From: "George I. Fernandez" MINDSPRING COM> Date: 14 nov 2000 Subject: 2000 U.S. Shogi Championship results The 2000 U.S. Shogi Championship Story by George Fernandez The 2000 U.S. Shogi Championship and 5th U.S. Amateur Ryu-O tournament was held at Oikawa Restaurant in New York City on 3-5 November 2000. Twenty-two amateur players from six states were joined by two visiting professional players, Mr. Akio Ishikawa, 6 Dan, and Mr. Masakatsu Kondo, 4 Dan. On Friday evening, the tournament got underway with the 1st U.S. Blitz Championship. A 14 player, 8 round Swiss event where each player had only 8 minutes per/game and no byoyomi! In the end, Yasufumi Fujiwara 4 Dan, from the New York Shogi Club, emerged as the winner with a score of 7-1. Larry Kaufman 5 Dan (DC Shogi Club) and the reigning U.S. Champion Yoshihisa Suzuki, also a 4 Dan from NY, tied for 2nd place with 6-2 scores. Raymond Kaufman 2 Dan had an excellent and exciting tournament, scoring wins over his father Larry, Mr. Fujiwara [in both of these he was ONE move away from being mated but won on time!] and myself, en route to a 5-3 score and the Top 2 Dan and below prize. Little sleep and/or excessive drinking the night before a shogi event has never really bothered me. However, this time, I was nearly sleepwalking after working 15 hours on no sleep at all! After my 7-1 score, at the recent MSO Blitz event in London, I had thought that even on a bad day I would do alright in a Blitz... I was wrong, played poorly and was never in contention after my 4th round loss to Ray. On Saturday morning, the qualifying round-robins were held. These determined who would play in the "A" and "B" groups. When compared to years past, none of the groups were particularly strong. Group #2 (see chart below) was perhaps the strongest overall and #3 the most interesting, in that BOTH of the lower rated players managed to advance to the finals! Doug Dysart, my houseguest from the Ohio Shogi Club, who arrived late at night on Friday and I missed our 1st round game due to oversleeping. We were both exhausted and slept, cleanly I may add, right through TWO alarms. Had Mr. Fujiwara not called us, I have a feeling that we'd have slept 'till the afternoon! We both had to win two-in-a-row in order to advance to the A Group and did. Doug had two tough opponents while I was lucky to draw two lower rated opponents. During the afternoon, the 2000 U.S. Team Championship was held. This year, the LA Shogi Club team was not represented due to slightly insufficient notice and conflicting schedules. In addition, both the DC (4 players) and Midwest (3 players) teams were smaller than usual. The NY Shogi Club used their top five players to form the "NY A" team and supplied the DC and Midwest teams with their next three highest rated players [6th(to MW), 7th(to DC) & 8th(to MW)] as fill-ins. The remaining NY players formed the "NY B" team and received Bishop handicap [kaku-ochi] from all of the other teams. The NY "A" team enjoyed a substantial rating advantage over all of their rivals and was still