NHN said on Wednesday it will hold the 2026 Hangame Baduk Festival (HBF) for users of its web board game "Hangame Baduk & Omok."

The event will be held in two stages: online preliminaries and an offline final. The online preliminaries will run from Oct. 27 to Nov. 9 on the PC and mobile versions of "Hangame Baduk & Omok."

Users can apply on the HBF page in the game and accumulate points by playing 19x19 promotion and relegation matches. A total of 96 players, the top 32 in each of three divisions, will advance to the final: top-tier, intermediate and beginner.

The final will be held on Nov. 28 at S-Factory Building D in Seongsu-dong, Seoul. The top-tier division will be played as a handicap-free individual tournament, while the intermediate and beginner divisions will be played as handicap Go team competitions.

Total prize money is 21 million won. The top-tier winner will receive 1.5 million won, while the winning teams in the intermediate and beginner divisions will each receive 2 million won.

A "pro simultaneous match event" will also be held the same day, allowing participants to play directly against professional players. Pros Ko Yun-seo (고윤서) and Yoon Ra-eun (윤라은) will take part, with applications accepted from Oct. 27 to Nov. 9 and 16 participants selected by lottery.

Final participants for the 19x19 tournament final and the simultaneous match event will be announced on Nov. 23.

HBF is hosted and organised by All That Mind and sponsored by NHN's "Hangame Baduk & Omok." Adult users aged 19 and older can take part.

Oh Sang-min (오상민), head of NHN's Classic Web Board Business Group, said the company organised the event to express gratitude to users who have played Hangame Baduk for a long time. He said it would prepare the event so people can enjoy it both online and offline.