The Korea Ambassador Cup of Spain was held in Madrid between 15th ~ 16th of May. There were 63 participants, and the Korean Ambassador in Spain came to the awards ceremony with a trophy for the champion and 9 Baduk books for the prizes. There were cash prizes like 500 Euros for the champion, 300 Euros for the second and 150 Euros for the third.

And the best Spanish player is going to participate in the 5th Korea Prime Minister Cup International Baduk Championship. KABA (Korea Amateur Baduk Association) will support all the cost for the representatives of foreign countries such as airplane ticket, the food, hotels and sightseeing. It is a great thing! So every year the Spanish players are looking forward to being a new Spanish Champion.

Frankly speaking, the level of Spanish players is a little lower than that of other European countries. In other words, Germany, Romania and Czech have some 6 dans and many 5 dans of amateur, but Spain has only two 4 dans and about six or seven 3 dans.

I also participated in this tournament, and In-seong Hwang 7 dan who works in Berlin as an international Baduk instructor participated too. I like the tournament system of Europe very much.  Most of Korean tournaments have knock-down system. So most of participants can play just 2 ~ 3 games and they have to come back to their home at the first day.

On the contrary, almost every tournaments in Europe have Swiss league system, so all the weakest players like 20 kyu or 15 kyu can play 5 ~ 6 rounds during two days of Saturday and Sunday. They enjoy playing Baduk itself instead of trying to win the prizes like in Korea. And more than half of the players record their games during tournaments and review them in their home.

















There is something special in the tournaments of Spain. Most tournaments of Europe finish just after prize giving ceremony, but in the every tournament of Spain, they give a small party prepared with various tapas, beverages, bread, beer and wine. That is a great thing! Every other European players envy it.

Finally In-seong Hwang 7d won the champion, I won the second prize, and a Chinese player of 4d won the third prize. The fourth player became a Spanish player Oscar Anguila 4d, who can participate in the international amateur championship in Korea this October.

It was a nice tournament, and all the participants thanked Korea Amateur Baduk Association for the efforts and helps for the European Baduk world.