From: James Harnett USWEST NET> Date: 8 mar 2000 Subject: Re: The number of potential shogi players Excepts only, in order to go with the flow of thought: >> >> If the consensus is made that the shogi population >> >> outside Japan will sooner or later reach 30 million, >> >> Manabu, >> > I think that is most unlikely. >> > Colin Paul Adams >> I've been promoting shogi for years, and my experience has been that,= even >> in a conservative and close-minded town like Cincinnati, OH, many chess >> players will try shogi. I would say about 15% of the chessplayers here= have >> tried it and about 5% stick with it for a long time. >> Douglas Dysart >I play often chess on fics 2 nice variation using shogi rules, the best i can do >to invite people to play shogi... >Then they ask me where i can play shogi? My answer is shogidojo, when they= see >japanes pieces, there is panic crisis, and they will never play shogi :) in this life... >enrico In 1989, I purchased a Shogi set (9 x 9) from a pipe shop, for around $20 (?). There is a statement on the box containing this set, that says "Ancient game of strategy and surprise now played by over 20 million= people.". The board is a nice four-ply-fold-out, made of sturdy cardboard lined with black neoprene, that measured 19 x 19 inch (48 x 48 cm) with a playing area of 15 x 15 inch (38 x 38 cm). The 40 "authentically styled" pieces are made of hard plastic. Each piece has a black designation on one side, to indicate the beginning rank of that piece. Each piece that is capable of promotion, has on the reverse side, a red designation, indicating that the piece had been promoted. Those pieces, that can not be promoted, have no red indication on the reverse side. This set is rather compact and travels well on trips in my attache or back pack. The significance that I want to bring out here, is that of the designations, used in this set. Each designation have two markings. The upper marking is the name of the piece, represented by an English character (i.e. P - pawn, S - silver general, B - bishop, L - lance, etc.). The lower marking indicates the direction of travel for that piece, promoted (red) or not (black). When a piece is promoted, the red marking for the name will not change, but it will have a red circle around it, further indicating that it had been= promoted. For a beginner, from an English language perspective, the person who is not so well versed in Japanese, or someone who can only view the normal markings as odd looking and meaningless characters, this set (or one similar) is a marvelous tool for the teaching and training of Shogi. =20 Represented by The Games Gang, Ltd. (c 1987) 1107 Broadway, Suite 1516 New York, NY 10010 The Board was Manufactured in the U.S.A. by=20 Western Publishing Company, Inc./Cornacchia Press, Inc. The Pieces were made in Taiwan Cheers, James Harnett =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D James M. Harnett, (503) 282-8698 mharnett uswest net P.O. Box 12150 Portland, Oregon 97212-0150 U.S.A. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D For technical information on viruses, worms and Trojan horses, see: Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute (CERT=AE Coordination Center, DARPA, U.S. DoD) http://www.cert.org/advisories/ (cai - v4.0 sig 9.20 - v4.5 / v5.0 sig 308 Mar 01, 2000) =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D