From: Jonathan Tisdall <jonathat <at> POWERTECH <dot> NO>
Date: 1 feb 1996
Subject: Re: pop shogi

At 11:10 01.02.96 JST, you wrote:
>Jonathan Tisdall <jonathat <at> POWERTECH <dot> NO> writes:
>
>Dear Jonathan,
>
>> First, I too cannot imagine playing on a westernized set. Second, I cannot
>> see any more compelling argument to shogi's continued lack of "approval" in
>> the west than the language hurdle. If one could access the literature, shogi
>> would automatically leap in popularity.
>
>Many people seem to think so, but I do not agree. I think the problem of
>accessability is not the major problem for popularizing Shogi. I think
>the biggest problem is the fact that chess is part of the western culture.
>Every child who is interested in board games will start with chess. If
>the child gets more involved (addicted, one could say :-)), chess is
>still very appealing. Being a chess master means something in Western
>culture. Chess masters are respected.

I do not disagree - a leap is just the first part of the journey. I have
more trouble with the respect for chess masters, though. It is a pretty
fringe activity in most places. In Holland I think it is true but in the US,
say, it is far from so.

>The problem of spreading Shogi in the west is in my opinion just as
>difficult as spreading American Football in Europe, where soccer is the
>main game (or vice versa). For the first time in my life I watched the
>Super Bowl on Monday. However, while watching I missed half of it
>because I was doing something else (Shogi, washing my clothes, study
>Kanji). On the other hand, I can watch a J-League soccer game without
>missing a ball, even though Japanese soccer is a far cry from the real
>(Dutch ;-)) thing. But saying that American Football is less interesting
>than soccer would be a hard claim to justify.

I have similar feelings despite being raised on American football. Now it
seems to me unreal to have a sport that has a conference after every play.
It makes me wonder why chess finds it hard to take root there. (BTW Dutch
football is a touchy subject over here in Norway ... ;-) )

>I am convinced that Shogi is at least as interesting as chess, but we not
>only need more players, we also need more fathers to teach their sons
>Shogi instead of chess. Spreading Shogi is not a question of years, but
>a question of decades.

I am convinced it is more so ...

>Of course, the first step is to get better known. I would like to get
>a situation where it is no longer a surprise when a complete stranger
>sees me reading a Shogi book and says: "Hey, that's Shogi isn't it, I
>know that game". English publications, Shogi sets in toy shops (even
>Western sets), bigger presence on the internet, everything helps.
>
>> This protectionism theme gives me problems though. Until the font tech that
>> allowed for figurine notation, chess games could come in an infinite variety
>> of notations which could cause minor confusion, though given the very
>> limited number of pieces, this was no big hurdle. And who says that chess
>> enjoys a universal lingo? From country to country, the pieces have different
>> names, and no one has a fit  when dealing with bishops, alfils, fou,
>> laufers, etc. Why can't the pieces simply be called what the locals want to
>> call them??
>
>Good point. However, there is no doubt in my mind that a universal Shogi
>notation could help in spreading Shogi. When you have a limited number
>of non-Japanese publications, it would be nice if every non-Japanese player
>would be able to read them easily. Chess does not have this problem. Every
>chess player can get whatever he wants in his own language (well, almost
>everything). I remember how difficult I found English chess notation when
>I first encountered it. I had bought a great book with games of Mikhael
>Tal in London once, but it took me years before I started reading it
>because of the notation.

Yes -algebraic notation provided some unity, and I think that is vital, and
I understand the discussion going on here. I thought I remembered that there
was quite a bit of sympathy for the "English" shogi notation in Japan since
it handled ambiguities better. But my real point was that it seems to me
there is a lot of argument about issues that are counterproductive,
particularly nomenclature. As I said, if shogi were suddenly to equal chess
in appeal, its vocabulary would change. Trying to prevent it in advance will
hinder its hope of popularity.

JT