDK was Kai Dhamari, second was Michelle Cheung and third was Caleb Fai (both on tie-break). The Fighting Spirit prize went to Solomon Horton-Smith at his first event. Our thanks to the Youth Go Trust for sponsoring this tournament.

TEACHING/TRAINING

The next "Double-digit kyu" teaching will be on Sunday 15 March, at 14:30. If you are 10 kyu or weaker and wish to attend, please email youth-chair@britgo.org before the day.

FUTURE EVENTS

25-28 March 2026 - European Youth Go Championships - Croatia. UK players attending will receive a £100 travel grant from the Youth Go Trust.
So we can arrange a team captain, if you intend to go please contact Toby Manning ynews AT britgo.org (without commitment).

ONLINE MEETINGS

USEFUL RESOURCES

Here are some useful resources/links:

BGA Website: Junior Pages
BGA Youth Go X ("Twitter") account @britishyouthgo, kept fairly active (379 followers)
Instagram - account is uk_youth_go, now with regular updates - 479 followers
BGA Youth Go OGS (closed group, 156 members including adult organisers). If you are a new member, please complete this form.
BGA Youth Go Discord Channel

PROBLEMS

Black to play