From: Jeff Rollason PURPLESOFTWARE COM> Date: 29 oct 2002 Subject: Re: Oriental players? I think that abstract pieces are easier to remember than Kanji. I think if you found a westerner who happened to have not seen a Chess set before (probably rare, but I sure many exist), and you gave them a Staunton Chess set and a Shogi set to examine for a short while and then tested their ability to both (a) draw these pieces and (b) recognise them, I bet you would find that they coped much better with the Chess set. I am assuming here that you are given the English names of the pieces as prompts. I think that the style and form of Kanji is very unfamiliar to most and it is hard to comfortably recognise different symbols without practice. I (obviously) can recognise all the Shogi pieces, but would still be hard-pressed to draw them well, but could easily draw a Staunton set. Jeff Rollason >-----Original Message----- >From: Ian Stanley [mailto:ian_stanley BIGFOOT COM] >Sent: 29 October 2002 14:04 >To: SHOGI-L TECHUNIX TECHNION AC IL >Subject: Re: Oriental players? > > >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Jeff Rollason" PURPLESOFTWARE COM> >> The Kanji is very beautiful, and I would not want >> to use anything else, but I'm sure it puts most potential Western Shogi >> players off from starting. If I had been Chinese I'm sure I would have been >> up and running much more quickly! > >I was not put off though I must admit for a few months using a piece of paper >with the kanji to english translations (including moves) - Those who are >really interested will probably learn te kanji without too much trouble -- after >all people play plenty of other games where the piece is recognised visually as opposed >from read (eg the abstract chess pieces of european chess and many other variants) > On 10th October 2002, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awarded Purple Software a BAFTA for its application, SMS Chess for the new Sony Ericsson P800 in the Games - Mobile Device category. This impressive achievement is testament to Purple Software's standing as a world class developer of entertainment software for leading digital platforms, particularly mobile. Purple Software Limited Purple House Corporation Street High Wycombe Buckinghamshire HP13 6TQ United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0) 1494 750300 Fax: +44 (0) 1494 750301 http://www.purplesoftware.com This e-mail contains proprietary information some or all of which may be legally privileged. It is intended for the recipient only. If an addressing error or transmission error has misdirected this e-mail, please notify the sender immediately or contact postmaster purplesoftware com. If you are not the intended recipient you must not use, disclose, distribute, copy, print or rely on this e-mail. The views expressed in this e mail are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Purple Software Limited.