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While I was in Ja= pan last=20 month, the topic of non-standard handicaps, which we have discussed here in= the=20 past, came up more than once.

First, at the Osa= ka Shogi=20 Renmei I observed Mr. Kanki (Pro 6 Dan) playing someone at various weird= =20 handicaps, such as rook + silver + two lances and rook + two knights + two= =20 lances (I think). Apparently this indicates a growing willingness to experi= ment=20 with non-traditional handicaps, though it might just reflect Mr. Kanki's= =20 willingness to be an entertainer.

Second, one pro= =20 (Katsumata) told me that when he plays someone too weak for six piece handi= cap=20 (but presumably too strong for eight), he keeps rook, bishop, and pawns onl= y.=20 This form of eight piece handicap could be considered an intermediate step,= =20 though one can also just play at seven piece handicap (keeping two golds an= d a=20 silver).

Third, there was = some=20 discussion of silver handicap, the most respectible of the non-standard=20 handicaps. Mr. Ishikawa (Pro 6 Dan) told me that he sometimes gives this= =20 handicap, but that in his opinion it was actually a larger handicap than= =20 bishop!!! His reasoning was that there are some drawbacks to having a bisho= p=20 handicap (it can be a target, and it gets in the way of castling), whereas = an=20 extra silver is automatically of value as part of the castle. While I think= he=20 may have been exaggerating a bit with this claim, the point is that if you = have=20 to debate which handicap is larger, then silver handicap cannot fill the ro= le of=20 an intermediate handicap between lance and bishop, something I've always th= ought=20 was needed in shogi. Knight handicap is possible but probably too close to = lance=20 for this purpose. So there may be no "clean" solution to this problem; if t= here=20 were one, it would probably already be in use.

Larry=20 Kaufman

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