From: "T.Rogalski" ACCESS-4-FREE COM> Date: 8 jul 2003 Subject: Two games from the Poconos Meijin tournament This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0033_01C34557.983E5900 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable This was the first time I attended this shogi tournament, and it quickly = became my favorite. The comradery and atmosphere was unique contrasting = with the competitiveness of tournament chess. The weather was sunny and = warm for those who chose to play outside. The food was excellent -- it = had the best curry I ever tasted. And with all the sake and Sapporo = beer one wanted to drink, this lead to a very jovial atmosphere where = one heard outbursts and laughter amid the warning beeps from the = Japanese clocks during byoyomi. I stopped keeping score after the first day's games, and this improved = my performance by allowing me to focus; however, the downside was that = most games went unrecorded and were lost to prosperity -- scores that I = would have treasured. An example was my game with Jiro Yoshinari which = was a real fight. We fought like two screaming samurai warriors = violently hacking each other with swords. =20 After my loss to the Professional, he immediately pointed out that I had = tsume with 61.G*7d! Kx7d 62.+R7b P*7c 63.P*7e, etc. Black: Tim Rogalski, 2-Kyu Amateur White: Naruyuki Hatakeyama, 7-Dan Professional Four Piece handicap 1.--- S6b 2.P2f G3b 3.P2e S2b 4.P7f P5d 5.P2d Px2d 6.Rx2d S5c = 7.R2h P*2c 8.P1f P4d 9.P1e P3d 10.G3h G5b 11.S7h G54c 12.G2g S6d = 13.G3f K6b 14.S4h P5e 15.P1d Px1d 16.P*1b P7d 17.G2e P8d 18.Gx1d = P*1c 19.Gx1c Nx1c 20.P1a+ P2d 21.+P1b N2e 22.+Px2b Gx2b 23.P*2f = Nx3g+ 24.Sx3g N7c 25.G5h P7e 26.Px7e Sx7e 27.R1h P*1c 28.P*7d N6e = 29.Bx5e S6d 30.B6f P*7e 31.N*5f S5c 32.Bx7e G*8c 33.S*5e P*7g = 34.S6i Gx7d 35.B6f P*5d 36.P*7e G7c 37.S54f P6d 38.P*3b G2c 39.P3a+ = P1d 40.+P3b K6c 41.K6h P8e 42.P*1b G8d 43.P9f P3e 44.P1a+ G43d = 45.+P1b P4e 46.+P12b Px4f 47.+Px2c P5e 48.+P33c G4e 49.Px4f Gx5f = 50.Px5f Px5f 51.Rx1d S*5g 52.Gx5g Px5g+ 53.Bx5g P7h+ 54.Sx7h N*5f = 55.K5h Nx5g+ 56.Kx5g S4d 57.R1b+ Gx7e 58.N*6f B*3i 59.S*4h Gx6f = 60.Px6f Nx4h+ 61.Sx4h? P*5f 62.K6g N*7e 63.K7g Bx4h+ 64.G*8d K5d = 65.+R5b G*5c 66.+R4b P*4e 67.G*4c K5e 68.Gx4d +Bx6f 69.K6h P5g+ = 70.0-1 Black: Tim Rogalski, 2-Kyu Amateur White: George Fernandez, 4-Dan Amateur Rook and Lance handicap 1.--- P3d 2.Pf7 P4d 3.P2f S4b 4.P1f G3b 5.P1e P5d 6.R1h S4c 7.P1d = Px1d 8.Rx1d P*1c 9.R1h S6b 10.S4h S5c 11.P4f S6d 12.S4g K6h 13.S5f = P7d 14.P3f P9d 15.P9f P8d 16.K6h P8e 17.S7h N7c 18.K7i G7b 19.G45h = G8c 20.N3g G8d 21.P*1b P7e 22.Px7e Gx7e 23.P6f P5e 24.S56g P*7f = 25.P*7d Gx7d 26.Sx7f S7e 27.Sf6g P*7f 28.N2e P6d 29.P1a+ Bx1a = 30.Nx1c+ Nx1c 31.Rx1c+ B2b 32.+R1b P*1a 33.+R1d P4e 34.Px4e P9e = 35.Px9e P6e 36.N*4d G3c 37.P2e K5c 38.P*1c Sx4d 39.Px4d Kx4d = 40.S*3e K4e 41.P*4f Kx3f 42.Sx3d P2d 43.+R1f N*2f 44.Sx3c+ Bx3c = 45.G*4g K3e 46.P*3f K3d 47.+Rx2f B4d 48.P3e Bx3e 49.+R3f S*2f = 50.+R4e K2c 51.Px2d Bx2d 52.P*2e B3c 53.P*3d B2b 54.+R4c P*3c = 55.Px3c+ Bx3c 56.P*3d 1-0 My thanks to everyone who made this such a pleasant experience, and = especially to Mr. Hatakeyama for sharing his superior shogi knowledge, = and for winning the 'exhibition' with a perfect score. :-) Tim Rogalski ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Larry Kaufman=20 To: SHOGI-L TECHUNIX TECHNION AC IL=20 Sent: Monday, June 30, 2003 1:29 AM Subject: Poconos Meijin tournament In what has become an annual event, this year 13 shogi players = (six Americans, six Japanese amateurs, and one Pro) from the New York = and D.C. Shogi clubs (except the Pro of course) gathered in a rented = house in the Pocono mountains of Pennsylvania for a weekend of shogi. = More specifically, for a round robin rated handicap tournament which we = call the "Poconos Meijin". This was the first time a Pro came to the = gathering, and perhaps only the second time that a Pro competed as a = regular participant (i.e. one-to-one, not simul) in a Pan-Atlantic rated = event (Sugimoto did so in Ohio a few years ago). All but three of the = participants were ranked 2 Dan or stronger. Time limit was 20' + 30" = byoyomi.