From: DANERUD MARTIN TELIA COM> Date: 7 jun 2000 Subject: Kaneko new champion! Dear shogi friends, During the holiday between June 1 and June 4, the Swedish Shogi Championship play-off has been played in Sandviken in northern Sweden. The chess tournament Gastrikland Open, which was kindly hosting the shogi play-off, was very well arranged. This year, there were 75 participants, and a lot of them had high chess ratings. The venue was the nice restaurant "Bolaget", which had good space and light with the chess tournament at the very dancing floor and the shogi play- off in a separate "shogi corner". There we had good space for the shogi game, a demonstration board, a result board at the open "entrance" to this space and several tables for demonstration of shogi for beginners and new members of the Swedish Shogi Federation. Still, we were just ten meters away from the chess boards, so people could stop by without really making a commitment. Before the start of the chess rounds we often got the possibility to announce what happened in the shogi play-off, and after the final we had our prize giving ceremony together with that of the chess tournament. During several of the byo-yomi games a lot of people gathered at the shogi corner. The demonstration board using international pieces helped most of the spectators (some of them already members of the Swedish Shogi Federation) to follow the games with comments from the players who did not play at the moment. Even if we had a tough round schedule after a long journey to Sandviken (200 kilometers from Stockholm and additional 500 kilometers from Goteborg) and seven long games (two hours plus one minute byo-yomi per player) and shogi, shogi, shogi during four days, we also had a very nice time together. That should be enough for most people to try and qualify for the play-off next year! We had two different journalists from local newspapers at the shogi corner. At one occasion we stopped the game for press photography. One journalist was given basic information about shogi and the play-off, but he hurried away when he was about to get his promised interview with a chess grandmaster. Surprisingly enough, that was also an interview with a participant of the Swedish Championship tournament of shogi in April in Stockholm (Dr. Ralf Akesson). Last year, in Malmo in southern Sweden, the play-off was arranged for the first time. Then we did not have a ruling champion. Then we were less well known among chess players. Maybe the Swedish Championship of shogi was just going to live as short as a mayfly? This year, in Sandviken in northern Sweden, the Swedish Championship play-off was all of a sudden a link in a continous period of time. We were maybe not established but still accepted. We were asked when (April 2001!) and where (Goteborg!) the next Swedish Championship tournament was going to be played and where (Linkoping!) the next play-off was going to be played. The play-off became, like last year, an epic battle for the title and a thriller to the spectators. Thore Angqvist (second in the Swedish Championship tournament) seemed to win the challenger semifinal against the young talent Peter Kaneko (third in the Swedish Championship tournament). But after some missed opportunities for Thore, Peter turned the tables and won the game. Most people believed that Carl Johan Nilsson (the winner of the Swedish Championship tournament), the highest rated Swedish shogi player who had just returned from the New York tournament, was going to stand up against Kaneko, who had displayed some homemade shogi of questionable shape against Angqvist. However, Kaneko won surprisingly easily against Nilsson, who was never able to start an attack himself. Then what about the ruling champion Moberg, an international master of chess who had not played shogi since last June? Well, initially Moberg played like a true champion. He studied the positions with a great concentration, he had reached the byo-yomi when Kaneko still had one and a half hours left, he defended himself in his favourite Yagura position, and he dropped his generals in defence with no remorse, which took the steam out of Kaneko´s attacks. Thus, we recognized the heavy "chess shogi" from the play-off last year. Moberg won the first two final games. Kaneko was told about all this in advance. His deft attacking shogi with quick silver generals on the fourth and sixth files, the king left in the center of the back row, and an easily movable rook at the almost always empty second row was working well enough against Angqvist and Nilsson, but now he had got stuck in the mud and had lost badly in the counter attacks. He played some of his moves still standing, he walked around the entire venue, and if he had not made his move after one minute, his eager fingers almost made it themselves. Thus, we recognized him from the Swedish Championship tournament. However, now he had to find out something new in order to save the best-of-five games match. The second day of the final, Peter presented a new opening. He exchanged bishops quickly and dropped it on the "wrong" diagonal in order to win a pawn temporarily. This surprise opening was the same as the one used in the New York tournament final game between Ito and Egoshi. In the Saturday games, Moberg dropped immediately in order to win back the pawn. Kaneko showed that he controlled this kind of position better, and after two games with better concentration he made the match equal again. The final day, there was time for a fifth deciding final game just like last year. Then Moberg was the one who had to find something which could help him winning the match. He changed from the third and fourth final games and saved his bishop in hand for future drops. Moberg´s position seemed better, when Kaneko broke through in a fierce attack along the third file, where he exchanged his bishop and rook for three generals. Moberg dropped his bishops in attack, but Kaneko could defend his king in the middle of the back row by dropping his generals. When Moberg´s attack finally was over, his own king was lost in a quick tsume attack. Thus, we have a new Swedish Champion. Peter Kaneko may now focus on the defence of his title in one year. Then the play-off will be arranged together with a role play convention in Linkoping. We inspected this event this year on our journey to Sandviken, and there we will find an enthusiastic group of young spectators eager to learn new games. Will they also take interest in shogi? Let us hope so. Results Challenger semifinal: Thore Ångqvist vs Peter Kaneko 0-1 Challenger final: Carl Johan Nilsson vs Peter Kaneko 0-1 Swedish Championship final: Karl Johan Moberg vs Peter Kaneko 2-3 Unfortunately, noone was successful in guessing the correct result of the play-off (seventeen people competed for a small prize). Two persons had guessed that Kaneko would become the final winner against Moberg, but they had guessed the final result 1-3. Finally, I promised Karl Johan Moberg to present the marathon medal league of the Swedish Championship of shogi: gold silver bronze 1. Moberg 1 1 0 2. Kaneko 1 0 0 3. Nilsson 0 1 1 4. Danerud 0 0 1 Sincerely yours, Dr. Martin Danerud President of the Swedish Shogi Federation