Published on: 2026-09-28
Source: Moscow Government – Правительства Москвы –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
A Moscow schoolboy, Grigory Feoktistov, a student of the Moscow Palace of Pioneers on the Vorobyovy Hills, took first place among boys under 16 at the XIV China Ambassador’s Cup in Weiqi. This is an annual tournament for the ancient Chinese strategic board game, also called Go or Paduk. More than 400 players from 45 regions of Russia participated. Among them were 30 students of the children’s Go club from the Palace of Pioneers. This was reported by the press service of the capital Department of Education and Science.
Timur Sankin took second place in the overall tournament standings. Daniil Sidorov was first among boys under 12 years old, and Artur Sankin was second among boys under nine years old. Lev Rybin took third place in the under-12 category, and Ulyana Arsentyeva took third place among girls under nine years old. In addition, Savva Mezin — a graduate of the Palace of Pioneers Go club, a Russian sports master, the current Moscow Go champion, and a fifth dan master — participated in the competition. He became the winner of the Chinese Ambassador’s Cup in Weiqi.
“The tournament left me with the brightest impressions! In every game, I tried to give my maximum effort — and I am very happy that I managed to take first place. I believe there should be as many such tournaments as possible: they provide a great opportunity for both young and experienced players to develop their abilities and hone their skills. It’s especially valuable when the competitions take place on such a large scale,” said Grigory Feoktistov.
For guests and competition participants, workshops on Go, traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy were organized, and a tea ceremony was held.
The China Ambassador’s Cup in Russia for Weiqi is one of the significant events in the field of mind sports in Russia. The competition was held for the first time in 1997. Since 2018, it has been held annually. The tournament was organized by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Russian Federation and the Moscow Go Federation with the support of the capital Department of Sports and of the Russian Federation.
“The Go Children’s Club of the Moscow Palace of Pioneers is the largest in the capital and at the same time the most successful within the Russian system of additional education. It has been operating since 2009. The athletes regularly become winners and prize-winners of the stages of the Moscow Children’s Go Cup, have become champions of Russian Go championships more than 10 times, as well as in international tournaments,” noted the press service of the Moscow Department of Education and Science.
In June 2026, Moscow schoolchildren won two gold and two silver medals in the finals of the tournament at the Chinese Consul General’s Cup in Kazan. Since the founding of the Go club at the Palace of Pioneers, nearly 1,800 people have graduated from it. This year, more than 220 people are attending classes.
More about Moscow education — in official channel in the “Max” messenger.
Holding intellectual events for schoolchildren promotes the development of children’s talents and the formation of skills that will be useful to them in their future profession, and corresponds to the objectives of the projects “Professionalism” and “All the Best for Children” of the national project “Youth and Children”. More details about Russia’s national projects and the capital’s contribution can be found at special page.
Find out how the capital has changed over the past years, what initiatives aimed at making city residents’ lives even more comfortable are currently being implemented, and what awaits Moscow and its inhabitants in the near future in the large-scale special project on the portal mos.ru, dedicated to the development of key sectors of Moscow. Among them are transport, industry, healthcare, education, sports, and construction.
On the project page “Education” it tells about how educational institutions are transformed during reconstruction under the program “My School” and how the upgrade affects the quality of education. The re-equipment of colleges allows students to acquire practical skills during their studies and obtain professions in demand in the labor market.
Stay promptly informed about the main news on the official Moscow city channels in messengers “Max” and “Telegram”.
Please note; This information is raw content obtained directly from the information source. It represents an accurate account of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.