This article is a translated version of an original piece I wrote in Chinese. The original aimed to introduce the top players in the European Go scene to Hong Kong players. As such, this article is written from the perspective of a Hong Kong Go player who has migrated to Europe.
The 2025 European Grand Prix
From January 3 to 6, 2025, the annual European Grand Prix was successfully held. Eligibility for this tournament required participants to hold a European passport (including UK BNO—British National (Overseas), a special passport issued to Hong Kong citizens as Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997) and to have achieved placements in one of ten designated European tournaments over the past year. Damen Woo, who was born in Hong Kong, and I (Michael Cheung) both participated in this 16-player competition.
The total prize pool for the Grand Prix was €7,600. Each player received a base prize of €100 (so, even though I didn’t win a single match, I still had a consolation prize to take home). The 16 players were divided into four groups, each playing three preliminary matches. Each victory in the group stage earned €100, and the prize money increased for wins in the quarterfinals and beyond. The champion received €1,500, while prizes for 2nd to 8th places were €1,100, €900, €800, €700, €500, €500, and €400, respectively.
Although the prize distribution varies across tournaments, European competitions tend to offer a more balanced prize structure compared to those in Hong Kong. Additionally, many European tournaments receive sponsorship from businesses or organizations in China, Japan, and Korea, making it easier for players to afford travel expenses. In contrast, Hong Kong tournaments usually have a more skewed prize structure, with the champion taking the lion’s share (e.g., 70% of the total prize fund). Moreover, Hong Kong tournaments rarely attract sponsorship, relying instead on participation fees to fund prizes.
The champion of this tournament was Valerii, a Ukrainian player at the European 7-dan level. While he placed third in the 2024 Korean Prime Minister’s Cup, he was somewhat of a dark horse in this competition. Based on European rankings and his recent tournament performance, he was likely ranked 7th or 8th among potential champions. This highlights a unique feature of European Go—any of the top 15 players can realistically win a championship, and matches between players ranked in the top 30–40 remain highly competitive.
Why do top European Go players demonstrate a higher average skill level than those in Hong Kong? I don’t have a definitive answer, but I believe long-form games contribute to this consistency. Major European tournaments typically feature two games per day, and some even only one, creating an environment that reduces impulsive errors. This theory is supported by data from chess tournaments.
In contrast, Hong Kong tournaments often consist of 3–5 games per day. Over the past 15 years, three players have dominated the Hong Kong Go scene—Park Youngwoon (aka Baduk Doctor), Chan Nai San (profile), and Chan Chi Hin (profile). These players boast an impressive win rate of over 85% in tournament games, leaving other participants with significantly lower chances of success.
Introducing the Champion: Valerii 7D
During my match against Valerii, he spent just over ten seconds to make a brilliant move. Upon seeing it, I couldn’t help but smile knowingly. After the game, he confirmed that it was an impromptu flash of inspiration. (https://www.101weiqi.com/q/419904/)
European tournaments often span several days, allowing players to interact and even share drinks, fostering a sense of community. (In contrast, Hong Kong’s city setting eliminates the need for players to book travel or accommodations for tournaments.) Through these exchanges, I learned more about Valerii’s journey in Go.
Valerii reached 7-dan in June 2024, after spending four years at 5-dan (2018–2022) and 2.5 years at 6-dan. Currently, there are about less than 10 active European 7-dans, and achieving this rank generally signifies being among the top 15 players in Europe.
A Pure Fox Warrior
According to Valerii, he rarely studies AI or solves Go problems. Instead, he focuses on playing on the Fox Go server, where his account shows over 3,500 games played. He consistently maintains an 8-dan rank, occasionally reaching 9-dan, and rarely drops to 7-dan.
Curious about his problem-solving ability, despite his claim of not studying puzzles, I presented him with five of my original problems:
He solved all five puzzles correctly within 10 seconds and then, with a puzzled expression, said, "These aren’t hard because there’s no choice." All I could say was, “You’re amazing!”
Final Thoughts
As an abstract game, Go offers endless possibilities for thought and training methods. I have always advocated practicing problems that can be solved accurately within one minute, using mistakes from online games as learning points (reference: Why Do Fox 7-Dan Players Only Need 3-kyu Life-and-Death Calculations?). However, Valerii’s success as a pure Fox player suggests that consistent gameplay can also yield great results, offering an alternative perspective on training. Ultimately, everyone has their own method that works best for them—the key is perseverance and never giving up.
Reference：
Quater final：Valerii 7D vs Damen Woo 6D
Final：Valerii 7D vs Ali Jabarin 2P
Grand prix tournament's information:
Grand prix players' information:
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