From: John Kenney EMBL-HEIDELBERG DE> Date: 7 may 1992 Subject: Report on the 10th annual Gent Shogi Tournament THIRD RICHARD VERKOUILLE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT 10th International Belgian Shogi Tournament. Gent, 11 and 12 April 1992. 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 the organizers Hans Secelle and Eddy Verhaeven) 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 Arend van Oosten and Stephen 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. The only 4-dan player present, Reijer Grimbergen, secured a respectable 6th place, just ahead of the best 1-kyu player Frans Roquas (both scored 4-2). 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, Nieuwelink. Greeuw finished third, also only 1 Buchholz point behind me. I did not play either them during the tournament. However, my games included a tense, exciting final round victory over Henk Haaksma who finished fifth (4-2), which denied him a share of first place. My only loss came in a hard fought second round game with a crazy opening to the the eventual fourth place finisher Hans Sellmeijer (4-2), 1-kyu. After the tournament Pieter promoted me to 2-kyu. John Kenney InterNet: Kenney EMBL-Heidelberg DE