42nd U.S. Go Congress Returns to Boston
Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2026 10:52 am
42nd U.S. Go Congress Returns to Boston
BOSTON, MA — The 42nd U.S. Go Congress will take place July 25–August 1, 2026, bringing together top professional talent and Go players from across North America and around the world for a full week of competition, learning, and community.
With seven confirmed professionals spanning three continents, and more announcements expected. This year’s Congress is shaping up to be an exciting one!
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HEADLINERS
MICHAEL REDMOND 9P
The only American-born 9-dan professional, Michael Redmond is one of the most recognizable figures in the global Go community. He gained international recognition for his English-language commentary during the historic AlphaGo matches and has accumulated more than 600 professional wins. With decades of experience as a television commentator in Japan, Redmond continues to serve as a vital bridge between Eastern and Western Go traditions.
CHO YEONWOO 2P
With more than 210,000 YouTube subscribers, Cho Yeonwoo has become one of the world’s most influential Go educators. A former Korean insei, she is known for her clear, engaging teaching style and wide-reaching online presence. Her appearance on Netflix’s Devil’s Plan introduced her to audiences beyond the Go world, and she continues to run Yeonwoo’s Go Academy while leading workshops for major corporations including Hyundai and ASML.
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ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONALS CONFIRMED
Ryan Li 4P — Transatlantic Professional Go League champion
Alex Qi 3P — 2025 U18 World Youth Champion
Michael Chen 2P — 2023 North America Professional Qualifier winner
Guanyu Song 1P — Two-time Canadian Open champion
Yoonyoung Kim 8P — Korean Women’s Baduk League Champion
Inseong Hwang 8D —- One of the Premier Go Teachers of the West
Full professional roster and bios:
https://gocongress.org/professionals/
More professional announcements are expected in the coming months.
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WHAT ATTENDEES CAN EXPECT
The U.S. Go Congress is more than a tournament, it’s North America’s largest annual Go gathering.
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THE VENUE: BOSTON MARRIOTT NEWTON
The 2026 Congress will be hosted at the Boston Marriott Newton, a lakeside venue set directly along the historic Charles River greenway.
Why this location stands out:
Venue details and hotel booking:
https://gocongress.org/boston-marriott-newton/
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EXPLORE NEWTON & BOSTON
Newton, Massachusetts — settled in 1639 and located about eight miles west of Boston — offers a mix of nature, shopping, and easy transit into the city.
Nearby highlights include:
Explore the area:
https://gocongress.org/explore-the-area/
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REGISTRATION NOW OPEN
Early registration is now available.
Register here:
https://gocongress.org/register/
Full-week passes include access to Congress events and the traditional banquet.
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BOSTON, MA — The 42nd U.S. Go Congress will take place July 25–August 1, 2026, bringing together top professional talent and Go players from across North America and around the world for a full week of competition, learning, and community.
With seven confirmed professionals spanning three continents, and more announcements expected. This year’s Congress is shaping up to be an exciting one!
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
HEADLINERS
MICHAEL REDMOND 9P
The only American-born 9-dan professional, Michael Redmond is one of the most recognizable figures in the global Go community. He gained international recognition for his English-language commentary during the historic AlphaGo matches and has accumulated more than 600 professional wins. With decades of experience as a television commentator in Japan, Redmond continues to serve as a vital bridge between Eastern and Western Go traditions.
CHO YEONWOO 2P
With more than 210,000 YouTube subscribers, Cho Yeonwoo has become one of the world’s most influential Go educators. A former Korean insei, she is known for her clear, engaging teaching style and wide-reaching online presence. Her appearance on Netflix’s Devil’s Plan introduced her to audiences beyond the Go world, and she continues to run Yeonwoo’s Go Academy while leading workshops for major corporations including Hyundai and ASML.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONALS CONFIRMED
Ryan Li 4P — Transatlantic Professional Go League champion
Alex Qi 3P — 2025 U18 World Youth Champion
Michael Chen 2P — 2023 North America Professional Qualifier winner
Guanyu Song 1P — Two-time Canadian Open champion
Yoonyoung Kim 8P — Korean Women’s Baduk League Champion
Inseong Hwang 8D —- One of the Premier Go Teachers of the West
Full professional roster and bios:https://gocongress.org/professionals/
More professional announcements are expected in the coming months.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
WHAT ATTENDEES CAN EXPECT
The U.S. Go Congress is more than a tournament, it’s North America’s largest annual Go gathering.
- Participants can enjoy:
Professional simuls and game reviews
Workshops and lectures for all strength levels
The U.S. Open championship tournament
Evening social events and casual play
Vendor rooms with Go equipment and books
Youth programming and special events
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THE VENUE: BOSTON MARRIOTT NEWTON
The 2026 Congress will be hosted at the Boston Marriott Newton, a lakeside venue set directly along the historic Charles River greenway.
Why this location stands out:
- Scenic riverside setting with extensive greenspace
Six-mile Charles River path for walking, running, and biking
~15 minutes to Harvard and MIT
~20 minutes to downtown Boston
Venue details and hotel booking:https://gocongress.org/boston-marriott-newton/
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EXPLORE NEWTON & BOSTON
Newton, Massachusetts — settled in 1639 and located about eight miles west of Boston — offers a mix of nature, shopping, and easy transit into the city.
Nearby highlights include:
- Newton Arboretum
Hemlock Gorge Reservation and waterfalls
Chestnut Hill shopping area
Charles River walking and biking paths
- Faneuil Hall Marketplace
Harvard Square
Boston Public Garden and Swan Boats
Museum of Science
New England Aquarium
Museum of Fine Arts near Fenway Park
Explore the area:https://gocongress.org/explore-the-area/
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REGISTRATION NOW OPEN
Early registration is now available.
Register here:https://gocongress.org/register/
Full-week passes include access to Congress events and the traditional banquet.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━