From: "George I. Fernandez" <g.fernandez <at> MINDSPRING <dot> COM>
Date: 17 may 1999
Subject: Re: Problems in the US Shogi Championship

At 04:54 PM 5/10/99 -0400, you wrote:
Dear Sam,
It is not willingly that I embark in the tedious process of answering your
many allegations and legitimate complaints, most, of which I've already
discussed privately at some length with you. Some members here in NY felt
it necessary to provide you with answers and information so that other
Shogi-L subscribers would have a chance to hear both sides of the story.
Shogi-L, in my opinion, is not a good forum to discuss the incidents or
problems of a particular shogi organization [National or Regional] in any
great length, as it is not considerate to the other subscribers.
Firstly, let me say that the 1999 U.S. Shogi Championship was not run
entirely under the auspices of the newly formed U.S. Shogi Federation
(USSF), as it will be from next year onward. Chicago Shogi Club organizers
or a combination of the two organizations determined many areas of the
tournament preparations, format, and rules. It was the first National
tournament held there and many of the organizers had never before
participated in such an event in the U.S.
As President of the USSF I certainly did not want to be overbearing in my
demands of the Chicago Shogi Club organizers and truly feel that they did
an excellent job for the most part.
I will now address the various issues from your letter dated 04:54 PM
5/10/99 -0400. Readers wanting to see Sam's complete posting please find it
in the Shogi-L archives using this date and time.

>US Shogi Championship was held in Hoffman Estates, Illinois on April 10-11,
>1999. The complete results of the event have been reported by George
>Fernandez.
>
>Everyone needs to express appreciation for all the work and effort which
>went into this event. It should be noted that Larry Kaufman has made a
>great contribution to the advancement of shogi by his development of a
>rating system based approximately on the chess rating system and by
>developing a handicap system which equalizes the chances of the players so
>that under his handicap system the weaker player has about a 50% chance to
>win, whereas under the traditional system the higher ranked player wins
>about 95% of the games.
>
>However, with all due respect to the organizers, there were serious
>problems at the US Shogi Championship which I think ought to be addressed.
>
>First was the location, which was at a golf course in a rural area, 30
>miles northwest of Chicago, where absolutely no public transportation was
>available. The nearest bus stop was 15 miles away.

Chicago is a big city and quite spread out as is LA. The tournament
location didn't seem that far out of the way to me. Keep in mind that
O'Hare airport itself is also NW of the city. Many of the Chicago members
wanted to hold the event in this part of town (NW of the city) because it
was more convenient for them. I was not about to conduct a poll of their
membership. Chicago organizers were entrusted with the responsibility of
finding a suitable venue for the event.
Additionally, the original plan was for us to stay at a Motel very near
O'Hare airport (and Yaohan foodstore) and be shuttled back and forth to the
playing site (about 15 miles away) by the local members each day.
As it turned out I made reservations for the whole visiting group (13 or 14
rooms) at a motel very near the playing site (less than 1 mile away)
instead, after some research. The motel was extremely reasonable (less than
$30 per person per night), clean and safe. I didn't want to burden and rely
on the Chicago members too much and was also concerned about members
running late in the morning and holding up other members' departure. There
were convenient stores and restaurants open nearby the motel, some were
even open 24 hours a day.

>Even some of the local Chicago players complained about this. Most of the
>players arrived in group, such as the New York group, the Los Angeles Group
>and the DC group. One group paid $85 to rent a van from the airport to the
>playing site. They seemed to feel that there was no problem.

I didn't hear of any complaints by Chicago members. The groups had no
problems getting to the motel and I made every effort to coordinate
individuals from different clubs, arriving at the same airport, to share
van/ limo rides to the motel. I was among the six NY players who shared a
stretch limo ride from Midway airport (about 35 miles from the motel) and
it was quite reasonable and pleasant. We even got about $20. worth of beer
and soda to take with us! Additionally, we saved over $60 each by flying
into Midway instead of O'Hare from Kennedy airport.

>However, I came alone. It is true that I made a last minute decision to
>come.

We spoke twice the day before and you clearly decided not to come when a
discount airline ticket could not be found on 1 day's notice.