=20 We ranked the Pro, Mr. Hatakeyama Noriyuko 7 Dan, as if he were a = 7 Dan amateur, and used handicaps that are fairly typical of clubs in = Japan on average. This meant that he had to give me bishop while giving = the other Dan players rook or rook & lance, while giving the kyu players = 4-6 pieces. =20 Despite the handicaps, Mr. Hatakeyama impressed us all by winning = all 12 of his tournament games!! Several players had "easily" winning = positions or even Tsume, but in 30" byoyomi none managed to win their = won games. He also played many unrated quick games at various = combinations of time and/or piece handicaps, winning all of them too = except for a single loss to my son Raymond in a 30" per move game at = rook & lance. I can only conclude that we should have ranked the Pro as = an 8 Dan amateur! Back to the tournament, first place among the amateurs went to = Tim Rogalski of D.C. shogi club who scored an impressive 9-3. Playing = as a 2 kyu based on his rating, he will surely be knocking on the door = of Shodan soon. He has actually been playing for over twenty years, but = has played hardly at all in the past decade until catching the shogi bug = again a few weeks ago. He has clearly now more than regained his level = of old. Second place went to me. I also scored 9-3, but one win was by = default over a player who left in the middle of the event, so Tim was = entitled to first place by any tie-break system. Third place went to = the lowest ranked participant, Greg D'Elia of the New York club, who = scored 7-5 playing as a 5 kyu, which reflected both the efficacy of the = handicaps and the rapid improvement he is making. Fourth place went to = Jiro Yoshinari of D.C. club and fifth to my son Raymond Kaufman. One curiousity of the event was that since we had an equal number = of American and Japanese amateurs, it was possible to view the event as = a U.S. vs. Japan match. Surprisingly, the U.S. players won by a = lopsided 23-11, though it doesn't mean much because three of the U.S. = players were always receiving handicaps from the Japanese. Still, it's = encouraging for U.S. shogi. Overall, in handicapped games the players giving the handicap won = by 32-21, a bit below expectation. However the entire margin came from = the pro games; without them the handicap givers actually lost 21-20, = which I believe is unprecedented in Western shogi events. This was = despite the fact that the handicap system used was thought to give the = stronger players a definite edge. More details should follow soon, perhaps from the NY club. = Special thanks to Mr. Hatakeyama not only for playing in the event, but = giving countless hours of instruction to all of us there. It was a = wonderful experience for all. Larry Kaufman for U.S. Shogi Federation =20 =20 ------=_NextPart_000_0033_01C34557.983E5900 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
This was the first time I attended this = shogi=20 tournament, and it quickly became my favorite.  The comradery and=20 atmosphere was unique contrasting with the competitiveness of = tournament=20 chess.  The weather was sunny and warm for those who chose to = play=20 outside.  The food was excellent -- it had the best curry = I ever=20 tasted.  And with all the sake and Sapporo beer one wanted to = drink, this=20 lead to a very jovial atmosphere where one heard outbursts = and laughter=20 amid the warning beeps from the Japanese clocks during=20 byoyomi.
 
