There are two Go federations in Russia. It is a common practice having two or more institutions in every kind of sport in our country. Even Japan had its difficulties by making the second federation “Kansai-Kiin”; however, nobody questions its utility now.

The Go Federation headed by Mr. Igor Grishin develops Go in Russia from the standpoint of openness and accessibility. We aspire to involve new amateurs in the Go-community. We believe it is necessary not only to support the professionals, but also to assist the newcomers with taking interest in the game and becoming full-fledged members of the Go-game community.

The Go Federation is affiliated in more than 10 regions of the Russian Federation, one of its partners is the U-de center in Tolyatti, where over 400 kids are studying Wushu and Go.

The Go Federation is the official Russian institution. It received a letter of appreciation from the Ambassador of Japan in Russia telling about it’s significant contribution to development of the game in our country.

Mr. Igor Grishin is a well-known Go-game coach, laureate of the Russian out-of-classroom education contest. His best students took part in youth world tournaments. The Federation team regularly participates in the European youth championship. Mr. Grishin is the author of numerous articles as well as the book “Art of thinking and winning. Go game for beginners” (10000 copies sold). He took part in publishing Miura Yasuyuki’s book “Go, An Asian Paradigm for Business Strategy” in Russia.

The regular summer tour to the Crimean mountains and summer Go-game camps are also leaded by Mr. Grishin.

You can learn more about the Go Federation here: [go.weiqi.ru]

The photos from tournaments, festivals and day-to-day life of the Federation can be seen at the Go gallery

You can ask Mr. Igor Grishin any questions at the English part of the forum

The Go Federation runs regular online tournaments on the KGS server. The next tournament begins on January 14, 2006. Hurry to register and play with the strongest players from Russia and the rest of the world!

Members of the Go Federation have certificates from various Go Associations (such as Nihon Kiin, Chinese Weiqi Association, and Hankuk Kiwon).

The other Federation – RFG(b) – also functions in Russia. You can see the results of its work in Russian language at gofederation.ru or in English at russia.european-go.org

The Go Federation main achievements are:

Our priorities include not just the sporting achievements, but also amateur, professional and social results. It is important that Go works for society. Hence the Go Federation shares European values and is close to the European federations.

We have developed a Kyu-Dan system.

We are creating a pro league.

We host the Russian Go championship.

We promote youth Go very actively.

We are ready to cooperate with the European Go Federation and support its various initiatives in Go development in Russia as well as in Europe.

We work closely with the Russian government.

We cooperate with all Go-game institutions in Russia.

We intend to host several international tournaments, as well as practice visits to China and other countries.

P.S. We do not aim starting a war we are persistently being involved into. We announce our willingness to work for Go development in Russia and other countries.