Belgian Go Federation

The opening round of the 2024-2025 Pandanet Championship saw the Belgium team go head-to-head with Finland, resulting in a hard-fought 2-2 draw. This season brings a fresh look for Belgium, with stricter anti-cheating protocols reshaping the roster. The lineup for this first matchup featured Lucas, Lucman, Kevin, and Vincent, each ready to make their mark.

Board 1: Lucas Secures the First Win

Lucas (White) set the tone early, playing his game on October 11. After navigating a competitive start, Lucas took command from move 45 and never looked back. A decisive kill on a large dragon secured the first point for Belgium, putting them up 1-0 and establishing momentum.

Board 2: Lucman’s Comeback Falls Short

Lucman (Black) faced off in a game that had all the makings of a grind-it-out contest. Both players opened with solid shapes, but Lucman’s early attempt to invade the bottom left fell flat, putting him behind by komi. With the game slipping away, Lucman went on the offensive, launching a powerful invasion to split White's groups. White countered, giving up the corner while maintaining a narrow lead. Lucman’s relentless pressure brought the game within three points, but Belgium couldn’t seal the deal, dropping Board 2 to even the score.

Board 3: Kevin Edges Out the Twitch Sensation

In a marquee matchup against Twitch sensation Mikkgo, Kevin (White) put on a show. The game started with a high-stakes clash at the top, where Kevin emerged ahead by four points. Mikkgo wasn’t backing down, launching a left-side invasion that disrupted Kevin’s corner and white was able to make life and some points for his group. With the game still even, Kevin made his move—an aggressive invasion into Mikkgo’s framework. The gamble paid off, wrecking Mikkgo’s territory and swinging the lead back to Kevin.

But the drama wasn’t over. Mikkgo’s last-ditch invasion on the bottom left set up a ko capturing race (semiai) that had me on the edge of my seats. In the final moments, Kevin’s big one-eyed group outlasted Mikkgo’s, and with some clutch play, he clinched the victory, giving Belgium a 2-1 edge.

Board 4: The One That Got Away

With this board we had a chance to get our firs team win. Vincent (Black) took off to a good start, carving out a 14-point lead. For some moments, all signs pointed to a Belgium victory. But his opponnt played solid endgame. The 1-dan opponent mounted a comeback, and Belgium’s hopes for a win faded as Vincent fell short by just 2.5 points.

Final Score: 2-2 Draw Against Finland

In a round that had its share of highs and heartbreaks, Belgium walked away with a 2-2 split. The team's performance showed grit and flashes of brilliance, setting the stage for an exciting season ahead.

For those who want to relive the action, the game records are available on the Pandanet website.

https://pandanet-igs.com/communities/euroteamchamps/rounds/1111?tourname...

We're excited to introduce the team representing Belgium in this year's Pandanet competition.

This year's lineup includes both experienced players and people who still need to have their first games in this competition:

Here is the linup with the European Database Ranking

Lucas Neirynck - 6 Dan
Jan Ramon - 3 Dan
Lucman Bounoider - 3 Dan
Kevin Prist - 2 Dan
Kiem Lam - 1 Dan
Vincent Quoilin - 1 Kyu
Guillaume De Keijser - 4 Kyu

We invite all Go fans to follow and support our national team over the next few months. Stay updated on their progress, match results, as they compete on the European stage!

The General Assembly of the Belgian Go Federation will take place on Sunday 14/01/2024 from 2 PM till 4 PM (online - MS Team).

This important meeting is the main opportunity to exchange information, share ideas and comments regarding the past year and the future of your club and of the BGF.

The link to participate to the meeting will be communicated to the every BGF member who are interested (send a mail to : board at gofed dot be).

Dear fellow Go players,

If you are ready to play at most one tuesday evening (online) each month and if you are are hungry for battles or for nice plays with players from all over Europe, please read the following message:

The European Team Go Championship, also known as the "Pandanet League", is expected to restart in October and we need 12 Go players.

Anyone (whatever your level is) is welcome to register, you just need to have Belgian citizenship and be a member of Belgian Go Federation.

For each match, we need to constitute a team of 4 players, among the 12 selected at the beginning of the season.

Usually dan players are preferred but many times in the past, our kyu players were able to score victories against dan players and were the heroes of the team! Thus, don’t be shy and ask for being a team member whatever your level is !

