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Four Go Tournaments in Spain on 2024
XLI Barcelona Go Seigen Tournament
This tournament was organized by the Go la Pedra Club from the 17th to 18th of February, 2024 in Mollet del Vallès. More than 60 participants came from different parts of Spain and from several countries from all over the world with a great level of play. This time we had two professional players: Mateusz Surma, 3p and Stanislaw Frejlak, 1p and a special guest: Inseong Hwang (8d, Yungusen dojang teacher) who came there to commentate the games. My experience began the day before, because a preliminary event had been planned. On Friday afternoon, to warm up our engines, the organiser had prepared a tactics tournament on 13x13 boards. The main tournament itself was class A without handicap over five rounds. Main time of 60 minutes and 3 periods of 20 seconds of byo-yomi. On Saturday I played three games and I lost all of them.
Fortunately, as was the case for all the people who recorded their games, I had the opportunity to review my second game with Inseong Hwang and I learned a lot and also, more importantly, I had fun.
At night in the hotel, I had the opportunity to play a crazy-rengo game with my new friends from Murcia, Granada and Canarias. I was my first time and we enjoyed a lot. It was a funny way to close the first day of tournament
On Sunday we played the last two rounds. I managed to win the last one playing as black. After that we had a master class from Inseong Hwang where he commented the final game between Mateusz Surma and Stanislaw Frejlak.
Finally, Enrique Jimenez 3d distributes the prizes to the winners.
Mateusz Surma 3p, 1st place, Stanislaw Frejlak 1p, 2nd place, Virzhinia Frejlak 4d, 3rd place
XXV Seville Go Tournament 2024
This event was held on Saturday 6th April 2024. It was a unique experience with great organization; all the participants played with a handicap, which was a great incentive for many. The atmosphere was phenomenal in an incomparable setting: “La Carboneria”.
The tournament had a total of five handicap games in one day, it was very intense. In the first game, I had many handicap stones and therefore the false feeling of being ahead for a while. After some fatal errors, the game was won by Álvaro Gutiérrez 2kyu from Seville. In the second game, I lost against Carlos Moreno 2Kyu from Madrid. The morning session finished with another defeat against Giuseppe Punzi 11 kyu from Murcia but this time it was closer. Finally in the evening I won my last two games.
We had the young player. Eduard Yang 8 Kyu who went on a holiday trip to Spain with his parents and attended the Go tournament in Seville. Eduard had the chance to score high on the results list. He won 4/5 games and finished in a very nice 6th place out of 34 participantsIn the afternoon the awards ceremony was held for the winners and a gift was also given to each of the participants. The first place was for Junzhe Wang 4d, the second place was for Koichiro Habu 5d and the third place was for Pedro Mendez 1Kyu from Madrid who will compete this year in the KPMC.
Finally, we closed out the day with teaching games, Rengo games and other fun go activities in the garden and terrace of “La Carboneria”.
XXV Madrid Go Tournament
This edition was held from the 11th – 12th of May 2024. Many participants came from different parts of Spain and from several countries with a great level of play. This time we had a special guest: Takemiya Masaki 9p. My experience began the day before because the Nam-Ban club members meet on Friday afternoon in “La Didáctica”, a sports and recreational society. I had the opportunity to play a simultaneous game with this exceptional player. This activity due to its very nature was limited to 10 participants. A draw was held in which I participated at the last moment and obtained the last remaining place. It was a special moment where I experienced nerves and excitement, while Takemiya Masaki always seemed calm and friendly.
After losing the first game and winning the second one on Saturday, I was very tired. I lost the last three games against rivals of a similar level but stronger than me. I need to study more and prepare better if I want to improve my level of Go. However, right now my first priority is to play more than compete, meet people and understand the world of Go and live a complete recreational experience.
On Sunday I realized how time had passed by. Last year in the Go tournament in Madrid I had the opportunity to play a teaching game with Vladimir Munteanu 19kyu from Romania. We had a lot of fun; he was very enthusiastic and had a very positive attitude. I really enjoyed explaining him the few things that I have learned about go until today. This year he was who teach me some new things…. He is 6 Kyu right now.When the tournament was completed, the awards ceremony was held for the winners and a gift was given to the main winners. The 1st place went to Junzhe Wang 4d, the 2nd Peikai Xue 4d and 3rd was Vsevolod Ovsiienko 5d.
Both the Madrid and Seville tournaments this year marked their 25th anniversary, making them special editions for Go community in Spain. I dedicated myself to filming video sequences and conducting interviews for a documentary promoting Go that I was preparing. The documentary features the tournaments in Barcelona, Seville, and Madrid. You can watch the result at this link
https://youtu.be/dGjuJQc0s34
The final activity was a simultaneous game with Takemiya Masaki where the players with the best performance in the tournament participated.XIV Cadiz Go Tournament
This tournament was organized by the Asociación de Go de Cádiz (AGOCA) from the 7th to 8th of September, 2024 in San Fernando. A total of 24 participants came from different parts of Spain (Cádiz, Seville, Granada, Madrid, Murcia, Canarias, Pontevedra, Zaragoza and Barcelona). Despite not being a very large number, there were players from a wide variety of ages. For example an 11-year-old boy, Pablo Punzi, who was taking part in a tournament with mainly veteran players. It is also worth highlighting the participation of up to three women. The atmosphere was very warm and friendly. The tournament was class A without handicap over five rounds. Main time of 60 minutes and 3 periods of 20 seconds of byo-yomi. On Saturday I played three games and I won only one. 
On Sunday, after having rested better, I obtained two victories against inferior rivals who played well and have a lot of potential. It is clear that in a tournament everyone gives their best. And not only the players but also the organizers of the day who have to compete and manage the event at the same time. I want to thank the organizers: Eloy Martin 4 Kyu and Arturo de Celis 3 Kyu for their work so that we could all enjoy the experience of playing go.
This tournament was scoring for the Spanish Go Championship (CEGO) and also where the Spanish representative will be chosen for the Korean Prime Minister Cup (KPMC) in 2025. The 1st place was for Juan Carlos del Rio 1d, the 2nd was for Alejandro Guerrero 1d and 3rd was for Miguel Perez.
-- About the author
Joan Lluis i Rabassó is a 11k player, passionate of Go and Philosophy. He founded a go club in his city, Vilanova i la Geltrú, near Barcelona, and is very active on the Spanish go scene. He also contributed to the European Go Journal and wrote many articles for this blog :) !