confident of victory, their first since 1996, even after the team's narrow defeat to the DC Team in the 2nd Round. It all came down to the 3rd and final round, with the NY "A" team needing a 3 wins over the Midwest team to secure a win. The first board match had already been played, earlier in the day, in order to accommodate Mr. Tsuruoka's schedule, so, the Midwest team had a 1-0 lead going into the deciding match. Boards #2 and #3 went in NY's favor first and all eyes were on the remaining boards, #4 & #5, with the NY Team needing just one more win. Unfortunately for NY, there was not much to root for in either game and both games were decided soon after in favor of the NEW Team Champions, the Midwest Team! No doubt the contribution of the NY fill-ins, Mr. M. Hayashi and Mr. H. Inoue, with a combined score of 5-1, helped the Midwest team to achieve the win. Likewise, Mr. Ishida performed well for the DC team, winning a pivotal 2nd round game against the NY "A" team. However, the use of fill-ins is a tradition that goes back many years and is necessary until all teams can field sufficiently large teams. The Elimination phase of the event began on Sunday. There were 11 players in the "A" Group and 10 in the "B" Group. Only 3 games were played in the 1st Round of the "A" Group to narrow the field to eight players. Ray Kaufman, who continues to improve steadily, provided a rapid exit for the U.S. Champion, Mr. Suzuki 4Dan, in yet another big upset. Mr. Yoshinari 4Dan made a mistake in the opening, after exchanging Bishops, and almost got back into the game against me, but he missed his best variations in the endgame. In the Quarterfinals, Mr. Ogihara outplayed me in a double ranging rook [Ai-furibisha] game and favorites Larry Kaufman and Mr. Fujiwara also advanced. The showdown of the young and rapidly-improving "gaijins" ended in Doug's favor. Perhaps this was their first really "big" game, but many more are sure to come. In the Semi-Finals Larry ended Doug's streak and Mr. Fujiwara got pass Mr. Ogihara setting up a final among the two highest rated players. Ogihara san beat Doug for 3rd place and we started to setup the room for the finals. Both Mr. Ishikawa, Pro 6Dan, and Mr. Kondo, Pro 4Dan, commented on the Final game. It was a well-played Side-pawn opening [Yokufodori], with Mr. Fujiwara gaining a clear advantage in the late opening. Larry's Rook [Hissha] was very cramped and there were many traps for both sides. Mr. Kondo, in particular, was extremely funny in his assessments after playing out some possible variations. They had to conduct the whole game analisis virtually without speaking, due to the close proximity of the actual game, but still got their many points across very well! Entering the endgame, Mr. Fujiwara gave Larry a few chances that only the pros saw and examined. In the end, Larry could not muster enough of a counter-attack and had to give up. During the review, both players were very surprised to see all that they had missed! A great lesson, indeed, for all of us. The "B" Group was played