You can find further information about Pandanet League here (currently last season information):
https://pandanet-igs.com/communities/euroteamchamps
and last year Belgian Team here: https://pandanet-igs.com/communities/euroteamchamps/teams/29/BEL

If you are interested, please send an email to info@gofed.be before Friday 29th of September.

With the hope to see you soon and motivated,

Gabriel Mercier,

Belgian Team Captain 2015-2023.

The Belgian Go Federation wishes you a happy new year.

And invites you to the annual General Assembly of the Belgian Go Federation, which will be held ON LINE on 05/02 at 2 PM

Please come with your enthusiasm and your projects to shape up the future of the Belgian go life !

This meeting is the unique moment to discuss over it !

Agenda :
1. report on the 2022 activities (by the president) and financial report 2022 (by the treasurer)
2. projects for 2023 (and later) and adoption of the 2023 budget
3. election of the Board of Administration

If you wish to participate, send an e-mail to «board@gofed.be».
The meeting will take place on Discord (the invitation link will be send to you after your registration)

We are very happy to announce the birth of a new Go club in the College Matteo Ricci.

Go clubs in schools are not new and this activity is developing progressively and steadily in Belgium.
The club has started a couple of weeks ago and has around 20 players.
Most of the other Go clubs in the secondary education domain are handled by teachers (often math teachers...). Here it's the first time we have a club created by a student: Adam Beguin - who also plays in the Phenix Go club.

We wish the Go club of the College Matteo Ricci to be successful in enlightening the spirit of its players !

Note: by chance, Matteo Ricci, a Jesuit missionaire (1552-1610) who lived in China has been the first Westerner to report about the existence of the game of go (weichi) !

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As a reminder, the Federation helps the creation of new Go clubs with material and advice.
In the case there is no Go club nearby, if you feel you have the motivation for it, we would be happy to help you to start one. And even if you don't have much time (or are a bit lazy ;)) you may also become a "point of contact". In any case just contact us. ;)

The Belgian Championship Preliminaries of 2022 took place in Brussels on the 5th and 6th of March 2022.

In total, 5 rounds were played, and the following players have qualified for the 2022 Belgian Championship Finals:

Huang Haisen 1d
Sven Cuyt 1d
Renaud Gaban 4k
Guy Dusausoy 5k

The full results can be found here

EGF: https://www.eurogofed.org/announcement_2002-03-06.html
IGF: https://mail.telenet.be/service/home/~/?auth=co&loc=fr_FR&id=54282&part=...

Here is the position of the board of the Belgian Go Federation concerning the war in Ukraine.

This statement has been communicated to the European Go Federation (EGF).

NB: a special EGF general meeting has been organized Thursday 03/03/2022 to discuss and vote on some resolutions.

The Belgian Go Federation....

1. condemns the Russian invasion in the strongest terms and expresses strong support for the Ukrainians, but also for the Russians who have the courage to affirm their opposition to the war.

2. calls the EGF and the European Go community to condemn the war on Ukraine in the strongest terms; even though as being apolitical the EGF may want to refrain from strong ethical / political statements, the EGF constitution makes it our mission to protest against actions perturbing or even destroying Ukrainian Go activities.

3. appeals to cancel all events planned in Russia (and to the extent it can't be guaranteed that events won't get disturbed by violence or sanctions also in Belarus and Ukraine).

4. hopes that the administrators of the Russian Go Federation will (join us to) condemn the Russian invasion (should they be able to do so without risking their own safety !).

5. thinks that the Russian Go players should not be allowed to represent their country in EGF events, but should not be further stigmatized and should be authorized to participate individually under neutral EGF banner.

The annual General Assembly of the Belgian Go Federation will be held on line on 16/01 at 2 PM

Please come with your enthusiasm and your projects to shape up the future of the Belgian go life !
this meeting is the unique moment to discuss over it !

Agenda :
1. report on the 2021 activities (by the president) and financial report 2021 (by the treasurer)
2. projects for 2022 (and later) and adoption of the 2022 budget
3. election of the Board of Administration

If you wish to participate, send an e-mail to «board@gofed.be».
The meeting will take place on Discord https://discord.gg/aAa39wBV