Hello everyone
Although lazy to play, I really enjoy reading about Go, more precisely about the world of Go. History, cultures, ect.

Recently I was wondering about the major titles in Go, and conducted some searching on SL, but most of the information I got from there are about Japan, apparently the 7 big titles of Japan stand out a lot. So I was wondering "What about China and Korea? And the whole world?"

I only know of 2 titles which are used in both China and Korea, the first is equivalent to Japan's Tengen, and the other is... um... "National Hand"? (sorry I'm an Asian so although I can read and understand those words I don't know how Westerners pronounce it)
For the West, I know about European Go Congress and US Go Congress through the blog loveku.

So can anyone share some information about this?

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The similarity between Go and computing is the seemingly infinite number of possibilities.

I don't know about an organized overview, but try senseis.xmp.net/?ProfessionalTournaments for a list.

I have been told that international tournaments are given greater prestige than national tournaments in China and Korea, while the Japanese are more focused on their own tournaments.

For something truly nerdy, I asked what it meant that something was a "Big Title" and whether there was a corresponding category for China and Korea. viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2180

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Occupy Babel!

Thx, that has more or less satisfied my curious about China and Korea, at least I have a good starting point now.
So what about the West?

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The similarity between Go and computing is the seemingly infinite number of possibilities.

I'm not sure what you're thinking of. There are lots of local tournaments aside from the one's that you mention, as well as some large yearly tournaments like the Cotsen or the now defunct Toyota Denso Oza. I'm less aware of exactly what there is in Europe in addition to the EGC--maybe the pandanet tournaments or something?

None of them are much like the CJK tournaments.

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Occupy Babel!

Take a look at Kin's site: http://igokisen.web.fc2.com/news.html

In the U.S. there are few big important tournaments. The U.S. Open, the NAIM (both take place at the U.S. Go Congress.)

The only other "important" ones in the U.S. in the sense I think you mean are qualifiers for international tournaments like the KPMC.

In Europe I'm not sure - there's the European Championship, but I don't know if there's anything else that can be considered a title or anything like that. We'll see what the new European pro organization comes up with.

Sorry I couldn't reply quick since my juniors had theirfirst tournament match today :p

About the "big" tournament in the West, I meant any tournament that.. err.. kind of like "OMGZ I MUSTA ATTEND THIS!!!~~~" type xD
And if someone can provide a link it's even better. It's only for my curiosity but I really want to know what's going on around ^^

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The similarity between Go and computing is the seemingly infinite number of possibilities.

We can't give too many suggestions without some idea what you're near and how far you mind traveling and how often.

For me, mid-east coast of the U.S., there are a few (not very large) tournaments in northern VA every year, the Maryland Open is fairly large, the New Jersey Open as well, there are a few tournaments in North Carolina too. Then the Congress, wherever it is that year, is pretty much a "must do" if work and economics permit.

On the West Coast, I know the Cotsen Open is a big draw - I'd like to go there myself, but I can't justify the expense for one weekend.

Also there are workshops taught by pros and strong amateurs (Yilun Yang, Feng Yun, Guo Juan, Kim Myung-wan, Yuan Zhou, etc.) once in a while at various places. Those are always a good experience if you can make it.