I stopped keeping score = after the first=20 day's games, and this improved my performance by allowing me to = focus;=20 however, the downside was that most games went unrecorded and = were=20 lost to prosperity -- scores that I would have treasured.  An = example=20 was my game with Jiro Yoshinari which was a real fight.  We fought = like two=20 screaming samurai warriors violently hacking each other with = swords. =20
 
After my loss to the Professional, = he=20 immediately pointed out that I had tsume with 61.G*7d! Kx7d  = 62.+R7b=20 P*7c  63.P*7e, etc.
 
Black: Tim Rogalski, 2-Kyu = Amateur
White: Naruyuki Hatakeyama, 7-Dan=20 Professional
Four Piece handicap
 
1.--- S6b  2.P2f G3b  3.P2e = S2b =20 4.P7f P5d  5.P2d Px2d  6.Rx2d S5c  7.R2h P*2c  8.P1f = P4d  9.P1e P3d  10.G3h G5b  11.S7h G54c  12.G2g = S6d =20 13.G3f K6b  14.S4h P5e  15.P1d Px1d  = 16.P*1b P7d =20 17.G2e P8d  18.Gx1d P*1c  19.Gx1c Nx1c  20.P1a+ = P2d =20 21.+P1b N2e  22.+Px2b Gx2b  23.P*2f Nx3g+  24.Sx3g = N7c =20 25.G5h P7e  26.Px7e Sx7e  27.R1h P*1c  28.P*7d N6e  = 29.Bx5e=20 S6d  30.B6f P*7e  31.N*5f S5c  32.Bx7e G*8c  33.S*5e = P*7g  34.S6i Gx7d  35.B6f P*5d  36.P*7e G7c  37.S54f = P6d  38.P*3b G2c  39.P3a+ P1d  40.+P3b K6c  41.K6h = P8e =20 42.P*1b G8d  43.P9f P3e  44.P1a+ G43d  45.+P1b P4e  = 46.+P12b=20 Px4f  47.+Px2c P5e  48.+P33c G4e  49.Px4f Gx5f  = 50.Px5f=20 Px5f  51.Rx1d S*5g  52.Gx5g Px5g+  53.Bx5g P7h+  = 54.Sx7h=20 N*5f  55.K5h Nx5g+  56.Kx5g S4d  57.R1b+ Gx7e  = 58.N*6f=20 B*3i  59.S*4h Gx6f  60.Px6f Nx4h+  61.Sx4h? P*5f  = 62.K6g=20 N*7e  63.K7g Bx4h+  64.G*8d K5d  65.+R5b G*5c  = 66.+R4b=20 P*4e  67.G*4c K5e  68.Gx4d +Bx6f  69.K6h P5g+ =20 70.0-1
 
Black: Tim Rogalski, 2-Kyu = Amateur
White: George Fernandez, 4-Dan = Amateur
Rook and Lance handicap
 
1.--- P3d  2.Pf7 P4d  3.P2f = S4b =20 4.P1f G3b  5.P1e P5d  6.R1h S4c  7.P1d Px1d  8.Rx1d=20 P*1c  9.R1h S6b  10.S4h S5c  11.P4f S6d  12.S4g = K6h =20 13.S5f P7d  14.P3f P9d  15.P9f P8d  16.K6h P8e  = 17.S7h=20 N7c  18.K7i G7b  19.G45h G8c  20.N3g G8d  21.P*1b = P7e =20 22.Px7e Gx7e  23.P6f P5e  24.S56g P*7f  25.P*7d = Gx7d =20 26.Sx7f S7e  27.Sf6g P*7f  28.N2e P6d  29.P1a+ Bx1a  = 30.Nx1c+ Nx1c  31.Rx1c+ B2b  32.+R1b P*1a  33.+R1d = P4e =20 34.Px4e P9e  35.Px9e P6e  36.N*4d G3c  37.P2e K5c  = 38.P*1c=20 Sx4d  39.Px4d Kx4d  40.S*3e K4e  41.P*4f Kx3f  = 42.Sx3d=20 P2d  43.+R1f N*2f  44.Sx3c+ Bx3c  45.G*4g K3e  = 46.P*3f=20 K3d  47.+Rx2f B4d  48.P3e Bx3e  49.+R3f S*2f  = 50.+R4e=20 K2c  51.Px2d Bx2d  52.P*2e B3c  53.P*3d B2b  54.+R4c = P*3c  55.Px3c+ Bx3c  56.P*3d 1-0
 
