Belgian Go Federation

An amazing feat occurred recently. The go software AlphaGo developed by Google DeepMind beat Fan Hui in a 5 games match with a clean 5-0!

This is a breakthrough in artificial intelligence. Please read more at the following links.

http://deepmind.com/alpha-go.html
http://www.britgo.org/deepmind2016

Antti Törmannen (ex-7d from Finland) had been insei since some months by the Nihon Ki-in in Japan.

He has just been promoted professional by special recommendation "due to satisfactory results in the insei league and pro examen" (like late Hans Piesch some ...18 years ago).

Congratulations to him !

Here you can read an interview of Antti:
http://www.eurogofed.org/index.html?id=26

KE JIE, the Chinese teenager prodige did it: he defeated Lee Sedol in a major international tournament: the Mily Cup.

And yet Lee Sedol is (was ?) considered commonly as the best player in the world
(especially since his victory on Gu Li in a "jubango" - match in 10 games - played in 2014).

The match was fierce: Ke Jie won 3-2...and the decisive 5th game by...half a point (with the - official - Chinese rules; with the Japanese rules, he would have lost by half a point !).

Here you find the video live commentary of this unforgettable game (in English): https://gogameguru.com/2nd-mlily-cup-final/

On 5 January, Belgian team (Lucas -, François - , Nelis -, Gabriel +) lost against Slovakia in the 5th round.

Belgium is now 4th (out of 12 teams) in this B-league.
Israel and...Slovakia are dominating by far

Note that Lucas was lucky (?) enough to play against a pro (Pavol Lisy)

Here are the results of the round:
http://pandanet-igs.com/communities/euroteamchamps/rounds/289

And here the standings after this round:
http://pandanet-igs.com/communities/euroteamchamps

Brussels "Pantin" wins the 2015 Belgian interclubs...by far !
Gent and Antwerpen complete the podium.

All the 2015 results: http://www.gofed.be/node/833

Palmares of the interclubs: http://www.gofed.be/en/tournament/interclubs

On 17th of November, Belgian team (Lucas -, Kwinten + , Dominique +, Gabriel + by 0,5 pts ouf) won against Switzerland in the 4th round.
Belgium climbed to the 3rd place !

Here are the results of the round:
http://pandanet-igs.com/communities/euroteamchamps/rounds/288

And here the standings after this round:
http://pandanet-igs.com/communities/euroteamchamps

Last WE, 20 participants gathered to try to get one of the 5 qualifying places for the final tour of the 2016 Belgian Championship (to be organized in Spring next year).

The following players made it to the final:
1. François Gonze (3-d) 7/7
2. Nelis Vets (2-d) 5/7
3. Wang Yue (2-d) 5/7
4. Joost Vannieuwenhuysen (2-k) 5/7
5. Vincent Quoilin (2-k) (/5/7)(who surprinsingly won against Bram)

First 2 reserves are
6.Bram Vandenbon (2-d)
7.Chi Yiu Wong (2-k).

Complete results will follow soon.

(report by François Gonze)

The 10th Korean Prime Minister Cup International Amateur Baduk Championship (more or less the Korean version of the World Amateur Championship) was held from the 22th to the 27th of November in Seoul, Korea.
There were 52 participants.

Our representative was François Gonze (3-d).
He ended up 24th on 52, winning his three first games against Equator (1d), Slovenia (1k) and Indonesia (4d), and then losing against Thailand (5d), Japan (7d) and Canada (7d).

The winner was the Chinese Hu Yuquing.

Best European was Cristian Pop (RO, 7d), who won against Japan in the first round, thanks to a big mistake by the japanese player in a very intense fight.

Top places:
1. Hu Yuquing (China) (6/6)
2. K. Heesu (Korea) (5/6)
3. Cristian Pop (Romania) (5/6)
4. Eric Lui (USA) (5/6)
5. Japan (5/6), my opponent in 5th round
6. Chinese Taipei (4/6)
7. Thailand (4/6), my opponentin 4th round
...

On february 20 and 21 the 26th Leuven Tournament will be held. You can learn more and register here .

On 28th of October, Belgian team (Jan +, Nelis -, Kwinten + , Gabriel -) made draw against Turkey in the 3rd round (a rather expected result).

Here are the results of the round:
http://pandanet-igs.com/communities/euroteamchamps/rounds/287

And here the standings after this round:
http://pandanet-igs.com/communities/euroteamchamps