From: Larry Kaufman <KaufmanLarry <at> MSN <dot> COM>
Date: 14 may 2001
Subject: U.S. Shogi Championship

------=_NextPart_001_0001_01C0DC90.EE5DCD20
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

     The U.S. Shogi Championship was held this weekend in Washington, D.C=
.  Turnout was a bit low at 23 (plus the three professional players), per=
haps due to the Mother's Day conflict, but the tournament was extremely s=
trong, with half the players being four or five Dan.  The main event was =
a traditional elimination tournament, with A and B sections, but the qual=
ification process was unique.  We divided the twenty contestants (excludi=
ng novice and one-day participants) into four teams representing the four=
 shogi centers participating (New York, Washington, Los Angeles, and Midw=
est which covered all the players from the interior of the country).  New=
 York and Washington "loaned" one or two players each to the other teams =
to fill up the roster.  The players on each team were listed in rating or=
der, and played the corresponding players on the other teams in round rob=
in fashion (three matches).  New York won the team prize ($100), partly d=
ue to Washington's "generosity" in loaning one of our fourth-Dan players =
(Egoshi) to the Midwest to give them a fighting chance.  For qualificatio=
n purposes, each player started with a number of points equal to his boar=
d number (starting from 0 for bottom board to 4 for top board), and recei=
ved an additional point for each game won.  Ties were resolved by results=
 in the side handicap games against the pros.  The top eight players proc=
eeded to the A group, the other to B.  The system apparently worked quite=
 well because all of the players in the A group were fourth or fifth Dan.=
  We would not have had enough time for both the team match and qualifier=
s, but this system solved the problem.  An additional advantage was that =
almost all the games were between contestants of reasonably close strengt=
h, unlike the case of randomly chosen qualification sections.  Young Taku=
shi Asada of Los Angeles (age 17 I believe) particularly impressed everyo=
ne not only by winning all three of his games on top board, but by the ve=
ry long and spectacular Tsume he performed against me while in byoyomi.  =
Suffice it to say that at the end of this brilliant sequence, when I fina=
lly resigned, one of the fourth-Dan players watching still did not see ho=
w it would end in mate!
     In the main event, Asada won his three games as expected to become c=
hampion and win the trophy and the air ticket to Japan (his home country;=
 he was studying to become a pro there until his family moved to L.A. a c=
ouple years ago).  In the final he defeated last year's champion Fujiwara=
 in a rather decisive game that featured an unexpected knight's move to t=
he edge that surprised and impressed the pros.  The runner-up received $1=
00 plus a nice trophy.  Third place went to Mr. Kimijima of Minnesota, a =
fairly recent arrival from Japan who was on Japan's strongest University =
team at one time and who seems to be of five Dan strength, though he is t=
oo modest to claim that rank.
     In the B group, the surprise winner was Mr. Nakano of Chicago who wa=
s only ranked as a 1st Dan.  His last three wins were against a 2 Dan, a =
3 Dan, and a 4 Dan.  Since he also did well in the Team event, he will pr=
obably have earned promotion to 2 Dan, though this must await confirmatio=
n by Asle Olufsen.  Runner-up in B was Washington's Jiro Yoshinari 4 Dan,=
 and third place went to Los Angeles player Mac Ito.
     There were also trophies to 1st Dan and for top kyu players.  Since =
none of these players (other than Nakano who was not eligible for two pri=
zes) won any games in the main event, the awards were based on the play i=
n the team event with the pro games again serving as tie-breakers.  Top D=
an went to Washington's Mike Lamb, and top kyu to New York's Alex Trotter=
.
     The three pros (Ishikawa 6 Dan, Kondo 5 Dan, Matsumoto 4 Dan) played=
 a great many games against the amateurs, and in general the amateurs sco=
red better than has been our experience in the past.  I myself scored 2 o=
ut of 4 at Bishop handicap, my son Raymond scored 2 out of 4 at Rook & La=
nce (much better than his past results), and my new wife Sally scored 1 o=
ut of 2 at six piece handicap, despite never having played a single game =
at less than six piece handicap before this event!  This shows that if yo=
u learn the joseki of six piece (I taught her the knight attack, as given=
 in my Mind Sports article for Five piece left handicap), learn the key p=
rinciple of promoting pawns and minor pieces and then trading them for re=
al generals, and learn a few basic mates, you can fight successfully agai=
nst anyone at six piece.  Special mention should also be made of Alex Tro=
tter for scoring a win at four piece handicap although his rank would hav=
e indicated a greater handicap, and of Mike Lamb for making a clean 3-0 s=
weep against the pros at Two Piece handicap (our countless battles in the=
 past at this handicap apparently taught him a few things!).  =20
     Special thanks to Mr. Wachi of Gallery K in Washington for letting u=
s use his gallery for the final day and for the dinner and lunch he provi=
ded us.  Thanks also to Mr. Hayashi for arrangeing for the donation of th=
e air ticket prize and to Mr. Yoshinari for doing most of the organizatio=
n work.
     Larry Kaufman, tournament director =20
      <br clear=3Dall><hr>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at <a hr=
ef=3D"http://explorer.msn.com">http://explorer.msn.com</a><br></p>

