# Gomocup

Gomocup is a worldwide tournament of artificial intelligences (AI) playing Gomoku and Renju. The tournament has been played since 2000 and takes place every year. As of 2016, it is the most famous and largest Gomoku AI tournament in the world, with around 40 participants from about 10 countries.

## Rules

Gomocup has been played in the freestyle Gomoku rule with the board size of 20 since it was started in 2000. In 2009, the standard Gomoku rule was added into Gomocup as a tournament, in which the board size is 15 and more than five in a row is not considered to be a win. In 2016, the Renju rule was also added into Gomocup, with a board size of 15 and forbidden moves for black. In particular, since there are a large number of participants in the freestyle Gomoku tournament, the freestyle Gomoku tournament is divided into several leagues, and the fast game tournament is introduced.
To get rid of the fact that there is a winning strategy for the player who plays first in Gomoku, balanced openings have been prepared by Gomoku experts since 2006. Games would be started from these balanced openings, and neither side would have a big advantage from the very beginning.

## AI vs. Human Tournament

There were two AI vs. Human tournaments held in the Czech Republic in 2006 and 2011.
In 2006, the top 3 programs in Gomocup had a tournament with 3 of the top 10 players in Piškvorky online. There were 2 games between each pair of AI and human players. The result was one win, one draw and one loss for AIs, and the total score was 3:3.
In 2011, the tournament was between the top 4 programs in Gomocup and 4 players at the top of the Czech Gomoku rating list. Similar to the 1st tournament, there were 2 games between each pair of AI. This time there were 3 draws and 1 win for AIs, and the total score was 5:3.

