The European Go Congress has been the world's biggest non-Asian Go event, an annual two-week summer gathering, since 1957, attracting up to 500 participants. Six of its first twelve meetings were in West Germany. Chosen locations have ranged from Turkey (first in 2015) to Italy to Ireland to Finland and (first in 2003) Russia. Notable exceptions are Greece, Spain, Portugal, and Norway.
From 1984 it has had an Open section in addition to the European Championship.
Winners of the European Championship usually have surnames of European origin, but that tradition was broken when Guo Juan won in 1994 (and the three following years). The only winner with a surname of British origin was Matthew Macfadyen, who won four times in the 1990s. Most frequent winner has been Jürgen Mattern, eight times winner from 1965 to 1979.
The Open section has been dominated by people with Asiatic names.
The congress rarely if ever sees a player from New Zealand.
Future locations
- 2017: Burhaniye, Turkey
- 2016: St. Petersburg, Russia
- 2015: Liberec, Czechia