Dear EGF Members,

The year 2003-2004 was an exciting year for European and World Go. 

There were two World Championships - in Incheon and in Kurashiki - and as usual 
the World Pair Go, our places chosen by points for the first time. Top European 
players continued to take part in professional events.

In Europe there was the second successful Toyota-Denso Oza and the first 
European Masters, both in Amsterdam. There was the Ing Cup in Czechia and the 
first enlarged European Pair Go championships in Romania. The European Youth 
Championship in Germany was a runaway success with even more players than 
normal. The TOYOTA - IGS-PANDANET Tour continues, with increased support 
allowing Internet broadcasting, and also the first European Cup season started.

There were, as can be expected, a few problems associated with these events, 
such as getting enough sets to the Congress and the large numbers of 
cancellations at the Youth. This last issue has lead to the need to control the 
entries in some way to ensure financial security for the organisers and also to 
ensure the sponsorship reaches the strongest players who really need it. However 
we thank all the organisers and sponsors of these events for making them 
extremely successful overall.

Internationally, the membership of the General Assembly of International Sports 
Federations by the IGF is a good thing; it should lead to more recognition of Go 
by authority. We have new countries queuing up to join the EGF and membership 
should soon be approaching 40. We already welcome Azerbaijan, Bulgaria and 
Cyprus as observers.

We continue to receive Ing Fund support that amongst other things supports 
training projects in various countries. The Fujitsu Training in December brought 
together teachers of children from several countries; they were much encouraged 
by each other. Catalin Taranu is back in Europe promoting Go in Romania and with 
Yuki Shigeno, Alex Dinerchtein and so on there is a growing base of really 
strong teachers. Of course we still get visits from the east and many players 
must be looking forward to the autumn tour of Saijo-sensei.

The executive was enlarged to 7 in January and we are still adjusting to the new
structure. Thanks go to Matti Siivola for being a reluctant secretary for the 
last few years. Also we must thank Zoran Mutabzija for being IGF Director and 
Stefan Hruschka who was Ing Treasurer for quite a few years despite living in 
Japan. 

May I take this opportunity to thank executive and all who have helped over the 
last year, particularly during my personal difficulties, especially thanking 
Erik Puyt and the team at the European Go Centre for their on-going efforts. 

Finally I must thank the organisers of the European Go Congresses on your 
behalf, as it appears to be one of the biggest ever, and wish all of you much 
pleasant Go and successful Go organising for the coming year.

Tony Atkins
EGF President
July 2004.