From: tiger22 <at> IX <dot> NETCOM <dot> COM
Date: 14 jun 1999
Subject: Promoting shogi

>If I could choose, I would pursue three things
>(in order of increasing difficulty): promoting shogi across many communities
>from coast to coast; luring more chess players to shogi; finding a talented
>American who could seriouly challenge the Japanese on some level, thus
>galvanizing American interest.  Then again, given the difficulty that chess
>has in promoting itself in this country, perhaps we should concede defeat and
>take up football.

If I could choose three things to pursue to promote shogi anywhere it would be internet, internet, internet.
Building interest in shogi one community club at a time sounds to me a hopeless and useless task. The easiest way to lure chessplayers to
shogi is to talk to them about it on the internet.  When I log on to play chess at ICC, my handle is playshogi.  Including shogi in your
handle is the ideal way to advertise shogi.  I also make references to  shogi web sites in my finger notes. As far as "finding" an American to
challenge the shogi professionals, it'll never happen unless it's a computer program.  After all, an Amercian became the top sumo wrestler and
that did not galvanize significant American interest in that sport.