From: Larry Kaufman <lkaufman <at> COMCAST <dot> NET>
Date: 23 oct 2002
Subject: Re: Tokyo International Forum

----- Original Message -----
From: bogin <bogin <at> YAHOO <dot> CO <dot> JP>
Date: Tuesday, October 22, 2002 6:31 pm
Subject: Tokyo International Forum

> I've got a question about this year's Tokyo International Forum.
> If I
> remember correctly, the last Forum in 1999(?) was won Mr. Hayashi
> Takahiro(a very very very strong Japanese amateur player). Also, I
> believe the
> Japanese Elementary School Meijin and the Japanese Amateur Women's
> Mejinparticipated in that tournament. It seems that there were
> more participants
> in the individual section at the last forum. Also, it was of the
> knock-out
> type which meant that only 2 players could advance to the
> championship so
> there would be a clear-cut winner.
>
> At this year's Forum, where there any Japanese amateur champions that
> participated in the individual tournament?

     The Japanese did have a representative, but he was "only" the
champion of his region (Tendo, where shogi sets are made) rather than a
national champion.  I think this was done to make it possible for a non-
Japanese to win.

Also, was the format more
> swiss-system or round-robin like than knock-out like?

     The format for the individual event was basically the same as the
one used in European championships, namely a Swiss where players join
the event as they are eliminated from another event (in this case the
team tournament).  It wasn't called a Swiss, and pairings did not
follow Swiss rules exactly, but that's what it was.

For some
> reason, it
> seems like last time the individual tournament was stressed while
> this time
> the team tournament was emphasized more.

     I felt that they were given equal importance.  However, the fact
that some players were in the individual event from the start while
others were in the team event for some rounds made the Swiss tie-
breaking methods somewhat random.  Still, to be fair I must say that
the tie-break winner, Gert Schnider, did really play the strongest
field.

It seems like a little
> let down to
> end-up with a 4 way tie for first at such a big and important
> tournamentand then to decide things by tie break points. Does any
> one know why it was
> run this way?
>
     The rules did call for a playoff game if two people tied for
first, but not otherwise.  I think that if they had thought it thru
more carefully they would have said that in the event of a multiple
tie, the two players with best tie-break would have had a playoff game,
though even that would have been less than ideal.  Still, it's normal
for Swiss chess tournaments to have non-monetary prizes (as these were,
shogi equipment) decided by tie-break, so it's not so strange.  The
only strange point was that it was decided in advance that the winner
should be awarded 5 Dan, and clearly that rank should not have been
awarded by tie-break points but by a playoff.  But anyway, I'm glad to
see the Shogi Renmei willing to run a Swiss rather than elimination,
which sets a nice precedent for our events in the West.  This being
their first use of the Swiss, I think they did it rather well.  The
mixed team format was rather complicated, but it did work out okay.  If
there had been another round or two, the tie-break problems would have
become insignificant.

     The remarkable thing about the results was that not one of the
Oriental players made it to the four-way tie for first!  The Japanese
and Brazilian (ethnic Japanese) players were thought to be among the
favorites, and there were also Oriental players from China, Thailand,
and Paraguay.  So the results were a great success for Shogi in the
West.  Furthermore, even among the players with 3-2, the two top
finishers on tie-break were non-Orientals!

     As for my own play, I missed the simplest of mates in my game with
Boris Mirnik, due to a combination of byo-yomi and jet-lag.  My next
three wins were easy enough, but against the Ukrainian player (the only
one to beat Schnider) I had a rather close game.  He surprised everyone
with his practical strength, despite limited knowledge of shogi
theory.  He is definitely not less than 3 Dan.  I also got to try out
the Bishop handicap system I just wrote up in my handicap series on
Eric's website against Professional player Chuza.  It worked very well
in that I got a decisive advantage, but I made one big endgame error
and this allowed the game to end in a draw (Sennichite).

     It was a very enjoyable event, despite jet-lag.  Next time I'll
come a week in advance!


> Thanks
>
> Bill Gaudry
>
      Larry Kaufman