NHN announced that it is holding the 2026 Hangame Baduk Festival (HBF) for players of Hangame Baduk & Omok. The total prize pool is 21 million won, with online qualifiers beginning on the 27th.
HBF is a customer appreciation event hosted and organized by All That Mind and sponsored by NHN Hangame Baduk & Omok. Targeted at adult players aged 19 and older, the event features a '19-Line Tournament' and a 'Pro Simultaneous Exhibition Event.' The offline main event will be held on November 28 at Building D of S-Factory in Seongsu-dong, Seoul.
The '19-Line Tournament' is divided into three divisions based on skill level: Expert, Intermediate, and Beginner. The top 32 players from each division during online qualifiers—a total of 96 participants—will advance to the offline main event. The tournament format features even games for individual play in the Expert division, and handicap games for team play in the Intermediate and Beginner divisions. First-place prize money is 1.5 million won for the individual Expert winner, and 2 million won each for the winning teams in the Intermediate and Beginner divisions.
The qualifying period runs for two weeks from the 27th to November 9. Players can apply via the in-game HBF page on PC or mobile Hangame Baduk & Omok and earn HBF points by playing 19-line rank-up/rank-down matches.
Professional Go players Go Yoon-seo and Yoon Ra-eun will face off against players during the 'Pro Simultaneous Exhibition Event' held on the day of the main event. Those interested can apply under the 'Simultaneous Exhibition Event' tab on the in-game HBF page during the same qualifying period. Sixteen participants will be selected via lottery from among applicants, and final confirmation notices will be sent on November 23 to both main tournament qualifiers and simultaneous exhibition participants.
Sang-min Oh, Head of the Classic Web-board Business Group at NHN, stated, “HBF is a gift prepared with heartfelt appreciation for players who have supported Hangame Baduk over many years. We aim to create a festival that everyone who loves Go—from those who have been with us since 1999 to new enthusiasts—can thoroughly enjoy both online and offline.”
Detailed schedules and entry instructions will be available on the HBF page within Hangame Baduk & Omok starting on the 27th.
