Team of Europe




Number 10
Name Ariane Ougier
Age 21
Rank 4d
Nationality  France
I started Go 10 years ago when I was 11.
My best tournament results are the following ones:
5 times French youth champion.
2 times French female champion.
Currently European female champion.

Number 9
Name Benjamin Drean-Guenaizia
Age 27
Rank 6d
Nationality  France
I'm Benjamin Dréan-Guénaïzia, 27 years old from France.
I started playing Go at the age of 13, in the Go Club of my hometown in Concarneau.
I reached 3d level after 3 years of playing, then I took a break from the game for 2 years. After that, I started playing more and reached 6d level.
My best achievements so far have been French Go Champion in 2017&2019.

Number 8
Name Anton Chernykh
Age 19
Rank 6d
Nationality  Russia
I was born in 2000. Started to play at the year of nine. 
1d in 2013, 6d in 2018. 
European Champion under 20 in 2019,2020.
Represented Europe at the Globis Cup in 2018,2019.

Number 7
Name Cristian Pop
Age 45
Rank 7d
Nationality  Romania
I learned to play go when I was 15 years old.

3rd place at KPMC in Korea.
4th place at World Championship in Japan.
Several times third place in European Go Championship.
11 times Romanian champion.

Number 6
Name Lukas Podpera
Age 25
Rank 7d
Nationality  Czechia
Dreaming of becoming a pro since childhood, lost two times in European Pro Qualification's final, still keep trying.
3rd places on European Championships 2016 and 2019.
6th place on World Amateur Championship 2014.
European Youth U20 Champion 2012 and 2014.
European Team Champion 2013 with Czechia.
Czech Go Champion 2013, 2016, 2018.
Czech Go Baron 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019.
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Number 5
Name Alexandre Dinerchtein
Age 39
Rank 3p
Nationality  Russia
I started to play Go in 1986. I was 6 years old and my father (10 kyu) was my first teacher. For the several years I was playing both chess and go, but from the age of 10 I gave up chess and started to learn Go more actively with a new teacher Valery Shikshin, 4 dan and his students. I was very fortunate to be living in Kazan, because it was the capital of Russian Go. There were so many 5-6d players around me, they kindly gave me Go lessons and I owe them a big debt of gratitude.

In 1996 (I already was a 5-dan) Cheon Pungcho, 9-dan professional from Korean Baduk Association invited Svetlana Shikshina (daughter of my teacher) and me to study Go in Seoul. First of all I was really surprised at the level of the Korean children. I was living in one of the largest Go Schools, and there was around 20 students who were both stronger and much younger than me. Later I changed clubs several times, but I was never the strongest player in any of them. I studied Go with Pak Yeonghun, Kim Jiseok and Kang Dongyun – kids who later won world Go championships

I became a professional in 2002, by the special decision of the Korean Baduk Association.
I won more than 70 Go tournaments in Europe, including European championship 7 times – first time in 1999, when I was 19 years old.

Nowadays I am still playing tournaments (I successfully won Russian championship 2019, for example), but I am working harder on teaching Go. I have private online students, I work as a teacher in EGF academy and I am trying to develop Go offline in my local city.

I am the author of 2 Go books. First one is about joseki, the second one – Go book for kids. I made that book in form of fairy tale. I also have more than 10 Go-related websites.

