From: Reijer Grimbergen ETL GO JP> Date: 31 jan 1996 Subject: Re: game analysis and annotation Richard Jernigan MICROSOFT COM> writes: > As a non-Japanese-speaker, I find I am limited to a very small subset > of Shogi material available around the world. Language has apparently > been quite a deterrent to Shogi's popularity outside of Japan; its popular > literature and commentaries, board annotation, and (of course) its > playing pieces all give it an extremely high learning curve for anyone > who isn't used to discerning the differences in Japanese characters, > and make it difficult for non-Japanese-speakers to follow the game's > popular contestants, as they would be able to follow Western chess > games played through FIDE. But there is a strong urge--I'm sure it's been > evident on this list for quite a while--to keep Shogi as-is: how dare anyone > suggest Staunton-style pieces for the board, or switching the official > board notation to a lower-left -centric orientation? Why is this such a > religious issue--after which suggestion did the game stop being > Shogi, and start being something less enjoyable? Is it fear of > wounding the pride of the Japanese, in making the game less > friendly to its creators? Or is there a camaraderie between Shogi > players outside of Japan, the disruption of which by a mass influx > of suddenly-able-to-play-Shogi western chessites would cause > the existing players to enjoy the game less? OK, I just had a bad soccer practice, so I am in a bad mood. So let me break a promise to myself and get involved in this issue. The suggestion of using western style Shogi pieces is the same as suggesting to chess players to use flat pieces with the first letter and the movement of the piece on it. After all, a pawn is not really recognizable as a pawn, now is it? Let's face it, many different types of chess pieces have been designed and only the Staunton pieces are acceptable for tournament play. The same goes for Shogi pieces. Only the flat pieces with Kanji are acceptable for tournament play. What anybody does is the privacy of his or her home is his or her's own business. If beginner's want to use a Western style set, so be it. But once they can play a game I think they should change to the classic pieces. I could get carried away here and start a long talk about the beauty of Kanji, but let's leave it at that. One final thing, I detest your suggestion that this is some kind of plot to keep Shogi from spreading in the world. Don't make a fool of yourself by making such ridiculous statements. The same goes for humouring the Japanese, that also has nothing to do with it. Reijer P.S.: Yes, you touched a nerve. P.P.S.: I solemnly vow NEVER to play a Shogi game with Western style pieces (and hope to die). P.P.S.: OK, this could be considered a mild flame, so I am ready to receive... -- Dr. Reijer Grimbergen Electrotechnical Laboratory Palcious Tsukuba 302 1-1-4 Umezono 1-24-8 Ninomiya Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki-ken Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki-ken 305 JAPAN 305 JAPAN E-mail: grimberg etl go jp Tel: 0298-59-1606 WWW: http://www.etl.go.jp:8080/etl/suiron/~grimberg Tel: +81-(0)298-54-5080 extension: 67431 Fax: +81-(0)298-58-5918