The European Go Championship or Congress (EGC) is the annual and main event of many organised by the European Go Federation for players of the board game Go. It consists of a 2-week open competition, one round per day, making a total of 10 rounds with a champion ultimately emerging - the player with the most (or best) wins. The congress has taken place in a different European city each year, since the first contest in 1983. During these two weeks, the best Go players in Europe fight for the title of European Champion. Entry in recent years has ranged from a low of 290 to a high of 718 players. History The first European Go Championship was held in 1938. The current annual series begun in 1957, with the first championship held in Cuxhaven, Germany. Germany has been quite dominant at the championships. In 1961 the 5th European Go Championship was held in August in Baden, where Japanese professional players Kensaku Segoe and Utaro Hashimoto gave exhibitions. In 1976 European Go Congress was held in Cambridge with 150 European players vying for titles among five separate tournaments which varied the games played, and including a tournament at the game of 'Lightning Go,' where the game must be played far more rapidly than in a traditional match. The festivities were described by United Press International, reporting on the event, as a "two week orgy of go." In 1977 the 21st championship was held in Rijswijk in the Netherlands. Although not allowed to play in the competition, two Japanese professional players attended and provided instruction and engaged in simultaneous exhibitions. Seminars were given in go theory, computer go and lightning go. Recent highlights Czech Republic 2005 In Prague, Alexandre Dinerchtein won against Cătălin Țăranu in the 5th round. Italy 2006 In Frascati, Alexandre Dinerchtein lost against the 2001 Champion Andrei Kulkov in the 6th round. Svetlana Shikshina won the title. Austria 2007 In Villach, Ilya Shikshin won the title, despite losing to Alexandre Dinerchtein in the 8th round. Sweden 2008 In Leksand, Ondrej Silt from the Czech Republic beat Cătălin Țăranu in Round 4. In Round 5, Alexandre Dinerchtein won against the 2006 Champion Svetlana Shikshina. Cătălin Țăranu beat the 2007 Champion Ilya Shikshin in Round 8. The 5-dan Go professional Cătălin Țăranu became the second Romanian player to become European Go Champion. Netherlands 2009 In Groningen, the young 5-dan Thomas