From: Larry Kaufman comcast net> Date: 26 oct 2005 Subject: Re: Results from the second day of the 3rd International Shogi Forum Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor: ------------------------------------------------------------------- New Apple=AE iPod=AE nano. As Thin as a No. 2 Pencil. Stores up to 3=20 Days of Songs! Get it Here FREE*! http://click.topica.com/= caad3PYa2i6YsbnuqMaa/Superb Rewards=20 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is some additional feedback about the teams and players, includin= g=20 some results of some players in club play in Tokyo. Regarding the teams, the Chinese team was widely considered a favorite= ,=20 based on the youth of the players and the recent popularity of Shogi in=20 China. We were told by the Chinese representative to the conference that= =20 somewhere between 100,000 and one million children in China have been taugh= t=20 to play shogi in the last decade!! With such numbers, it is obvious that= =20 China will be the number 2 country in Shogi soon, and it is inevitable that= =20 one of the Chinese will become the first non-Japanese shogi pro. During the= =20 tournament, it was discovered that the "kyu" player from China had been the= =20 second board in the previous event, and was listed in the Pan-Atlantic=20 rating list as a 3 Dan! Obviously, he should not have been allowed on the= =20 team, but fortunately for all in became somewhat moot when China lost=20 unexpectedly to Brazil, though some other team was still deprived of a fair= =20 chance to tie for third. All of the players were very friendly and played many unofficial shogi= =20 games together, with the principal exception of the Chinese players, who di= d=20 not interact much with the others, perhaps for language reasons. As for the individual players, here are a few comments on the top ten,= =20 in the order of finish. 1. Oka (Japan) 5 As a former prefectural champion of Japan, he was 5 Dan and not=20 surprisingly won all his games. 2. Zapara (Russia) 4 Ranked as only a strong 1 Dan before the event, he surely earned 2= =20 Dan on the Pan-Atlantic rating system and was in fact awarded 4 Dan (!) by= =20 NSR for coming in second. The only problem with this was that since he was= =20 not on a team, he got rather easy pairings in general, and only defeated on= e=20 highly ranked player (Mirnik). In my opinion his actual level is somewhere= =20 between 2 and 3 Dan. He became strong by playing thousands of games on the= =20 internet. Clearly the days of the Russian players being very weak are over,= =20 and with the strong chess background there I would not be surprised to see = a=20 Russian player become the top European soon. 3. Guangming (China) 4 He is clearly stronger than the 3 Dan rank listed for him, but how muc= h=20 so I cannot say. He was totally outplayed by Hartman of Sweden, who=20 reportedly lost due to a knocked off piece being replaced incorrectly. 4. Kagawa (Japan) 3 This young girl is the reigning Japanese amateur Meijin, and although= =20 ranked 3 Dan is probably of 4 Dan strength. 5. L. Kaufman (USA) 3 My score is a bit of a disappointment, even though I played a field= =20 averaging around 4 Dan. I did manage to win the daily tournament at the=20 Shinjuku Shogi Center a few days before, so I haven't lost all my skills! 6. Cheymol (France) 3 Due to the system used, Eric ended up having to play me twice,=20 splitting the games. Both were up and down battles that could have gone=20 either way at various times. Eric used his first move advantage in both=20 games to exchange bishops on the second move, which theoretically loses the= =20 initiative but brings about a type of shogi that he is more familiar with= =20 than I am. Clever psychology, Eric! 7. Jensson (Iceland) 3 This young man (25) from Iceland made a very favorable impression. Not= =20 only did he confirm his 3 Dan rank in the tournament, but in rating play at= =20 the Okachimachi club (considered the world's strongest), he scored 5 out of= =20 8 against opponents averaging at least 3 Dan. Clearly, he has chances to be= =20 a future European champion if he makes the trip. 8. Mirnik (Germany) 3 Boris is a strong player. Not only did he defeat me in the tournament,= =20 but in a 10-12 board simul by Ouchi, who was one of the top pros about 20-3= 0=20 years ago, he managed to win with no handicap! Bravo, Boris. His loss to th= e=20 Russian Zapara cost him a chance for a high placing. 