From: Richard Sams parkcity ne jp> Date: 24 jun 2004 Subject: The NHK "Nifu" Incident Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Save up to 67% on Omaha Steaks + Get 6 FREE Burgers and a=20 FREE Cutlery Set + Cutting Board! http://click.topica.com/= caaclxSa2i6YsbnuqMaa/OmahaSteaks ------------------------------------------------------------------- Last Sunday, June 20, something quite extraordinary happened in the=20 weekly televised shogi game on NHK (NHK Shogi Tournament). Playing=20 Black, Toyokawa 6-dan dropped a pawn on 2i. There was a sudden shout of=20 astonishment from the commentators (Tsukada 8-dan and women's pro=20 Chiba). Toyokawa's opponent, Tamura 5-dan, pointed to another pawn of=20 Toyokawa's on 2c, the same file! Toyokawa had broken the "nifu" (two=20 pawns) rule (a player cannot have two or more unpromoted pawn of his=20 own on the same file at the same time). Toyokawa immediately forfeited=20 the game. There is an .mpg file of the incident circulating. It's too big to send=20 to the Shogi list, but here's a blow by blow account of its content: Overhead shot of the shogi board. It's Tamura's move. He takes=20 Toyokawa's knight on 3g with his knight on 4e, promoting it. Toyokawa=20 is in byo-yomi. The seconds are being counted down. The commentators=20 say his position looks difficult, with no clear attacking chances. The=20 scorekeeper calls out the seconds "20 seconds, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8=20 ... Toyokawa picks up a pawn and drops it on 2i. Commentator Tsukada=20 exclaims "Ah, uchatta, uchatta!" ("he's dropped it!"). Chiba screams!=20 After a couple of seconds, Tamura 5-dan's finger enters the picture,=20 pointing at Toyokawa's pawn on 2c. Tsukada says "Nifu desu ne" ("it's=20 nifu") and Chiba emits a shocked half-laugh. Cut to the two players.=20 Toyokawa is looking up at the ceiling. He mutters "Shitsurei,=20 moshiwakenai." ("My apologies") Close-up of Tamura, who seems to be=20 struggling to keep a straight face. The female scorekeepers voice=20 wavers as she announces that Tamura has won the game. I saw this happen live on TV last Sunday, was amazed, but then forgot=20 about it. Two days later, a Japanese friend, who does not even know the=20 rules of shogi, rang me to say that he'd seen a report of it on TV! It=20 was obviously more of an "incident" than I had realized. Because it was=20 televised, the news spread fast - it's in the newspapers, on TV news=20 programs, and all over the Internet. Today I did a search in Japanese=20 with the key words "Toyokawa" and "nifu." I got a huge number of hits!=20 It is apparently the first time this has happened in a televised shogi=20 game between professionals. Richard Sams ----------------------------------------------------------- Give Your Team Access to Their PCs from Anywhere. Increase=20 productivity with a secure remote-access solution from=20 GoToMyPC Pro. Stay in touch with your office. FREE TRIAL: http://click.topica.com/= caaciqXa2i6YsbnuqMaf/ExpertCity ----------------------------------------------------------- --^---------------------------------------------------------------- This email was sent to: = shogi-l shogi net EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a2i6Ys.= bnuqMa.= c2hvZ2kt Or send an email to: shogi-unsubscribe topica com For Topica's complete suite of email marketing solutions visit: http://www.topica.com/?p=3DTEXFOOTER --^----------------------------------------------------------------