Just a little small update

Hey all.

It's 1.38 AM now. I know it's only been two days but I'm a little bored and just felt like writing a journal. Yesterday (22nd December) I spend almost the whole day with my parents. It was really tiring. I guess it's alright since they're going to leave Malaysia on 24th Dec.

Just now I was playing against an online Web Shogi game called "Ham Shogi". I knew I couldn't beat hirate (even number of pieces) so I've decided to try my luck playing against handicapped opponent. I'm really glad that I've learned a little eventhough I'm playing against handicapped opponent. To be honest, I hate playing Shogi on the internet. Why? First it's rather hard to concentrate with the board facing flat against your eyes. It's view is completely different from the view when you're playing a real Shogi. Sometimes I accidentally made a mistake about my bishop move so I have to looked at the board more than three times before making a move on my bishop so I wouldn't 'pin' or 'fork' on the wrong piece. It's really annoying when you actually pin or fork on the wrong piece and the game immediately turn the table. Other thing is the computer screen is hurting my eyes and everyone should know that staring at the computer too long will hurt your eyes. My hands are itching to touch my Shogi sets right now. I really want to turn on the lights and start touching my Shogi pieces. But I can't. If I did not pretend to be fast asleep my parents would immediately bust into my room and kick my butt. I really want to spend the whole night learning and playing Shogi, I truly am. So that was why I was stuck using my laptop playing Shogi instead. "It's alright" I said to myself, It's going be another two more days till they leave Malaysia. I have to wait patiently. I hope three days will go by quickly so I return to the days where I can play Shogi the whole night without worrying people scolding me for being too noisy or staying up too late. 2.00 AM now. I guess I'll go play some Shogi checking problems before I sleep.

Goodnight all.

Regards,
Ryou Takehito

Back Back BACK!

hey all.

Many things have happened alot during this holiday so let's have a report about what I have done, shall we?

My days in Brunei:
1. Rewatch all Weiß kreuz episodes throughout the night.
2. Doing something confidential.
3. Look for old friends and have some personal time together.
4. Play Shogi with little sister.
5. Get nagged by parents. >.<

My days in Singapore:
Day 1: I reached Singapore around 1p.m. and stayed in a hotel called "Furama Hotel". After that I tried my luck in finding Shogi equipments in People's Park and OG which is nearby. I even went to Borders to look for it but failed.
Day 2: Have breakfast in People's Park and went to Takashimaya and tried my luck again in Kinokuniya but couldn't find any. Mission Failed. After that I went to Orchad Road and look for some CDs. "Get Gil Shaham's Devil Dance CD!"
Day 3: Left Singapore with a sigh because I failed to find anything related to Shogi.

Plans for the rest of the holiday:
Play Shogi of course! I didn't get to play Shogi as much as I can because my parents are actually against me playing Shogi! I don't see anything wrong with playing Shogi! I didn't get to practise as much as I can so I have decide to spend more time in it when they leave Malaysia. Then I would probably spend a little time watching movies to relax myself.

Mission in Singapore: to look for a "Shogi magnetic set" so I can play without worrying my shogi pieces get lost and "Wooden Shogi Sets" to have a proper set to play with and some Shogi books so I can learn.
Mission Status: FAILED. Couldn't find any of those items in Singapore.

Sigh. It was really depressing. I can't believe Singapore don't have them! I managed to find some Shogi books but they're only available in Japanese! AND THEY WERE WRITTEN BY HABU-SAN TOO!!! I wish they would publish more English-translated Habu-san's books. Sigh. Since I can't find them in Singapore, I guess I have to switch to an alternative way of getting them - online purchase. Online purchase is really expensive for me and it takes time for them to arrive but what choice do I have? I'm going to get a proper Shogi set first from online and later when I save up enough money I'll try to purchase other products if I can.

See you all next week.

Regards,
Ryou Takehito

Work Harder!

Hey all!

Freedom at last! Actually I didn't expect to be free again because I thought my schedule was full until I leave Brunei but things went smooth and end early. However I won't be SUPER free like I am back in Malaysia because of my nagging parents.

