Ireland defeated Denmark 3–1 last night, in the first round of the Pandanet Go European Team Championships, .

Team captain Philippe Renaut led the way on board 2, his opponent collapsing under time pressure as Philippe obliterated his moyo. On board 3, a late game capturing race swung the game against Gavin Rooney, but on board 1 Karl Irwin put Ireland back in the lead with a decisive endgame tesuji.

That left it up to John Courtney to secure the win. There were nervous moments when his opponent successfully killed one of John’s groups but the endgame all went in John’s favour and it soon became apparent that he had an unassailable lead, closing out the win by a 15 point margin.

Ireland now share the top of the table with Spain, the only other team to win their match. Our next match will be against Slovenia, on Tuesday, November 22nd.