I work for Russian Go Federation and my task is to promote Go in social media in Russia.
I am married and we have 13 years old daughter. My wife Margarite is about 15-kyu in Go, but she is not attending tournaments, we only played pairGo tournament once.
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Number 4
Name Ali Jabarin
Age 26
Rank 2p
Nationality  Israel
Started playing go in 2006(12 years old), after being introduced by a friend who watched Hikaru no Go.
I played obsessively for approximately a year and then started participating in tournaments, where I fell in love with the game and the community.
I was just playing and studying by myself until I finished high school, and then I went to study Go in Asia, first in Korea(6 months) before starting university, and then in China (3 times 6 months) after turning pro.
I prefer a peaceful style of go, trying to choke the opponent out of territory, and drawing out overplays.
My favorite players are Kim Jiseok, Chen Yaoye and Shi Yue.
Other than Go I help manage a local theater in my hometown Jaffa, continue to study computer science, and travel to China frequently. My main hobbies are games, reading and travelling.
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Number 3
Name Stanislaw Frejlak
Age 23
Rank 7d
Nationality  Poland
My achievements:
Polish Champion 2012, 2017, 2019.
4th place in the 39th World Amateur Go Championship in Tokyo, May 2018.
4th place in the European Championship 2019.
3rd place in the European Grand Prix Finale 2019.

Number 2
Name Artem Kachanovskyi
Age 27
Rank 2p
Nationality  Ukraine
I learned to play Go at the age of 7. My father read about the game in a newspaper and then he taught me and my brother to play. At first I visited a local Go club. After I got stronger than my teacher (3 kyu), I studied the game alone.

Latest achievements:
2017 - European Grand Slam 1st place, European Championship 3rd place.
2018 - European Grand Prix final 2nd place, European Professional Championship 3rd place, Pandanet Go European Team Championship 3rd place
2019 - European Grand Prix final 3rd place, European Professional Championship 1st place, European Grand Slam 2nd place, Pandanet Go European Team Championship 3rd place, European Championship 2nd place, Silk Road Tournament 1st place.
2020 - European Grand Prix final 2nd place
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Number 1
Name Mateusz Surma
Age 24
Rank 2p
Nationality  Poland
My name is Mateusz Surma. I was born on September 3, 1995 in Rydułtowy in the region of Silesia in Poland. My dad taught me to play go when I was six and a half.
At various points from 2009-2013, I trained in South Korean schools: King’s Baduk Dojang, Yang Jae-Ho Baduk Dojang, and Choong-Am Baduk Dojang. Altogether, I spent 2 years and 5 months there.
In Poland, during middle school (Gimnazjum nr 1 w Rydułtowach) and high school (Liceum Ogólnokształcące w Rydułtowach), I had an individual study path. I would train in Korea for 3 months, then go back to Poland and study for school at home. In middle and high school, I had one exam per subject after every term.
In 2014, after passing matura (an equivalent to A-level, SAT, Abitur, etc.), I managed to qualify to study at the Faculty of Aeronautics and Space Technology. I was about to enroll, specialising in pilotage, but then— something happened.
In March 2015, I was one of sixteen people invited for the “pro” title qualification tournament in Pisa, Italy. I went there - and managed to win the tournament.
This way I became the first Polish player with the “pro” title.
I finished my first year at university. Even though I had one of the highest average grades at the faculty and a pretty high chance of acceptance to pilotage, I took one year off. I was invited to Beijing, China to study go at Ge Yuhong Weiqi Daochang. I trained there for 8 months through years 2015–2016.
I’ve decided not to go to university anymore, because I’ve realized that it made me study too many completely useless things - much more useful stuff might be learned by just self-studying at home. In regards to my graduation - I have my own company, nobody will ask me for any graduation certificates :-)
I wrote nine go books (available in five languages: English, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Spanish).
I run an Online Go School and Online Go Shop - https://polgote.com/en.
I'm married since 2018. My daughter was born in February 2020.
My latest achievements:
• 2nd place in the European Professional Championship (2017, Saint Petersburg, Russia)
• Four wins in a row in the Chinese Go League (2017, Quzhou, China)
• 1st place in the Samsung Cup preliminaries - World Division Baduk Masters
(2017, Seoul, South Korea)
• 2nd place in the European Championship (2017, Oberhof, Germany)
• 2nd place in the European Professional Championship (2019, Jena, Germany)
• 1st place in the European Grand Slam (2019, Berlin, Germany)
• 1st place in the European Grand Prix Finale (2020, Leksand, Sweden)
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