All the pro players are currently focusing on the upcoming European Championship (obviously), but that's not the only challenge ahead...One may even say that it's only a warm-up, considering what they will have to face afterwards.

Oh, but what could that be then?

Well, if you read the title of the article, you already have a hint on what to expect, so let's not wait further and dive right into this exciting event (nevertheless, if your ceiling is low and you have a habit of jumping of enthusiasm unexpectedly, you might want to be careful and put a pillow over your head):

Ladies.

Gentlement.

Autumn will be incredible.

We will have a........match between European pros and Japanese pros from the Kansai Ki-in, online, with live stream and comments!! The Kagaribi Cup!



The idea of this epic battle was born when Akira from ‘Akira’s Go,’ who moved from Japan to Cologne last year and launched a Go YouTube channel, became interested in the European Go scene and wanted to promote it. The sponsor that helped turn this idea into reality is the KAGARIBI project, an initiative aiming to blend Go with cultural elements, such as a coffee specialy crafted for go players or special "Go" stay and discovery of both Kansai culture and the go world. 

Our pros better be prepared, because there will be no mercy (but hey, same goes for the Japanese team 😒 our pros will play full power and be at the sharpest of their capacities).

Stay tuned for more details in the coming days and months! We'll reveal more information about the players, team orders and some extras thanks to Akira's Go! 👀

Kagaribi Cup | outline

Organizers

Hiroo Yamanaka (Kagaribi Coffee Sponsor)
Hibiki Mishima, 1-dan (Contact for Kansai Ki-in)
Akira Fukushima (Contact for European Go Federation "EGF")

Date and venue

October 3, 2025 (Friday) on Online (OGS)

Tentative Schedule (CEST):
8:00〜9:20 Round1 12:20〜12:30 Break
9:20〜9:30 Break 12:30〜13:50 Round4
9:30〜10:50 Round2 13:50〜14:00 Break
10:50〜11:00 Break 14:00〜15:20 Round5
11:00〜12:20 Round3 15:20〜15:30 Ceremony

Rules

Game Format: Fischer Time Control: 5 minute + 15 seconds per move

Participating Players

Kansai Ki-in Representative Players:

- Atsushi Sada, 7-dan
- Yuto Omote, 3-dan
- Takuya Okawa, 3-dan
- Jin Nishimura, 2-dan
- Fumi Takayamabe, 1-dan

European Representative Players:

- Andrii Kravets 2p
- Ali Jabarin 2p 
- Stanislaw Frejlak 2p
- Benjamin Dréan-Guénaïzia 1p
- Mateusz Surma 3p

Prize money

Losing team: 20,000 JPY
Winner(s): 50,000 JPY (if the team wins all matches or wins 3
matches)
However, if one team wins the first three matches (1st to 3rd rounds), and the final result is 4 wins to 1 loss, then the winners on the team with 4 wins will receive 45,000 JPY, and the winner on the team with 1 win will receive 70,000 JPY.