using handicaps. Unlike previous years, the rating range was very narrow, resulting in many games being played Even or at Lance [Kyo] handicap. Mike Lamb, a Shodan from Maryland, went all the way to the finals again, repeating his feat from the 1999 Eastern Open Handicap. However, he couldn't overcome the very experienced Minoru Hayashi 4Dan in the finals. This year, mostly cash prizes were awarded, in addition to the main prize of a round-trip ticket to Japan for each the "A" and "B" group winners, courtesy of H.I.S. Travel agency. Nihon Shogi Renmei donated several trophies for the event as well, in addition to the special ones already in circulation as perpetual trophies. Numerous shogi computer programs and books were donated by Mr. M. Hayashi's friend in Japan, Mr. Kaneki. Shukan Shogi also donated many shogi books. We greatly appreciate Mr. Oikawa for making the large Party Room at his excellent restaurant available, free of charge, for the event. Special thanks also go out to Mr. M. Hayashi for arranging the Pro's visit and to Mr. Ogihara for hosting them during most of their stay in NY. Mr. Fujiwara was an excellent Tournament Director, keeping everything going smoothly from start to finish. He was assisted by Mr. Ishida, Mr. Inoue and myself. Next year's 2001 U.S. Championship and 6th U.S. Amateur Ryu-O Tournament will be held in Washington DC. We'll make every effort to provide a more ample notice for that event and hope to have, at least, double the number of participants. Result charts for all events are listed below. This first chart is a summary of all rated games by each player. # Name State Rank Rating Qualifier [Elim. "A" or "B"] Team Score 1.Kaufman, L. MD 5D 2287 Seed[W17,W16,W8,L2] W3,L2,W14(-B) <6-2> 5-2 2.Fujiwara, Y. NY 4D 2221 W14F,W14[W15,W7,W1] W14(-B),W1,L3 <7-1> 6-1* 3.Tsuruoka, Y. IL 4D 2217 [] L1,W14(-B),W2 < > 2-1 4.Suzuki, Y. NY 4D 2210 Seed[L9] W16(-B),L5,W8 <6-2> 2-2 5.Yoshinari, J. VA 4D 2124 W22,W21[L6] W8,W4,W16(-B) < > 5-1 6.Fernandez, G. NY 4D 2112 L21F,W22,W21[W5,L7] W17(-B),L9,W11 <3-5> 5-2* 7.Ogihara, S. NY 4D 2050 W15,W18[W6,L2,W8]W18(-B),L12,L13 <5-3> 5-3 8.Dysart, D. OH 2D 1947 L9F,W13,W11[W9,L1,L7] L5,W16(-B),L4 < > 4-4* 9.Kaufman, R. MD 2D 1882 W8F,W11[W4,L8] L11,W6,L17(-B) <5-3> 3-3* 10.Pustilnik, M. NY 2D 1834 L16,L17[L11] W21(-B),W19,L15 < > 2-4 11.Hayashi, M. NY 4D 1827 W13,L9,L8[W10,W20(-R),W18(-L),W19(-L)] W9,W17(-B),L6 <5-3> 7-3 12.Ishida, S. NY 2D 1810 W17,L16,L17[W14,L19(-L),W18(-L)] L13,W7,L18(-B) < > 4-5 13.Inoue, H. NY 2D 1787 L11,L8[L18(-m)] W12,W18(-B),W7 <4-4> 3-3 14.Hamaguchi, M. NJ 1D 1771 L2F,L2[L12] L2(+B),L3(+B),L1(+B) < > 0-5* 15.Nakano, J. IL 1D 1763 L7,W19,W18[L2] W19,L22(-B),W10 <2-6> 4-3 16.Matsumura, S. NY 1D 1760 W10,W12[L1] L4(+B),L8(+B),L5(+B) <4-4> 2-4 17.Masui, S. NY 2D 1748 L12,W10,W12[L1]L6(+B),L11(+B),W9(+B)<4-4>3-4 18.Hayashi, S. NY 1D 1699 W19,L7,L15[W13(+m),L11(+L),L12(+L)] L7(+B),L13(+B),W12(+B) < > 3-6 19.Lamb, M. MD 1D 1697 L18,L15[W21(-R),W22(-L),W12(+L),L11(+L)] L15,L10,W21(-B) <3-5> 4-5 20.Ikou NY 2K 1442 [L11(+R)] <2-6> 