From: Pieter Stouten EU PNU COM> Date: 26 apr 1999 Subject: 1999 U.S. Shogi Championship results [Forwarded on behalf of George Fernandez, USSF president /PFWS] The 1999 U.S. Shogi Championship Story by George Fernandez The 1999 U.S Shogi Championship, held in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, on April 10-11, was one full of upsets and surprises. The top four seeds were all eliminated early on in the competition, which left the door wide open for any of a number of 4Dans to go "all the way" in an event normally dominated by 5Dans. New York Shogi Club's Yoshihisa Suzuki 4Dan did just that, compiling an impressive 7-2 overall record, including an important win in the quarterfinals over America's top-rated Takushi Asada, LA's 14 year-old 5Dan, who last year was a member of the Shorekai [aspiring professionals league] in Japan. Mr. Akio Ishikawa, a Professional 6Dan from Japan, was in attendance at this the fourth Annual shogi event that attracted 35 amateur participants from seven states. During the tournament he played 28 teaching games, including an exciting Bishop handicap [Kaku-ochi] exhibition game, which he won, against young Takushi Asada. This was Mr. Ishikawa's 6th visit to the U.S. His trip continued on to Washington D.C. and New York where he attended shogi club meetings and did some sightseeing as well. Mr. Suzuki was only the eleventh seed, but recently his shogi condition has been excellent and none of his NY teammates were surprised to see him win. In his semifinal game against me he hung in there, in a tricky but lost endgame, until I made a mistake in byoyomi, and bounced back to win. The runner-up was Takushi's younger brother Tetsuaki Asada 4Dan who is only 11! He too was in the Shorekai and is a "lightning fast" player with a ferocious attacking style. The Asada brothers are a great and exciting addition to the American shogi scene! Chicago Shogi Club's top-ranked Mr. Tsuruoka 4Dan played very solidly throughout both days and finished in third place. Yours truly finished fourth and received the Top 4Dan prize, not bad considering I've been playing horribly lately! LA Shogi Club's Mr. Masatoshi Koike compiled an excellent 6-2 record and was the Top 3Dan. Last year's 2nd place finisher and second seeded Larry Kaufman 5Dan, another tournament favorite, was upset by DC Shogi Club teammate Mr. Jiro Yoshinari 4Dan in the round of sixteeen. Robbie Uechi, a strong 4Dan from Wasington State, and a former shogi student of Mr. Aono 9Dan in Japan, lost a close game to NY's Fassil Bekele who will soon be promoted to 3Dan. Larry's sixteen-year-old son Ray Kaufman, a Maryland Shodan, won the Top 2Dan trophy. His fine six-win performance included a win over Mr. Ishikawa, pro 6Dan, at only Rook and Lance handicap [Hissha-Kyo-Ochi]. Ray, who has been improving steadily at shogi, is also an avid expert rated chess player. Top Shodan was Michael Lamb, another chessplayer from Maryland, who just recently got back into shogi. NY's Mr. Inoue was 3rd in the "B" group and also received the 2nd Shodan Trophy. Top Kyu was Chicago's Mr. Komatsu and the 2nd Kyu prize went to Mr. George Marino, who was very kind and helpful with various organizational tasks. The LA Shogi Club emerged victorious in the shortened Team Competition. They benefitted