From: Jeff Okamoto <okamoto <at> XFILES <dot> INTERCON <dot> HP <dot> COM>
Date: 26 apr 1999
Subject: Re: Championships? titles?

> I do not think professional Shog players have a choice. Except for illness,
> they are supposed to play in all tournaments supported by the Nihon Shogi
> Renmei (the Japanese Shogi Federation). I have never heard of a player
> refusing to enter a tournament.

Do you have any idea what the schedule of a pro player is?  From your
translations of the Shuukan, it appears that for the finals of tournaments,
the games occur once a week.  Are the earlier rounds also played once per
week?  Are the various tournaments staggered throughout the year, or do
they tend to clump at times?

Thanks for the info,
Jeff