## Elo Rating

The Elo rating system for Gomocup was built in 2016 and calculated with all the historical tournament results ever since. The rating is calculated with the open-source tool BayesElo, with a few parameters modified to get adapted to the Gomoku game. There is a rating list for each game rule. The Elo ratings are updated every year after the Gomocup tournament finishes.
Elo Ratings for Freestyle Gomoku :
| Rank | AI | Author | Country | Elo Rating |
| 1 | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | 2409 |
| 2 | Goro | Victor Barykin | Russia | 1981 |
| 3 | RenjuSolver | Wen Xiangdong | China | 1951 |
| 4 | SlowRenju | Hao Tianyi | China | 1937 |
| 4 | Tito | Andrej Tokarjev | Hungary | 1928 |
| 6 | Hewer | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | 1887 |
| 7 | Swine | Jiri Fontan | Czech Republic | 1843 |
| 8 | Onix | Istvan Virag Janos Wagner | Hungary | 1843 |
| 9 | Carbon | Michal Czardybon | Poland | 1810 |
| 10 | HGarden | Han Bingqing | China | 1739 |
| 11 | Wine | Wang Jinjie | China | 1696 |
| 12 | Embryo | Mira Fontan | Czech Republic | 1647 |
| 13 | Pela | Petr Lastovicka | Czech Republic | 1632 |
| 14 | Whose | Hou Wen | Czech Republic | 1608 |
| 15 | GMotor | Roman Vancura | Czech Republic | 1555 |
| 16 | HFM | Csaba Jergler | Hungary | 1549 |
| 17 | Kanec | Jaroslav Babak | Czech Republic | 1509 |
| 18 | Chis | Zheng Peiming | China | 1472 |
| 19 | Zetor | Tomas Chmela | Czech Republic | 1455 |
| 20 | XoXo | Jakub Horak | Czech Republic | 1442 |
| 21 | HighFive | Peter Karpov | Russia | 1429 |
| 22 | Beta | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | 1362 |
| 23 | Bestmove | Wen Xiangdong | China | 1292 |
| 24 | Eulring | Bian Junyi | China | 1286 |
| 25 | Amoeba | Galli Zoltan | Hungary | 1283 |
| 26 | Pecuchet | Vilem Walter | Czech Republic | 1204 |
| 27 | Jude | Li Tian | China | 1200 |
| 28 | Sparkle | Lee Jaechan | South Korea | 1172 |
| 29 | Ignitor | Lee Jaechan | South Korea | 1100 |
| 30 | QMentat | Vojta Havranek | Czech Republic | 1083 |
| 31 | Krysa | Jiri Fontan | Czech Republic | 1080 |
| 32 | Noesis | Mark Mammel | United States | 1065 |
| 33 | Nabamoku | Jiri Isa | Czech Republic | 1011 |
| 34 | Trunkat | Jiri Trunkat | Czech Republic | 1000 |
| 35 | PureGM | Paul Dwyer | Japan | 993 |
| 36 | Imro | Imrich Kovac | Slovakia | 972 |
| 37 | Puskvorec | Patrik Bezdicek | Czech Republic | 969 |
| 38 | FastGomoku | Wang Zheng | China | 932 |
| 39 | Pisq | Martin Petricek | Czech Republic | 897 |
| 40 | Djall | Ladislav Petr | Czech Republic | 969 |
| 41 | Licht | Li Xinhui | China | 814 |
| 42 | Brutefor | Vasek Synacek | Czech Republic | 811 |
| 43 | Stahlfaust | Marco Kunze Sebastian Nowozin | Germany | 806 |
| 44 | Valkyrie | Takashi Kokubun | Japan | 792 |
| 45 | Leonardo | Milan Matlak | Czech Republic | 792 |
| 46 | Benjamin | Benjamin Vejnar | Czech Republic | 789 |
| 47 | FiveRow | Yaroslav | Ukraine | 782 |
| 48 | AI | Jan Macura | Czech Republic | 754 |
| 49 | DeepBlue | Vojta Havranek | Czech Republic | 742 |
| 50 | PureRocky | Paul Dwyer | Japan | 740 |
| 51 | Crusher | Nils Beckmann | Germany | 672 |
| 52 | Curnpis | Jan Curn | Czech Republic | 662 |
| 53 | Prolog | David Macek | Czech Republic | 623 |
| 54 | Mushroom | Chen Kai | China | 383 |
Elo Ratings for Fastgame Gomoku :
| Rank | AI | Author | Country | Elo Rating |
| 1 | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | 2297 |