from a tiebreak win over the DC Shogi Club by means of a Jan-Ken-Pon (paper, scissors, and stone) match! For no good reason, we elected to play six-board matches instead of the more common five boards and sure enough both matches (NY vs. Midwest too) ended in 3-3 tied scores! In the Final match between LA and NY, however, it was not so close, LA rolled over us by a score of 4-0 and I was dead lost in my game as well, which was unfinished. Individuals eliminated from the "A" group on Saturday were entered into the "B" group elimination tournament. Chicago's Mr. Motohiko Sato was the clear winner here. He demonstrated that perhaps he was significantly underrated at the start of this handicap tournament. Mr. Nakano who, at 2Kyu, was also somewhat underrated finished in second place. Mr. Fassil Bekele is being recommended as the U.S. representative to next year's 13th Amateur Ryu-O tournnament to be held in Japan. It is only once in every four years that the U.S. gets to send a player to this premiere shogi event which draws a field of top amateur players from throughout Japan. Fassil, 39, is Ethiopian born and has been very active in the American shogi scene for eight years now. He is truly a likeable person and a shogi lover. Over the last couple of years, in particular, he has greatly improved his shogi skills. This wonderful opportunity should spur his game to even greater heights! The Chicago members were great hosts, in particular Mr. Tsuruoka and Mr. Nagao spent a lot of time and effort in preparation, to insure the success of the event. On Saturday, April 10, after the shogi activities, the USSF (United States Shogi Federation) held it's first annual Board of Directors meeting. Many pending issues were resolved, ratified and/ or approved. Now that the filing of the Certificate of Incorporation of United States Shogi Federation, Inc. was accepted by the Department of State of the State of New York on April 8, 1999, the new organization is officially in existence. Next year, the 2000 U.S. Shogi Championship & 5th U.S. Amateur Ryu-O tournament will be held in New York City. Beginning next year, the USSF will officially be the primary organizer of this National event. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1999 U.S. Shogi Championship Hoffman Estates, Illinois, 10-11, April, 1999 The Elimination tournaments determined the overall winners of the "A" [U.S. Champ.] and "B" groups. All other class prizes were awarded on the basis of overall performance in a variety of events, which included: Qualifying round-robins; "1-1 playoffs"; Elimination tournaments; Team Competition; Handicap side games; And games against the visiting professional player. The chart below lists all games played by each player. # Name State Rank Rating Qualify [Elim.] Team/ Hdcp./ or vs. Pro Score 1.Asada, Ta. CA 5D 2355 W3,W22 [W10, L11] L2,W11x,L36 B 4-3(5) 2.Kaufman, L. MD 5D 2341 W21,W12 [L8] W1,W24 4p,L36*B 4-2(4) 3.Koyama, M. MD 4D 2235 W17,L1,W16 [L12] W7,L36*B 3-3(3) 4.Uechi, R. WA 4D 2235 L8,W18,W25 [L15] W25,W17 R,W36*B 5-2(5) 5.Tsuruoka, Y. IL 4D 2223 W11,W6 [W6,W8,L7,W9] L11 5-2(8) 6.Ono, M. CA 4D 2206 W23,L5,L19 [L5] L8,W14x,L36*R 2-5(2) 7.Asada, Te. CA 4D 2194 L14,W27,W9[W19,W15,W5,L11]L3,W10x,L20RL 6-4(9) 8.Yoshinari, J. VA 4D 2190 W15,W4 [W2,L5] W6 4-1(5) 