Yohei Top for UK at EGC 2010

The 54th European Go Congress, sponsored by Zhuyeqing Tea, was held in various school buildings in Tampere, Finland. The fortnight started with the last days of a record heat wave.

418 players took part in the main tournament, including a few strong players from outside Europe. Ilya Shikshin from Russia was the winner, topping the group on 8 wins, just ahead of Artem Kachanovskyy from Ukraine by 2 sos points. Yohei Negi (3 dan) was best placed of the 17 from the UK who took part, with 6/10 in 53rd place. Andrew Simons (2 dan) also won 6.

59 pairs took part in the Pair Go Championships. The winners of the 600 euro first prize were Klara Zaloudkova (Czechia) and Mok Chin-Seok (Korea). They beat Laura Avram and Ilya Shikshin from Russia in the final. Ilya Shikshin won both the lightning and again the 13x13. Janne Kosso from Finland won the 9x9 handicap.

350 players took part in the Weekend Tournament and it was won by Kim Jung-Hyeop with Ilya Shikshin in second. From the UK Yohei Negi (3 dan), Martha McGill (3 kyu) and Huw Mort (13 kyu) won 3 and Alice Bradley (10 kyu) won 4/5. Kim Jung-Hyeop also won the 195-player Rapid.