Everything that has happened since my last update

Hi everyone.

Wow, it's been a long time since I last updated Louisiana Shogi. Sorry about that. I'd like to use this update to discuss all the shogi-related things I've been doing since my last update.

The 81-Square Universe

I'm sure everyone who has been following this blog is aware, but two months ago I helped start a new English shogi website, The 81-Square Universe. This website's primary feature at the moment is its forum, which has many members from around the world who come to discuss shogi. I am also working on getting actual content on the website.

Shogipedia

Shogipedia (formerly Shogi Wiki) is another website hosted on The 81-Square Universe. It uses MediaWiki software, which is the same software used by Wikipedia. It can be edited by anyone who registers for an account (it used to allow anonymous editing, but I ended this after a spambot attack). There is currently a translation project going on at Shogipedia to provide a translation of the book Lectures on the Latest Strategies by Kiyokazu Katsumata. Wow!

Shogi Videos on Youtube

In addition to the Shogi Proverbs videos (which I hope to get back to soon), I have started a series called "My Shogi Games," in which I analyze my own games. I have also made several miscellaneous videos, such as a couple documentation videos for BCMShogi, and an advertisement for the Ryu-ou-Sen website.

New Orleans Japan Festival

How did I forget to make a mention of this in Louisiana Shogi??? On November 8 I went to New Orleans Japan Festival at the New Orleans Museum of Art. I brought my shogi set to try to popularize the game, but I couldn't find many people who were interested. I did play two people though: One of the staff members at Mechacon, and a little Japanese boy. :) The Japanese boy seemed to be about 5 or 6 years old and was playing with another boy, and when his older sister found out I play, she wanted me to play against him. I won, but he was pretty strong. I spent most of my time at Japan Festival playing igo with the members of a New Orleans igo club. I later saw the two Japanese boys playing igo there. ^^;

Getting stronger at shogi

I'm getting over several milestones in my shogi playing. I've finally become confident while playing against 4th file rook, which was a big problem for me this whole year. My rating at PlayOK is now 1457, and my record is 77 wins and 50 losses.

Also at Shogi-L I found an equation for finding one's PanAtlantic (US and European) rating using PlayOK's rating. The equation is */PanAtlantic/** = 1.75 * /PlayOK/ - 1400*. So for me, that's 1.75 * 1457, which is 2549.75, -1400, which gives me a PanAtlantic rating of about 1150, +/- 100 (so I'm anywhere between 1050 and 1250). Comparing with the FESA's rating list... I'm at least 8-kyu??? Wow! I've improved much more than I thought I have in this past year. I thought I was still a 10-kyu player. Finding out I'm stronger than I thought I am gives me a lot of motivation to keep going. Maybe in a year or so I can become a dan-holder if I train enough...