The 46th Prague Go Tournament, the Korean Ambassador's Cup, was held on the week-end of the 22th – 23th April in Prague, Czech Republic.

It is the oldest tournament in the Czech Republic, with a long tradition that is now 46 years old, and it is also one of the biggest events in Czechia. A total of 111 players from 12 different countries participated in the competition, and 12 of them were 5 dan and above.

The generous prize budget of over 2500€ for the tournament allowed not only the top players to be rewarded, but also a lot of the ordinary ones. The prize money was given to the best 8 players, players with 4 and 5 wins, and there were even special prizes for the best performance for some ranks. Then during the closing ceremony a lottery was held to allocate go equipment.
Furthermore, the already nice venue was enhanced by the serving of a high quality tea for competitors.

For Czech players, this tournament also acted as a qualifier for the Korean Prime Minister's Cup, which will be held in autumn 2017. It was played during the first 3 rounds on Saturday, as a part of the tournament. For the first round, 8 best Czech players were paired to each other and played a knock-out whereas those who lost, continued playing in the main tournament. The winner of the knock-out was Lukas Podpera 7 dan, who defeated Jan Prokop 6 dan, in the final round of the qualification.

The tournament was also accompanied by a 13x13 marathon tournament, which was designed especially for kids who usually finish their games much earlier. The winner of this nice competition was Vojtech Sokol, who wasn't only the most successful, but also the most active player.

Even though the tournament attracted many strong go players, and thus the competitiveness was pretty high, the eventual identity of the winners was not so startling. The first was Kim Seong Jin 7 dan from Korea, second Mateusz Surma 1p from Poland and third Pavol Lisy 1p from Slovakia.

You can see all results here.
Photos are taken by Soňa Smoláriková, see all gallery here.