# European Go Federation

The European Go Federation (EGF) is a non-profit organization with the purpose of encouraging, regulating, co-ordinating, and disseminating the playing of the board game Go in Europe. The EGF was founded in 1957, the same year that the inaugural European Go Congress (EGC) took place in Cuxhaven, Germany. The Congress has been an annual event every year since then, held each time in a different European city. The European Go Championship takes place during the EGC, as well as the Annual General Meeting (AGM). In 2014, the European Professional System was established by the European Go Federation.
Membership is open to any Go-organising association in a country in or near Europe. There are currently 35 full members, and two suspended members.

## Function

The EGF elects an Executive Committee which supervises a number of commissions in charge of normal activities in between the AGMs.
Major European tournaments do not fall under the Executive Committee's supervision, but are directly co-ordinated by the EGF itself. Major events organised by the EGF include the European Grand Prix; the Pandanet European Team Championship; European Youth Go Championships in three age categories; the European Youth Team Championship; the European Pair Go Championship, the European Women's Championship; the European Student Championship and the European Championship, held during the annual European Go Congress. An official Rating List is maintained by processing the results of as many European tournaments as possible.
The European Go Federation is a member of the International Go Federation.

## Members

| Country | Member name |
| Armenia | Armenian Draughts and Go Federation |
| Austria | Austrian Go Federation (Go Verband Österreich) |
| Belarus (membership suspended) | Belarus Go Federation |
| Belgium | Belgian Go Federation (Belgische Go Federatie - Fédération Belge de Go) |
| Bosnia | Go Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Go Asocijacija Bosne i Hecegovine) |
| Bulgaria | Bulgarian Go Association (Bulgarska Go Asotsiatsija) |
| Croatia | Croatian Go Alliance (Hrvatski Go Savez) |
| Cyprus | Cyprus Go Association (Kypriakos Syndesmos Go) |
| Czech Republic | Czech Go Association (Ceska Asociace Go) |
| Denmark | Danish Go Association (Dansk Go Forbund) |
| Finland | Finnish Go Association (Suomen Go-liitto ry) |
| France | French Go Federation (Fédération Française de Go) |
| Georgia | Georgian Go Federation (საქართველოს გო-ს ეროვნული სპორტული ფედერაცია) |
| Germany | German Go Federation (Deutscher Go-Bund) |
| Hungary | Hungarian Go Association (Magyar Gószövetség) |
| Iceland | Icelandic Go Association (Hið Íslenska Gofélag) |
| Ireland | Irish Go Association (Irish Go Association) |
| Israel | Israeli Go Association (Agudat Ha-Go Ha-Yisraelit) |
| Italy | Italian Go Federation (Federazione Italiana Giuoco Go) |
| Kazakhstan | Kazakhstan Go Federation (Kazakhstan Go Federation) |
| Lithuania | Lithuanian Go Association (Lietuvos Go Asociacija) |
| Luxembourg | Go Club Luxemburg (Le Club de Go du Luxembourg) |
| Netherlands | Dutch Go Association (Nederlandse Go Bond) |
| Norway | Norwegian Go Association (Go i Norge) |
| Poland | Polish Go Association (Polskie Stowarzyszenie Go) |
| Portugal | Portuguese Go Association (Associação Portuguesa de Go) Archived 2020-07-10 at the Wayback Machine |
| Romania | Romanian Go Federation (Federatia Romana de Go) |
| Russia (membership suspended) | Russian Go Federation (Rossiiskaya Federatziaya Go) |
| Serbia | Serbian Go Federation (Go Savez Srbije) |
| Slovakia | Slovak Go Association (Slovenská Asociácia Go) |
| Slovenia | Slovenian Go Association (Go Zveza Slovenije) |
| Spain | Spanish Go Association (Asociacion Espanola de Go) |
| Sweden | Swedish Go Association (Svenska Goförbundet) |
| Switzerland | Swiss Go Association (Schweizer Go Verband - Fédération Suisse de Go - Federazione Svizzera di Go) |
| Turkey | Turkish Go Players' Association (Türkiye Go Oyunculari Dernegi) |
| Ukraine | Ukrainian Go Federation (Ukrainska' Federatsiya Go) |
| United Kingdom | British Go Association (British Go Association) |
Note: On 3 March 2022, the EGF decided during an emergency general meeting to suspend indefinitely both the Russian and Belarusian associations due to the 2022 Invasion of Ukraine by Russia. All planned or future events organised by the EGF were cancelled and players from both countries were banned from representing their nations at European events. The first major event affected was the 2022 European Youth Go Championship held between the 10 and 12 March in Czechia.

## EGF Professional players

The EGF established a professional system in 2014 with Chinese sponsorship. Top European players are invited to take part in a Qualification Tournament, with one or two of the most successful competitors being awarded professional status. Professionals can then be promoted by earning points from wins against other professional players in major tournaments. As of 2023, there are nine such players, who enjoy benefits including automatic qualification to the Grand Slam and the opportunity to represent Europe in major international tournaments.
Professional Players of the EGF :
| Player | Nationality | Year Became Pro | Promotion History |
| Ilya Shikshin | Russian | 2015 | Promoted to 2p in 2018, to 3p in 2019, to 4p in 2021. |
| Artem Kachanovskyi | Ukrainian | 2016 | Promoted to 2p in 2018, to 3p in 2024. |
| Pavol Lisý | Slovakian | 2014 | Promoted to 2p in 2018. |
| Mateusz Surma | Polish | 2015 | Promoted to 2p in 2019, to 3p in 2023. |
| Ali Jabarin | Israeli | 2014 | Promoted to 2p in 2018. |
| Andrii Kravets | Ukrainian | 2017 | |
| Tanguy le Calvé | French | 2019 | |
| Stanisław Frejlak | Polish | 2021 | |
| Jan Šimara | Czech | 2023 | |

## Current title holders

Below is a summary of the current holders or most recent winners of the major EGF-organised events.
| Title | Title Holder | Notes |
| European Championship | Andrii Kravets 1p | Held August 2024 in Toulouse, France. Kravets successfully defended his title from 2023. |
| European Women's Championship | Li Ting 1p | Held September 2024 in Bratislava, Slovakia. |
| European Grand Prix Finale | Cornel Burzo 6d | Held December 2023 in London, UK. |
| European Grand Slam | Mateusz Surma 3p | Held October 2023 in Prague, Czechia. |
| Pandanet European Team Championship | France | Finals held August 2024 in Toulouse, France. |
| European Pair Go Championship | Milena Boclé 3d and Florent Labouret 5d | Held April 2024 in Dubrovnik, Croatia. |
| European Student Championship | Martin Ruzicka 4d | Held September 2022 in Trier, Germany. |
| European Youth Championship – U20 Category | Benoit Robinchon | Held March 2024 in Hamburg, Germany. |
| European Youth Championship – U16 Category | Yuze Xing 5d | Held March 2024 in Hamburg, Germany. |
| European Youth Championship – U12 Category | Bartik Dach 2d | Held March 2024 in Hamburg, Germany. |
| European Youth Team Championship | Ukraine | |