Takodori's Entrance to Shogi World

An email from Dr. Grall regarding ESC/WOSC2011

I received the following email from Dr. Gralla regarding the coming ESC/WOSC 2011 to be held in Ludwigshafen on July 14 through 17.

BIG MEDIA OFFENSIVE WITH REGARD TO EUROPEAN SHOGI CHAMPIONSHIP 2011 & WOSC 2011 AT LUDWIGSHAFEN, GERMANY 

 

SHOGI FEATURED BY OPEN TV CHANNEL LUDWIGSHAFEN

  

The media offensive with regard to the up-coming European SHOGI Championship 2011 & World Open SHOGI Championship (WOSC) at Ludwigshafen / Germany (July 14th to July 17th, 2011) gathers speed.

 

The German daily RHEINPFALZ will publish an interview with Mr. Frank Rövekamp, 3 Dan, top German player and co-organizer of the event. The German daily MANNHEIMER MORGEN will publish an interview with 9-years-old Leonard Orschiedt, 11 Kyu, one of the very hopeful youth at the tournament and son of the organizer, Mr. Oliver Orschiedt, 3 Kyu.

 

Not enough with that: Even TV covers the biggest tournament of SHOGI in Europe since many years. After the German edition of music channel MTV plus the German-language music channel VIVA have aired a TV feature on SHOGI, please see once more   www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9eZ373GS1g , the “Offener Kanal Ludwigshafen”, that is to say: the open TV channel Ludwigshafen (abbr.: OK Ludwigshafen),  has produced a very interesting feature on SHOGI too.

 

That entertaining feature can be watched on YouTube (you will find the contribution by letting YouTube’s search machine look for the headline “Shogi lang”):

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2CvGR03EOo

 

The young German TV journalist Ms Sofia Samoilova has realized an inspiring reportage that is pure fun and great propaganda for SHOGI. Thanks to that outstanding TV production, the up-coming European SHOGI Championship 2011 & “World Open SHOGI Championship 2011” (WOSC) at Ludwigshafen / Germany, will be a big success, for sure!

 

Dr. René Gralla

Hamburg, Germany

Shogi learning event will be held on July 16 in NY

I found the following notification today.

• Let’s learn and play SHOGI, Japanese chess | JETAANY.org

Let’s learn and play SHOGI, Japanese chess

When: Saturday, July 16th from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Where: Onya Restaurant, Second Floor (143 East 47th Street, New York, NY 10017)

For more information, please visit the link above.

Moriuchi gained the Meijin Title again

Moriuchi beat Habu in 4-3 in the 70th Meijin-sen best of seven match. The Mainichi Daily News reported it.

• Moriuchi defeats shogi champ Habu to claim 6th Meijin title - The Mainichi Daily News

KOFU -- Shogi player Toshiyuki Moriuchi claimed his sixth Meijin title on June 22 after recovering from three straight losses to defeat champ Yoshiharu Habu in game seven of the 69th Meijin match.

Moriuchi, 40, won the final game of the best-of-seven match in Kofu in 123 moves. It was the first time for a player to win the Meijin title after having three straight wins followed by three straight losses. Habu and Moriuchi both had three minutes left on the clock at the end of the game.

"From the fourth game on, no good chances appeared for me, but I thought I'd put all my effort into game seven," Moriuchi said. "It was tough shogi, but I managed to hold out. I'm surprised that I won."

Habu attributed his loss to mistakes in the game.

"I had three straight wins after three losses, but all I could do was play one game at a time. Nothing special happened. I think I lost because I made many mistakes," he said.

It was the second time for Moriuchi to win the title back from Habu. Moriuchi ranks fifth in the overall number of Meijin titles, after Yasuharu Oyama (18 titles), Makoto Nakahara (15 titles), Yoshio Kimura (eight titles) and Habu (seven titles).

Habu is now left with two separate titles: Oza and Kisei.

The 69th Meijin match was sponsored by The Mainichi Newspapers Co. and The Asahi Shimbun Co., with cooperation from Daiwa Securities Group.

Shogi has been introduced in German TV

According to Dr. Rene Gralla,  the German edition of music-channel MTV plus the German-language music channel VIVA have aired a feature on Shogi! Here is the video on YouTube. The length of it is three minutes and 46 seconds.

 

There you will see the Hamburg-based author Dr. Rene Gralla who makes
the case for Shogi by outlining the historical background of that great
strategic game - the BATTLE OF SEKIGAHRA that has marked a watershed in
the history of Japan on October 21st, 1600 - and by demonstrating the
rules of Shogi on a three-colored big board that is crowded by figurine
pieces in 3D. That innovative set has been hand-made by Dr. Rene Gralla
himself; you can watch some close-up views of board and chessmen
Japanese style after 2:04 minutes running time of the Shogi-clip on
Youtube.

The creator of that prototype of SHOGI IN 3D is convinced that his
version of Shogi with eye-catching figurine pieces complies with the
viewing patterns of the Manga- and MTV-Generation. "Figurine SHOGI IN 3D
is the perfect tool to get modern kids to turn to Shogi - be it in Japan
or outside of Japan", says Dr. Rene Gralla.

At least that set of SHOGI IN 3D has been very helpful for the purpose
of convincing SIMON and BUDI - the popular presenters of that very
TV-magazine GAME ONE that has featured Shogi on MTV and VIVA - that they
should produce a TV-reportage on Shogi. And BUDI gets that thrilled by
Shogi that he even sits down at the board of SHOGI IN 3D and battles out
a match against Dr. Rene Gralla.

