BREAKING: Pavol Lisy is new European Champ!
Pavol Lisy 2p from Slovakia has won the European Go Championship 2018 in his finale against title holder Ilya Shikshin 2p from Russia, by two and a half points. You can find this game (and all the other Euro Championship games) as SGF files on this page.
Ilya (White) seemed somewhat at a disadvantage early on after a failed invasion of Pavol's (Black) corner. But he turned the aji of the stones left behind into a way of skillfully dividing his opponent's side position.
Pavol's group still had a way of fighting back in a ko attached to White's corner, though. Lacking enough direct ko threats, Ilya threatened to attack Black's center group while creating a moyo at the same time in exchange for Black living in the corner.
Pavol managed a successful invasion, and an exhausting endgame of more than 160 moves, he emerged victorious with his first Euro Championship title under his belt.