Dear readers, before you scroll anywhere and complain with a frustrated "nah again a tournament far away we won't be able to follow :'-(", let me contradict you with - all emotion contained - a joyful voice: this year, the KPMC will be commented live!
And now if you don't mind, please let's go on with a simple presentation of the tournament.

The 19th Korea Prime Minister Cup

The 19th edition of the KPMC will take place in Taebaek, South Korea, from September 20th to 26th. This annual event, organized by the Korean Baduk Association (KBF) and Taebaek Baduk Association, is a world class tournament with one representative from each country invited to compete over 7 rounds.
In total, 60 players from Asia, Europe, Oceania, Africa and America will face each other.

By the way, just in case you're lost here, baduk is the korean word for go.

It should be highlighted that Taebaek is not just a random city! In terms of the recent development of go in Korea, Taebaek seems to be becoming more and more important: it has a branch of the Baduk Association, called the Taebaek Baduk Association, and regularly organizes big events in order to become a "baduk Mecca", as stated by the major of the city, Sangho Lee:

Baduk is a historical human cultural heritage, and the best mind-sport which requires careful strategy and high concentration, loved by men and women of all ages. In particular, Korean Baduk has been attracting world-wide attention for its outstanding performances on the international stage.

In order to become a world-wide Baduk mecca, Taebaek City has been focusing on the ‘Baduk mecca project’ through establishing the Taebaek Branch of Korean Baduk Association and holding many Baduk tournaments.
It will build the best infrastructure in the future so that Baduk players around the world can visit here whenever they want.

The area seems very beautiful with countless places to visit.
During the KPMC, other events are planned, such a Pair baduk, a team fight between kids and foreigners "can you Go, kid?", and other such interesting events, simultaneous games with pros...

Of course, EGF players are legion at this tournament, and we strongly hope they will both have good results and a good time there! You can check the list here.

Last year, Lukas Podpera 7d from Czechia and Valerii Krushelnytskyi 6d from Ukraine had respectively managed to end up on 4th and 5th place, after a pretty strong podium of China, Korea and Chinese Taipei. The previous year again, it was Rob Van Zeijst 7d from the Netherlands who secured a decent 4th place for Europe.

Let's see how this year goes.

You'll see that the youngest player is Lilly Hu 1k from Austria, born in 2017, whereas our oldest EGF representative is the aforementioned Rob!

(Pictures - Quentin Rendu)

How to follow the games and comments...?

First of all, you can find the precious details about this tournament and rules on the official website: https://kpmc.kbaduk.or.kr/us/2024 .

The first round will be played at 3pm Korean time on the 21st, meaning around 8am CEST (Central Europe Time). It is very much expected that top boards will be broadcast on Tygem.

Live commentaries will be provided in English via the European Go Federation Twitch channel, brought to you by the one and only Stephen Hu 5d (you may already remember him as 'the cool broadcast guy' of the European Championship at the European Go Congress).

Pro Commentators (this list may get longer)
Wonjin Choi 3p
Hyeyeon Cho 9p
Seungjun Kim "Blackie" 9p
Diana Koszegi 1p
Eunkyo Do 1p

Schedule in Korean time (subtract 7 to get CEST): https://kpmc.kbaduk.or.kr/us/2024/schedule
📺 Follow here (you can suscribe to the channel to get notification!) : twitch.tv/europeangofederation

As for extra news and final results, well well, be patient!

See you around on Twitch ;)
Like, here below.

__PRESENT