The Confucius Cup is the premier tournament in the Irish calendar, attracting some of the strongest players in Europe — recent champions include Kim Youngsam, Stanislaw Frejlak 1p, and Kim Seongjin. Thanks to the generous support of our hosts, the UCD Confucius Institute, the facilities and hospitality are of the highest standard.
2026
The 2026 Confucius Cup will take place over the weekend of 9th-11th October at the Confucius Institute building on the Belfield campus of University College Dublin (UCD) in south Dublin. The Rapid tournament will take place on the evening of Friday, 9th. The Confucius Cup (Open) tournament will take place on Saturday, 10th, and Sunday, 11th.
Location
The tournament will take place on the campus of UCD, on the south side of the city. Several public bus routes serve the university, and travel times from the city centre should be no more than 20 minutes at the weekend. The university is well connected to the airport via the Aircoach bus service (route 700), and offers plentiful parking for those driving. The Confucius Institute building is close to the main entrance from the N11 (campus map).
Accommodation
Accommodation in Dublin can be expensive and we recommend booking early.
Tournament Format
The Rapid tournament is a five round Swiss tournament. Time controls are 18 minutes sudden death for the first round, decreasing by 2 minutes for each subsequent round. Handicap is difference in score plus 1. Ties are broken by direct comparison, SOS, then SOSOS.
The Confucius Cup is a five round McMahon tournament, with the first three rounds played on Saturday and the remaining two on Sunday. Time controls are 60 minutes main time plus five periods of 30 seconds byo-yomi (EGF Class A). Komi is 6.5. Handicap is difference in McMahon Score minus 1. Ties are broken by SOS, then SOSOS.
Schedule
Friday, 9th October
19.00 Check-In (but try to check in before 7 – we’ll be there)
19.10 Rapid Tournament Round 1
19:51 Rapid Tournament Round 2
20:28 Rapid Tournament Round 3
21:01 Rapid Tournament Round 4
21:30 Rapid Tournament Round 5
Saturday, 10th October
09.00 Check-In
09.45 Opening Ceremony
10.00 Confucius Cup Round 1
13.30 Confucius Cup Round 2
16.30 Confucius Cup Round 3
Sunday, 11th October
09.00 Check-In
09.15 Confucius Cup Round 4
13.00 Confucius Cup Round 5
16.30 Closing Ceremony and Prize-Giving
This schedule is subject to change.
Prizes
Food & Drink
There will be a Chinese dinner featuring three main dishes and a drink (included in price of entry) in the Confucius Chinese restaurant on Saturday evening.
Other food options and a full bar are readily available throughout the day in the Food Hall of the nearby UCD Student Village.
If you are staying on for Sunday night, there will be a group dinner at an Asian restaurant in the city centre, followed by a few creamy pints in a pub.
Registration Fees & Payment
Rapid Tournament
Standard Rate — €10
Concession Rate (students, unwaged etc.) — €5
Open Tournament
Standard Rate — €30 (€35 from 15th September)
Saturday Only — €20
Sunday Only — €15
Concession Rate (students, unwaged etc.) — €15
Register for this tournament →
Registered Players 34
| # | Name | Club | Rank | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mateusz Surma | Dzim | 4p | Paid |
| 2 | Dohyup Kim | INCHEON | 8d | Paid |
| 3 | Youngsoo Shin | CES GO | 7d | Paid |
| 4 | Cornel Burzo | UNRO | 6d | Paid |
| 5 | Fengyin Zhang | Dublin | 5d | Paid |
| 6 | Mathieu Delli-Zotti | 13Ma | 5d | Paid |
| 7 | Dewei Liu | Belfast | 4d | Paid |
| 8 | Philippe Renaut | Galway | 3d | Paid |
| 9 | John Courtney | Dublin | 1d | Paid |
| 10 | Sang Werner | — | 1k | Paid |
| 11 | Kevin Farrell | Galway | 2k | Paid |
| 12 | Guanqiu Chen | Plymouth | 2k | Paid |
| 13 | Niall Tuohy | Dublin | 3k | Paid |
| 14 | Byoung-Ju Lee | Dublin | 3k | Paid |
| 15 | Frank Heinicke | USCL | 3k | Paid |
| 16 | Tiberiu Gociu | Belfast | 4k | Paid |
| 17 | Zhiyu Zheng | — | 5k | Registered |
| 18 | Emmet O’Rourke | Dublin | 7k | Paid |
| 19 | Jos Dornschneider-Elkink | Dublin | 8k | Paid |
| 20 | Jacky Lam | Dublin | 8k | Paid |
| 21 | Marie Couffignal | 13Ma | 8k | Paid |
| 22 | Henry Williams | Dublin | 9k | Paid |
| 23 | Jörg Ebert | USCL | 10k | Paid |
| 24 | Robert Miller | Dublin | 11k | Paid |
| 25 | Wooseok Bang | — | 14k | Paid |
| 26 | Yurii Sahatelian | Dublin | 14k | Paid |
| 27 | Jacob Nelson | Dublin | 17k | Paid |
| 28 | Kevin O'Toole | Dublin | 20k | Paid |
| 29 | Conor Strickland | Dublin | 21k | Paid |
| 30 | Andy Gan | — | 25k | Paid |
| 31 | Seán Kinch | Dublin | 25k | Registered |
| 32 | Boris Yu | — | 30k | Paid |
| 33 | Qingyuan Mei | — | Paid | |
| 34 | Samuel Leung | — | Registered |
Contact
The tournament organisers for 2026 are Henry Williams and John Courtney.
For all questions, comments and concerns please contact: secretary@irish-go.org