I think what the New Yorkers have put together is really great for shogi in America. The qualifiers alone have sparked enormous new enthusiasm and renewed vigor for many clubs across the states and abroad. Of course, many praises are due to our shoglim brethren of the ISPS and ShogiDojo back in the holy land. One thing that was cool about our qualifier was that it spoke for the diversity and unity within the shogi community. First of all, 4 of the 12 players were African-American, which has to be a record. All of them also happen to be chess experts, and 2 of them are becoming shogi powerhouses. It was too bad that our many Japanese members couldn't make it due to work, but they have supported very strongly for the last 3 years. The beauty of shogi is that what I've just said doesn't mean anything. In American shogi, background means very little (but it does help to know Japanese!). As a matter of fact, many of the players in our qualifier have had many political battles in the chess arena, and under normal circumstances a few might not have talked to one another. But there's something about shogi that makes us all friends, and there were nothing but smiles at our tournament. Even when I lost the first round in a major upset to my rival Ram Lewis, we shook hands and laughed about how badly I messed up. In chess, that would almost never happen. Speaking of chess and health, has anyone heard of the wild situation involving GM Keene? I know Sam Sloan is the source, but it looks pretty serious, and I wonder how much the MSO will be affected by all this. Of course, the MSO is a great organization, and I hope it puts on an even bigger show this year. Which event will be bigger, NY or London? To finish my "stream of consciousness" here, I thought I'd post my wild playoff game for the Midwest Championship and see what comments anyone would like to make on it. Be really critical, too. I can take it! I'm trying to learn something about shogi before I get crushed by all the 10 dan amateurs in NY. [TITLE Midwest Championship Playoff] [BLACK Rockwell, David] [WHITE Dysart, Doug] 1. P-7f 2. P-3d 3. P-6f 4. P-8d 5. R2h-6h 6. S7a-6b 7. K-4h 8. G6a-5b 9. K-3h 10. K-4b 11. K-2h 12. K-3b 13. S3i-3h 14. P-5d 15. G6i-5h 16. S3a-4b 17. S7i-7h 18. S4b-5c 19. P-4f 20. G4a-4b 21. G5h-4g 22. P-7d 23. S7h-6g 24. S6b-7c 25. P-3f 26. P-8e 27. B8h-7g 28. S7c-8d 29. R6h-7h 30. P-6d 31. N2i-3g 32. P-9d 33. P-9f 34. P-7e 35. P-5f 36. R8b-7b 37. B7g-8h 38. Px7f 39. S6gx7f 40. P-6e 41. P-5e 42. B2bx5e 43. G4g-5f 44. B5e-2b 45. G5fx6e 46. P*6d 47. P*7c 48. S8dx7c 49. G6e-7e 50. P*7d 51. G7ex8e 52. P*8d 53. G8e-8f 54. P-5e 55. P-6e 56. Px6e 57. R7h-6h 58. P-5f 59. B8hx2b+ 60. Kx2b 61. P*5h 62. B*7i 63. R6hx6e 64. P*6d 65. R6e-6g 66. B7ix4f+ 67. P*7e 68. N2a-3c 69. Px7d 70. S7cx7d 71. B*6a 72. R7b-8b 73. G8f-7e 74. S7d-6c 75. P*7c 76. G5b-6b 77. P-7b+ 78. S6cx7b 79. B6ax7b+ 80. G6bx7b 81. P*4g 82. +B4f-5e 83. S*4f 84. +B5ex9i 85. G7ex6d 86. P*6f 87. G6dx5c 88. G4bx5c 89. R6g-6i 90. G*7h 91. S4f-5e 92. G7hx6i 93. S7f-6e 94. P-6g+ 95. S5e-5d 96. G5cx5d 97. S6ex5d 98. +B9i-4d 99. G*5c 100. L*4a 101. S*5b 102. S*3b 103. S5bx4a 104. S3bx4a 105. L*4f 106. +B4d-6f 107. L4fx4c+ 108. +Px5h 109. +L4cx3c 110. +B6fx3c 111. S5d-4c+ 112. +B3c-6f 113. N3g-2e 114. B*6d 115. N*4f 116. L*3a 117. G5c-5d 118. +Px4i 119. G5dx6d 120. S*3i 121. K-3g 122. +B6f-4h Doug Dysart Midwest Shoglim

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