From: John Kenney EMBL-HEIDELBERG DE> Date: 17 apr 1992 Subject: Gent Tournament - a personal report Shogi fans, A personal point-of-view report on the 10th Gent Shogi Tournament. This was my first visit to Belgium, and I found Gent a pleasant venue for the tournament. The tournament went well (special thanks to Hans Secelle and the other organizers) and the variety of good Belgium beer was a welcome bonus to be enjoyed between rounds! The Dan group consisted of 20 participants (ranging from 1-Kyu to 4-Dan) and the Kyu group had 18 (mostly 5 to 2-Kyu). Pieter Stouten and I entered in the Dan and Kyu groups respectively. Even though we were the only players from Germany, we made a respectable showing for Shogi Deutschland. Pieter stood alone at the top of the Dan group after 5 rounds with 5 victories without a loss - including wins over two other 3-Dan players (one of them an incredible come-from-behind win). However, he was denied the clear championship by the present European Champion, Stephen Lamb, to whom he lost the last game. This left Pieter tied with A. Van Oosten and S. Lamb for first place, each with 5-1 records. Ironically, on the tie-break, Pieter finished second behind the former European Champion, Van Oosten - whom Pieter had already beaten in this tournament - and ahead of Lamb in third place. This can happen because the tie-break is first decided on Buchhloz points (sum of opponent's scores), not on head-to-head games I also ended up in a three way tie for first place in the Kyu group (with a 5-1 record). In the tie-break I came in second - only 1 Buchholz point behind first place. My games included a victory over Greeuw, who finished 3rd (5-1) - only 1 Buchholz point behind me - and my only loss to the 4th place 1-Kyu, Hans Sellmeijer (4-2). I did not play the first place finisher, Nieuwelink(5-1). After the tournament Pieter promoted me to 2-Kyu. John. (Kenney EMBL-Heidelberg DE)