That feature on MTV and VIVA is a QUANTUM LEAP with regard to the
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTION of Shogi, since GAME ONE - that TV-magazine that
has now featured Shogi - normally covers EGames only but NO BOARD GAMES.
Therefore the very fact that Shogi, the board game par excellence, has
been featured by GAME ONE, that is a real media sensation: Shogi has
succeeded in getting accepted by the young and modern community of
EGamers!

Now SHOGI has become POP itself - by having been covered by music
channels MTV and VIVA!

And that is the perfect prelude for the ESC/WOSC 2011, this year's
second big event of Shogi in Europe from July 14th, 2011 to July 17th,
2011, at Ludwigshafen/Germany!

According to shogi.de , this was aired as a part of the show called GAME ONE in its Friday edition No 170 of 13.05.2011. The full program of the edition can be seen though the link below;

• Folge 170 vom 13.05.2011 | Tv | MTV Game One

Dobutsu Shogi has become available to play at 81-Dojo

Dobutsu Shogi has become available to play at 81-Dojo under the name of "Try the Shogi 3x4"

• http://nekomadoblog.jugem.jp/?eid=197

（English PDF　446 KB）

Shinsei Kamattechan movie goes to NYAFF

Shinsei Kamattechan movie will be available to watch at NYAFF(New York Asian Film Festival).

• Unseen Films: THE NYAFF PRESS RELEASE

RINGING IN THEIR EARS (Japan, 2011, International Premiere, 89 minutes) - Yu Irie (8000 MILES 1 & 2) returns with this ambitious flick about an upcoming concert by a reclusive rock group and the managers, obsessed fans, shut-ins, single moms and kindergarten teachers who are affected by it. A true tribute to the healing power of rock and roll. Presented with Japan Cuts: Festival of Contemporary Japanese Cinema.

The role of the main actress of it is a high schooler who aims to become a professional shogi player. If you live in or near New York, it may be interesting to watch this film.

• Shinsei Kamattechan movie details revealed | Tokyograph

Actress and model Fumi Nikaido (16) is billed as the star of the film. She plays a high schooler named Michiko who aims to become a professional shogi player, though she feels anxiety over the gap between her and the typical high school students a round her. A dilemma arises when her boyfriend invites her to Shinsei Kamattechan’s concert, which is at the same time as her championship match in an amateur shogi tournament.

 

Episode 9 of Nichijo has shogi scenes

The episode 9 of Nichijo(My Ordinary Life)  has shogi scenes and gag scenes using a shogi piece. The anime is avaialble to watch at Crunchyroll with English subtitle.

• Crunchyroll Announces Addition of My Ordinary Life to its Lineup Today - Anime News Network

MY ORIDINARY LIFE will be available in the following territories: North America, South America, United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Netherlands, Portugal, Middle East, and Africa.

Here are some screenshots of the Op and Episode 9.

 And there are some blogs that mention to the Episode 9 I found  so far.

• Nichijou Episode #09 | The Anime Rambler – By Benigmatica

• Hanners' Anime 'Blog: Nichijou - Episode 9

• Nichijou – 09 | Random Curiosity

Shogi at California Community College April 11

The captioned shogi teaching event will be held on April 11. Here is the copy of the noticice that the organizer posted on Shogi-l.

Hello all,
This Monday afternoon April 11, from 4:30-6:00 PM, I will be teaching the
students at Mira Costa Community College (in Oceanside, CA) the game of
Shogi for the third year in a row. Hosted by the Japanese Club at the
Student Center, the event will be open to all members of the community
interested in Shogi, not just enrolled students. I'm enclosing a photo from
last year; as you can see, everyone was very interested, not least by
Messrs. Herman and Pietz's wonderful documentary on the game, which they
were kind enough to make available to me. To all who give the game a try and
are interested in pursuing the game further, I will continue to give the
bilingual cardboard sets made available to me by Mr. Nomura of the Japanese
Shogi Assocaition. Thanks, and I'd appreciate it if the various other Shogi
websites might announce it also.
Eric Kuniholm

Here is the link to the map of MiraCost College Oceanside Campus.

Kitao Madoka(Lady pro sho-dan) will grant the chance of playing teaching games at UTC 6:00 on April 3

According to 81-Square Universe, Kitao Madoka, Lady pro sho-dan, also known for the developer of the rules of Dobutsu Shogi, will give you the chance of playing teaching games against her at UTC 6:00 on the coming April 3. For more details, please read the following link;

• The 81-Square Universe • View topic - Teaching Game Event by Woman Pro. Madoka KITAO

If you would like to apply for the event, it's necessary for you to register for 81-Square Universe Forum and write down the required information on the thread linked above.

2010 ranking of earnings by shogi games

Japan Shogi Association(JSA) unveiled the 2010 top 20 ranking of earnings by official shogi games on February 16. According to it, the top 20 players are as followings.

1. Habu Yoshiharu --- 116 million yen
2. Watanabe Akira --- 62 million yen
3. Kubo Toshiaki --- 48 million yen
4. Moriuchi Toshiyuki --- 33 million yen
5. Fukaura Koichi --- 32 million yen
6. Sato Yasumitsu --- 30 milliion yen
7. Miura Hiroyuki --- 29 million yen
8. Fujii Takeshi --- 24 million yen
9. Maruyama Tadashisa --- 24 million yen
10. Hirose Akihito --- 21 million yen
11. Tanigawa Koji --- 19 million yen
12. Goda Masataka --- 16 million yen
13. Yamasaki Takayuki --- 14 million yen
14. Kimura Kazuki --- 13 million yen
15. Matsuo Ayumu --- 12 million yen
16. Akutsu Chikara --- 12 million yen
17. Takahashi Michio --- 12 million yen
18. Suzuki Daisuke --- 11 million yen
19. Yashiki Nobuyuki --- 11 million yen
20. Inoue Keita --- 10 million yen