9.Fernandez, G. NY 4D 2189 L14,W27,L7 [W13,W12,L11,L5] W19 4-4(6) 10.Sato, Y. NY 4D 2184 W20,W24 [L1] W30,L7x,W36*B 4-2(4) 11.Suzuki, Y. NY 4D 2147 W23,L5,W22 [W16,W1,W9,W7] W5,L1x 7-2(11) 12.Koike, M. CA 4D(3D) 2014 L2,W19,W15 [W3,L9] W23,W15x,W36*R 6-2(7) 13.Ito, M. CA 3D 2007 W25,W34 [L9] W20 3-1(3) 14.Ogihara, S. NY 4D(3D) 1948 W9,W7 [] L22,L6x 2-2(2) 15.Bekele, F. NY 2D 1910 L8,W18,L12 [W4,L7] L12x,L36*R 2-5(3) 16.Hayashi, M. NY 4D(3D) 1848 L25,W34,L3 [L11] L34 1-4(1) 17.Masui, S. NY 2D 1817 L3,L22[W26RL,W25R,L22B,L21B]L4 R,L36*2p 2-6(2) 18.Hanazawa, T. IL 1D 1673 L15,L4 [W32 4p,L21s] W21 2-3(2) 19.Dysart, D. OH 1D 1673 W21,L12,W6 [L7] L9,D36*2p 2-3-1(2.5) 20.Kaufman, R. MD 1D 1629 L7,W29,W24[W24L,L27B]L13,W33s,W7RL, W36*RL 6-3(6) 21.Inoue, H. NY 1D 1610 L2,L19[W29R,W18s,L27B,W17B]L18 3-4(3) 22.Sato, M. * IL 1D 1600 W17,L1,L11[W28B,W33L,W17B,W27B]W14, L36*2p 6-3(6) 23.Wachi, K. VA 1D 1498 L11,L6[L27L]L12,W24,L27,L36*2p 1-6(1) 24.Marino, G. IL 1K 1493 L10,W29,L20[L20L]L28,L2 4p,L23,L&W36*2p 2-7(2) 25.Lamb, M. MD 1D 1446 W16,L13,L4[W35R,L17R]L4,W29L,L&W36*2p 4-5(4) 26.Nagao, T. IL 2K 1358 [L17RL] 0-1(0) 27.Nakano, J. * IL 2K 1350 L9,L7[W23L,W20B,W21B,L22B]W23,L&L36*2p 4-5(4) 28.Hess, B. * OH 2K 1350 L32,L35 [L22B]W24,L&L36*4p 1-5(1) 29.Krekeler, J. OH 2K 1323 L24,L20 [L21R]L25L,L&L36*4p 0-6(0) 30.Kugai, S. * IL 5K 1050 W33 []L10 1-1(1) 31.Stryker, J. IL 6K 1040 W32,L35[L33 4p]L36*4p 1-3(1) 32.Asada, Y. * CA 6K 950 L31,W28 [L18 4p]L36*4p 1-3(1) 33.Sloan, S. NY 2D 1739 L30[W31 4p,L22L]L20s,L&W36*4p 2-4(2) 34.Omori JA 3D 2003 L16,L13[]W16 1-2(1) 35.Komatsu,K. * IL 5K 1050 W31,W28[L25R]L36*4p 2-2(2) 36.Ishikawa, A. JA Pro 6Dan W1B,W2B,W3B,L4B,W6R,L10B,L12R,W15R,W17 2p,D19 2p, L20RL, W22 2p, W23 2p WL24 2p,WL25 2p,WW27 2p,WW28 4p,WW29 4p,W31 4p,W32 4p,WL33 4p, W35 4p Score: 20 Wins - 7 Losses - 1Draw Key: W= Win; L= Loss (if before a player's number) OR Lance[KYO] (if after a player's number); D= Draw; s= Sente[1st move]; B= Bishop[KAKU]; R= Rook[HISSHA]; RL= Rook+Lance[HISSHA+KYO]; 2p= 2 Pieces[NI-MAI]; 4p= 4 Pieces[YON-MAI]; []= Game played in the "A" or "B" Elimination tournaments; *= Simultaneous game played against professional player OR Provisional Rating/ Rank (if listed near the player's name); JA= Japan; x= Unratable game due to short and unofficial time control; (3D)= Player was eligible for 3Dan prize; ()= Adjusted Score (Games won in the "A" Elim. counted TWO points). Here are the post-tournament ratings: Ishikawa 2680, Ta. Asada 2341, L. Kaufman 2337, Koyama 2219, Uechi 2229, Tsuruoka 2246, Ono 2150, Te. Asada 2168, Yoshinari 2224, Fernandez 2153, Y. Sato 2196, Y. Suzuki 2207, Koike 2057, Ito 2016, Ogihara 1984, Bekele 1919, Hayasi 1828, Masui 1797, Hanazawa 1675, Dysart 1709, R. Kaufman 1721, H. Inoue 1628, M. Sato 2142, Wachi 1499, Marino 1459, Lamb 1516, Nagao 1345, Nakano 1740, Hess 1281, Krekeler 1277, Kugai 1112, Stryker 1022, Y. Asada 953, Sloan 1716, Omori 1981, Komatsu 1107. Prizes Awarded: 1st Place: Suzuki, Y. (NY) U.S. Champion & U.S. Amateur Ryu-O 2nd Place: Asada, Te. (CA) 3rd Place: Tsuruoka, Y. (IL) Top 4Dan: Fernandez, G. (NY) Top 3Dan: Koike, M. (CA) Top 2Dan: Kaufman, R. (MD) Top Shodan: Lamb, M. (MD) 2nd Shodan: Inoue, H. (NY) Top Kyu: Komatsu, K. (IL) 2nd Kyu: Marino, G. (IL) 1st Place "B" Sato, M. (IL) 2nd Place "B" Nakano, J. (IL) 3rd Place "B" Inoue, H. (NY) Team Competition Winner: LA Shogi Club ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1999 U.S. Shogi Championship & 4th U.S. Amateur Ryu-O Tournament "A" Elimination Tournament ---------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Kaufman, L. (MD) 5Dan Quaterfinals 1) Yoshinari, J. 4Dan 2) Yoshinari, J. (VA)4Dan Semifinals 1) Tsuruoka, Y. 4Dan 3) Tsuruoka, Y. (IL) 4Dan 2) Tsuruoka, Y. 4Dan 4) Ohno, M. (CA) 4Dan 5) Asada, Te. (CA) 4Dan 3) Asada, Te. 4Dan 6) Dysart, D. (OH) Shodan 2) Asada, Te. 4Dan 7) Bekele, F. (NY) 2Dan 4) Bekele, F. 2Dan 8) Uechi, R. (WA) 4Dan 9) Koyama, M. (MD) 4Dan Quarterfinals 5) Koike, M. 4Dan 10) Koike, M. (CA) 4Dan Semifinals 3) Fernandez, G. 4Dan 11) Fernandez,G.(NY) 4Dan 6) Fernandez, G. 4Dan 12) Ito, M. (CA) 3Dan 13) Suzuki, Y. (NY) 4Dan 7) Suzuki, Y. 4Dan 14) Hayashi, M. (NY) 4Dan 4) Suzuki, Y. 4Dan 15) Sato, Y. (NY) 4Dan 8) Asada, Ta. 5Dan 16) Asada, Ta. (CA) 5Dan -------------------------------------- "A" Semifinals "A" Finals -------------------------------------- 1) Tsuruoka, Y. 4Dan Asada, Te. 4Dan 2) Asada, Te. 4Dan 1st Place: Suzuki, Y. (NY) 4Dan 3) Fernandez, G. 4Dan Suzuki, Y. 4Dan 4) Suzuki, Y. 4Dan 3rd Place game: Tsuruoka, Y. 4Dan 3rd Place: Tsuruoka, Y. (IL) 4Dan Fernandez, G. 4Dan -------------------------------------- 1999 U.S. Shogi Championship "B" Group -------------------------------------- 1) Kaufman, R. (MD) [-L] Shodan 1) Kaufman, R. [-B] Shodan 2) Marino, G. (IL) [+L] 1Kyu Semifinals 1) Nakano, J. [+B] 2Kyu 3) Wachi, K. (VA) [-L] Shodan 2) Nakano, J. [+B] 2Kyu 4) Nakano, J. (IL) [+L] 2Kyu 5) Asada, Y. (CA) [+4p] 6Kyu 3) Hanazawa, T. [-s] Shodan 6) Hanazawa, T. (IL) [-4p] Shodan 2) Inoue, H. [-B] Shodan 7) Inoue, H. (NY) [-R] Shodan 4) Inoue, H. [+s] Shodan 8) Krekeler, J. (OH) [+R] 2Kyu 9) Sato, M. (IL) [+B] Shodan 5) Sato, M. [+L] Shodan 10) Hess, B. (OH) [-B] 2Kyu Semifinal 3) Sato, M. [+B] Shodan 11) Stryker, J. (IL) [+4p] 6Kyu 6) Sloan, S. [-L] 2Dan 12) Sloan, S. (NY) [-4p] 2Dan 13) Komatsu, K. (IL) [+R] 5Kyu 7) Lamb, M. [+R] Shodan 14) Lamb, M. (MD) [-R] Shodan 4) Masui, S. [-B] 2Dan 15) Masui, S. (NY) [-RL] 2Dan 8) Masui, S. [-R] 2Dan 16) Nagao, T. (IL) [+RL] 2Kyu -------------------------------------- "B" Semifinals "B" Finals -------------------------------------- 1) Nakano, J. 2Kyu [+B] Nakano, J. 2Kyu [+B] 2) Inoue, H. Shodan [-B] 1st Place: Sato, M. (IL) Shodan 3) Sato, M. Shodan [+B] Sato, M. Shodan [-B] 4) Masui, S. 2Dan [-B] 3rd Place game: Inoue, H. Shodan [+B] 3rd Place: Inoue, H. (NY) Shodan Masui, S. 2Dan [-B] --------------------------------- 1999 U.S. Shogi Team Championship --------------------------------- Team Result/Score FINALS Result Score DC Shogi Club L 3-3 LA Shogi Club W 4-0 LA Shogi Club W 3-3 Midwest Shogi Club L 3-3 New York Shogi Club L 0-4 New York Shogi Club W 3-3 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Exhibition Match, Pro. vs. Amateur played at Bishop handicap [KAKU-OCHI] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Akio Ishikawa, Pro 6Dan, beat Mr. Takushi Asada, Ama 5Dan. George I. Fernandez President United States Shogi Federation 28-30 34th Street, Apt.#6-O Long Island City, NY 11103 Home Telephone:(718)956-5382 Pager:1(800)Sky-Page, Pin#1149515 E-Mail:g.fernandez mindspring com