From: John Kenney EMBL-HEIDELBERG DE> Date: 24 mar 1994 Subject: EMBL handicap shogi championship history Report on EMBL handicap shogi championships Beginning last summer we started a regular (four times a year) EMBL shogi tournament to encourage shogi play in the Heidelberg area by taking advantage of the interest at EMBL. So far, we have held three handicap shogi tournaments at EMBL in which the winner gets to hold (until the next championship) a wooden japanese shogi trophy (in honor of the great professional shogi champion, Oyama) with his or her name added to the list of champions. The winner also has the responsiblity of organizing the next tournament (which also includes lunch!) The first EMBL handicap shogi championship was held on 15 May 1993. The venue was the sun washed terrace of my house in Neckargemuend. An american style brunch with french toast and bloody maries proceeded the event. The tournament was a seven round robin event with 25 minutes/player/game and no byoyomi (sudden death) with "standard" handicaps which are listed at the end of the text. Andrea Musacchio (9-kyu) was the uncontested winner with a 5-1 score and earned the honor of holding the Oyama trophy as the Summer 1993 EMBL handicap shogi champion. The second EMBL handicap shogi championship was held on 31 Oct. 1993. The venue was at the apartment of Andrea Musacchio. A wonderful italian lunch (complete with antipasto) was severed between rounds. The tournament was a six round robin event with 25 minutes/player/game and 20 sec byoyomi. All of the games were played with "standard" handicaps. The matches were all interesting and a number of games went into byoyomi for both players. John Morrisey (12-kyu) beat the host, Andrea, and Oejar Mellefors (12-kyu) beat Rob Hooft (15-kyu) in the last round, and so a playoff game to decide the championship was set. In the playoff, eventhough John was able to gain a significant material advantage and had Oejar's rook bottled up, John under estimated the power of Oejar's bishop bearing down on his king position and in the end lost the game to Oejar's piercing counter attack. Thereby Oejar became the Autumn 1993 EMBL handicap shogi champion. The third EMBL handicap shogi championship (Winter 1993/1994) was held on 23 January 1994. The venue was the canteen at EMBL and was organized by Oejar Mellefors and included a cold lunch buffet. The tournament was a seven round robin event with 20 minutes/player/game and 10 sec byoyomi. As uaual, the games were played with "standard" handicaps. Something new for the tournament was the participation of Alexander Engelhart (6-kyu), someone not from EMBL. The tournament was exciting, with many closely contested games, in some of which both players experienced the shock of 10 second biyoyomi. Alexander, who came up from Stuttgart for the day, suffered two quick defeats, but came back strong to score four in a row to remain in contention for the title with a 4-2 record. Iain Russell (11-kyu) lost in round 6 to Alexander and so was knocked out of contention, but he ended up with a respectable 4-3 score, including victories over two previous EMBL champions. Rob Hooft, who was playing in his second EMBL championship, showed remarkable improvement, but was stymied. He lost one game in which he had a clearly won position with an entered King because of an illeagal move. In fact, the two previous champions, Oejar Mellefors and Andrea Musacchio, had 4-2 records after 6 rounds, as did John Morrissey and myself. And, so there were 5 players going into the last round tied for first place. Finally, when the dust settled in the end, John Morrissey had knocked out Andrea and Oejar had done the same to Alexander. The stage was then set for a three way play-off: myself, Oejar Mellefors and John Morrissey. As with the Autumn championship, because this was a round robin event it was decided that the champion would be determined by play-offs and not a coin toss. So a three way round robin was played, but with reduced time (10 minutes per player and 10 sec biyoyomi). I beat John Morrissey, but let slip the championship by losing to Oejar. Oejar, then with his own chance to win the championship lost to John Morrissey, getting revenge for his loss in the Autumn playoffs. This made neccessary a second round. To speed up the tournament we agreed to play with 5 min/game and 10 sec biyoyomi. The pressure and tension was apparent as was the strain of eight straight games of tournament shogi. I again met John Morrissey in the first round and pulled out another win. I then faced Oejar and won on the strength of a four general castle - breaking a string of four consecutive handicap tournament losses to Oejar and securing the championship. John Morrissey and Oejar Mellefors were awarded Japanese shogi magazines in recognition of their tournament play. The goal of increasing shogi play and interest in the area has been successful. Also, the level of play was excellent and showed a clear improvement in all players. I can strongly reccomend this informal, local handicap event be organized by other shogi clubs or groups of players (even if there are only a few participants). The proven and workable handicap system in shogi allows for players of all levels to particpate with approximately equal chances of winning, thereby encouraging everyone, especially new players, to enjoy the game. Continuing the tradition, I am now responsible for organizing the next EMBL handicap tournament for the Spring of 1994. Shogi players near Heidelberg are encouraged to contact me concerning participation in the event. This will occur in April and may correspond with the visit of Mr Ono, the 5 dan shogi professional. John Kenney (3-kyu) InterNet: "Kenney EMBL-Heidelberg DE"