------=_NextPart_001_0001_01C0DC90.EE5DCD20
Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<HTML><BODY STYLE=3D"font:10pt verdana; border:none;"><P>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbs=
p;&nbsp; The U.S. Shogi Championship was held this weekend in Washington,=
 D.C.&nbsp; Turnout was a bit low at 23 (plus the three professional play=
ers), perhaps due to the Mother's Day conflict, but the tournament was ex=
tremely strong, with half the players being four or five Dan.&nbsp; The m=
ain event was a traditional elimination tournament, with A and B sections=
, but the qualification process was unique.&nbsp; We divided the twenty c=
ontestants (excluding novice and one-day participants) into four teams re=
presenting the four shogi centers participating (New York, Washington, Lo=
s Angeles, and Midwest which covered all the players from the interior of=
 the country).&nbsp; New York and Washington "loaned" one or two players =
each to the other teams to fill up the roster.&nbsp; The players on each =
team were listed in rating order, and played the corresponding players on=
 the other teams in round robin fashion (three matches).&nbsp; New York w=
on the team prize ($100), partly due to Washington's "generosity" in loan=
ing one of our fourth-Dan players (Egoshi) to the Midwest to give them a =
fighting chance.&nbsp; For qualification purposes, each player started wi=
th a number of points equal to his board number (starting from 0 for bott=
om board to 4 for top board), and received an additional point for each g=
ame won.&nbsp; Ties were resolved by results in the side handicap games a=
gainst the pros.&nbsp; The top eight players proceeded to the A group, th=
e other to B.&nbsp; The system apparently worked quite well because all o=
f the players in the A group were fourth or fifth Dan.&nbsp;&nbsp;We woul=
d not have had enough time for both the team&nbsp;match and qualifiers, b=
ut this system solved the problem.&nbsp; An additional advantage&nbsp;was=
 that almost all the games were&nbsp;between contestants of reasonably cl=
ose strength, unlike the case of randomly chosen qualification sections.&=
nbsp; Young Takushi Asada of Los Angeles (age 17 I believe) particularly =
impressed everyone not only by winning all three of his games on top boar=
d, but by the very long and spectacular Tsume he performed against me whi=
le in byoyomi.&nbsp; Suffice it to say that at the end of this brilliant =
sequence, when I finally resigned, one of the fourth-Dan players watching=
 still did not see how it would end in mate!</P> <P>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nb=
sp; In the main event, Asada won his three games as expected to become ch=
ampion and win the trophy and the air ticket to Japan (his home country; =
he was studying to become a pro there until his family moved to L.A. a co=
uple years ago).&nbsp; In the final he defeated last year's champion Fuji=
wara in a rather decisive game that featured an unexpected knight's move =
to the edge that surprised and impressed the pros.&nbsp; The runner-up re=
ceived $100 plus a nice trophy.&nbsp; Third place went to Mr. Kimijima of=
 Minnesota, a fairly recent arrival from Japan who was on Japan's stronge=
st University team at one time and who seems to be of five Dan strength, =
though he is too modest to claim that rank.</P> <P>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbs=
p; In the B group, the surprise winner was Mr. Nakano of Chicago who was =
only ranked as a 1st Dan.&nbsp; His last three wins were against a 2 Dan,=
 a 3 Dan, and a 4 Dan.&nbsp; Since he also did well in the Team event, he=
 will probably have earned promotion to 2 Dan, though this must await con=
firmation by Asle Olufsen.&nbsp; Runner-up in B was Washington's Jiro Yos=
hinari 4 Dan, and third place went to Los Angeles player Mac Ito.</P> <P>=
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There were also trophies to 1st Dan and for top =
kyu players.&nbsp; Since none of these players (other than Nakano who was=
 not eligible for two prizes) won any games in the main event, the awards=
 were based on the play in the team event&nbsp;with the pro games again s=
erving as tie-breakers.&nbsp; Top Dan went to Washington's Mike Lamb, and=
 top kyu to New York's Alex Trotter.</P> <P>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The =
three pros&nbsp;(Ishikawa 6 Dan, Kondo 5 Dan, Matsumoto 4 Dan) played a g=
reat many games against the amateurs, and in general the amateurs scored =
better than has been our experience in the past.&nbsp; I myself scored 2 =
out of 4 at Bishop handicap, my son Raymond scored 2 out of 4 at Rook &am=
p; Lance (much better than his past results), and my new wife Sally score=
d 1 out of 2 at six piece handicap,&nbsp;despite never having played a si=
ngle game at less than six piece handicap before this event!&nbsp; This s=
hows that if you learn the joseki of six piece (I taught her the knight a=
ttack, as given in my Mind Sports article for Five piece left handicap), =
learn the key principle of promoting pawns and minor pieces and then trad=
ing them for real generals, and learn a few basic mates, you can fight su=
ccessfully against anyone at&nbsp;six piece.&nbsp; Special mention should=
 also be made of Alex Trotter for scoring a win at four piece handicap&nb=
sp;although his rank would have indicated a greater handicap, and of Mike=
 Lamb for making a clean 3-0 sweep against the pros at Two Piece handicap=
 (our countless battles in the past at this handicap apparently taught hi=
m a few things!).&nbsp; </P> <P>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Special thanks t=
o Mr. Wachi of Gallery K in&nbsp;Washington for letting us use his galler=
y for the final day and for the dinner and lunch he provided us.&nbsp; Th=
anks also to&nbsp;Mr. Hayashi for arrangeing for the donation of the air =
ticket prize and to Mr. Yoshinari for&nbsp;doing most of the organization=
 work.</P> <P>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Larry Kaufman, tournament director=
&nbsp;</P> <P>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</P></BODY></HTML><DIV><BR><=
br clear=3Dall><hr>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at <a href=3D"h=
ttp://explorer.msn.com">http://explorer.msn.com</a><br></p></DIV>

------=_NextPart_001_0001_01C0DC90.EE5DCD20--