The winner of the European Youth Go Championship U21 2026, Yuze Xing 6d (Germany), was invited in Japan to participate in the 11th edition of the Globis Cup. This world tournament, open to the strongest youth U22, gathered top pros and amateurs in Tokyo, Japan, from June 26 to 28.

The Globis Cup was stopped for several editions but was back this year and, hopefully, the next too, for its 11th edition.
It gathers top pros and top amateurs from Japan, South-Korea, Chinese Taipei, Europe, North American and Asia/Oceania.

From Europe, the winner of the U21 European Youth Go Championship is invited to participate, so this year it was Yuze Xing 6d from Germany, ruling champion.

The players were:

Japan (6 players): Sakai Yuki  7p,  Fukuoka Kotaro 7p, Kuwabara Itsuki 7d, Ueno Risa 4p, Hsiao Yu-Yang 4p and Shigekawa Akashi 2p.

Korea (5 players): Kim Eunji 9p, Kwon Hyojin, Kim Seungji 7p, Park Jihyeon 7p, Kim Seunggu 4p

Chinese Taipei (2 players): Hsu Ching-En 7p, Wu Yen-Chen 3p

North America: Alexander Qi 3p (US)

Europe: Yuze Xing 6d (DE)

Asia and Oceania: Sornarra Pongsakarn 6d (TH)


The tournament was played starting with a double elimination phase followed by a top 8 direct knock-out. The time setting was the NHK time settings, with 30 seconds per moves followed by 1 minute periods (same as for the SENKO Cup), which drives the game pretty rapidly.

In the first round, Yuze played with....Kim Eunji 9p! If you never heard of Kim Eunji, let's just sum it up like this: she is one of the strongest female players in the world and, age 19, still a very promising top player for Korea.

In the second round, in the loser bracket, Yuze was paired with the Japanese 7p Kuwabara Itsuki, a 17 yo rising player. Again, a very tough game...

To be honest, I was completely crushed in both of my games. What can I say? My opponents were just too good for me. Also, the time settings were much too fast for me — everything happened too quickly for me to think properly about my moves. But then again, I didn't really expect to win anyway! (Yuze Xing 6d)

Eventually, the tournament was won by the Korean player Kim Seunggu 4p.

The event was a great chance to try out one's skills at the strongest level and meet new players around the same age, although the language barrier is often limitating social interaction.
Yuze shared with us more impression.

During the tournament, you felt more alone than part of a community. We didn't eat or explore Tokyo together as a group.
On the bright side, though, the opening ceremony was a pretty grand affair. Each player had to give a one-minute speech. That was actually quite cool, and it made the tournament feel like a truly big event and a major competition. (Yuze Xing 6d)

Well, even if the chances to overcome some of the best players in the world are very low, the tournament was hopefully a good experience and will strengthen the will of youth players to improve and get the chance to play in the Globis Cup next time!

We are grateful to the Nihon Kiin for the organisation of the event and nicely allowing us to use the photos. Thanks to Yuze as well for sharing his feelings about the games and the event.

As for prospective youth players, if you're in the U21 division of the EYGC, train hard and perhaps you will qualify next time! The 2027 EYGC shall happen around March 2027, most likely in Serbia.

You can find the results here (Japanese): https://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/match/globis/011.html