0-1 21.Trotter, A. NY 4K 1315 W6F,L5,L6[L19(+R)] L10(+B),L19(+B) < > 0-5* 22.Yasuda, A. NY UNR ---- L5,L6[L19(+L)]W15(+B) <0-8> 1-3 * Unrated forfeits, denoted by an "F", are not included in results. The Blitz Tournament was not rated. Player results are listed in brackets < >. Key: Handicaps used are shown in parenthesis, using the symbols listed below. -= Handicap giver [Uwate]; += Handicap receiver [Shitate]. m=Move [Sente]; L=Lance [Kyosha]; B=Bishop [Kaku]; R=Rook [Hissha]. -------------------------------- 2000 U.S. Blitz Championship 3 November 2000 # Name Ratings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Result 1L.Kaufman 2287 8W 4W 3W 2L 6L 7W 10W 5W 6-2 2nd 2Y.Fujiwara 2221 9W 5W 7W 1W 3W 6L 8W 4W 7-1 1st 3Y.Suzuki 2210 10W 6W 1L 7W 2L 8W 12W 13W 6-2 2nd 4G.Fernandez 2112 13W 1L 9W 6L 8L 5L 14W 2L 3-5 5S.Ogihara 2050 11W 2L 10W 8L 12W 4W 6W 1L 5-3 6R.Kaufman 1882 12W 3L 11W 4W 1W 2W 5L 7L 5-3 T.2D 7M.Hayashi 1827 14W 8W 2L 3L 11W 1L 9W 6W 5-3 8H.Inoue 1787 1L 7L 13W 5W 4W 3L 2L 14W 4-4 9J.Nakano 1763 2L 12W 4L 11L 13L 14W 7L 10L 2-6 10S.Matsumura 1760 3L 13W 5L 12L 14W 11W 1L 9W 4-4 11S.Masui 1748 5L 14W 6L 9W 7L 10L 13W 12W 4-4 12M.Lamb 1697 6L 9L 14W 10W 5L 13W 3L 11L 3-5 13Ikko 1442 4L 10L 8L 14W 9W 12L 11L 3L 2-6 14A.Yasuda N/A 7L 11L 12L 13L 10L 9L 4L 8L 0-8 ---------------------------------------- 2000 U.S. Team Championship 4 November 2000 # Team Rating 1 2 3 4 Match Games 1. NY "A" 2085 X 2 2 5 1-2 9-6 2. DC 1960 3 X 2 3 2-1 8-7 3. Midwest 1908 3 3 X 4 3-0 10-5 4. NY "B" 1659* 0 1 2 X 0-3 3-12 Rating= Average Pan-Atlantic team ratings. *= 1859 When the Bishop handicap value (200 points) is added. 1st Round: DC Team Midwest Team 1. L. Kaufman 5 Dan 2287 W L 1. Y. Tsuruoka 4 Dan 2217 2. J. Yoshinari 4 Dan 2124 W L 2. D. Dysart 2 Dan 1947 3. R. Kaufman 2 Dan 1882 L W 3. M. Hayashi [NY] 4 Dan 1827 4. S. Ishida [NY] 2 Dan 1810 L W 4. H. Inoue [NY] 2 Dan 1787 5. M. Lamb Shodan 1697 L W 5. J. Nakano Shodan 1763 Midwest Team wins 3-2 NY "A" Team [-B handicap] NY "B" Team [+B handicap] 1. Y. Fujiwara 4 Dan 2221 W L 1. M. Hamaguchi Shodan 1771 2. Y. Suzuki 4 Dan 2210 W L 2. S. Matsumura Shodan 1760 3. G. Fernandez 4 Dan 2112 W L 3. S. Masui 2 Dan 1748 4. S. Ogihara 4 Dan 2050 W L 4. S. Hayashi Shodan 1699 5. M. Pustilnik 2 Dan 1834 W L 5. A. Trotter 4 Kyu 1315 NY "A" Team wins 5-0 2nd Round: NY "A" Team DC Team 1. Y. Fujiwara 4 Dan 2221 W L 1. L. Kaufman 5 Dan 2287 2. Y. Suzuki 4 Dan 2210 L W 2. J. Yoshinari 4 Dan 2124 3. G. Fernandez 4 Dan 2112 L W 3. R. Kaufman 2 Dan 1882 4. S. Ogihara 4 Dan 2050 L W 4. S. Ishida [NY] 2 Dan 1810 5. M. Pustilnik 2 Dan 1834 W L 5. M. Lamb Shodan 1697 DC Team wins 3-2 Midwest Team [-B handicap] NY "B" Team [+B handicap] 1. Y. Tsuruoka 4 Dan 2217 W L 1. M. Hamaguchi Shodan 1771 2. D. Dysart 2 Dan 1947 W L 2. S. Matsumura Shodan 1760 3. M. Hayashi [NY] 4 Dan 1827 W L 3. S. Masui 2 Dan 1748 4. H. Inoue [NY] 2 Dan 1787 W L 4. S. Hayashi Shodan 1699 5. J. Nakano Shodan 1763 L W 5. A. Yasuda UNR Midwest Team wins 4-1 3rd Round: NY "A" Team Midwest Team 1. Y. Fujiwara 4 