2023 Confucius Cup Irish Go & European Chinese Chess Championship was successfully held at UCD CII

 

From September 22nd to 24th, 2023, the Confucius Cup Irish Go & European Chinese Chess Championship was held successfully at UCD Confucius Institute for Ireland. The Confucius Cup is a Level C Bonus Point tournament in the European Grand Prix and is authorized by the European Xiangqi Federation (EXF), with financial support from Bocomm Aviation Leasing Ireland Company Limited. A total of 69 players from Ireland, the UK, France, Germany, South Korea and other countries participated in this year’s Confucius Cup tournament. 

After two days fierce competition, Go players Seongjin Kim, Mateusz Surma and Xinqun Lu won the first, second and third places respectively in the 2023 Confucius Cup Irish Go Championship. Chinese Chess players Tian He, Wong Ho Yee and Nabuurs Joep won the first, second and third places respectively in the 2023 Confucius Cup European Chinese Chess Championship.

The closing ceremony of the tournament was attended by numerous distinguished guests including Dr. Xikun Zhu, First Secretary for Education of Chinese Embassy, Dr. Michael Naegler, Executive President of the European Xiangqi Federation, Mr Marc-Antoine Nguyen, Vice President of the European Xiangqi Federation, Ms Chen Li, Vice President of the European Xiangqi Federation, Mr Niall Tuohy, President of the Irish Go Association, Mr Eoghan Barry, Secretary General of the Irish Go Association, Mr Zhendong Lu, CEO of Bocomm Aviation Leasing Ireland Company Limited, and Professor Wang Liming, Director of the UCD Confucius Institute, Professor Jiangnan Xie, Chinese Director of the UCD Confucius Institute. They presented the prizes to the winning players.

Building friendship through games and cultivating virtue through friendship. This event continues the spirit and style of the previous ‘Confucius Cup’ tournaments, providing a platform for go and chess players in Europe. Through the ancient Chinese board games, it promotes the friendly exchanges and mutual understanding between different cultures.