The 16th European Student Go Championship was held on 19 and 20 September 2026 at the İzmir Institute of Technology campus in Gülbahçe, Urla. It was the first time the event has been organised in Türkiye.

Arved Pittner 6d (Germany) won the championship with a perfect 5/5. The title was effectively decided over rounds three and four, when he beat Ondrej Kralik 4d and then Umut Utku Erşahince 2k, the only other player still unbeaten at that point. He closed the tournament with a win over Doğan Ergezen 2k.

Ondrej Kralik 4d (Slovakia) finished second on 4/5, his single loss coming against the champion. Marianna Szychowiak 2d (Poland) took third place on 3/5 and also received the prize for the top woman player. Berke Üner 2d was the leading Turkish player in the top group, fourth on the same number of wins as Szychowiak but behind her on tiebreak.

Seventeen students from five countries (Türkiye, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands and Slovakia) played five Swiss rounds with 45 minutes plus 15 seconds per move, Japanese rules and komi 6.5, as an EGF class A tournament. The field was split into two rating categories; the second category was won by Umut Utku Erşahince 2k (Türkiye) with 4/5, the best score of anyone outside the top group.

Final standings, top group

1. Arved Pittner 6d (Germany), 5/5
2. Ondrej Kralik 4d (Slovakia), 4/5
3. Marianna Szychowiak 2d (Poland), 3/5
4. Berke Üner 2d (Türkiye), 3/5
5. Ferdinand Marz 2d (Germany), 2/5
6. Oğuz Erdoğan 1k (Türkiye), 2/5
7. Kevin Santifort 1k (Netherlands), 1/5

The road to Tokyo

The ESGC is the European qualifier for the World Students GO OZA Championship, played at the Nihon Ki-in in Tokyo every February. Up to three European players from different countries qualify through the final standings, usually two men and one woman. From İzmir the places go to Arved Pittner (Germany), Ondrej Kralik (Slovakia) and Marianna Szychowiak (Poland), who as third place and top woman player takes the women’s place. Each player must also meet the OZA’s own conditions: amateurs only, under 30, graduate students excluded, and the university must be in the country represented. The places are confirmed together with the OZA organisers.

The top three boards were broadcast on OGS throughout the weekend from the EGF1, EGF2 and EGF3 accounts, and Mateusz Surma 4p commented on rounds two and three live on the EGF Twitch channel.

The championship was organised by the Turkish Go Association on behalf of the European Go Federation, together with the IZTECH Turkish-Japanese Culture Society, and hosted by the İzmir Institute of Technology. Oğuz Erdoğan directed the tournament, and also played in it.

Complete results, all pairings and the standings after every round: tgod.org.tr/esgc2026

Photos: Katarzyna Szychowiak and Güçlü Yılmaz