The Australian Go Congress was founded by Prof. Sang-Dae Hahn in 2015.  While Go has been played in Australia for many years, with the AGA being formed in 1979.  The Congress is in its fifth year and is growing.

The organising team is comprised of:

Chairman and Sponsor – Raphael Shin, Publisher of the Hanho Korean Newspaper in Sydney, is the major sponsor and has been the Congress Chairman since the beginning. Raphael is also President of the Australian Go Association.

Finance – Max Han of Colourland has been intimately involved with the Congress since 2015. Max is the Chief Financial Officer for the Congress.

General Manager – David Mitchell has several roles in the Congress organising committee. David was first involved in the 2016 Congress, and has been instrumental in transforming it from a tournament with a few major prizes, into a major Go event that now encompasses five tournaments to suit all ages and levels with cash prizes for the top six in each tournament, Go lessons for all levels, and simultaneous games with some of world’s top professional players.

Tournament Designer and Referee – An Younggil 8P has been involved since the first Congress. He has been a driving force behind the transformation of the tournaments and has liaised with the Korean Baduk Association who support the Congress by releasing professional players to attend.

Marketing & Promotions – James Kaaden, May Wu, Neville Smythe, Xin Li.  James has been involved with the Congress since 2017, James’ ideas and enthusiasm have helped drive new features such as the inclusion of live broadcasting. May Wu has strong community links with the Chinese community, Xin Li is president of the Sydney Go Club and Neville Smythe is the Oceania Vice President of the IGF.

Volunteer coordinator – Daniel Li is chairman of the AGA University Committee and was the driving force behind Sydney University’s bid for the 2019 Ing Collegiate Event.

There are also volunteers who help make the event a success, Silvia Lozevo is leading the Academic Symposium, and Horatio Davis is organising the lightning tournament.

A group of community leaders contribute ideas and rally support for the event from their communities. These leaders include Billy Sun, Xin Lei, Erli Qiu, David He, Daniel Li, William Qian and Neville Smythe.

Support also comes from Australian Go organisations include The Australian Go Association (A.G.A.), Sydney Go Club, Sydney Korean Baduk Association and Sydney University Go Club.