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Date: 07 Jul 2006 01:14:56
From: Sam Sloan
Subject: Shogi World Champion makes IM Norm at World Open in Chess
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Shogi World Champion makes IM Norm at World Open in Chess
When the World Open Chess Championship was played in Philadelphia from
June 28 to July 4, 2006, few of those present were aware that the two
strongest shogi players in the world were competing.
Shogi is the Japanese variety of chess. Shogi has a rook, a bishop, a
knight, a king and pawns. Checkmate ends the game. However, it also
has a lance, a gold general, a silver general, and a dragon. A
captured piece becomes part of the enemy army and can be dropped back
onto the board. The games last longer, are more wide open and more
complicated. In spite of being a cousin of chess, it is radically
different.
The recognized best player in the world of shogi is Habu Yoshiharu.
Not only is he regarded as the best player in shogi, but he is
regarded as the stest person in Japan, with the highest IQ. Books
and articles have been written about Habu's Brain, trying to determine
why it is so superior to any other brain. Habu is perhaps the best
known person in Japan, more famous than even the latest Prime Minister
of Japan, whomever that might be.
Habu is a household word in Japan. Just ask any Japanese person.
Everybody has heard of him.
Why would such famous person as Habu come to grace us at the World
Open Chess Championship in Philadelphia? Certainly not for the money.
The $40,000 first prize at the World Open is peanuts for Habu, who
makes millions from tournament fees, television appearances and
teaching games in Japan.
Habu came here for an IM Norm, and he got it!
Habu was accompanied by the number two shogi player in the world,
Moriuchi Toshiyuki. A few years ago, Habu was regarded as invincible,
as he won all the titles and all the important tournaments. However,
recently, Moriuchi Toshiyuki has defeated Habu in several important
matches and they are now considered to be nearly equals.
Here is the FIDE rating card for Moriuchi Toshiyuki
http://www.fide.com/ratings/hist.phtml?event=7000405
Going into the last round of the World Open, Habu and Moriuchi both
had the same score, 5-3. However, Habu had played a stronger field.
Moriuchi was eliminated for a possible FIDE IM norm but Habu had
chances provided that he defeated Grandmaster Garcia from Colombia.
Habu succeeded in a wild, open and complicated game typical of shogi
contests. On the other hand, after a wild opening, Moriuchi lost a
long and difficult endgame to International Master Stephen Muhammad.
Moriuchi could have forced an endgame draw, but chose to play for a
win and lost. Still, Moriuchi probably did get his rating over 2300,
which is a start for the FM Title. Also, it must be noted that
Moriuchi is a beginner at chess. He has only been playing for three
years and this was just was just his fourth rated tournament. Getting
5-4 in the Open Section of the World Open is not bad for a beginner at
chess!
Here are the results of Habu:
http://www.worldopen.com/2006Results/open.html
Defeated Iryna Zenyuk 2132
Lost to GM Lars M. Hansen 2650
Defeated tin Hansen 2214
Defeated Chuck Cadman 2235
Lost to GM Sandipan Chanda 2722
Drew IM Ben Finegold 2648
Defeated David Harris 2105
Drew GM Abhijit Kunte 2604
Defeated GM Gildardo J Garcia 2521
With an average opponent of 2426 and a score of 6-3, this is easily an
IM norm. I am not up to date on the regulations but a half point more
would have been close to a GM norm.
Meanwhile, Sam Sloan has come out with a Video DVD Teaching Shogi for
Beginners in English. This DVD covers the basis rules of shogi and a
few of the more basic strategies. Coincidentally, it was just released
today. It is available on Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CPS3GG/
Unfortunately, only two of the games played by Habu Yoshiharu and
Moriuchi Toshiyuki were published in the tournament bulletins. We hope
to see more of the games soon, including Habu's win over grandmaster
Garcia.
