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Kifu is a shogi game record. Every move is written down so the game can be replayed and
studied later. Serious students of shogi build up - and work through - large libraries of kifu to
understand openings, middlegame plans and yose (end-game) technique.
The Gnu Shogi Database (GSDB) is a collection of Japanese chess games and sample openings. Hundreds of shogi kifu (game records) have been documented. The orignal GSDB comes with an applet that allows viewing and manipulating of the collections. Unfortunately, the web browsing industry has discontinued support for Java applets. That makes browsing the collections trickier, without a little help.
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Just a note on shogi rankings: The lowest ranking is 15-kyu. The rankings go down to 1-kyu as the player improves. After 1-kyu, rankings begin counting up with 1-dan all the way up to 9-dan. Professional shogi players begin around 5-kyu and go up to 9-dan (the champion professional). Ameteurs of the same rank as professionals are typically less skilled than their professional counterparts.
European Championships – Kifu #32
[Name "Thomas Majewski"]
[Email ""]
[Country "Belgium"]
[Sente "Cain Steven"]
[Gote "Majewski Thomas"]
[Black_grade "2dan"]
[White_grade "1dan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Comment "Yamada quickattack vs shikenbisha"]
[Source "Thomas' gamescore"]
[Event "European Championships 1997"]
[Date "19970823"]
[Round "6"]
[Venue "RIKAB"]
[Proam "Amateur"]
P7g-7f P3c-3d P2g-2f P4c-4d S3i-4h S3a-3b P5g-5f R8b-4b K5i-6h K5a-6b K6h-7h S7a-7b G4i-5h G4a-5b P9g-9f P9c-9d S7i-6h K6b-7a P3g-3f B2b-3c S6h-5g K7a-8b P2f-2e P6c-6d { 12...P6d~~12...P5d would have been better, as black does ~not have the opportunity to play a kings head ~vanguard pawn with 13.P5e. In addition, a later ~B'5c will be very strong against the Yamada ~joseki. White does not have to be afraid of ~13.B9g R4a 14.B8f P4e 15.S6f etc., as it gives ~good chances for both sides. } P3f-3e P3dx3e S5g-4f P3e-3f S4f-3e P4d-4e B8hx3c+ S3bx3c B'7g B'5d R2h-2f P7c-7d { 18...P7d~~A waiting move, that could have been used for other ~purposes. E. g. 18...L1b. Miss Takahashi, Ladies ~professional proposed 18...Bx7f, to remove this ~pawn and to get access to the weak pawn on 8g.~} P2e-2d P2cx2d S3ex2d S3c-4d P'2b P'2c { 21...P'2c~~A mistake, as it gives Black the opportunity to ~play 22.Sx2c= with the later possibility of S3d+.~} S2dx2c+ { 22.Sx2c+~~Black loses his golden opportunity to play Sx2c=. ~Later he can play S3d+ with strong pressury on ~white's rook. Miss takahashi called this a ~"heavy move".~} P4e-4f P4gx4f S4d-3e R2f-2e S3ex4f P2bx2a+ P3f-3g+ +S2c-3c +P3gx4h +S3cx4b +P4hx5h +S4bx5b +P5hx6i +S5bx6a G'7i K7h-8h G'7h K8h-9g G7hx7g { 31...Gx7g~~The decisive mistake. White looses the game with this ~single move. White get's a bishop, which is of ~little use to him, but the black knight on 7g ~becomes the most important defender for black.~31.G7ix8i removes the knight and set's the bishop ~en prise. 31...G7ix8g 32.B6d P9e 33.Px9e P'9f ~34.Kx9f N'8d 35.K8f Sx6a 36.R'4b S'7bIt would ~have been a rather easy victory after this. ~Maybe this is the urge of the weak player to ~take the bigger piece.~} N8ix7g P9d-9e P9fx9e P'9f K9gx9f S'8d K9f-8f S7bx6a R2e-2b+ P'3b R'4b S6a-7b N'9d L9ax9d P9ex9d S'9e L9ix9e S8dx9e K8fx9e B'5a S'6b B5ax6b R4bx6b+ S'8d K9e-8f L'7a +R2b-3a { 45.+R2b-3a~~White resigns.~~This game shows how important the endgame in shogi ~is. White's huge advantage crumbled because of one ~bad endgame move. Miss Takahashi advised me to ~practise the endgame. Solving tsume problems just ~a little, but regularly (every day) should do the ~job.}