Belgian Go Federation

François Gonze won the 2025 Leuven tournament ahead of (with one SODOS point) Lucman Bounoider, both ended with 4 points out of 5.
This is his 4th triumph in Leuven (he had aleady won it in 2014, 2016 and 2019)
Three players got also 4 points: young Belgian rising star Joachim Laloux (15 years old), Guillaume Léo and Kevin Durant.
To mention: the return of an old figure: Guy Belmans has played his 1st Belgian tournament since...2003.
There were 25 participants.
Complete results: https://www.gofed.be/webfm_send/660

Lucman Bounoider (3-d) won all his games in the 2nd edition of the Hoshi Brussels tournament (05-06/ 04), ahead of Olivier Drouot (3-d), Kevin Prist (3-d) and Yannick Kyu (1-k).

There were 14 participants.

Complete results: https://www.gofed.be/webfm_send/657

Olivier Drouot wins this 2024 edition of Rapid Games Belgian Championship (12 min per player + 10 sec / move, handicap - 2).
Second and Belgian Rapid Champion is Lucman Bounoider.

A high level tournament with many Dan and high SDK players but only 7 participants (and half of the participants are board members...).
Still a lof of suspense for the win and many tense situations for games that have been confortably played from home.

Final result

1 - Olivier Drouot - 6 victories - Winner of the Rapid Belgian Championship !
2 - Lucman Bounoider - 5 victories - Belgian Rapid Go Champion (Olivier has the French nationality)!
3 - Jan Ramon - 3 victories
4 - Renaud Gaban - 3 victories
5 - Guillaume De Keijser - 3 victories
6 - Michael Silcher - 1 victory
7 - Jean-Denis Hennebert - 0 victories

The dreaded team Michael Silcher - Moad Boukricha wins this year again the Belgian Rengo Championship, undefeated, uncontested.

Congratulations for this win !
And see you next year with hopefully a little more competition.

Round 2: Belgium Secures First Victory in the Pandanet Team Championship!

The Belgium team has notched its first win of the 2024-2025 Pandanet Team Championship, taking down Switzerland in a commanding 3-1 performance. For the first time this season, our top lineup—Lucas, Jan, Lucman, and Kevin—hit the boards together, delivering a statement victory.

Board 1: Lucas Dominates the Rematch

Lucas (Black) faced John Walsh in what promised to be a tightly contested match. Despite being the favourite, Lucas knew better than to underestimate Walsh, who had previously bested him this year. But this time, Lucas was locked in.
After a solid opening, Black emerged with a 7-point lead by the first josekis at the top. Lucas then capitalized on a key mistake when White played away after move 64, allowing Black to cut and initiate a fight. The result? Lucas isolated White’s top stones and extended his lead to 20 points. By move 111, White’s biggest territory had collapsed, forcing a resignation. A masterclass from Lucas.

Board 2: Jan’s Fight Falls Short

Jan (White) took on Fabien Lips in a rematch with revenge on his mind. Both players opened with san-san, building frameworks with a mix of territory and influence. Jan applied pressure early, isolating a Black group with move 36. By move 90, Jan had the slight lead, leading by nearly 3 points.
However, the tide turned in a critical sequence from moves 110 to 119, even though Jan captured the cutting stones Fabien now had a territorial lead. From that point on, Jan couldn’t regain momentum. Despite the loss, Jan showed promise in an intense match.

Board 3: Lucman’s Magical Maneuver

Lucman (Black) went toe-to-toe with Josef Renner in a game full of fireworks. After an aggressive two-space low pincer, the players entered a complex variation. When the dust settled, Lucman held a 10-point lead and impressive board thickness.
Then came the magic. Lucman methodically reduced White’s options on the top side. With surgical precision, he left White’s group with no way out, forcing a resignation by move 113. A clinical finish and a vital point for Belgium.

