From: DANERUD MARTIN TELIA COM> Date: 27 oct 1999 Subject: A Magic Boardgame! Dear shogi friends, This evening, a new concept was tried in the struggle for the = popularisation of shogi in Sweden. Two members of the Swedish Shogi = Federation (Mr Hakan Lonnqvist and myself) handed out around 700 copies = of a leaflet called "Shogi - A Magic Boardgame" to the entering = spectators of a basketball match in the city Boras, some 60 kilometers = east of Goteborg. The receivers of the leaflet got the rules of shogi, = shogi history and some useful information about Swedish shogi and shogi = at the Internet.=20 And it was not just any basketball match! It was the first match in the = Swedish basketball league ever with a former member of the US Dream = Team, the living legend Mr Earvin "Magic" Johnson. Even though I am not = a basketball fan or expert, I could watch him deliver some unbelievable = passes to his scoring team mates. It was a great show! And this match = was at the top of publicity and sports interest this evening in Sweden, = so there were a lot of spectators with different backgrounds and from = different geographical locations.=20 Thus this was a good opportunity to try and popularize shogi. I do not = know whether we will receive any new members (that will just be a = bonus), but for sure several hundred people will know what shogi is = after this event. Thus an action like this is part of a "mental = conquest". Shogi will never become an established boardgame in the west = if the game of shogi is not known among people, whether they intend to = become active shogi players or not. For instance, "judo" is an = established sport in the west, even though most people are not active in = the sport, but almost everyone knows fairly well what it is all about.=20 I hope that this concept of popularising shogi by handing out = information at major happenings and events will be tried by others in = many cities in Sweden as well as in the rest of the western world. Maybe = it is a good idea for you? = Sincerely yours, = Dr. Martin Danerud = President of the Swedish Shogi Federation=20