From: Dana B Moreland RAYTHEON COM> Date: 13 nov 2002 Subject: Need advice for improvement I am just a beginner at Shogi. I have been playing for about one year. I live in the Denver CO USA area. I have played face to face vs some of the college students at the Teikyo University here in Denver. When playing vs a casual player (someone who knows how to play but doesn't play much) I win most of the time. When I play vs someone who plays fairly regularly I win 1 out of every 2 or 3 games. So I beleave my level is something above the true beginner level of 15 kyu. However I have tryed to play on Shogi Dojo 24 and I get killed in every game I have played. I have tryed playing both in the free room and in the regular room vs those rated 14 or 15 Kyu, and have lost every game, badly. In some earlier posts to this list someone mentioned that the ratings of the players on Shogi Dojo 24 did not reflect "true" strength ratings especialy at the lowest levels. For example someone rated 15 kyu on Shogi Dojo 24 was not a true beginner but was more like a 10 kyu "club" player. So my question is, as a true beginner, how can I improve my Shogi play to where I can compete on Shogi Dojo 24 at the 15 Kyu level? Are there some books you can recommend that I can study. Or a computer shogi program I can play against. Or another online game area where I can play vs other true beginners. Or should I just stay on Shogi Dojo 24 and try to learn from the games I always loose (for now) and hope that I will learn this way. As for playing face to face, the only players I know of are the Teikyo University students, however I get very few opportunities to play vs them, only about once per month. Thank you for your help, Dana Moreland