Welcome to the 6th GLOBIS Cup World Go U-20. The event you’ve all been waiting for is finally here! The GLOBIS Cup is the only global Go tournament held in Japan.

In the first year—for the first time in 16 years at a global tournament—we had two Japanese players face off in the final round. In the second year, Chinese and Koreans shared the awards stage. In the third year, participants from China, Japan, and Korea each won a prize. In the fourth year, two Japanese players got through to the semifinals and the Japanese and Koreans dominated the top 4. Last year, Chinese and Koreans again dominated the awards stage, but Rina Fujisawa achieved the brilliant feat of getting through to the quarterfinals, the first time a female player has reached that far.

Now, in our sixth year, we again are down to 16 players from Japan, China, Korea, Chinese Taipei, North America, Europe, and the rest of Asia and Oceania. I am sure that they will play exciting games again.

We established the GLOBIS Cup to create an opportunity for the young players here to compete with each other on this GLOBIS Cup stage, and to perform well on a global stage. Today, the GLOBIS Cup is becoming a global gateway to success for these young players.

This year, the world of Go in Japan is full of positive news. A nine-year old is set to become the youngest professional Go player ever. In the 6th GLOBIS Cup, for the first time we have two Japanese female players joining us.

We are excited to see what drama will unfold next. We hope that you will spread the word about the GLOBIS Cup to many people, so that the number of Go fans will increase far and wide, and that the world of Go will spread further around the globe.