> Had I known that the tournament was being held in an extremely remote
>location, 30 miles from Chicago and 15 miles from the nearest train station
>or bus stop, I would not have planned my trip better. Rather, I would not
>have come at all.

I did mention that if you came with us you could share the limo ride and
that the tournament site was a bit far and inaccessible by subway.
Additionally, the information listed below appeared on Shogi-L on March 2
and again on March 14, 1999.

" Place: Hilldale Golf Club, Rose Banquet Room, located at 1625 Ardwick
Drive, Hoffman Estates, Illinois. "

" Directions: The playing site is 25 miles NW of downtown Chicago and 14
miles West of O'Hare International Airport. "

>After the event was underway, several other players began to face the
>problem which I was feeling. One player brought his wife. She did not feel
>like hanging around a shogi tournament all day long and wanted to see
>Chicago while the games were going. Her taxi ride to the nearest train
>station cost $15 and after that was the more than one hour train trip into
>Chicago, each way.

Yes, it's true that two "shogi wifes" shared a taxi ride and long train
rides into the city and later back to the motel. The savings on the motel
basically offset the transportation costs but it was time-consuming. Keep
in mind this was a shogi event.

>When the event was over, one of the players decided to take a taxi to
>Chicago. His taxi fare was $70!

That player is an extremely wealthy and knowledgeable adult so let's not
shed a tear on his behalf.

>I assumed that the reason this event was held at this remote golf course
>was because of cost. I was shocked to learn that the Hillsdale Golf Club
>was not cheap at all. The prices were more than double what any comparable
>facility would have charged. The buffet style lunch alone cost $9.50 per
>player, which came out of our $50 entry fee, and there was nowhere else in
>the area to eat.

"Double" the price is a gross exageration. It's true that we have saved
some money in the past by merely renting a function room and then bringing
in our own food, or having it delivered, but then we have to serve it and
later clean up the mess. Most of the nicer function rooms, such as the one
at the Hilldale Golf Club, do not allow for food to be brought in. It was a
very good site in terms of space, lighting and service. The cost parameters
for the Chicago organizers to meet were $50. Per member to include two
lunches, coffee, refreshments, and trophies. They WERE able to meet these
guidelines and were kindly willing to absorb any additional charges
incurred among themselves, especially, those associated with Mr. Ishikawa,
pro 6Dan's visit.

>However, my main complaint was not the location but the fact that I viewed
>this as a serious chess event for the US Championship, to which I came with
>the intention of trying to win, even though I knew that my changes were
>remote. I arrived at 8:00 AM at Chicago Midway Airport. Since registration
>was scheduled to start at 10:00 AM, I assumed that I would easily reach the
>tournament in time. I was appalled to find out that because it took me 4
>1/2 hours from Chicago Midway Airport to get to the tournament site, that I
>had been eliminated from the competition, having forfeited my first two
>games. Since the organizers knew that I was in Chicago and was on my way to
>the event and since the problem created by the remoteness of their location
>was entirely their own making, I feel that they should have either
>postponed my games or sent somebody to pick me up. I am sure that if this
>had happened in a normal chess tournament, that would have been done.

I respecfully must disagree with your line of reasoning. First, most people
would seek help from the ground transportation information booth. There
were several transportation options better and faster than the one you
chose. Many of the limo companies allow sharing of limo rides to the
suburbs (cost about $25. depending on the number of passengers) and a
shuttle to O'Hare is $16. From there, another shuttle to the playing site
would have been $21. Keep in mind that flying into O'Hare would have cost
you a whole lot more money on such short notice.
You chose to take the subway into Chicago, wait for a commuter train to
Schaumburg, and then a taxi ride (7 or 8 miles and $15.) to the playing
site. Not a bad plan but very time consuming.
I disagree that most chess organizer would rush out to pick someone up on
short notice and thereby hinder the progress of an event. Everybody was
busy playing at the time you called and you were thereby instructed to take
a taxi from Schaumburg train station.
Your game with Mr. Kugai 5Kyu [but probably Shodan+], another latecomer WAS
in the preliminary competition, and had you won, you quite likely would
have qualified for the "A" section. The issue was a moot point after your
loss and Mr. Kugai was ineligible to qualify, due to his very low rank.

