I have always thought it a matter of honour for every chess player to deserve the smile of fortune.” – Mikhail Tal
Welcome everybody, to another "Can I qualify for the Japan Championship", edition of the Osaka Papers. In Japan there are a number of ways to qualify for the National Championship, a high enough rating, performance in other national events, such as the Japan Open, being one of the the top females, junior or senior players in the country, but for most, the road to the Japan Chess Championship runs through the regional qualifying tournaments.There is a dozen such tournaments scattered throughout Japan, these tournaments also double as city or regional championships. In order to qualify, one has to finish near the top of the standings, the cutoff being determined by the number of participants in the tourney.I started off my journey to qualify by...you guessed it...forgetting to register in time for the Osaka Chess Championship and finding out that the tournament was already full...O_o...
But not to worry, thanks to the forbearance of the organizers, I was able to sneak my way into the tournament and gain an opportunity to book my ticket to the Japan Chess Championship, which is to be held in Tokyo later this year.
The Osaka Chess Championship 2025 took place on the weekend of March 1st and 2nd, included 26 participants, playing 5 rounds, having a time control of 35 mins with a 30 second bonus. Only the top six participants from the Osaka region would qualify.
But before we get into the details of the tournament, how about a few pics to prove that any of this happened.
The Osaka Chess Championship was held at this local community center.The Child Gods of Chess fortune...or so I believe them to be.The tournament took place beside the iconic Media PULPO TV studios.
Last Chance to Escape
One of the funny things about my minuscule celebrity is that from time to time, I am contacted by new arrivals to Japan asking where they can play chess. My first-round opponent was just such a gentleman. A few weeks before the tournament I received a message from him on chess.com ...long story short, I was paired with him in the first round of the tourney. He entered as an unrated player, but with a chess.com rapid rating in the 1900s, I knew this would be a challenging game.
He dominated the opening and middle game, but eventually blundered with an unsound tactic. I had one last shot at equalizing the position.
A disappointing way to start the tourney, but not to worry, a loss in the first round means that my second-round opponent will surely be low rated and inexperienced...
The Olympian
As the Child Gods of Chess fortune would have it, my second-round opponent was not low-rated nor inexperienced. Takashima San is a former Japan Chess Olympian, who also helps organize the Osaka Abeno Chess Club here in Osaka. He is incredibly knowledgeable and extremely experienced, however, he managed to draw his first-round game, which means that he was paired with me, the highest rated player to lose in the first round.
A sharp back and forth game ensued, in the endgame my opponent blundered and hands the game to me on a platter...but only if I can find the correct tactical response.
Two games, two losses...surely all hope of qualifying is lost?! Well, I can always play on for honor's sake.
Checks, Captures and Threats
In the third round I was up against Mashu, formerly known as Matthew. I met Mashu at last year's Osaka Championship and have seen him at most every chess event here in Osaka. Despite that, this would be our first encounter over the board.
I got off to a solid start and was able to end things rather quickly after spotting a common tactical theme.
Despite my two loses, it felt good to end the day on a win. Only two rounds left, so to have any hope of qualifying I would need to be perfect from here on in.
The MiniaturistAn artist conception of me waiting for my round 4 opponent.
In the fourth round, I was paired with an unrated competitor, who also happened to show up 15 minutes late to a 35-minute game. This lateness did not help his play...
What followed was a 12-move miniature.
Two wins, two losses...not a bad start but to have any chance at all of qualifying, I still need to end the day with one more victory, nothing less will do. My game ended first so I spent a few hours sitting in the adjacent park, reviewing opening lines...and awaiting the pairings.
Victory or Death
If you have made a mistake or committed an inaccuracy there is no need to become annoyed and to think that everything is lost. You have to reorientate yourself quickly and find a new plan in the new situation.” – David Bronstein
My final round opponent would be none other than Kazufumi Yoshizawai, a slightly lower rated player who I have beaten a half dozen times, with only one loss, but none of that matters now. He did very well to win his 4th round match against a stronger opponent, so I know he will be no pushover.
One thing is for certain, a draw is not good enough, in order to qualify, it is victory or death.
Qualified
L to R: Akira Kinoshita, Yoshiki Kohei, Sheldon Donaldson, Tadashi Ono, Takahiro Mizumoto.
Despite only finishing 12th in the overall standings, on tiebreaks, I finished 6th among those who had not already qualified in some other manner, thus booking my ticket to the Japan Chess Championship scheduled to take place at the end of April. When they first told me I literally could not believe it, I figured some error in calculating the results had happened, and didn't celebrate until I received my ticket.
The Champions
L to R: 3rd place Yoshiki Kohei, 1st place FM Simon Bibby, 2nd place Takahiro Mizumoto.
A group picture of most of the participants.
Postmortem
And that was it, that was Booking my ticket to the Japan Chess Championship.
As grateful as I am for qualifying, I'm in no way kidding myself, I was very lucky. Osaka is nowhere near the summit of the Japan chess scene, the real killers are found in Tokyo. There the kind of mistakes I made in the preceding games will be ruthlessly be punished.
Yet, that is a worry for another day, for now I'm simply ecstatic that a year of practice has paid off with my qualification to the Japan Chess Championship.
As always thanks for reading, and feel free to share these games and tactics with your friends down at the library or chess club.
Cheers, SheldonOfOsaka.
Special thanks to Masaharu Tabe and the Ampassan Chess Club for putting on such a splendid event.
BTW...I still have lots of Chess merchandise available on REDBUBBLE, if that is of interest to you, invite the "Click Button" to a game of chess, but when he shows up pull out a chess set that is missing two rook and a queen.
