Takodori's Entrance to Shogi World

Reijer Grimbergen's Reports on 19th Wolrd Computer Shogi Championships

Reijer published his report on the captioned championship on his website. Here is the link.

19th CSA Computer Shogi Championships

If you would like to read his reports about World Computer Shogi Championships in the past, visit the page which has the link-list below.

Shogi articles

"Universal Shogi Format" proposed by BCMShogi developer

I found today the following message has been posted to shogi-l.

USF - Universal Shogi Format - SHOGI-L | Google Group

almost every year, there is a discussion about a replacement of the
stupid PSN-Format.
Every year, there is no result.

I always told, that PSN is not up-to-date and we need a better format,
but it's stupid to simply define any new one, while nobody likes to
use it.
There must be AT LEAST ONE program supporting it.

Now the time is ready - with BCMShogi.

I still implemented a lot of functionality into BCMShogi, which can't
be saved in any format.

So finally, I have created a new one: USF - Universal Shogi Format

The specification can be read here:
http://home.arcor.de/Bernhard.Maerz/BCMShogi/USF.htm

Anyone that are interested in it, please click the link just above.

Here is the link to the toppage of BCMShogi.

BCMShogi

 

Shogi softwares released recently

Two softwares were released recently.

The first one is Shogiban which is a postcardware for VGA pocket PC(Windows Mobile 2003). The details are here.

Shogi Recorder for VGA Pocket PC (Postcardware)

Another one is Shogi Z for iPhone. The following pages about the applicaion are found so far today.

AppStoreFeed - Shogi Z (Japanese Chess)

Shogi Z (Japanese Chess)

Results of 4th Computer Shogi Sekai Saikyo Kettei Sen

Here are the replayable boards of the games played by the top four computer programs on February 19 & 20. The tournament name is 4th Computer Shogi Sekai Saikyo Kettei Sen at Research Center of Distance Learning of JAIST in Nomi City of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.

TACOS(Sente) vs Gekisashi (Upper board), YSS(Sente) vs Tanase Shogi - won by Gekisashi & YSS
Gekisashi(Sente) vs YSS(Upper board), TACOS(Sente) vs Tanase Shogi - won by Gekisashi & Tanase Shogi
Gekisashi(Sente) vs Tanase Shogi(Upper board), TACOS(Sente) vs YSS - won by Tanase Shogi & YSS

Gekisashi, YSS and Tanase Shogi shared the 1st place with the score of 2-1, TACOS became a single loser.

News about DSiWare in Japan

Chotto Asobi Taizen will be released on February 25 in Japan. It narrows the 42 games in Clubhouse Games(42 All-Time Classics in Europe, Daredemo Asobi Taizan in Japan) to the five such as Hanafuda, Shogi, Gomoku, Hasami Shogi and Reversi. I really hope this will be released overseas as well as Clubhouse Games(42 All-Time Classics) has been.　I also hope the new software does not require to play other games beforehand to unlock to play shogi like Clubhouse Games does.

• Two new Art Style games lead Japan's February DSiWare lineup - Joystiq [Nintendo]

• IGN: Nintendo Unveils Third Round of DSiWare Titles for Japan

Participant list for 19th World Computer Shogi Championship

The list were posted to Shogi-l. Here is the list.

WCSC19 Participant List - SHOGI-L | Google Group

Link to a review page about Kakinoki Shogi for iPhone

Here is the link to a review page about Kakinoki Shogi for iPhone I found today. So far now, the following three reviews were uploaded.

Kakinoki Shogi (Japanese Chess)

Finally!

I've been waiting for this for a while! It's really great; well done AI! One request would be to make the Japanese style pieces a bit easier to distinguish. Well done!

Try This

If you have never heard of shogi and you like western chess you should give this a try. Shogi is extremely popular in Japan. It adds an extra level of complexity and fun by allowing you to use pieces that you capture. On your turn, instead of moving a piece you can place a captured opponents piece almost anywhere ( with some restrictions) on the board. If you think about this, it opens up a lot of strategic and tactical options. You wont be disappointed.

Superb

A video review about Shotest Shogi

Yesterday I found the following video review about Shotest Shogi for Xbox360 and so on posted by arkfullofsorrow. I think it's a very good idea of reviewing a game software application in this way since you can watch the various application screens as you already have it. His review about Shotest Shogi is "Mildly Recommended" in summary. For more details, please watch the video linked below. The part of Shotest Shogi will begin from 0:31 to 3:16.

YouTube: 'Zit Worth It - Shotest Shogi and Rocketbowl

Kakinoki Shogi for iPhone has been released

Kakinoki Shogi for iPhone has been released. Here are the related links;

Kakinoki Shogi for iPhone | Kakinoki Shogi Software

iPhone Apps - Kakinoki Shogi (Japanese Chess) | Apptism

[App Store Release] Kakinoki Shogi (Japanese Chess) - iPod touch Fans forum

App Shopper: Kakinoki Shogi (Japanese Chess) (Games)

Kakinoki Shogi (Japanese Chess)

Features: - Human vs. computer, human vs. human, computer vs. computer. - 6 levels of computer play. - Choose Western or Japanese pieces. - Show the legal moves of the selected piece. - Undo of moves. - Save/Load game file. - Send game scores by mail. - Show history of moves. - Help about Shogi rules. LANGUAGES: English, Japanese

Application deadline is January 31 - 19th World Computer Shogi Championship

The announcement has been distributed to Shogi-l. It will be held in Tokyo on May 3 through 5 and the application deadline is January 31. For more details, please refer to the announcement linked below;

Announcement of the 19th World Computer Shogi Championship - SHOGI-L | Google Group