From: Chiaki Ito MAIL COM> Date: 10 nov 2000 Subject: Re: 2000 US Championship - The Dice Report Doug, Congratulations on the successful tournament! I am recently occupied with a lot of work, so I have been out of touch with many people, but I will be back in Shogi scene in December. I am likely to be a resident in the U.S. from next year on, so I hope to particiapte the tournament next year. Chiaki At 16:30 00/11/06 -0500, you wrote: > 2000 US Championship - The Dice Report > by Doug Dysart, Official USSF Promoter > > Last weekend (Nov. 4 & 5), the US Shogi Championship was held in > Manhattan. Although attendance was lower than usual due to the late > notice given out (which was due to its postponement to make room for > the 2000 World Shogi Championship), there were over 20 players from > around the US who took part. On the line were two tickets to Japan > (for the A and B Class winners), as well as cash prizes, books, and > computer programs. On hand were two professionals, Mrrs. Ishikawa 6- > Dan and Kondo 5-Dan, who held handicap simuls, gave big-board > analysis, and commented on players' games. > > The event began around 9 AM. Both George Fernandez and I overslept > and arrived after the first round, costing us our first-round games. > This is usually a huge boo-boo, since it meant we had to go 2-0 to > qualify for the A class. However, the extra sleep paid off, and we > both qualified, and even did pretty well in the KO phase the next > day. Sleep is good! > > Speaking of KO, the tournament had originally been announced as a > Swiss tournament, but with a couple of weeks left, the format was > switched back to the usual KO system (with a couple small > modifications). In a Swiss chess tournament, a late chessplayer can > usually receive a first-round bye. I don't know if this would > usually be allowed in a shogi tournament, but I think the TDs were > probably correct in charging late players with forfeits (it's in the > spirit of a knockout tournament anyway). > > The Saturday qualifiers, typical of New York shogi tournaments (I > call it the "World Cup Format"), decided who would advance to the A > class (hirate games), and who would enter the B class (komaochi > games). There were a few players who were seeded into the A class, > like Larry Kaufman (East Coast Meijin), Suzuki-san (US Champion), and > Tsuruoka-san from the Midwest (he wasn't able to play Sunday). There > weren't many surprises in this phase. > > As players were eliminated, they sat down with the pros to try their > hand at handicap games. Some got slaughtered, like myself, but I saw > some others do pretty well. I heard that the event's organizer, > Hayashi-san, even played a match with Ishikawa-Sensei, in which they > started at a small handicap and made it bigger for each game the pro > won. Although Mr. Ishikawa bragged he would beat the amateur 4-Dan > all the way through 6-piece handicap game (I imagine this was tongue- > in-cheek), the match ended when Mr. Hayashi won a 2-piece game. > > That evening, the Team Match competition was held. New York had two > teams, NY-A and NY-B, with the B-team receiving a Bishop handicap in > all games. Then there were the DC and Midwest teams, both of which > had a couple New Yorkers to fill in the holes (LA was not > represented). For the first time ever, the Midwest team won! I was > proud to be a part of this feat, and I think it was surprising that > we managed to overcome the New York A-team (one New Yorker said it > might be our *last* time, too, but I hope we will surprise him > again!). Go underdogs! (*In fairness to New York, though, they had > the disadvantage of giving away good players to other teams.) > Afterwards, there was plenty of beer to drink, so everyone went to > sleep happy. > > On Sunday, things got serious. In the A Class, Ray Kaufman proved > that it was indeed "Showtime!" by earning a first-round upset over > the reigning US Champion. George Fernandez survived Yoshinari's > attack on his king to advance. Larry Kaufman also advanced, while > everyone else lucked out with a bye. In the second round, I had to > face Ray Kaufman, who was on quite a hot streak. I got an opening > advantage, but then he fired back with an attack that almost mated > me. I had just enough foo in hand, though, and I managed to dodge > all the tsume-shots to advance to the semi-finals. Ogihara-san had a > good game against George; he advanced along with the tournament > favorites, Larry and Fujiwara-san. In the semi-finals, I had a good > position against Larry Kaufman, but he fired back quickly, and so > there were no surprises that round. I also lost to Ogihara-san in > the 3rd-Place game, but I made it closer than I thought it would be > after a bad opening. > > In the B Class, Mike Lamb, the king of the shogi houseparty, looked > like he would go the distance, after he pulled off some nice wins, > including a real nail-biter against Alex Trottier in which both kings > were in the middle of a board full of pieces. Hayashi-san was also > doing very well, and I saw him using fierce attacks to win. In the > end, Mike Lamb lost to Hayashi-san, in which it was surprisingly the > slow attacks that were best, not the fast ones (quite unlike Mr. > Hayashi's style!), and so the famed shogi organizer took the top > prize in the B Class. > > All that was left then was the grand finale, the A class final > between Mrrs. Fujiwara and Kaufman. Fujiwara-san is New York's best > player, and basically the strongest 4-Dan in America. I didn't know > him very well; I only remembered him as an organizer of the World > Championship. Apparently he's as good a player as he is a tournament > director, as he went on to win an exciting Yokofudori game against > the 5-Dan. As the professionals showed in their own comedic manner > (the crowd was rolling!), there were many, many traps for both sides, > and Larry even missed a chance to turn the tables. Well, they are > pros after all! Congratulation, Fujiwara-san! > > Below is the chart for the A Class (done by my exquisite memory): > > 1 Dysart 2D ----------- > 2 R Kaufman 2D--- |--1-- > |--2-- | > 3 Suzuki 4D------ | > |--4-- > 4 L Kaufman 5D--- | | > |--4-- | | > 5 Masui 2D------- |--4-- | > 6 Matsumura 2D--------- | > |--Fujiwara > 7 Ogihara 4D----------- | > 8 Yoshinari 4D--- |--7-- | > |--9-- | | > 9 Fernandez 4D--- |--10- > 10 Fujiwara 4D--------- | > |-10-- > 11 Nakano 1D----------- > > Everyone had a great time, and all players seemed happy with the KO > format. The New York club was very generous in giving players books > and programs. I had an especially good time talking with my favorite > professional, Mr. Kondo 5-Dan. He described what it's like going > through the Shorekai and how hard it is to graduate. He tells good > stories with a great sense of humor, and he tries hard to speak > English, which is a very kind gesture. I also enjoyed watching Mr. > Ishikawa's big-board analysis, as he put on a fine show with Mr. > Kondo during the last game. > > I was surprised to meet new American shogi players, Mike Postniak and > Alex Trottier (pardon my spelling-butchering - these are guesses), > who were both good players. Maybe we'll see more of them in the > future. Also, during the event, we had a USSF bored meeting (joke) > in which I was made the official promoter of the federation. I will > happily take on my "new" duties of spreading the wonders of shoglam > to the four corners of the world! > > Until next time, this is your shogi reporter saying, "Sayonara, and > signing off." > Doug "Diceman" Dysart > > > > > Doug Dysart > Ohio Shogi Club founder > > > Great chess, great e-mail: http://www.KasparovChess.com >