From: Pieter Stouten DUPONTMERCK COM> Date: 29 mar 1998 Subject: American Shogi Federation and US Shogi Championship On 98/03/26 at 17:47 -0500, Tony Salvaggione aol com> wrote: >I was wondering about the decision making process. It is difficult because >there is no American governing body (a flaw we should be correcting?). > Yes, I think it is long overdue. I think NSR sent the rules of the "First International Amateur Shogi Tournament" (FIAST) to five people because no single body exists that they can talk to and they want to be sure they reach everybody who possibly might have a say in the matter of qualification. This is pure conjecture, though. >To have the Nationals that are being held next month in CA would make >some sense, but that tends to skew things to that side of the country? > Well, the past two years the championship was held in NY and DC, so it seems only fair it will now be held on the west coast. >I don't know if (probably in the future) having an eastern US and >western US region, each half deciding on one representative. > That makes sense. The problem we are facing now is that there is no single governing body that can decide how to allocate the berths at the FIAST. >I would figure we five would need to have some serious discussion on >this, and probably not through shogi-l? > Agreed, but there needs to be someone to pull the cart (be assured, it won't be me) otherwise we can discuss and argue till the end of time without accomplishing anything. >BTW I will be unable to get to the Nationals, and my being only shodan on a >good day would preclude my having any serious chance to do well. > Not quite. Two years ago in NY, I think there were only two Americans participating. Incidentally, if a knockout is used at the upcoming US Championship and assuming strong Japanese will dominate the event, one has a real problem deciding in a fair and honest fashion which Americans will represent the USA at the FIAST. I have not heard how the LA Shogi Club (i.e., Mark Ono) plans to resolve this issue. I share Sam Sloan's aversion to a haphazard way of doing this. On 98/03/26 at 19:30 -0500, Doug Dysart ucbeh san uc edu> wrote: >The issue of an American Shogi Federation seems very important to me, and >it should concern anyone promoting the game in the U.S. I hope to >continue working with the Int'l Shogi Popularization Society and other >regional clubs on spreading the game, but an ASF would lend much more >credibility to this. > 100% agreement here. >In the very least, details should be given months in advance. > Exactly. This is what I take real issue with: only a month before the championship, I hear it takes place and the way I find out is by means of a letter from the Nihon Shogi Renmei(!). Also, the rules of the championship should be crystal clear long in advance: potential participants should know who gets seeded (if anybody), how the two berths at the FIAST will be allocated, whether there will be preliminaries and, if so, how these preliminaries and the final rounds will be organized. When substantial prizes such as tickets to Japan can be won, one can no longer argue that "having a good time" is the main aim of the tournament. One has to establish clear rules and regulations and apply them rigorously. And only a national organization can set the rules. Pieter Stouten, SHOGI-L owner pieter.stouten dupontmerck com