The 3rd Pandanet Youth Go European Team Championships (PYGETC), Season 2026, is opening and the teams will be collected by the deadline December 25, 2025 .

As announced last year, the League A is starting with 6 teams in Season Three: Ukraine, Romania, Croatia, Germany, United Kingdom (won the relegation match against Poland) and Czechia (winner of the League B). All other teams shall play the League B.

Please, send the name and the e-mail address of the team captain by 15th December 2025 to Oksana Nevostruyeva if a youth team representing your country wants to participate in this tournament.

Please note that the rules have been changed insofar that the team line-ups are always ordered by GoR of players (no “reserved” boards for a female player and a player aged 12 or younger)

Important dates:

Confirmation of participation and nominations of team captains: 15th December 2025
Line-ups of teams for Season Three: 25th December 2025
Structure of Leagues: 10th January 2026
Schedule of rounds: 12th January 2026

The best three teams in the League A will be awarded with trophies, medals and prizes at the 68th European Go Congress, to be held in Ankara, Turkey. The prizes will be the same as for Season Two, which means that the winner of the League B will get the prize as well.

Due to the incompatibility of composition of teams and overlapping sponsorships, Pandanet Youth Go European Team Championships is no longer the qualification tournament for the world youth teams championships. The new qualification tournament is going to be announced to EGF-members soon.

After 10 successful seasons of European Youth Go Team Championships/Competition, organized by Marc Oliver Rieger and Lorenz Trippel, the European Go Federation is starting a new youth team tournament series, very much alike Pandanet Go European Team Championships.

There are two major differences between the “new” and the “old” format:
(1) teams will be national teams (no combined teams)
(2) players must be citizens of the country they represent (no residents without citizenship)

There are a few minor differences in team compositions:
(1) all players must be younger than 18 on 1st January of corresponding season
(2) one player in a team must be a female player
(3) one additional player must be younger than 12 on 1st January of corresponding season
(4) all players are ordered by their rating in the European Go Database (GoR) at the end of the previous year

The default playing day will be Wednesday, to avoid any conflicts with other competitions (including live weekend tournaments).

The face-to-face video link between players is mandatory just like in the PGETC League A Season 2023/2024.

The team leaders are required to collect GDPR statements from a parent/guardian responsible for a minor, allowing a child to participate in an online tournament, accepting the rules.