Today, in the third issue of "Overseas Club Tour", we will talk about the second club in Europe to compete in the City Siege League, and the elite Central European Go club from London, England.
The UK is the world's cultural and sporting powerhouse, and the Premier League is one of the most successful professional leagues in the world. London, the capital of the United Kingdom, is the only city in the world to have hosted three Olympic Games. London has the largest number of museums, libraries and stadiums in the world, and is home to the world's most famous film festivals, music festivals, fashion weeks and the largest number of higher education institutions and prestigious universities, ranking among the best cities in the world to study abroad.
As a major sports town in Europe, the sport of Go has also developed well in the UK. Founded in 1950, the British Go Association has hosted various tournaments such as the British Open Go Tournament, the British Adult Go Tournament, the Youth Go Tournament, the British Go Challenge, and the 5th World Collegiate Go Championship. The largest of these competitions is the London Open, held at the end of each year, with participants from all over Europe. Since the advent of the Alpha Dog in 2016, the United Kingdom has set off a Go craze, and there are about 100 Go clubs so far, which is one of the european countries with the strongest development momentum of Go.
In 2021, London's first Go club, The Elite of Central Europe, took to the stage of the Siege League. The head coach of The Central European Elite Club in London led Beijing CITIC Club to win the 2017 Weijia League championship, and the team members representing the club were Zhang Xuebin 6 dan, Tengcheng 2nd dan, Sun Sai 5 dan and three British chess players Yangung Woo 5 dan, Irwin Karl 5 dan and Radjiv Daxini 1 dan. As a coach and member of the team, Zhang Xuebin Liudan has won nine consecutive victories in the 2001 National Weijia League and the third place in the 2003 National Weijia League; Tengcheng Erdan has won the individual runner-up of the 2002 National Television Go Tournament; Irwin Karl 5dan has twice represented Cambridge University in the Oxford-Cambridge University Team Match, and co-hosted the Go TV program "Stinky Chess Clinic" with Wang Xiangyun Sandan from 2016 to 2018.
It is understood that due to the impact of the epidemic and the rush to form a team, the London Central European Elite Club has not been able to form a stronger squad and has not been able to invite some high-level British players (equivalent to the domestic amateur 6-dan level) to join. Therefore, when it comes to the goal of the season, the relevant person in charge of the club said that the London Central European Elite Club is participating in the competition this year with the purpose of learning and familiarizing with the Siege Of The City, presenting the style and strength of the team and striving to achieve a breakthrough of zero victory. In the future, I hope that the team can win more victories and build a communication bridge between China and the United Kingdom with Go as a link.