Now that I'm free, I would probably spend some time with my friends and if not I will be learning Shogi at home as usual. I haven't play Shogi in an internet Shogi website called "Shogi Club 24" (http://www.shogidojo.com/eng/engindex.htm) for a few months because I'm scared that I will get beaten out of crap against lowest rank players (15kyu), I decided to give myself a try again and see how much I've improve. After a game with a player, I lost again. However I'm quite happy that I've improve my techniques a little. Last time my opponents finished me off in less than 20 moves but now the game last for more than 50 moves and 20 minutes! I won't be visiting "Shogi Club 24" again until I've studied more with my "Art of Shogi" but I will visit it once in a while. The main reason why I haven't visit the site for such a long time is because I'm scared that my defeat will make me lose my interest in Shogi. However, after playing the game, I feel that I need to improve more. I definitely need to work harder than before if I want to become a professional. WORK HARDER RYOU! YOU CAN DO IT! DON'T GIVE UP HOPE FOR YOUR DREAMS! KAMBATTE!

Anyways see you all next time!

Regards,
Ryou Takehito

My Dreams

Aim: To become a 1-Dan Shogi player in less than a year and 6-Dan in less than 10 years.

Mission: To promote Shogi and let people know that Shogi is different and unique from other chess in Malaysia and Brunei after becoming a 1-Dan Shogi player.

See you all next week.

Regards,
Ryou Takehito


PS: I just noticed how Shogi has improve my skills in Xian Qi (Chinese Chess) considering that I'm very terrible in it. Now, I can almost defeat my friend in a game of Xian Qi.

Back in my hometown

Hey all!

I'm finally back in my hometown and all I can say is there's not enough time for me to look for my friends and play shogi! I can't believe my parents have plan my schedule for something else while I'm staying in my hometown.

The happy thing is it's great that I get to see my old hometown the way it is. The scenery is so fantastic that I really miss it alot. Aside from that, I've manage to convince my little sister to play Shogi. Almost day and night we're playing Shogi together using a small little table. She always lose to me, given the fact that she's very good in Chinese Chess (Xian Qi). This further proves that Shogi is not an easy chess to play. I even notice that I can beat my little sister with a Rook handicap. I'm really glad the night that I have spend reading "Art of Shogi" has made me improve my concentration and skills a little. Sad thing is most of the time I can't beat Shogi AI. I think I'll probably improve a whole lot more if I can master all the Joseki (opening). Another sad thing is my dad doesn't like me to play Shogi. I mean what kind of father he is? Shogi is a healthy hobby game so why should he be against it? But I have made up my mind. If he's going to stop me from playing Shogi, I will definitely run away from home.I won't let him take away my interest any longer. He doesn't know how hard it is for me to find something that I actually love doing it. I guess being a parent would always want their kids to "study study study" only. I mean you can't expect me to spend my free time studying too, right? Sometimes I really envy the lucky kids out there. They get to enjoy doing the stuffs they like during their free time and as for mine my dad nags me to study. No, I'm not weak in my studies. I'm actually doing very well in it and I just don't understand why I have to work SUPER hard to study. Nevertheless I will not give up on Shogi. I hope to achieve at least 1-Dan in a year and 6-Dan in 10 years time.

Ten more days till I'm flying to Singapore. I'm really looking forward to look for Shogi sets and books there. If they don't have it I guess I'll have to purchase it online again. Aside from these I did not work on my stories since I was busy. I'll probably start writing again when I'm back in Malaysia around 21st December. Hope you all have fun during this christmas season!

Regards,
Ryou Takehito

It's Holiday Time!

Hey all! Ryou here!

My exam on last Friday was really horrible. I didn't expect an easy paper to be tough! Now that the exams over, it's holiday time! I am so glad that my exams over! It means more time for me to study Shogi! ^_^V

I have been studying Shogi from 11pm to 7am for the past few days. From reading "Art of Shogi" to watching online replays to solve problems. I'm really excited that I can spend a lot of my free time just to play Shogi.

I will be returning back to my hometown this Saturday and I probably don't have time to online or play Shogi or write stories. This really makes me feel sad alot. =( However I will be going to Singapore on the 14th Dec and I hope I could find any Shogi sets (ones with wooden board and wooden or plastic pieces) and some Shogi books. If I can't find any of those, I will probably have to spend a lot of money and wait for another two months just for them to arrive if I purchase it online. =/


Enough talk from me. It's time for me to go back and study Shogi. =P Hope you guys have fun during the holiday season!

Regards,
Ryou Takehito

OH MY SHOGI GOD!

Hey all!