>In my view, the organizers had a moral obligation to give me a chance to
>compete for the championship, especially since the tournament announcements
>had said that the event was being held in Chicago, which it was not, and
>since there was no indication that the event was being held so far away
>that it would take 4 1/2 hours to get there from Chicago.

Please refer to the posted announcements earlier in this letter. It is
unfortunate that you went through such an ordeal but there is not much more
that could have been done on our part to offset your lack of planning.
After all this was not a huge event with crews of helpers and volunteers on
standby.

>More importantly, since this was the US Shogi Championship, I assumed that
>all contestants would be given an equal chance to win. Unfortunately, this
>event was not conducted in accordance with acceptable standards of fairness.

I disagree that the competition was in any way unfair. The rules were
clearly posted and annouced again, in great detail, at the start of the
tournament in English and Japanese.

>There were two valuable prizes offered. The top US player (which meant any
>person who was a US Citizen or who had resided in the US for the past five
>years and who had not been sent previously) was to receive an all expenses
>paid round trip to Tokyo to participate as the US representative in the
>Amateur Ryu-O International Shogi Championship.
>
>In addition, the winner of the consolation section, whether Japanese or
>not, was to receive a round trip ticket to Japan.
>
>It was because of these two prizes that I decided to spend more than $400
>to fly to Chicago and compete in this event. Without these two prizes, I
>would not have considered coming.
>
>However, after the preliminary section, there were already irregularities.
>Raymond Kaufman qualified to the championship finals by defeating two
>players in the preliminaries. However, he decided that his best chance to
>win a prize was in the consolation section, so he agreed to switch places
>with M. Hayashi, 4-Dan, who had lost two games and had been eliminated.

This decision was up to Mr. Tsuruoka, who was the primary tournament
Director. The issue of voluntary demotion, into the "B" group, by a lower
rated player had not been considered by anyone. Lacking any objection or
opposition, at the time, it was approved by Mr. Tsuruoka, the other
directors and myself. I agree, in retrospect, that it was a bad idea to
allow it.

>As it turned out, Mr. Hayashi lost his first game in the finals and Ray
>Kaufman lost his second, but had either player won, there could have been
>protests.

>In my own case, long after the event was over, one official said that he
>had felt that I had wanted to play in the consolation section all along. He
>said that had he known that I wanted to play for the championship, I could
>have been put in there. However, nobody asked me anything about this while
>the event was being played. I find it rather stupid for anybody to presume
>that I flew all the way from New York to Chicago and spent more than $400
>just to play in a consolation group.

As I stated earlier, the issue of your qualification became a moot point
after your loss to Mr. Kugai. On a couple of occasions, recently, you had
told me about your shogi experiences and your inability to ever beat a
4Dan. Well, the "A" Group was made up of two 5Dans and nine 4Dans so how
far could you reasonably advance without doing something you had bever done
before? I don't think it so strange or stupid for someone to draw the
conclusion that your best chances were in the "B" Group.

>More irregularities: After the first day of play, only 13 players had
>qualified for the finals. To make a round number of 16, three players who
>had been eliminated under the normal rules were seeded into the finals. I
>was told that the three highest rated players who had been eliminated were
>seeded. It was only after the tournament was over and I received the
>results several days later that I learned that the three "seeded" players
>were M. Ono, 4-Dan, G. Fernandez, 4-Dan, and F. Bekele, NY, 2-Dan.

Mr. Tsuruoka used a pairing and seeding system in the preliminaries that
created some very strong groups and two weak ones. Unable to change his
mind on this point, I agreed to allow for this arbitrary selection of extra
qualifiers based on rating.

>With all due respect, Mr. Bekele, 2-Dan was clearly not one of the top
>three rated players who did not reach the finals. For example, Mr. Hayashi,
>4-Dan, who got into the finals by switching with Ray Kaufman, was higher
>rated. The results of Mr. Bekele from this event confirm this. Mr. Bekele
>finished the event with 2 wins and 5 losses. Nevertheless, because of being
>"seeded" into the finals and then winning just one game, he was declared
>the winner and will represent the US in the Amateur Ryu-O in Tokyo.

