From: Tarin Clanuwat <solaidah <at> CLICKTA <dot> COM>
Date: 28 oct 2002
Subject: Re: Oriental players?

Interesting topic, but I don't see any useful things discussing
about being oriental or non-oriental players though.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Larry Kaufman" <lkaufman <at> COMCAST <dot> NET>
To: <SHOGI-L <at> TECHUNIX <dot> TECHNION <dot> AC <dot> IL>
Sent: Monday, October 28, 2002 11:16 AM
Subject: Re: Oriental players?


> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Richard Sams" <rjfs <at> PARKCITY <dot> NE <dot> JP>
> To: <SHOGI-L <at> TECHUNIX <dot> TECHNION <dot> AC <dot> IL>
> Sent: Sunday, October 27, 2002 9:48 PM
> Subject: Oriental players?
>
>
> >    In his recent report on the Tokyo International Forum (posted on
> October
> > 23), Larry Kaufman made the following comment on the results:
> >
> > "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!"
> >
> > I am rather surprised that Larry should put all "Oriental" players in
the
> > same category. While the Japanese and Brazilian (ethnic Japanese)
players
> > have an obvious cultural advantage regarding Shogi, the players from
China
> > and Thailand are essentially in the same situation as players from the
> West.
> > Both countries have their own versions of chess - Chinese chess
> (shiang-chi)
> > and Thai chess (makruk) - so they are not much more likely than
Westerners
> > to encounter Shogi. The Japanese tend to think that Chinese people have
an
> > advantage over Westerners in learning Shogi because they can read kanji
> > (Chinese characters), but I haven't met any players from Europe who had
> much
> > difficulty remembering or identifying the eight Shogi pieces!
> >
> >
> > Richard Sams
>
>      I believe that the Chinese have a big advantage over us Westerners in
> terms of being able to access Japanese literature.  It's true that spoken
> Japanese and Chinese have little in common, but since they use many of the
> same Kanji I would imagine that a Chinese person could somewhat understand
> what a Japanese magazine or book was saying about a position without
having
> to know any Japanese at all.  Also, many more Chinese now play shogi than
> all westerners combined, perhaps because they are not discouraged by the
> Kanji.  Regarding the Thai written language, I must plead ignorance.
>
>      Larry
>