Here are the two games:
Sam Sloan
[Event "34th Annual WORLD OPEN"]
[Site "Philadelphia United States"]
[Date "2006.07.03"]
[Round "06"]
[White "Habu, Yoshiharu"]
[Black "Finegold, Benjamin"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2367"]
[BlackElo "2648"]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6
8.O-O-O h6 9.Be3 Bd7 10.f4 Qc7 11.Bd3 Rc8 12.Kb1 Be7 13.h3 Na5
14.Qe1 b5 15.g4 Nc4 16.Bc1 Qb6 17.Nce2 g6 18.Rf1 e5 19.Nf3 Qc5 1/2-1/2
[Event "34th Annual WORLD OPEN"]
[Site "Philadelphia United States"]
[Date "2006.07.04"]
[Round "09"]
[White "Moriuchi, Toshiyuk"]
[Black "Muhammad, Stephen"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2295"]
[BlackElo "2451"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O b5 6.Bb3 Bb7 7.d4 Nxd4
8.Bxf7+ Kxf7 9.Nxe5+ Kg8 10.Qxd4 c5 11.Qd1 Qe8 12.Nf3 Qxe4 13.Bg5
Qf5 14.Nbd2 Ne4 15.Bh4 h6 16.Bg3 g5 17.Nxe4 Bxe4 18.Ne1 Re8 19.c3
Rh7 20.a4 Re6 21.axb5 axb5 22.Ra7 Bc6 23.Rc7 Rhe7 24.Qd3 Qf7
25.Nc2 h5 26.Rc8 h4 27.Bc7 Be4 28.Qd2 Bxg2 29.Kxg2 h3+ 30.Kg1 Qf3
31.Ne3 Rf7 32.Ra1 d6 33.Raa8 Kh7 34.Rxf8 Rxf8 35.Qd3+ Kh8
36.Rxf8+ Qxf8 37.Qd5 Qe7 38.Bd8 Rxe3 39.fxe3 Qxd8 40.Qe6 Kg7
41.Qxh3 Qe8 42.Kf2 Qf7+ 43.Ke1 Kg6 44.Qg3 Qd5 45.h4 Qe5 46.Qg1
Qf5 47.Kd2 g4 48.Qg3 Qd5+ 49.Ke2 Kh5 50.Qf2 Qc4+ 51.Kd2 Qe4
52.Qf6 Qe5 53.Qf2 b4 54.Kc2 bxc3 55.bxc3 Qe4+ 56.Kd2 Qf3 57.Qh2
g3 0-1
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Date: 07 Jul 2006 00:42:53
From: Vit Brunner
Subject: Re: Shogi World Champion makes IM Norm at World Open in Chess
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Sam Sloan wrote:
> >Have you played in any Shogi tournaments?
>
> I am a recognized nidan, or 2-dan amateur shogi player.
Have you played in any Go tournaments?
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Date: 07 Jul 2006 01:57:44
From: Sol
Subject: Re: Shogi World Champion makes IM Norm at World Open in Chess
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X-No-archive: yes
"Sam Sloan" < > Meanwhile, Sam Sloan has come out with a Video DVD Teaching
Shogi for Beginners in English. >
Have you played in any Shogi tournaments?
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Date: 07 Jul 2006 02:21:03
From: Sam Sloan
Subject: Re: Shogi World Champion makes IM Norm at World Open in Chess
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On Fri, 07 Jul 2006 01:57:44 GMT, "Sol" <[email protected] > wrote:
>X-No-archive: yes
>
>"Sam Sloan" <> Meanwhile, Sam Sloan has come out with a Video DVD Teaching
>Shogi for Beginners in English.>
>
>Have you played in any Shogi tournaments?
Yes. Many.
I am a recognized nidan, or 2-dan amateur shogi player.
This I believe is equivalent to a 1900 or 2000 player in chess.
Sam Sloan
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Date: 07 Jul 2006 02:34:25
From: Blind Frank
Subject: Re: Shogi World Champion makes IM Norm at World Open in Chess
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X-No-archive: yes
"Sam Sloan" < > I am a recognized nidan, or 2-dan amateur shogi player. This
I believe is equivalent to a 1900 or 2000 player in chess. >>
Have you won any tournaments?
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