On Saturday 11th September Royston played host to 19 Japanese chess (Shogi) players at the 4th Royston Shogi Congress. 6 players from Royston, the Home Counties and Brussels (Belgium) competed for the British Open Tori-Shogi Championship, and the remaining 13 players from Royston, Cambridge, the Home Counties and Flanders (Belgium) competed in the Royston Open Shogi Tournament at the Coombes Centre.
The competitors included players from Belgium for the first time this year, travelling by ferry and bus, train or moped(!) to the Congress. All of them were looking forward to meeting new Shogi and Tori-Shogi opponents. It is hoped that they will be the first of many Europeans at Royston.
The winner of the British Open Tori-Shogi Championship was Anthony Denver-Fedder from Kent, with Richard West from Royston gaining 2nd place, both with 4 wins out of 5 games. Only a tie break separated them. Steve Cain from London won the Royston Shogi Tournament with 3 wins, after winning the final game against Les Blackstock, with both players running out of time on their clocks, and then playing a long period of overtime, where each move had to be completed within 30 seconds. Paul Smith from Cambridge was in 2nd place, and Lieven Volckaert from Merelbeke (Belgium) in 3rd place, both also with 3 wins out of 3 games. Matty Miller from Cambridge won the Junior prize. Both champions have been invited back to Royston in 1994 to defend their titles.
Special thanks go to Richard West Ltd and Hitachi Data Systems for donating prizes, and to the members of the Royston Shogi Club for their help in staging the Congress. If you missed the 1993 Royston Shogi Congress, make a date in your diary for the next one on Saturday 10th September 1994.
| 1993 British Tori-Shogi Championships |
| 1st - Anthony Denver-Fedder - 4 wins - promoted to 12-kyu |
| 2nd - Richard West - 4 wins - promoted to 12-kyu |
| 1993 Royston Shogi Tournament |
| 1st - Steve Cain - 3 wins |
| 2nd - Paul Smith - 3 wins - provisionally promoted to 7-kyu |
| 3rd - Lieven Volckaert - 3 wins - confirmed at 12-kyu |
| Junior - Matty Miller - 1 win |
| Other grading - Nick West - 2 wins - confirmed at 12-kyu |
| Round 1: | |||
| Anthony Denver-Fedder | vs | Francis Roads | 1-0 |
| Mark Laxton | vs | Richard West | 0-1 |
| Roland Marounek | vs | Phil Holland | 0-1 |
| Round 2: | |||
| Ricard West | vs | Anthony Denver-Fedder | 0-1 |
| Phil Holland | vs | Francis Roads | 0-1 |
| Roland Marounek | vs | Mark Laxton | 0-1 |
| Round 3: | |||
| Roland Marounek | vs | Anthony Denver-Fedder (Quail) | 0-1 |
| Francis Roads | vs | Richard West | 0-1 |
| Phil Holland | vs | Phil Holland | 1-0 |
| Round 4: | |||
| Phil Holland | vs | Anthony Denver-Fedder (Quail) | 0-1 |
| Roland Marounek | vs | Richard West (Quail) | 0-1 |
| Mark Laxton | vs | Francis Roads | 0-1 |
| Round 5: | |||
| Mark Laxton | vs | Anthony Denver-Fedder (Quail) | 1-0 |
| Phil Holland | vs | Richard West (Quail) | 0-1 |
| Roland Marounek | vs | Francis Roads (Quail) | 0-1 wo |
| Pos. | Player's name (Club) | Grade | Pl. | W. | SOMS | LASOMS |
| 1. | Anthony Denver-Fedder (Ashford) | 13-kyu | 5 | 4 | 59 | 12 |
| 2. | Richard West (Royston) | 13-kyu | 5 | 4 | 59 | 10 |
| 3. | Francis Roads (London) | 13-kyu | 5 | 3 | 58 | 9 |
| 4. | Mark Laxton (Faversham) | 14-kyu | 5 | 2 | 56 | 12 |
| 5. | Phil Holland (Royston) | 15-kyu | 5 | 2 | 55 | 16 |
| 6. | Roland Marounek (Belgium) | 15-kyu | 5 | 0 | 53 | 16 |
| Round 1: | |||
| Mike Coyne | vs | Les Blackstock | 0-1 |
| Vince West | vs | Steve Cain | 0-1 |
| Paul Smith | vs | Neil McLean (Bishop) | 1-0 |
| Lieven Volckaert | vs | Nick West | 1-0 |
| Matty Miller | vs | Sarah Holland | 1-0 |
| Matt Casters | vs | Paul Judkins | 1-0 |
| Round 2: | |||
| Vince West | vs | Les Blackstock | 0-1 nifu |
| Mike Coyne | vs | Steve Cain | 0-1 |
| Neil McLean | vs | Matt Caster | 0-1 |
| Paul Smith | vs | Paul Judkins (Bishop) | 1-0 |
| Matty Miller | vs | Lieven Volckaert (Bishop) | 0-1 |
| Sarah Holland | vs | Nick West (Bishop) | 0-1 |
| Round 3: | |||
| Steve Cain | vs | Les Blackstock | 1-0 |
| Mike Coyne | vs | Hiromichi Matsushima | 0-1 |
| Paul Smith | vs | Matt Caster (Bishop) | 1-0 |
| Neil McLean | vs | Paul Judkins | 0-1 |
| Sarah Holland | vs | Lieven Volckaert (Rook+Lance) | 0-1 |
| Matty Miller | vs | Nick West (Bishop) | 0-1 |
| Pos. | Player's name (Club) | Grade | Pl. | W. | SOMS | LASOMS |
| 1. | Steve Cain (London) | 2-dan | 3 | 3 | -2 | -1 |
| 2. | Paul Smith (Cambridge) | 9-kyu | 3 | 3 | 13 | 8 |
| 3. | Lieven Volckaert (Belgium) | 12-kyu | 3 | 3 | 39 | 3 |
| 4. | Les Blackstock (London) | 3-dan | 3 | 2 | -2 | -4 |
| 5. | Matt Casters (Belgium) | 5-kyu | 3 | 2 | 16 | 1 |
| 6. | Nick West (Rochester) | 12-kyu | 3 | 2 | 38 | 2 |
| 7. | Hiromichi Matsushima (Japan) | 4-dan | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| 8. | Paul Judkins (Royston) | 5-kyu | 3 | 1 | 15 | 2 |
| 9. | Matty Miller (Cambridge) | 15-kyu | 3 | 1 | 34 | 7 |
| 10. | Mike Coyne (Gillingham) | 1-kyu | 3 | 0 | -12 | 15 |
| 11. | Vince West (Reading) | 1-kyu | 2 | 0 | - | - |
| 12. | Neil McLean (Rochester) | 6-kyu | 3 | 0 | 13 | 7 |
| 13. | Sarah Holland (Royston) | 15-kyu | 3 | 0 | 33 | 6 |
Email: Phil Holland <phil.holland@bcs.org.uk>
