The Chinese Weiqi Association has invited European players to Nanjing, 2–6 November 2026. Entries to [email protected] by 28 September.

The 11th Silk Road International City Weiqi Tournament

The Chinese Weiqi Association has invited European players to the 11th Silk Road International City Weiqi Tournament, which will be played in Nanjing, China, from 2 to 6 November 2026. The European Go Federation is collecting the European entries and sending them to the organisers together, so please register through us and do not write to China directly.

Anyone holding the nationality of an EGF member country can play, as long as they are 3 kyu or stronger in the EGD. The organisers can take up to 30 players from Europe, in 10 teams. You can enter as a team, which is one team leader and three players, or as a single player; players who enter alone will be put into a team by the organisers. We would particularly like to see European women players take part.

The tournament is eight rounds of Swiss with computer pairing. Each player has 50 minutes followed by two periods of 10 seconds byoyomi, and the competition rules of the Chinese Weiqi Association apply. Players from the same team do not meet in the first three rounds. A player who does not arrive within 15 minutes of the start of a round loses that round.

The entry fee is 2000 RMB for a team, or 667 RMB for a single player. The organisers cover meals and a bed in a twin room for the days of the tournament. Everyone is in a twin room by default; anyone who would like a single room will be told the price later, and the price for accompanying persons is not known yet either. Travel is not covered, with one exception: the ten highest ranked European players who are 4 dan or above in the EGD each receive 500 USD towards their tickets.

There is prize money for the first ten places, together with trophies and certificates. The winner receives 60,000 RMB, and after that 30,000, 15,000, 8,000, 5,000, 3,000, 2,000, 2,000, 1,500 and 1,500 RMB, all before tax. The best six teams receive trophies and certificates.

The tournament begins with registration and a team leaders’ meeting on 2 November. The opening ceremony and the first three rounds are on 3 November, rounds four and five together with a half day excursion on 4 November, and the last three rounds and the closing ceremony on 5 November. Departure is on 6 November.

Entries for an invitation like this would normally be gathered by the national federations, and we would not want to bypass them. Because the organisers’ deadline leaves so little time, on this occasion we are asking players to write to us directly. Federations are of course welcome to send their players’ details themselves, and we will let each federation know who has entered from their country. Please write to [email protected] by Monday 28 September 2026, giving the full name as it appears in the passport, the date of birth, gender, EGD rank and EGD number, an email address and a telephone number, and the names of your teammates if you are entering as a team. Entry forms, photographs and passport copies will be requested afterwards, once the organisers send them to us. The organisers’ own deadline is 5 October and we need a few days to put everything together and check it, so please do not leave it to the last moment.

The hotel and a few other details are still to be confirmed and will be announced here as soon as we know more.