From: Eric Cheymol FREE FR> Date: 7 nov 2002 Subject: Re: Level of Shogi in Europe Hi Gert, Le mercredi, 6 nov 2002, à 13:27 Europe/Paris, Schnider a écrit : > And if this is not enough to aquire at least good amateur status I > also won on even against a Japanese woman professional - I spoke with > other Europeans about that and for example Eric Cheymol has also won > even games against woman professionals. You are mistaken. I didn't speak about even games against women pros but about only one even game against a male pro (a 5 Dan pro). This game was played in a simul in Paris, with 7 boards at the same time. This can not be compared to an usual even game at all. He offered me to play a training even game before the first IST 3 years ago. The pro didn't see a threat in the endgame, so that I could win. I consider this game as a teaching game. Anyway, it is a great satisfaction for me :-) > One more thing I experienced comparing European and Japanese players. > When playing against Japanese amateurs (from 2dan to 4dan, also some > 5dans) I got a worse position after the opening in nearly all my > games, Most of amateur 4 Dan and above Japanese players have a very good knowledge of the joseki. I saw it many many times with Japanese visiting Europe, for example, Ito, 5 Dan who lived in Europe a lot of years, Toyokazu Miyamoto, 4 Dan and twice European Champion, Tomohiko Ueda, 5 Dan, and many others. > I got a worse position after the opening in nearly all my games, > and this does not happen to me in Europe - Gloups ! You write a bit hastily here, you forget at least one recent game. This was in the semifinal of the last European Championship this August. Your position was worse as soon as the opening. I didn't replay all your recent games, I can not say more. > Japanese know a lot more about joseki (probably because of better > access to books, and magazines) Well, perhaps watching the Japanese TV each sunday morning (JST time) can help us to improve more, even without understanding the comments. Seeing the pros moving the pieces can help us to analyze the games, to replay the threats and to see the tricks. I had the possibility to watch a few TV shogi programs, and this is a good training before a tournament. And I almost understand no comment at all ! Anyway, being able to read books is a big advantage. Then, we need to learn reading Japanese, don't we Reijer :-) ? > - but when it comes to fighting and endgame calculations they are > weaker than Europeans with the same rank. Gloups again. Having played with many 2-5 Dan amateur Japanese players over years, I have not the same opinion at all. Perhaps Larry can give us his personal opinion ? Cheers, Eric ---------------- Get the European shogi archives at http://www.shogi.fr.st