From: Michael Vanier BBB CALTECH EDU> Date: 1 feb 1999 Subject: Re: Beginner Question Steven, I'm a shogi player in the LA area (Pasadena) and I'd be glad to get together sometime to play, if you're interested. I recently acquired a shogi set myself from George Hodges, who sells shogi equipment (including equipment for shogi variants) by mail from England. It only took about three weeks to get here. I would recommend learning the Japanese characters and forgetting about the international pieces, although George sells them too. The kanji are really quite easy to learn and very pretty. As for books, I recommend both "Shogi for Beginners" which you mention and "The Art of Shogi" by Tony Hoskings, which can be acquired through www.amazon.co.uk. The latter book is the most detailed book on shogi I've seen by a westerner. George Hodges also sells back issues of the english magazine "Shogi" which he edited from 1976-1987; there's tons of good stuff there. As for computer programs, if you have access to a Unix system (e.g. a PC running Linux) then you can run GNU shogi, a program I've recently taken over the maintenance of. I don't use Windows so I can't judge the various programs for that platform, but I'm sure there must be some good ones. Mike > From: Steven Walters WGN NET> > > Hi All, > > I am a newcomer to Shogi. I asked some players in Little Tokyo (Los Angeles) > If they could teach me something about Shogi. They were all Japanese > speakers but spoke enough English to show me some of the basics. They were > great to me, it was really a great experience and left me wanting more. > > My questions are these... Where can I buy a Shogi Board? I would like to > get 2 sets of pieces. One with the Kanji symbols and one with the > international markings. I would like to learn the Kanji symbols, but I think > the international pieces will be easier for my 9-year old daughter and I to > get the movement down. I would like to get high quality equipment that is > affordable. > > Also, Is the program Master Shogi worth getting? I think it would be good > for me to play the computer for practice. I downloaded a couple of Shogi > computer programs and have been playing a few games. I have Shogi Variants > V1.55 and it seems pretty good. I have also ordered the book Shogi for > Beginners by John Fairbairn. > > One last question... The players at Little Tokyo Said that gold or silver > (not sure which) could not move into f4 and f6 is this a normal rule? > > Any information would be appreciated! > > Thank you, > > --Steven Walters > HeroSW WGN Net >