From: Roger Barnes <rogerd <at> PAPALBULL <dot> HI-NET <dot> CO <dot> UK>
Date: 22 jun 1999
Subject: Re: Promoting shogi

Point c is the most relevant - a fast and furious finish. Plus the fact that
you are less likely to be beatn by people you don't like (or can beat
them)...


----- Original Message -----
From: 'Ben Bednarz' <BenFB <at> AOL <dot> COM>
To: <SHOGI-L <at> TECHUNIX <dot> TECHNION <dot> AC <dot> IL>
Sent: Friday, June 18, 1999 8:42 PM
Subject: Re: Promoting shogi


> Here are two problems with attracting chess players to shogi:
>
> 1. Chess players view shogi as a "variant" on chess, much like Siamese,
> Blitzkrieg, Blindfold, and so on.  As such, most chess players will take
> shogi as a cute but inferior diversion from "real chess."
> 2. Human tendency is that once you work at something for a long time, it's
> hard to accept being a begninner again in a new activity.  I've met any
> number of adult skiers who won't take up snowboarding because they've been
> "skiing for 30 years."  The same is true for long-time chess players.
>
> I don't have a sure answer for these problems, but I do have some ideas:
>
> a. Emphasize the history of shogi.  It's important to put shogi on an
equal
> footing with chess from a historical perspective.
> b. Make clear the extent of shogi in Japan.  If you talk about shogi
schools,
> shogi professionals, 30 million players in Japan, etc., that will help
make
> clear that shogi is more than "fairy chess."
> c. Emphasize the advantage of shogi relative to chess.  In my mind, these
> are: less opening memorization (unless you're a pro), very infrequent
draws,
> less significant advantage for being the first player, an exciting finish
to
> every game, effective handicap system.
> d. Look for players willing to learn something new.  This might mean
mostly
> younger players, but it doesn't need to be so.  I think you could find a
good
> audience in high schools, since that is when many chess players just start
to
> become serious about chess.
> e. Provide playing opportunities that provoke a chess player's ego.  One
> possibility is playing at very large odds, such as eight piece handicap,
> possibly with a reward for winning chess players.
> f. The possibility of a dual chess/shogi tournament, such as mentioned in
my
> earlier message, is enticing, although I've never tried it.
>
> By the way, I think one problem we have is that the Japanese don't know
how
> to promote shogi in the US.  The cultural traditions are so different here
> that I don't think they understand how to generate interest here.
>
> Ben
>
>
> In a message dated 6/17/99 9:42:43 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
joshxles <at> ONE <dot> NET
> writes:
>
> <<        Ben, I'm really glad to read that on Shogi-L!  The members of
the
>          Ohio Shogi Club are, as a whole, deeply involved with three of
the
>          four major chess clubs in Cincinnati.  Since we're around chess
>          players so often, we've put a lot of thought into getting them
>          interested in learning shogi and becoming shogi players too.
>          They're our primary market, and we try to familiarize them with
>          shogi by continually having shogi boards out and enjoying our
>          games.  We're by far the loudest bunch in any room full of chess
>          players.
>
>          We've also tried to make the game seem approachable and easy
>          for a chess player to learn by using international sets and
>          emphasizing the similarity between shogi and bughouse (four-
>          player chess played on two boards with drops).  In addition, Doug
>          Dysart made a shogi set with cylindrical pieces proportioned like
>          chess pieces, and several of our members can testify that shogi
>          has helped them play better chess.
>
>          The truth is that getting chess players to learn shogi and play
>          more than a few games has been a slow process.  All we can
>          do is demonstrate how much we love it -- whether a new player
>          likes it enough to stick with it is always a question of
individual
>          temperament.    We're not going anywhere, though, so since
>          we're on the Cincinnati chess scene to stay, I'd like to hear
>          other subscribers' positive or negative experiences with
>          teaching shogi to chess players.  Maybe we can learn some
>          other means of presentation that also work well at chess clubs.
>          As far as the question of promoting shogi at clubs vs. on the
>          internet, I believe that the more people learn about shogi by
>          any means, the better.
>
>          Josh Krekeler
>          Ohio Shogi Club
>
>   >>
>