Happy 2010!

Hey,

Happy new year to all of you! If all of you have been suspecting, I have not retired from the world of Shogi! I just happened to be busy with some house chores and family so I couldn't really find the time to blog. Before I begin talking about this year's resolutions, let's look at at my previous new year resolutions and see if I have any accomplishments or not.

2009 New Year Resolutions:
1. Achieved 2-Dan amateur within this year!
2. Read up at least 3 psychology books.
3. Write at least 3 stories this year.

Okay, it seems that I did not achieve 2-dan amateur last year, but I promised I am going to become a 2-dan player soon. Last year I have an evaluation game with Kenji Kobayashi pro 9-dan and he evaluated my strength as 2-dan, but I felt strongly that I do not possess that strength yet. I've been trying to solve a 1-dan, 2-dan and 3-dan tsumeshogi problems with more than 15 moves (I will show the picture of the book in the next post) and I was able to solve every questions with a little ease and without a hint.

I did read up a psychology book last year, but failed to read 3 books because due to some "unnecessary" circumstances I was forced to work on my college 'group' assignments all alone, thus taking up a lot more of my time.

Although the stories are in bits and pieces, I did not write any story at all (which by the way are my other hobbies in case you're wondering.) Therefore I did not accomplished any of my new year resolutions. *sigh* What a bummer.

But looking back at the year 2009, I felt that I've made a lot of accomplishments.
1. I've successfully went to Japan, which has always been my dream country of visit ever since I was a child.
2. I've meet a lot of helpful Shogi players in Japan who have supported me in various ways, especially to Mr. Ishimaru, Yuki Kasai, Mr. Kunio Yonenaga, Nakamura Taichi, Mr. Yoshiharu Habu, Ryoya Tone, Yoh Hosokawa (thanks for all the help!), Kazuki Enomoto and others. Thanks for all your support and help during my stay in Japan!
3. I've met new Malaysian Shogi players, ESPECIALLY notably to Mr. Yeoh, who has given me some help and courage.
4. Made new Japanese friends in Japan Club Kuala Lumpur, who have been very friendly to me.
5. And other bits and pieces of accomplishments which I can't seem to remember. Hahaha.

Now onto my 2010 NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS!
1. Achieve 2-dan (or 3-dan) amateur in Shogi
2. Write up at least a story
3. Meet more Shogi players.

Lastly an important announcement to all Malaysia Shogi players!

It seems that there are more and more Malaysians playing Shogi so I have been thinking about setting up a 'mini' tournament in West Malaysia (only). It will going to be a friendly tournament so if you're new to Shogi it's all okay! If any Malaysians are interested in making this tournament a reality, please leave down your name (or web-name) and e-mail in my comment and if I felt that there are enough number of players, I AM GLAD to set up a mini tournament for all Malaysians out there.

To summarise it:
1. I need to know how many players are going to join the tournament by commenting on this post. If I felt that there are enough players to join the tournament, I will set it up. Please leave down your name (or web-name) and e-mail in the comments!
2. The purpose of this tournament is just to meet up all the Malaysian players, make friends and have fun. Although it is a tournament, you don't have to be strong or serious in the match. Therefore if you're new to Shogi, you're welcome too!
3. After I've decided to set up the tournament, EVERYONE should be participating in a discussion on how we can set up the tournament. Afterall, I'm only a student so obviously I can't set up everything by myself.
4. HOWEVER the the tournament MUST be set-up before May (with 31st April being the last day) so everyone must give me your answer as early as possible!

Therefore I am asking every Malaysian Shogi players to lend me hands and show me the enthusiasm of creating this mini-tournament! This will be a great opportunity to know that there are Shogi players in Malaysia!

I'm looking forward to great results!

Regards,
Ryou Takehito