My thanks to everyone who made this = such a pleasant=20 experience, and especially to Mr. Hatakeyama for sharing his superior = shogi=20 knowledge, and for winning the 'exhibition' with a perfect score. =20 :-)
 
Tim Rogalski
----- Original Message -----
From:=20 COMCAST NET = href=3D"mailto:lkaufman COMCAST NET">Larry=20 Kaufman
To: TECHUNIX TECHNION AC IL=20 = href=3D"mailto:SHOGI-L TECHUNIX TECHNION AC IL">SHOGI-L@TECHUNIX TECHNION= .AC.IL=20
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2003 = 1:29 AM
Subject: Poconos Meijin = tournament

    In what has become = an annual=20 event, this year 13 shogi players (six Americans, six Japanese = amateurs, and=20 one Pro) from the New York and D.C. Shogi clubs (except the Pro of = course)=20 gathered in a rented house in the Pocono mountains of Pennsylvania for = a=20 weekend of shogi.  More specifically, for a round robin rated = handicap=20 tournament which we call the "Poconos Meijin".  This was the = first time a=20 Pro came to the gathering, and perhaps only the second time that a Pro = competed as a regular participant (i.e. one-to-one, not simul) in a=20 Pan-Atlantic rated event (Sugimoto did so in Ohio a few years = ago).  All=20 but three of the participants were ranked 2 Dan or stronger.  = Time=20 limit was 20' + 30" byoyomi. 
     We ranked = the Pro, Mr.=20 Hatakeyama Noriyuko 7 Dan, as if he were a 7 Dan amateur, and used = handicaps=20 that are fairly typical of clubs in Japan on average.  This = meant=20 that he had to give me bishop while giving the other Dan players rook = or rook=20 & lance, while giving the kyu players 4-6 = pieces.  
     = Despite the=20 handicaps, Mr. Hatakeyama impressed us all by winning all 12 of his = tournament=20 games!!  Several players had "easily" winning positions or even = Tsume,=20 but in 30" byoyomi none managed to win their won games.  He also = played=20 many unrated quick games at various combinations of time and/or piece=20 handicaps, winning all of them too except for a single loss to my son = Raymond=20 in a 30" per move game at rook & lance.  I can only conclude = that we=20 should have ranked the Pro as an 8 Dan amateur!
     Back to the = tournament,=20 first place among the amateurs went to Tim Rogalski of D.C. shogi club = who=20 scored an impressive 9-3.  Playing as a 2 kyu based on his = rating, he=20 will surely be knocking on the door of Shodan soon.  He has = actually been=20 playing for over twenty years, but has played hardly at all in the = past decade=20 until catching the shogi bug again a few weeks ago.  He has = clearly=20 now more than regained his level of old.
     Second place = went to=20 me.  I also scored 9-3, but one win was by default over a player = who left=20 in the middle of the event, so Tim was entitled to first place by any=20 tie-break system.  Third place went to the lowest ranked = participant,=20 Greg D'Elia of the New York club, who scored 7-5 playing as a 5 kyu, = which=20 reflected both the efficacy of the handicaps and the rapid improvement = he is=20 making.  Fourth place went to Jiro Yoshinari of D.C. club and = fifth to my=20 son Raymond Kaufman.
     One = curiousity of the=20 event was that since we had an equal number of American and Japanese = amateurs,=20 it was possible to view the event as a U.S. vs. Japan match. =20 Surprisingly, the U.S. players won by a lopsided 23-11, though it = doesn't mean=20 much because three of the U.S. players were always receiving handicaps = from=20 the Japanese.  Still, it's encouraging for U.S. = shogi.
     Overall, in = handicapped=20 games the players giving the handicap won by 32-21, a bit below=20 expectation.  However the entire margin came from the pro games; = without=20 them the handicap givers actually lost 21-20, which I believe is = unprecedented=20 in Western shogi events.  This was despite the fact that the = handicap=20 system used was thought to give the stronger players a definite=20 edge.
     More details = should=20 follow soon, perhaps from the NY club.  Special thanks to=20 Mr. Hatakeyama not only for playing in the event, but giving = countless hours of instruction to all of us there.  It was a = wonderful=20 experience for all.
 
     Larry = Kaufman for U.S.=20 Shogi Federation   
    =20   
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