On April 17 Erik Puyt passed away unexpectedly. He suffered from cancer for some time, but there were no signs that it would strike him unexpectedly in such a very severe way.

Erik’s role for the Go community has been very important, both in the Netherlands and internationally. Thanks to his efforts, the European Go Cultural Centre (EGCC) was established in Amstelveen, the Netherlands, using a generous donation by Iwamoto Kaoru. He was the manager of the EGCC from 1992 until 2009. Thanks to his management skills the Go Centre played an important role within the European Go landscape. The Centre facilitated educational programs and produced promotional materials in multiple European languages. Many tournaments were organized at the Go Centre, including the World Youth Goe Championships in 1995.
 

Erik was also very significant internationally: He was president of the EGF and board member of the IGF. He was co-founder and Secretary General of the International Mind Sport Association (IMSA) and as such played an important role in the acceptance of Go as an international mind sport.



He later completed a Master of Business Administration degree in sports management and continued to work as a consultant for sports organizations in the Netherlands. He also shared his expertise by introducing and teaching sports management at the University of Applied Sciences in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. A role that suited him perfectly and brought him great joy.

At 62 years old, Erik was much too young to leave us and this leaves his family, friends and colleagues in shock.

We can only look back in admiration at what he meant for the Go world.

Harry van der Krogt