6.10 International Representation

We are asked to nominate official representatives for various international tournaments. In general we operate a points system to help the Board decide who should be nominated. When such a system is in operation the Board will normally nominate the person with the highest number of accumulated points, who has earned some points within the last 5 years and who is an Association member. Players who attend the tournaments for which they are nominated will have their points reset to 0. If two or more players are tied on the same number of points, then priority is given to players who have been to the World Amateur Go Championship less recently (Council decision 25.2.17).

The main exception to this is the World Mind Sports Games (WMSG) which for 2008 and 2012 used the existing European Go Federation (EGF) ratings list as a selection mechanism. Without committing the Board in the future players should assume that if the WMSG is held again that the ratings list as displayed on our website will be used again.

Please note that these are guidelines which may be not be followed by the Board in exceptional circumstances (for example, someone becoming British Champion for the first time).

All nominations will be subject to the rules for attendance at the respective events, e.g. some may be restricted to UK-born or UK-nationals.

For International Go Federation (IGF) sponsored events representatives also need to abide by the IGF Code of Conduct, which can be seen on the IGF Members Documents page.

World Amateur Go Championship

If the two challengers are selected from a Candidates' Tournament then points are awarded to the eight highest-placed players therein. The winner receives 8 points, second 7 points, and so on down to 1 point for eighth. Points are shared between players who finish on the same McMahon score, with any fraction rounded to the nearest half integer (quarters rounded up). The eventual British Champion gets 9 points instead of the points for their qualifying position.

If the two challengers are selected from a Challengers’ League then points are awarded as as follows:

the champion

9 WAQ points

1st in Challengers’ League (if not champion)

8 WAQ points

2nd in Challengers’ League (if not champion)

7 WAQ points

3rd in Challengers’ League

6 WAQ points

4th in Challengers’ League

5 WAQ points

5th in Challengers’ League

4 WAQ points

6th in Challengers’ League

3 WAQ points

7th in Challengers’ League

2 WAQ points

8th in Challengers’ League

1 WAQ points

Except that: if there are players on an equal number of wins at the end of round seven of the Challengers’ League, then the points for those league places are shared equally between the league places concerned.

A player taking part in the World Amateur Go Championship has their points reset to zero and this happens before any points for that year are awarded.

International Amateur Baduk Championship

Points are awarded to the eight highest-placed British players (by nationality or residence) in the British Open Championship. The winner receives 8 points, second 7 points, and so on down to 1 point for eighth. Points are shared between players who finish on the same McMahon score, with any fraction rounded to the nearest half integer (quarters rounded up).

If two or more players are tied on the same number of points, the tie-break is: first, priority is given to players who have been to the International Amateur Baduk Championship less recently; second, who played in the British Open more recently; third, who finished more highly placed in that British Open; fourth, nigiri.

Women’s World Amateur

Due to the long time since the last Womens World Amateur, Council decided to suspend this points system. The following has been retained for historic purposes:

This points system is used as a guide for selection of British representatives in international Women’s Amateur Go events, such as have been held in Japan and South Korea. Points will be awarded to women competing in the British Open. Points are given according to final ranking by McMahon score, with players tied by that score sharing the points assigned to the places. Up to eight players will be awarded points, with 8 points being given to the top player, 7 to the second player and so on with a decrement of one point each place.

International Amateur Pair Go

Points will be awarded to individuals in a pair. A point is gained per person for each game won in the British Pair Go Championship.

Only teams that have played together will be considered.

Current pairings will be given preference. This is interpreted to mean that normally only pairs who have played together in one or both of the two most recent qualifying Pair Go tournaments may be nominated.

European Amateur Pair Go

This is identical to the International Amateur Pair Go Qualification Points System.

Other International Events

The points systems described above may be used as guidelines when selecting representatives for other international events, as alternatives to the rankings from the most recent British Championships or the EGF ratings.

Last updated Sun Dec 24 2023.
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