From: Pieter Stouten CARBON DMPC COM> Date: 21 mar 1997 Subject: Spreading shogi in the west - another anecdote (1) Probably few people know how Shogi started in Belgium. Maybe even the Belgians on this list don't know. There was this FIDE referee and chess coach who attended many international Chess tournaments. His name was Richard Verkouille. Once he met a Japanese player during such a tournament and he asked the Japanese why so few Japanese seemed to play western Chess. The Japanese answered that they have their own version of Chess, called Shogi. Intrigued, Verkouille immediately wanted to know what this game was all about that it kept Japanese from playing Chess. Verkouille fell in love with the game the moment he learnt it. He started a Shogi club, organized a Shogi tournament and the rest, as they say, is history. -- Pieter Stouten || Nothing shocks me; Computer Aided Drug Design Group || The DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Company || I am a scientist! P.O. Box 80500, Wilmington, DE 19880-0500 || Phone: +1 (302) 695 3515 || -- Fax: +1 (302) 695 9090 || Internet: stoutepf carbon dmpc com || Indiana Jones Web: http://www.halcyon.com/stouten/ ||