In July from the 15 to 17th, just before the congress and after the World Collegiate Weiqi Championship (see 2026 World Collegiate Weiqi Championship), European players headed to Hong Kong for another big event – the 4th “Four Seas Cup” – Hong Kong International University Student Weiqi Championship, a students championship played in teams (but individual results counting only).

From Europe took part:

• Denis Dobranis 6d (RO)
• Zeno van Ditzhuijzen 5d (NL)
• Lubin Wilhelm 4d (FR)
• Olesia Malko 4d (UA)
• Ondrej Kralik 4d (SK)
• Omer Naiboglu 2d (TR)

Thanks to Omer Naiboglu (Türkiye) and Lubin Wilhelm (France), we got an overview of the event!

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Lubin: The event was set on a huge campus, it was really weird, kind of spread out, but all the buildings were connected with elevators and escalators, it felt like a James Bond base, that’s what we Europeans were saying. Emil (South American representative) called it Alcatraz, it was very isolated with towers and dropping straight into the sea.

Nobody goes there, but down below there’s the beach, and a waterfall right next to it.

Omer: On the first day, a rehearsal for the opening ceremony was held, where each national team practiced its stage entrance and the ceremony speeches were rehearsed. About three hours later, the official opening ceremony took place.
Representatives and officials from numerous Go associations and organizations gave speeches (the content could not be followed as they were delivered in Cantonese) before going for an official welcome dinner.

On the second day, the tournament finally started, but first, a ceremonial demonstration game on a large metal Go board took place, where the team captains and several officials alternately played the opening moves.
The tournament then officially began.

Lubin: It was really nice to be able to play so many games, but in the end the event was a bit short, you kind of leave wanting more! I mean: you arrive, there’s a lot of ceremony, speeches in Chinese, etc., very official, then you rush to play your games and you leave already.

Omer: The standard time control was 30 minutes + 10 seconds Fischer, except for the 2nd and 4th rounds, which used 10 minutes + 10 seconds Fischer…

Lubin: …Everyone thought that 5 games in one day was way too exhausting and they were too fast. I thought Asians were more used to blitz and maybe that’s true, but even some Chinese players thought rounds 2 and 4 (10 min + 10 sec Fischer) were too fast!

Omer: Although the event was a team championship, all games were played as individual matches, and the team standings were determined by the total number of individual wins.

On the following day, the remaining tournament rounds were completed and the closing ceremony was held. Another ceremonial game on the large metal board took place, this time with all participants taking turns to play.
A farewell dinner was organized in the evening and then participants were taken on a short bus trip to Victoria Harbour.

In the last days, sadly, due to a typhoon, no official activities were held, so participants spent the time playing informal Go activities such as Pair Go, Rengo, and casual games

Lubin: Ah, and you want to know about the games? Can’t tell for the others, but I think I played well in all my games, I really learned a lot. The Chinese 5-dans are about my level (EGF 4d), but with the 6-dans there’s definitely still a gap. I didn’t perform, but in every game I lost I wasn’t unhappy with myself.

Although there wasn’t a huge atmosphere with everyone let’s say, if I can and I get selected, I’d definitely be up for going back!

Results

Thanks to our players for sharing their impressions and to Lubin for the campus photos!