| 2 | Goro | Victor Barykin | Russia | 2073 |
| 3 | Hewer | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | 1930 |
| 4 | SlowRenju | Hao Tianyi | China | 1863 |
| 5 | Tito | Andrej Tokarjev | Hungary | 1855 |
| 6 | Swine | Jiri Fontan | Czech Republic | 1789 |
| 7 | Carbon | Michal Czardybon | Poland | 1780 |
| 8 | HGarden | Han Bingqing | China | 1705 |
| 9 | Wine | Wang Jinjie | China | 1695 |
| 10 | Pela | Petr Lastovicka | Czech Republic | 1663 |
| 11 | Embryo | Mira Fontan | Czech Republic | 1658 |
| 12 | Whose | Hou Wen | China | 1630 |
| 13 | GMotor | Roman Vancura | Czech Republic | 1606 |
| 14 | Chis | Zheng Peiming | China | 1598 |
| 15 | HFM | Csaba Jergler | Hungary | 1545 |
| 16 | XoXo | Jakub Horak | Czech Republic | 1505 |
| 17 | HighFive | Peter Karpov | Russia | 1480 |
| 18 | Kanec | Jaroslav Babak | Czech Republic | 1466 |
| 19 | Zetor | Tomas Chmela | Czech Republic | 1456 |
| 20 | Amoeba | Galli Zoltan | Hungary | 1325 |
| 21 | Eulring | Bian Junyi | China | 1310 |
| 22 | Licht | Li Xinhui | China | 1283 |
| 23 | Pecuchet | Vilem Walter | Czech Republic | 1230 |
| 24 | Jude | Li Tian | China | 1219 |
| 25 | Sparkle | Lee Jaechan | South Korea | 1219 |
| 26 | Ignitor | Lee Jaechan | South Korea | 1139 |
| 27 | QMentat | Vojta Havranek | Czech Republic | 1086 |
| 28 | Noesis | Mark Mammel | United States | 1061 |
| 29 | Trunkat | Jiri Trunkat | Czech Republic | 1060 |
| 30 | Imro | Imrich Kovac | Slovakia | 1019 |
| 31 | Puskvorec | Patrik Bezdicek | Czech Republic | 1011 |
| 32 | Nabamoku | Jiri Isa | Czech Republic | 1000 |
| 33 | PureGM | Paul Dwyer | Japan | 965 |
| 34 | FastGomoku | Wang Zheng | China | 957 |
| 35 | Pisq | Martin Petricek | Czech Republic | 938 |
| 36 | Djall | Ladislav Petr | Czech Republic | 904 |
| 37 | Leonardo | Milan Matlak | Czech Republic | 891 |
| 38 | Benjamin | Benjamin Vejnar | Czech Republic | 862 |
| 39 | AI | Jan Macura | Czech Republic | 837 |
| 40 | Valkyrie | Takashi Kokubun | Japan | 822 |
| 41 | Stahlfaust | Marco Kunze Sebastian Nowozin | Germany | 807 |
| 42 | FiveRow | Yaroslav | Ukraine | 773 |
| 43 | Curnpis | Jan Curn | Czech Republic | 728 |
| 44 | PureRocky | Paul Dwyer | Japan | 727 |
| 45 | Crusher | Nils Beckmann | Germany | 669 |
| 46 | Prolog | David Macek | Czech Republic | 610 |
| 47 | Mushroom | Chen Kai | China | 416 |
Elo Ratings for Standard Gomoku :
| Rank | AI | Author | Country | Elo Rating |
| 1 | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | 2409 |
| 2 | RenjuSolver | Wen Xiangdong | China | 1978 |
| 3 | SlowRenju | Hao Tianyi | China | 1958 |
| 4 | Tito | Andrej Tokarjev | Hungary | 1944 |
| 5 | Hewer | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | 1928 |
| 6 | Whose | Hou Wen | China | 1665 |
| 7 | Carbon | Michal Czardybon | Poland | 1624 |
| 8 | GMotor | Roman Vancura | Czech Republic | 1595 |
| 9 | Pela | Petr Lastovicka | Czech Republic | 1572 |
| 10 | Zetor | Tomas Chmela | Czech Republic | 1507 |
Elo Ratings for Renju :
| Rank | AI | Author | Country | Elo Rating |
| 1 | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | 2725 |
| 2 | RenjuSolver | Wen Xiangdong | China | 2334 |
| 3 | SlowRenju | Hao Tianyi | China | 2316 |
| 4 | Carbon | Michal Czardybon | Poland | 2155 |
| 5 | XL | Chen Chengtao | China | 1982 |
| 6 | Pela | Petr Lastovicka | Czech Republic | 1970 |
| 7 | Whose | Hou Wen | China | 1927 |

