International Go Federation


The International Go Federation is an international organization that connects the various national Go federations around the world.

Role

The role of the IGF is to promote the sport of Go throughout the world, promote amicable relations among members and improve world go organization. It does so by carrying out the following activities:
The IGF is an apolitical and non-religious organization, and strives to promote fair play amongst all players.

History

The Japan Go Association organized the first World Go Amateur Championship in Japan, in 1979. Many of the top Go players from around the world and representatives from the major National Go Associations attended the event. Its success led to the founding of the International Go Federation on March 18, 1982, with Shizuo Asada presiding over the original 29 founding members.
On April 7, 2006, the IGF became a member of the General Association of International Sports Federations.
The IGF is one of the founding member of the IMSA.
The IGF organizes the yearly World Amateur Go Championship, which attracts over 65 countries.

Tournaments

Sources:
the IGF has 77 member nations: 39 in Europe, 18 in Asia, 15 in the Americas, 3 in Africa and 2 in Oceania. It also has five Association Members, which cover multiple countries: the World Pair Go Association, the Federación Iberoamericana de Go, the European Go Federation, the Ing Changk Wei-Chi Education Foundation and the Asian Go Federation.
77 Nations in 2023:
  • 39 in Europe: ARM, AUT, AZE, BLR, BEL, BIH, BUL, CRO, CYP, CZE, DEN, FIN, FRA, GEO, GER, HUN, ISL, IRL, ISR, ITA, KAZ, LAT, LTU, LUX, NED, NOR, POL, POR, ROU, RUS, SRB, SVK, SLO, ESP, SWE, SUI, TUR, UKR, GBR
  • 18 in Asia: BRU, CHN, TPE, HKG, IND, INA, IRI, JPN, MAC, MAS, MGL, NEP, PRK, PHI, SIN, KOR, THA, VIE
  • 15 in Americas: ARG, BRA, CAN, CHI, COL, CRC, CUB, ECU, GUA, MEX, PAN, PER, URU, USA, VEN
  • 3 in Africa: MAD, MAR, RSA
  • 2 in Oceania: AUS, NZL
5 Association Members:
  • World Pair Go Association
  • Federación Iberoamericana de Go
  • European Go Federation
  • Ing Changk Wei-Chi Education Foundation
  • Asian Go Federation

    IGF presidents

YearsPresidentNotes
1982–1997Shizuo AsadaProfessional Go player and founding president of the IGF
1997–2001Fumio Watanabe
2001–2004Matsuo Toshimitsu
2004Masao KatoProfessional 9-dan Go player — taken ill and died at the end of 2004
2005–2007Norio KudoProfessional 9-dan Go player
2007–2009Hiromu OkabeChairman of the board of directors for the Nihon Ki-in, president of the Denso Corporation
2009–2010Otake HideoChairman of the board of directors for the Nihon Ki-in
2010–2012Chang ZhenmingVice-chairman and president of CITIC Group
2012–2014Koichiro MatsuuraPresident of World Pair Go Association and former Director-General of UNESCO
2014–2016Seokhyun HongChairman of the Korea Baduk Association, president of the Joongang Media Network
from 2016Chang ZhenmingPresident of CITIC Group