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This event took place in the newly opened Shibuya Hikarie in Tokyo and pitted former European Woman Champion and five times French Women Champion WGM Almira Skripchenko against Japan's great Shogi star Yoshiharu Habu.
The Shibuya Hikarie is a commercial tower which takes the concepts of shopping, dining, entertainment and business to new heights. Hi-tech signage and billboards throughout relay information in real time from all corners of Shibuya to numerous locations within the complex.
The event was connected in fact to the one I recently reported on at Skytree, which pitted French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave against Shogi legends Yoshiharu Habu and Meijin Toshiyuki Moriuchi. While I was partial to an encounter between the chess and shogi communities, the event sponsor SkyPerfect TSAT was essentially interested in a chess match involving shogi star Mr. Habu. In my search for a worthy opponent, I remembered that my friend GM Alex Chernin mentioned, during his stay in Japan, WGM Almira Skripchenko's willingness to come back to Japan. This was, therefore, one of those uncommon but enjoyable occurrences where you could satisfy every party involved.
Should I introduce the charming chess champion who is Almira Skripchenko? I doubt. Most of you know her. Therefore, having spent a few days with Almira, I could appreciate not only a very talented chess player but also a very cultured and warm lady.
Shogi star Yoshiharu Habu is the strongest chess player currently living in Japan. He really started to play chess in 1996, and we played on regular basis something like one or two games a month. This until the turn of the new century I would say that Habu had reached a strong FM level. In fact he achieved an IM norm at his first participation in an International Open near Paris. It was at St Quentin, in 2001. Here are the final top rankings:
# |
Player | Rating |
Score |
1 |
GM Delchev, Aleksander | 2587 |
7.5/9 |
2 |
GM Apicella, Manuel | 2518 |
7.5/9 |
3 |
IM Bergez, Luc | 2426 |
7.0/9 |
4 |
GM Eingorn, Vereslav S | 2589 |
6.5/9 |
5 |
GM Shchekachev, Andrei | 2537 |
6.5/9 |
6 |
IM Shirazi, Kamran | 2402 |
6.5/9 |
7 |
IM Leroy, Didier | 2345 |
6.5/9 |
8 |
Te Llalemand, Rosa | 2291 |
6.5/9 |
9 |
Goulenok, Eric | 2188 |
6.5/9 |
10 |
Callet, Emmanuel | 2158 |
6.5/9 |
11 |
FM Stroppa, Daniel | 2145 |
6.5/9 |
| 12 |
FM Habu, Yoshiharu | 1499 |
6.5/9 |
13 |
IM Pira, Davoud | 2449 |
6.0/9 |
14 |
FM Gerard, Nicolas | 2320 |
6.0/9 |
15 |
FM Piot, Olivier | 2277 |
6.0/9 |
16 |
Midoux, Sebastien | 2252 |
6.0/9 |
Habu, rated 1499 at the time, showed a 2356 overall performance in this tournament. Here is a memorable game of this tournament:
Alas Yoshiharu Habu has only few weeks a year to devote to chess, but when he is able to train for a few days consecutively even a strong GM can lose against him. Just remember this game:
How
can shogi players could be so strong at chess? More and less because chess and
shogi are related games. Of course both games, like the languages of two very
different cultures, have their own way to express the battle of ideas. Nevertheless
these differences can, I imagine, be mastered quite easily, just as a poet of
one language may produce something very interesting in another language. And
Habu is particularly gifted in his own game. A few months after he started to
play chess with me, Habu had won all the shogi tournaments of the year. This
is an incredible and unique record in the history of the game, and could be
compared to Fischer's record of 20 straight wins at the top of the chess
world. In fact the two players share nearly the same percentage of wins in
their careers: 72-73%. At the age of of 42. Habu has won already 83 tournaments!
In fact the two players share nearly the same percentage of victory
in their career 72:73%. At age of 42, Habu has won already 83 titles! (The previous
record, 80 titles, was held by the greatest shogi champion of the 20th century,
the 15 Lifetime Meijin Oyama, 1923-1992). There are millions of shogi players
in Japan. If one shogi player in ten starts to play chess, then Japan could
in few years become a respectable chess nation, with IMs and GMs.
Returning to the visit by Almira Skripchenko I must report that she clearly enjoyed her nearly two weeks in Japan, and was also able to fulfil a dream: to see a genuine Sumo tournament. She got an opportunity during this trip, when she joined Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to attend...
... a genuine honbasho or Grand Sumo tournament in Ryogoku, Tokyo
Sumo is a competitive full-contact wrestling sport where contestants try to force each other out of a circular ring (dohyo) or to make them touch the ground with anything other than the soles of their feet. The popularity of the sport in Japan and the adulation afforded to it super-heavyweight athletes defies belief.
If chess only had this number of spectators, right, Maxime?
Maxime and Almira decide to give it a try, with Jacques-Marie as gyōji
(sumo referee)
Okay, the stance is not yet perfect – that's Greek-Roman style wrestling,
guys...
This is how you do it, and you will still need to gain a couple of hundred
pounds...
Back to the chess: Habu was happy to meet a strong chess opposition in his own country. The challenge was by no way easy. Here's the first game, annotated by Almira:
Before the start of the match in the Shibuya Hikarie tower
The games Habu vs Skripchenko were shown live on the Go & Shogi TV Channel
If the first game of the match soon turned into a draw, the second game showed more tension, with both players trying to win until the very end. Short on time, making mistake, both sides got a dramatic control of opposite squares with their bishops. Then, with only two minutes left, Almira missed a tactical point which could have brought her the full point. Major pieces were exchanged and a draw was the conclusion of this friendly match.
After their games the two players analysed them for Japanese TV
I must say again that Mr Tanaka of the Go & Shogi Channel and his team did a fantastic job. I was surprised myself by the success of both events. If chess is not popular in Japan it is not for of a lack of interest, from the public or from the Shogi Association. Together with its top players, the Shogi Association has contributed to the success of these meetings and I would thanks here not only my friends the Shogi Champions Habu and Moriuchi, but the whole shogi community for their kindness.
The web site of the event was developed by Nekomado, a company founded by Madoka Kitao (above with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave). I would like to add that Madoka is trying to develop Shogi outside Japan, very much in the same way I try to develop chess in Japan. We work in harmony, by helping each other in our reciprocal efforts. Thus I hope this article will help promote shogi in Europe as well it helps to promote chess in Japan!