## Results

The results for the Gomocup tournaments since 2000 is in the following.
Results of Gomocup Freestyle Gomoku League (2000 - 2017) :
| Year | 1st | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | Balanced Opening |
| Year | AI | Author | Country | AI | Author | Country | AI | Author | Country | Balanced Opening |
| 2000 | Pisq 5 | Martin Petricek | Czech Republic | Pisq 4 | Martin Petricek | Czech Republic | Pisq 3 | Martin Petricek | Czech Republic | Not used |
| 2001 | Pisq 5 | Martin Petricek | Czech Republic | Mentat | Vojta Havranek | Czech Republic | Leonardo | Milan Matlak | Czech Republic | Not used |
| 2002 | Trunkat | Jiri Trunkat | Czech Republic | Krysa | Jiri Fontan | Czech Republic | XMentat | Vojta Havranek | Czech Republic | Not used |
| 2003 | Svine | Jiri Fontan | Czech Republic | Hewer | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | Trunkat | Jiri Trunkat | Czech Republic | Not used |
| 2004 | Svine | Jiri Fontan | Czech Republic | Goro | Victor Barykin | Russia | Bestmove | Wen Xiangdong | China | Not used |
| 2005 | Goro | Victor Barykin | Russia | Swine | Jiri Fontan | Czech Republic | Pela | Petr Lastovicka | Czech Republic | Not used |
| 2006 | Goro | Victor Barykin | Russia | Tito | Andrej Tokarjev | Hungary | HGarden | Han Bingqing | China | Used |
| 2007 | Tito | Andrej Tokarjev | Hungary | HGarden | Han Bingqing | China | Swine | Jiri Fontan | Czech Republic | Used |
| 2008 | Tito | Andrej Tokarjev | Hungary | Onix | Istvan Virag Janos Wagner | Hungary | HGarden | Han Bingqing | China | Used |
| 2009 | Goro | Victor Barykin | Russia | Onix | Istvan Virag Janos Wagner | Hungary | HGarden | Han Bingqing | China | Used |
| 2010 | Goro | Victor Barykin | Russia | Tito | Andrej Tokarjev | Hungary | Onix | Istvan Virag Janos Wagner | Hungary | Used |
| 2011 | Tito | Andrej Tokarjev | Hungary | RenjuSolver | Wen Xiangdong | China | Swine | Jiri Fontan | Czech Republic | Used |
| 2012 | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | RenjuSolver | Wen Xiangdong | China | Hewer | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | Used |
| 2013 | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | Tito | Andrej Tokarjev | Hungary | RenjuSolver | Wen Xiangdong | China | Used |
| 2014 | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | RenjuSolver | Wen Xiangdong | China | Hewer | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | Used |
| 2015 | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | RenjuSolver | Wen Xiangdong | China | Tito | Andrej Tokarjev | Hungary | Used |
| 2016 | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | RenjuSolver | Wen Xiangdong | China | SlowRenju | Hao Tianyi | China | Used |
| 2017 | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | RenjuSolver | Wen Xiangdong | China | Goro | Victor Barykin | Russia | Used |
| 2018 | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | RenjuSolver | Wen Xiangdong | China | Goro | Victor Barykin | Russia | Used |
* ↑ One author is only allowed to submit one AI to each tournament since 2005.
Results of Gomocup Fastgame (Freestyle Gomoku) League (2005 - 2017) :
| Year | 1st | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | Balanced Opening |
| Year | AI | Author | Country | AI | Author | Country | AI | Author | Country | Balanced Opening |
| 2005 | Pela | Petr Lastovicka | Czech Republic | Goro | Victor Barykin | Russia | Beta | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | Not used |
| 2006 | Pela | Petr Lastovicka | Czech Republic | Tito | Andrej Tokarjev | Hungary | Goro | Victor Barykin | Russia | Used |
| 2007 | Tito | Andrej Tokarjev | Hungary | HGarden | Han Bingqing | China | Pela | Petr Lastovicka | Czech Republic | Used |
| 2008 | Tito | Andrej Tokarjev | Hungary | HGarden | Han Bingqing | China | Hewer | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | Used |
| 2009 | Hewer | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | HGarden | Han Bingqing | China | Kanec | Jaroslav Babak | Czech Republic | Used |
| 2010 | Goro | Victor Barykin | Russia | Hewer | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | Tito | Andrej Tokarjev | Hungary | Used |
| 2011 | Swine | Jiri Fontan | Czech Republic | Tito | Andrej Tokarjev | Hungary | RenjuSolver | Wen Xiangdong | China | Used |
| 2012 | Hewer | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | Swine | Jiri Fontan | Czech Republic | Used |
| 2013 | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | Hewer | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | HGarden | Han Bingqing | China | Used |
| 2014 | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | Goro | Victor Barykin | Russia | Hewer | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | Used |
| 2015 | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | Goro | Victor Barykin | Russia | Hewer | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | Used |
| 2016 | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | Goro | Victor Barykin | Russia | SlowRenju | Hao Tianyi | China | Used |
| 2017 | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | Goro | Victor Barykin | Russia | Hewer | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | Used |
Results of Gomocup Standard Gomoku League (2009 - 2017) :
| Year | 1st | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | Balanced Opening |
| Year | AI | Author | Country | AI | Author | Country | AI | Author | Country | Balanced Opening |
| 2009 | Hewer | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | Pela | Petr Lastovicka | Czech Republic | - | - | - | Used |
| 2010 | Hewer | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | Tito | Andrej Tokarjev | Hungary | Pela | Petr Lastovicka | Czech Republic | Used |
| 2011 | Tito | Andrej Tokarjev | Hungary | Hewer | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | GMotor | Roman Vancura | Czech Republic | Used |
| 2012 | Hewer | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | Tito | Andrej Tokarjev | Hungary | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | Used |
| 2013 | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | Tito | Andrej Tokarjev | Hungary | Hewer | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | Used |
| 2014 | Tito | Andrej Tokarjev | Hungary | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | Hewer | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | Used |
| 2015 | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | Tito | Andrej Tokarjev | Hungary | Hewer | Tomas Kubes | Czech Republic | Used |
| 2016 | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | RenjuSolver | Wen Xiangdong | China | Tito | Andrej Tokarjev | Hungary | Used |
| 2017 | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | RenjuSolver | Wen Xiangdong | China | SlowRenju | Hao Tianyi | China | Used |
* ↑ The result of standard Gomoku is not accurate due to technical problems in 2009 and 2010.
Results of Gomocup Renju League (2016 - 2017) :
| Year | 1st | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | Balanced Opening |
| Year | AI | Author | Country | AI | Author | Country | AI | Author | Country | Balanced Opening |
| 2016 | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | RenjuSolver | Wen Xiangdong | China | SlowRenju | Hao Tianyi | China | Used |
| 2017 | Yixin | Sun Kai | China | RenjuSolver | Wen Xiangdong | China | SlowRenju | Hao Tianyi | China | Used |