9. Korchitskij (Belarus) 3 I didn't observe his play. 10. Hartman (Sweden) 3 He was the only other International Master of chess besides myself in= =20 the event, and when we were paired on top board for the US - Sweden match i= t=20 seemed rather amusing. I won rather easily due to his unfamiliarity with a= =20 subtlety of the opening chosen, but in general he played well and despite= =20 his "kyu" rank he probably plays around 3 Dan level. As for the players on the lower boards of teams, my son Raymond was= =20 awarded a 3 Dan diploma for being second board on the winning team, and=20 since he had already been given that rank a few days earlier by the Shinjuk= u=20 Shogi Center it seemed appropriate. Our third board Ted Hsu had a similar= =20 experience, earning 1 Dan at Shinjuku Center and then getting the same rank= =20 for being third board on the winning team. His score of 4-1 was the best on= =20 our team, and his only loss was due to an illegal move. I rather expect him= =20 to reach 2 Dan in the next year or two. Finally, special mention should be= =20 made of the French third board, Anh Tuan Nguyen. Although ranked as a 3 kyu= ,=20 he managed to make an even score in eight games at Okachimachi against=20 players averaging about 2 1/4 Dan, and this together with his good results= =20 in the Forum leave no doubt that he deserves a 2 Dan rank, though for now h= e=20 will still be listed as a kyu player. Larry Kaufman, amateur 5 Dan ----- Original Message -----=20 From: "DANERUD MARTIN" comhem se> To: topica com> Sent: Sunday, October 23, 2005 11:05 AM Subject: Results from the second day of the 3rd International Shogi Forum Dear shogi friends, These are the results from the second day of the 3rd International Shogi Forum. Round 4 Team tournament Semi finals Germany-USA 1-2 Mirnik-L. Kaufman 1-0 Wartlick-R. Kaufman 0-1 Rossmanith-Hsu 0-1 China-Brazil 1-2 Guangming-Tamashiro 0-1 Liang-Nakano 1-0 Jiming-Nakatani 0-1 Individual results Jensson-Heeffer 1-0 Oka-Kagawa 1-0 Cheymol-Shevchuk 1-0 Rojmahamongkol-Baggio 0-1 Hartman-v. Oosten 1-0 Korchitskij-Zapara 0-1 Hosking-Pfaffel 1-0 Christoffersen-Wald 1-0 + the first board results above Round 5 Team tournament Final USA-Brazil 3-0 L. Kaufman-Tamashiro 1-0 R. Kaufman-Nakano 1-0 Hsu-Nakatani 1-0 Thus, USA won the team tournament. Brazil was second and China and Germany shared the third place. Individual results Rojmahamongkol-Christoffersen 0-1 Heeffer-Korchitskij 0-1 v. Oosten-Shevchuk 1-0 Kagawa-Guangming 0-1 Pfaffel-Wald 1-0 Zapara-Mirnik 1-0 Baggio-Cheymol 0-1 Hartman-Hosking 1-0 Oka-Jensson 1-0 + the first board result above Final standings 1. Oka (Japan) 5 2. Zapara (Russia) 4 3. Guangming (China) 4 4. Kagawa (Japan) 3 5. L. Kaufman (USA) 3 6. Cheymol (France) 3 7. Jensson (Iceland) 3 8. Mirnik (Germany) 3 9. Korchitskij (Belarus) 3 10. Hartman (Sweden) 3 11. Christoffersen (Norway) 3 12. Tamashiro (Brazil) 2 13. Heeffer (Belgium) 2 14. v. Oosten (the Netherlands) 2 15. Schevchuk (Ukraine) 2 16. Baggio (Italy) 2 17. Hosking (Great Britain) 1 18. Rojmahamongkol (Thailand) 1 19. Pfaffel (Austria) 1 20. Wald (Canada) 0 The 3rd International Shogi Forum also contained simultaneous displays by several professionals, a computer tournament (won by YSS), a bishop handicap game between YSS and the professional Moriuchi (the winner), friendly shogi games, a shogi shop etc. The Forum was finished with a price giving ceremony, an international shogi meeting, and a farewell party. The most interesting information at the international shogi meeting was that Aono-sensei expressed his clear wish that the International Shogi Forum should be organized every second year. What that will mean in reality is of course difficult to say, since the event depends on sponsorship, but my educated guess after all my years in Japan is that it will be so with a very high probability, otherwise Aono-sensei would never have expressed this wish in front of everyone. We will have to see when the next invitation appears! Until then, the participants of the 3rd International Shogi Forum will go back to their respective countries full of enthusiasm about shogi, willing to spread the game even better outside Japan. And I bet that everyone has already started dreaming about qualifying for the 4th International Shogi Forum. That dream alone is one of the strongest powers for spreading shogi outside Japan. Best regards, Martin Danerud FESA president Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor: ------------------------------------------------------------------- New Apple=AE iPod=AE nano. As Thin as a No. 2 Pencil. Stores up to 3 Days of Songs! Get it Here FREE*! http://click.topica.com/caad3PYa2i6Ysa7fLLnf/Superb Rewards ------------------------------------------------------------------- Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Oprah vs Dr. Phil- who is your favorite? Vote now. http://click.topica.com/= caad6r9a2i6YsbnuqMaf/Your opinion ------------------------------------------------------------------- --^---------------------------------------------------------------- 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 --^----------------------------------------------------------------