I know it's only been less than a day but when I woke up this morning I was surprised to find a professional shogi player named 'tadokori' comment on my last journal. I knew I was familiar with this name until I realised he was a kishi (professional shogi player) who had played against another player called Archon during November 2004 with a 6-piece handicapped http://www.shogi.net/ISC/Katsuta2/04Nov_monthlygame/ArchonvsTako.htm Yes, I know most of you probably don't know how to play Shogi but if you watch that replay it'll make you go "Oh my god!" That replay has actually inspired me to keep on playing to become a professional shogi player.

It has started a few months ago when my friend had asked me to bring him to Japan Club Kuala Lumpur (a Japanese Association) in Malaysia so he can played with the Go-players there. I agreed because I had a little interest in Go and I was trying to be generous to my new college friend. Being a 1-Dan Go-player he was quite happy to meet strong players there since it's hard to find players as strong as he is around his area (except for the internet). That's when part of my life has changed. I saw a few Japanese old men playing Shogi right in front of my eyes! There aren't that many Shogi players because it was suppose to be a Go-Club afterall. Feeling interested I take a look at how they played. Not understanding how Shogi is played, that night I went back home and start researching and mastering the basic moves of the pieces. Then finally I download a Shogi program and practise on it.

Since both my friend and I were going back to Japan Club during the next weekend, I have decided to challenge one of the old men a game of Shogi. It was very awkward to play with the Japanese man since I couldn't speak Japanese and I only played Shogi for less than a week. Weird thing is the old man didn't handicapped himself eventhough he knew I was a beginner, which in the end I lost in the game twice badly. But I was satisfied about my first game with him since it lasted longer when I have used "Kin Yagura" in the game. After losing the game, I have decided to improve my skills further so one day I can go back there and defeat him. That's how my "true" love for Shogi has begin.

Knowing that it's hard for me to defeat a Shogi player who is way stronger than me, I try to test my skills by challenging 15 kyu players (lowest rank) in Shogi Club 24 (a site where you can play online Shogi). Again I got beaten badly by them, eventhough they're 15-kyu players! I realised that Shogi is nothing like Chess nor Xianqi. You can't just simply play and hoped to improve - you have to actually study them! So feeling desperate I began searching the net for some strategies and tips but the sad thing is Shogi is not popular in the world and I couldn't find that many sites about Shogi. As time passes my interest in Shogi grew so much that I have decided to be a professional Shogi player and hope to promote Shogi in Southeast Asia since it was unpopular.

Less but not least, Shogi FTW. I really do hope my love for Shogi will still go on for the next 50 years... or forever!

I think most of you have probably gotten bored of me talking about Shogi. Lol. As for Goshogi the editor is still working on it and I would like to say good job to the editor because my story has somewhat irritate him due to my lousy English. lol. Like I have mention in the previous journal the story will be out before the end of this week and I'm thinking of writing another one next month when I get back to my hometown.

Hope you guys have a good time this week. Bye!

Regards,
Ryou Takehito

Relaxing... for the time being

Hey all,

Actually I've completed the story on Sunday afternoon and I was glad I've finally have some free time for myself. I've been actually learning Shogi throughout the night for more than 9 hours! How insane could I get? Eventhough I have more free time my last exam is on this Friday so I have to start revising my work on Wednesday night. After Friday I can fully concentrate writing either Final Heaven X, Goshogi or the murder story.

Well, I got nothing else to report so see you guys next time!

Regards,
Ryou Takehito

Exams, Work, Shogi and Weiß kreuz!!!

Hey,

I'm happy to say that I just receive a copy of a shogi strategy book called "Art of Shogi" last Monday and man oh man I'm so FREAKING HAPPY! I was actually spending the whole night learning until 5am!

Alright, there's nothing left to report. It's time for me to go back work so see ya guys next week!

Regards,
Ryou Takehito

A lousy week

Hey! Ryou here!

To keep myself more hectic, I've decided to make a presentation out of my favourite hobby - shogi. In case you don't know what's a shogi here's a link for you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shogi . That's right, I love to play shogi but unfortunately I'm still a beginner. I've made an order for a book last month unfortunately the company cancel the order due to item lost. *Sigh* I guess I have to wait another month for my new purchase of "The Art of Shogi" to arrive.

Nevertheless I hope you all have a great weekend like I did.

Regards,
Ryou Takehito