Takodori's Entrance to Shogi World

News about Shotest for XBox 360

It seems that Shotest passed the certification by Microsoft. For more details, please read the article linked below;

Shotest Shogi passes cert; Basment Pool delayed | Gaming Rover - The News You Want

And hey, as for Shotest Shogi, after a bit of a certification debacle, it's finally passed and it's only up to Microsoft when it goes live.

Live - NRS Cup, Round 1 on July 6, Fujimoti Natsuko vs Nakakura Hiromi

At 2:00pm(Japan Time), the match between Fujimori Natsuko and Nakakura Hiromi started.  You can see the videos thorugh the page linked below;

Live Video on Ustream (Channel/nrs2008)

Kifu for Java Boadlive of Nakakura vs Fujimori (Sente = Nakakura(right))

Kifu for Flash Boardlive of Nakakura vs Fujimori

Thinking time per player is 30 minutes and 60 seconds byoyomi after consuming it. So the game is to be finished in one hour and some minutes after the starting time.

Nichiresu Invitation Cup will be broadcasted on live using USTREAM. Here is the dates of the first round. You can see the live video on time here.

June 22 10:00am --- Nakakura Akiko vs Fujita Maiko
June 22 2:00pm --- Yamashita Kazuko vs Kitao Madoka
July 1 6:00pm --- Takojima Akiko vs Matsuo Kaori
July 6 2:00pm --- Fujimori Natsuko vs Nakakura Hiromi
July 9 6:00pm --- Kano Tamao vs Oba Miki
July 16 6:00pm --- Kanda Mayumi vs Shimai Saori

Boardlive today - Toyoshima Masayuki vs Itodani Tetsuro, 21st Ryuo-sen

Today is the day for the game between Toyoshima Masayuki(4 dan) and Itodani Tetsuro(5 dan).  As a result of Furigoma,  Toyoshima  became a Sente player. You may replay the game through the page linked below;

Toyoshima vs Itodani (Using Kifu for Flash)

The thinking time per player is 5 hours. It will end tonight in Japan.

Attention. Both players are teens. Toyoshima is the current youngest player who is a high school boy. Itodani is the first player who entered in a national University after becoming a professional player when he was a high school student.

It's my mistake. Ryuo's child is a son, not daughter.

I have to correct my entry titled "Watanabe Akira granted some tsumeshogi problems to his daughter" For some reason, I wrongly believed his child is a daughter for a long time. But the fact is not a daughter but a son. Please accept my apology for the error.

It's my mistake. Ryuo's child is a son, not daughter.

I have to correct my entry titled "Watanabe Akira granted some tsumeshogi problems to his daughter" For some reason, I wrongly believed his child is a daughter for a long time. But the fact is not a daughter but a son. Please accept my apology for the error.

The 3rd game of 79th Kisei-sen started this morning

The 3rd game of 79th Kisei-sen between Kisei Sato and Challenger Habu started this morning. Habu is Sente player. It's a 3-win match. Before the game, the score was led by Sato in 2-0. The venue of the match is at Hotel New Awaji in Hyogo Prefecture.

You may replay the game though the following page(The page says it's for Windows users.) clicking the upper button which appears there like below.

3rd game of 79th Kisei-sen

New package of Shogi sold through Daiso Shops

On June 29, new shogi photos were uploaded to Shogi Images Gallery on Boardgamegeek. Here are some links to them.

Daiso New Package of Shogi
Daiso New Package of Shogi(Extended size)

As you see in the photos, English words such as "Shogi Chessmen", "Japanese Chessboard Paper and Explanatory Sheet are included" are printed on the new package in addition to the display of country of origin like "Made in China". Fuｒthermore, French, Korean, Arabic, and Chinese words of "Shogi Pieces" are printed there.

I contacted the person who uploaded these photoes there. He replied that he bought it in a Daiso shop in Singapore and there was an English set of rules for Shogi inside.

Currently, there are 21 counties/regions where Daiso shops exist such as USA, Canada, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, HongKong, Macao, Thailand, Indonacia,  New Caledonia,  U.A.E,  Kuwait,  Qatar,  Bahrain,  Oman, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Romania, Mauritius, Vietnam, and Malaysia. I think those stores are selling shogi pieces judging from the new package refered here. For more information such as shop address etc.., please click the link just above and or the following Daiso pages in various languages;

Daiso(In English)
Daiso(In Chinese)
Daiso(In French)

As you see in the History page of Daiso, it started to open its shops in various countries outside Japan from 2001. It seems Daiso will contine to expand its network worldwide for a while.

Watching video and board replay in two browsers

Yesterday the match between Takojima Akiko(Joryu 5 dan) vs Matsuo Kaori(Joryu Shodan) took place. It was a first round of NRS tournament and Takojima won it in 130 moves. If you have enough bandwidth in connecting to the internet, it will be fun to open two browser windows to compare the video with the board replay from time to time.

The recorded video on Ustream(Left = Takojima, Right = Matsuo(Sente))

Matsuo vs Takojima using Kifu for Java

The game started at 6:00pm in Japan to end at 8:11. Thinking time per player is 30 minutes and after consuming it a player should make a move in less than 60 seconds. Takojima consumed the thinking time at 50th move and so did Matsuo at 64th move.