Mr. Bekele 2Dan 1910, [now 3Dan] WAS the third highest rated compared to
Mr. Hayashi 4Dan, 1848 [Mr. Hayashi received an honorary 4Dan title from
Shogi Renmei]. Additionally, that "one game" was against his main rival Mr.
Uechi 4Dan who is an extremely strong player and finished 5-2 including a
win over Mr. Ishikawa pro 6Dan, at only Bishop handicap. By the way, Mr.
Bekele's 5 losses were against four 4Dans (1 unrated game) and Mr. Ishikawa
pro 6Dan at Rook handicap.

>I feel that this was not merely unfair and wrong, but outrageous. I came to
>Chicago thinking that I was playing in a serious competition. I did not
>know that a prize would be awarded on the basis of being a friend of the
>organizer. I agree that in a fair competition, Mr. Bekele would be a
>favorite, but only by a narrow margin. Three other Americans would have a
>good chance to beat him, had there been a fair competition. These would
>have been Raymond Kaufman, Douglas Dysart and myself. In addition, there
>are no doubt Japanese players who have lived in the US for more than five
>years, who would have had a chance to win under a fair system.

It was clearly announced that in the event the winner of the tournament was
ineligible to represent the U.S. in the Amateur Ryu-O tournament in Japan,
Mr. Ishikawa would make the final selection on behalf of Shogi Renmei and
the Yomiuri Shinbum (tournament sponsors).
The three logical candidates based on their performance and eligibility
were Mr. Bekele, Mr. Uechi and Mr. Yoshinari. Mr. Uechi has not
participated much in U.S. shogi activities (this was only his second
tournament) and lost to Mr. Bekele in the tournament. Mr. Yoshinari, being
Japanese, perhaps had a higher standard to achieve (like making the final
two or final four at least). In any case, it was a tough choice but no
other player merited any serious cosideration. Tournament winner Mr. Suzuki
has been in the U.S only four years.

>This event was so outrageously unfair that I believe that there should be a
>playoff match between the four above named persons. I suggest New York for
>the venue, since two of us live here and I feel certain that both Mr. Ray
>Kaufman and Mr. Douglas Dysart, who do not live here, would be willing to
>come to New York to participate.
>
>I would like to mention that although Mr. Dysart is the lowest rated, he
>defeated M. Ono, 4-Dan, in the preliminaries, and qualified to the finals
>legitimately, as opposed to Mr. Bekele, who lost and was eliminated in the
>preliminaries, only to be "seeded" back into the finals.
>
>Mr. Bekele is a great gentleman, a sportsman, and a tireless promoter of
>shogi. It would be a credit to have him represent the United States at the
>Amateur Ryu-O. I imagine that Mr. Bekele was as surprised as the rest of us
>were that he was awarded this prize. I believe that he would prefer to win
>this prize in fair competition, rather than be awarded it in such an
>outrageously unfair manner as occurred.

>The Amateur Ryu-O in Tokyo is held only once every four years.

It is held every year, however, a U.S. representative is invited only once
every 4 years.

>At stake is
>not only a valuable prize but the prestige of being the US representative.
>I believe that a prize such as this should be awarded only after a fair
>competition. This "US Shogi Championship" near Chicago was not conducted
>fairly and ought to be replayed, for this and for numerous other reasons
>which I have not mentioned.
>Sam Sloan

In the future, there will be other opportunities for the players listed
above and yourself to attend this and other events in Japan, such as the
First International Shogi Tournament being held in Tokyo next month. The
USSF will actively seek sponsorship from corporations to create big shogi
tournaments and events in the U.S. as well.
Beginning next year the USSF will draft a more comprehensive and stringent
selection process for future U.S. representatives in special events such as
these. For now I feel it most appropriate to congratulate Mr. Bekele and
wish him the best!

I sincerely hope this letter will make you feel better and end the
discussion of this matter amicably. Any future mail on this topic can be
sent to me directly at the e-mail address listed below.


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 <at> mindspring <dot> com