（日本語版：2026 クラブカップ将棋対抗戦記）

I played in the Club Cup in Kobe for the first time in well over a decade.

Tournament Format

  • 3-player team competition

  • After two preliminary games, teams are placed into one of four knockout brackets

    • 2 wins / win then loss / loss then win / 2 losses
    • so guaranteed at least 3 games

  • 30 minutes per player, sudden death

Our Team

  • Alan Baker: Professor at Swarthmore College, currently visiting Kyoto University’s Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences.
  • Takuto Ohno: A talented 10- or 11-year-old student of mine.
  • Me

For more about Baker, see the link above.

We went 1 loss and 1 win in the preliminaries, then advanced steadily through the bracket.

Game Analysis

Semifinal

Here is a look back at my semifinal game. I actually played Gote, but the positions and moves below are shown from Sente’s point of view for the sake of clarity.

Move 37

My setup was essentially complete, while my opponent still had improving moves. If I played something slow, she could simply continue with ☖玉-71 and ☖玉-82 for free. So this was the moment to take active measures.

I decided to offer the 5th file pawn to open up my bishop’s diagonal.

☗歩-56☖歩-26☗歩x☖飛x☗歩'27☖飛-24☗歩-55☖角x

Move 45

My original plan was ☗歩'54☖銀x☗飛-56, threatening ☗銀x54☖飛x☗銀'65(☗銀'66?☖角x37+!). If Black defended with ☖金-43?, then ☗銀x54☖歩x☗飛x55☖歩x☗銀'32 +-.

But when I rechecked the calculation, I realized that the simple ☖角x77+! replying to ☗飛-56 left me in trouble. After that, neither ☗銀x54☖桂'64 nor ☗飛x54☖桂'44 was enough to keep the attack going.

So I changed course with ☗銀-56. As one possibility, I briefly calculated ☖角-64☗角x☖歩x☗銀-55 (threatening ☗角'15☖飛-22☗飛-26☖歩'25☗飛x!☖飛x☗角x42+) ☖桂-33☗角'97? (☗飛-66?☖角'75) ☖金-63?☗飛-66, but I did not get the sense that the line really worked. So I intended to look for other options as well. In fact, our post-game analysis showed that the line simply fails to produce enough play after ☖銀-54! instead of ☖金-63.

She replied almost instantly with ☖角-22. When I asked her after the game, she said that ☖角-64 had hardly occurred to her as a candidate move.

☗銀x45☖金-52?☗角-79!

☖金-52 was an inaccuracy. The immediate ☖桂-33, chasing my silver at once, was stronger (I guess it might be awkward for her to play because it blocks her own bishop). The point is that ☗角-79, a bishop-rerouting manuever I had envisioned when I played ☗歩-56, left my silver on 45 firmly established. Since she had been worried about ☗歩'54 until just before this, the idea may have been difficult for her to find.

☖玉-71☗角x35☖飛-64☗角-46☖飛-14☗歩-16! ... 1-0

Move 56

The final ☗歩-16 was a satisfying move, cramping the rook while simultaneously giving my king more room.

Result

(Official report: 光証券杯2026クラブカップ将棋対抗戦【結果報告】)

Award ceremony

We won our bracket.

Individually, Ohno finished with a plus score. I had expected Baker to have a tough time, but he picked up his first win in the final. There were other games in which he had the better position as well. Once he adjusts to sudden-death time controls, I think he can score even better.

Back when I was a student at Kyoto University, I also took Baker to a tournament. That one was a single-elimination individual event, so it was over almost immediately.

This time we got to play 5 games, and Baker also managed to get a win. I was happy with the day.

He will be staying in Kyoto until the end of the year. He is also interested in playing in the West Japan Team Shogi Tournament on November 3. If we can find 3 more teammates, we will enter.

If anyone would like to join us, please get in touch!