Championship

The official rules :

European Youth Go Championship

The event is split into under-20, under-16 and under-12 age categories (see above the definition of the categories).

The tournament is usually run as a McMahon draw (unless Swiss system or Round Robin appear to be more suitable because of a very small number of players), with a bar placed suitably to select 16 players if it is reasonably possible. Each top group is seeded by rating for the first two rounds. Players should have previously obtained a European rating in order to be included in the top group. All players must be nationals of an EGF-member country.

For under-12 and under-16 categories, there are 6 rounds of 1 hour basic time (with Ing purchase of up to three 10 minute overtime periods). The tournament is played with simplified Ing Go Rules. The results table is sorted by McMahon Score, followed by Sum Of Defeated Opponents’ Scores (SODOS) and then Sum of Opponent’s Scores (SOS).

Top placed players in under-12 and under-16 can qualify to play in the World Youth Go Championship (WYGC) in the same year, usually held in August. Usually between two and four players qualify in each section. If there are more children on the same McMahon score (or points when a different system is in use) than WYGC places, the qualifiers are drawn by lottery between all players on that score; the same applies when selecting reserves. Note that only one representative of each country can take part in a category at the WYGC and no player can play in the same category more than once in three years.

For under-20 category, there are six rounds (unless Round Robin system is in use) played by Japanese rules, with one hour basic time and 15 stones in 5 minutes overtime. Finally ordering is McMahon score/total points, SOS, SOSOS/SODOS, mutual game.

The under-20 winner (from 2014), or highest placed available player, qualifies for the Globus Cup World Go U20 in Japan, with the restriction that no player can take part more than once in three years.

When sponsorship is available, a travel grant and/or free accommodation is provided to strong players and team leaders according to a prescribed set of rules.

Japanese rules : http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~wjh/go/rules/Japanese.html