Board 4: Kevin Shuts Down the Moyo

Kevin (White) rounded out the day with a strong performance against Arnaud Pilet. Using the same joseki as Lucman in the bottom right corner, Kevin built an early 15-point lead by move 59. Arnaud attempted to mount a comeback by building a central moyo, but Kevin stayed calm and in control.
Despite Arnaud’s efforts, the lead proved insurmountable. Kevin maintained his composure and cruised to victory, sealing Belgium’s 3-1 triumph.

Final Score: 3-1 Victory Over Switzerland

With our all-star lineup firing on all cylinders, Belgium secures its first win of the season and jumps to second place overall. The team’s resilience and strategic depth were on full display, and the stage is now set for an exciting season ahead.
For those who want to dive deeper into the games, the records are available on the Pandanet website.
https://pandanet-igs.com/communities/euroteamchamps/rounds/1111?tourname...

Kaku Maekawa, a Japanese 6-d studying presently a PhD in Köln, won unbeaten the 38th edition of the Brussels tournament.
Xinghong Chen (China) ended second with 4 wins, ahead of a groupe of 5 players with 3 wins.
Among these players with 3 wins, the best Belgian: Lucman Bounoider (3-d) (7th)
To be noted: Kevin Prist (2-d) managed to beat Koichiro Habu (5-d).

Beside these best finishers, there were 5 players with 4 wins (nobody got 5 wins except Maekawa): Louis Baudaux (1-k), Voja Stojanovic (5-k), Moad Boukricha (8-k), Jeffrey Nguyen (9-k) and Zidan Zha (9-k). Congratulations to them !

There were 53 participants.

Complete results: https://www.europeangodatabase.eu/EGD/Tournament_Card.php?&key=T241026E&...

The Chinese representative, Tianyi Liu, won unbeaten (7/7) the 19th edition of the KPMC.

Chen-en Chung from Taïwan ended 2nd and - thus the best Occidental player - Valerii Krushelnytskyi from Ukraine completed the podium. Both with a 6/7 score.

The Korean player ended at a desappointing 4th place, and the Japanese one was 5th; both with a 5/7 score (and with the 2 greatest tiebreaker scores among the players with 5 wins).

"Our guy" was Joost Vannieuwenhuyse (2-kyu). Joost won 3 games, among which one against a Danish 4-dan ! His other results were "logical": wins against Danemark, Brazil and Argentina; losses to New-Zealand, Croatia, Switzerland and Norway). He ended 41th out of a field of 60 competitors.

Complete results: https://kpmc.kbaduk.or.kr/us/2024/result

https://www.eurogofed.org/egc/2024.html

What a feat !
Lucas won against Tanguy Le Calvé (1-p) then he won against Lukas Podpera, 7-d
Then, he lost to Mateusz Surma (3-p).
But in the loser section, he won against Denis Dobranis (5-d) to qualify himself for the 1/4 of finals.
Friday, he will affront Andrei Kravets (1-p), 2023 European champion.
Last update: Lucas lost to Andreii (by 4,5 points). :-(

Kevin Prist (3-d) had not played any competitive game since 04/2016.
He came back last WE (06+07/07), winning the 2024 tournament of Ghent, ahead of Yannick Kuy (2-k) (4/6) and Voja Stojanovic (4-k)(4/6).
There were 8 participants.

Here are the complete results: https://www.gofed.be/webfm_send/630

In the 9th (and last round) of the European Team Championship, Belgium (Lucas, Gabriel, Sven, Larisa) lost heavily to Switzerland (0-4)
(Lucas lost to a mere 4-d; the others, to better ranked opponents).

Belgium ended 4th out of 10 teams.

Results of the 9th round: https://pandanet-igs.com/communities/euroteamchamps/rounds/1009

Final standing: https://pandanet-igs.com/communities/euroteamchamps
(note there are only 2 points difference between the 3rd and the 8th team !).

PS: In A-league, Ukraine, France, Poland and Czechia are the 4 teams qualified for the finals (which will be played during the European Go Congress this summer in Toulouse).