Proposal of the Dutch Go Association for the AGM of the EGF, 20-7-2007

Proposal:

  1. To change the name of the EGF Ing Memorial into ING European Championship and award the winner the official European Champion�s title
  2. To change the name of the main tournament of the European Go Congress into EGF Open European Championship and award the winner the title Open European Champion.
  3. To institute a commission to change the regulations for the main tournament of the European Go Congress and the Ing Memorial to fit point 1 and 2. And make fitting regulations so the Ing European Championship has a proper player field worthy of a European Championship. These regulations has to be circulated in October so a vote by email can be made on them in November. The Dutch Go Association proposes Frank Janssen as chairman for this commission.

Background

The nature of the proposal is give a formal status to the present situation where the European Go Congress is not longer a true European Championship and where the Ing Memorial is the only yearly tournament with a high number of strong European players. Also it�s easier to bring together the strongest possible population at the Ing Tournament because it is shorter and there is travel and accommodation support for the participants. One more argument in favour of the proposal is the situation that national sport organisations give support, based on results of European Championships. It would be better towards these organisations if the results were based on a true European Championship and not on a list drawn from an open tournament (number 22 in the tournament, so number 7 of Europe). Below are these points given in a little bit more detail.

Situation at the Go Congress

The present situation is so that a large part of the population of the Go Congress is formed by a continent of strong Korean and Japanese players. In itself this very good for the level of European go, giving Western players a chance to match with their Eastern counterparts. But for the title European Champion the situation is not very nice. About half of the times the European Champion is not the winner of the tournament and he or she only played 2 or 3 games (out of 10) against other European top players. But for the nature of the congress it is important to keep it open for all participants.

Bringing together strong players

In the current Championship (at the Go Congress) only a small amount of the European top players participate. That is most fair to all participants. It is just too much to ask from the top players to give two weeks of their time to play �only� ten games. Also it is expensive for young players to pay for travel and accommodation for two weeks. For the title European Champion it is better to have a shorter and sponsored tournament.

New rules and regulations or the events

Part of the proposition is to form a commission to make rules for the new situation. To prevent a discussion about details there is no proposition in this proposal. But there have to be rules about:

  • Participation in the Ing Cup (no longer on Go Congress points, but more an strength but also on last year�s results and rating among others).
  • Maybe a maximum number of participants from one country.
  • No non European players anymore in Ing Cup
  • Maybe enlarge the number of players in Ing Cup?
  • Maybe enlarge the number of rounds?
  • Maybe combine the masters with Ing Cup?