Dan 2221 L W 1. Y. Tsuruoka 4 Dan 2217 2. Y. Suzuki 4 Dan 2210 W L 2. D. Dysart 2 Dan 1947 3. G. Fernandez 4 Dan 2112 W L 3. M. Hayashi [NY] 4 Dan 1827 4. S. Ogihara 4 Dan 2050 L W 4. H. Inoue [NY] 2 Dan 1787 5. M. Pustilnik 2 Dan 1834 L W 5. J. Nakano Shodan 1763 Midwest Team wins 3-2 DC Team [-B handicap] NY "B" Team [+B handicap] 1. L. Kaufman 5 Dan 2287 W L 1. M. Hamaguchi Shodan 1771 2. J. Yoshinari 4 Dan 2124 W L 2. S. Matsumura Shodan 1760 3. R. Kaufman 2 Dan 1882 L W 3. S. Masui 2 Dan 1748 4. S. Ishida [NY] 2 Dan 1810 L W 4. S. Hayashi Shodan 1699 5. M. Lamb Shodan 1697 W L 5. A. Trotter 4 Kyu 1315 DC Team wins 3-2 ------------------------------------- 2000 U.S. Championship Qualifying Quads 4 November 2000 No.1 Name 1st 2nd 3rd Result 1 G.Fernandez 2LF 3W 2W 2-1 2 A.Trotter 1WF 4L 1L 1-2 3 A. Yasuda 4L 1L - 0-2 4 J.Yoshinari 3W 2W - 2-0 No.2 Name 1st 2nd 3rd Result 5 M.Hayashi 6W 7L 8L 1-2 6 H.Inoue 5L 8L - 0-2 7 R.Kaufman 8WF 5W - 2-0 8 D.Dysart 7LF 6W 5W 2-1 No.3 Name 1st 2nd 3rd Result 9 S.Masui 10L 12W 10W 2-1 10 S.Ishida 9W 11L 9L 1-2 11 S.Matsumura 12W 10W - 2-0 12 M.Pustilnik 11L 9L - 0-2 No.4 Name 1st 2nd 3rd Result 13 S.Ogihara 14W 16W - 2-0 14 J.Nakano 13L 15W 16W 2-1 15 M.Lamb 16L 14L - 0-2 16 S.Hayashi 15W 13L 14L 1-2 No.5 Name 1st 2nd 3rd Result 17 Y. Fujiwara 18WF 18W - 2-0 18 M. Hamaguchi 17LF 17L - 0-2 ----------------------------------------------- 2000 U.S. Championship "A" Group 5 November 2000 1st Round Quater-finals Semi-finals Finals Champion Bye 1 Dysart 2D 1)Dysart 2D 2 R Kaufman 2D R Kaufman 2D 3 Suzuki 4D --------------------- 1)L Kaufman 5D 4 L Kaufman 5D L Kaufman 5D 5 Masui 2D 2)L Kaufman 5D Bye 6 Matsumura 2D --------------------- ************************************************ * Fujiwara 4D --------------------- Bye 7 Ogihara 4D 3)Ogihara 4D 8 Yoshinari 4D Fernandez 4D 9 Fernandez 4D --------------------- 2)Fujiwara 4D Bye 10 Fujiwara 4D 4)Fujiwara 4D Bye 11 Nakano 1D ------------------------------------------------ Mr. Ogihara won the 3rd place game over Mr. Dysart. ------------------------------------------------ 2000 U.S. Championship "B" Group 5 November 2000 1st Round Quater-finals Semi-finals Finals Champion Bye 1 Yasuda UNR <1500> [+L] 1)Lamb 1D [+L] 2 Lamb 1D [-R] Lamb 1D [-L] 3 Trotter 4K [+R] --------------------- 1)Lamb 1D [+L] Bye 4 Hamaguchi 1D [=] 2)Ishida 2D [-L] Bye 5 Ishida 2D [=] --------------------- ************************************************ * M Hayashi 4D --------------------- Bye 6 Inoue 2D [=] 3)S Hayashi 1D [+L] Bye 7 S Hayashi 1D [=] --------------------- 2)M Hayashi 4D [-L] Bye 8 Ikou 2K [+R] 4)M Hayashi 4D [-L] 9 Pustilnik 2D [=] M Hayashi 4D [-R] 10 M Hayashi 4D [=] ------------------------------------------------ Mr. Ishida [-L] won the "B" Group 3rd Place game over Mr. S. Hayashi [+L]. ------------------------------------------------ George I. Fernandez President United States Shogi Federation 28-30 34th Street, Apt.#6-O Long Island City, NY 11103 USA Home Telephone: (718)956-5382 Pager: NEW (917)780-0972 E-Mail: g.fernandez mindspring com