The 2026 European Championship will take place in Ankara, Türkiye, this year, from July 25 (check-in) to August 2!
This tournament gathers together 32 of the best players in Europe.

The ruling champion is Mateusz Surma 4p (PL), who will take the crown from him (if anyone)?

To answer this question and anticipate, we are consolidating the list of players and calling on strong players (5d+) to show their interest in participating.
The final list shall be decided with the last ratings change in June.

If you're considering participating and fit the requirements below, or if you are qualified but not playing, please fill out the form. 

Take a look at the webpages of the European Championship 2026! 

[Update (13.05.26)]

We are moving ahead with the participation of the players, according to the following timeline:

Up to May 13th: Regular update of the players list, interested players who are not in the list are kept on a waiting list and included whenever they become eligible
May 13th-20th: Last call for interest to play. If there is an unsufficient number of potential players, the call opens to weaker players.
May 20th-30th: Top ranked players who didn't answer are removed from the list
June: The final list is published.

Who can participate?

For 2026:

- 8 top players from last year's EC and additional 4 from this year Grand Prix Finale
- 3 seats for the winners (or best placed player) of EYGC 2026 (U12,16 and U21) if GoR > 2400*
- 1 EGC wildcard
- 16 additional best ranked (peak GoR) players since last June and up to June this year, who have played at least one tournament game in that period.

Any other joining player will be decided by ranking on the same criteria (peak GoR, one tournament game).

*As the rules for EYGC Championship were changed (age group change), it was decided to award not one but 3 seats to the European Championship, provided that the go level would be high enough.

• All participants must be citizens from an EGF member country,
• Must register to the EGC 2026 and pay the discounted fee, 
• Be there on the evening prior to the Championship (25.07),
• Attend all the rounds and follow the tournament rules and requirements as asked from the organizers.

Participants List

The current list of eligible players is available here. The present information has been sent to the EGF Members as well.
Please note that the bottom of the list will vary depending on ongoing tournaments results, so it may remain pending until mid June.

Qualified => players who qualified with EC, Grand Prix or EYGC, Wildcard, ranking.
Confirmed => eligible players whose participation is confirmed and not subject to GoR changes. You need to register to the EGC as well.
Pending => players who are eligible and didn't give a response yet / players whose eligibility is subject to GoR changes (they may sit in the 'reserve' meanwhile).

Players declining the invitation are removed from the players page, and other players are added to it. If you don't intend to participate and appear on the list, please, fill the form.

System:

• Double knock-out, then classical bracket with Quarter-finals, Semi-finals, Final and Small Final.
• 80 min with 40 sec increment (Fischer time)* (TBC with the complete ruleset)
• EGF general tournament rules with territory scoring (eu-japanese rules, komi 6.5) apply.
• Games parallel to the EGC main Open will be counted for it, more details later.

▾ Detailed information

[link to the Main tournament of the EGC will be confirmed later on]

The European championship shall be played during the first week (starting on Sunday) and second weekend of the EGC. 

Games played on the same day as the EGC shall be taken into account as well for the main EGC tournament (i.e. 5 games)

A final phase with 8 players shall take place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday

It is a double knock-out tournament – hence, the players with two lost games in the preliminary rounds leave immediately the European Championship and may continue playing in the main EGC tournament.

Playing rules might be different to the EGC main tournament: the championship will be played with Fischer time 80mn basic plus 40 seconds additional*
[* for all games, contrary to what had been done at EC 2025]

There is no need to define 5th to 8th positions. The players may play the weekend tournament if they wish so. Only for semi-finals, the games for 3rd place and the final are played over the weekend.

Pairings:

 Pairings for the first round is based on EGF rating from around 19th July (last Bonus tournament - the Moyo Open). Seeding will be done in groups, then a drawing will take place during the Opening ceremony.


 Championship Schedule:

- 5 rounds played during the main EGC tournament on the first week

- 1 extra round played on Wednesday for the loser bracket

- 2 extra rounds played on Saturday and Sunday (2nd weekend) – semi-finals and finals.

Prize money:
1st Place: 4.000 €
2nd Place: 2.500 €
3rd Place: 1.500 €
4th Place: 1.000 €
5th-8th Place: 500 €

Schedule:

Date / Day	Time	Round
26.07 (Sun)	10:00	Round 1
27.07 (Mon)	10:00	Round 2
28.07 (Tue)	10:00	Round 3
29.07 (Wed)	10:00	Round 4 (loser bracket)
30.07 (Thu)	10:00	Round 5
31.07 (Fri)	10:00	Quarter-Finals
01.08 (Sat)	10:00	Semi-Finals
02.08 (Sun)	10:00	Final

For reference, the past rules of the EC can be found here (2023,24) and here (2025). The rule set for 2026 is under preparation.