The Kobe Chess Championship: Ghibli Edition

The more I practice, the luckier I get.

-Garry Kasparov

Welcome Everybody, to a Ghiblified edition of the Osaka Papers.

On Sunday March 30th, the Kobe Chess Championship 2025 took place here in Kobe, Osaka. For many this would be the final opportunity to qualify for the Japan Chess Championship. Having already qualified myself, the tournament was a warm-up for the nationals. But more importantly, it was a chance to gauge my progress.

Most adult learners of chess know the heartache and suffering that comes with playing this game for years, only to realize that you have made little to no progress, while some 11-year-old goes from patzer to master in a matter of months. For me, this tournament would be a litmus test of whether I am truly progressing. A mediocre middle of the pack finish has been the norm, so to prove to myself that I'm improving I would need to score near the top of the table.

The tournament was a 4-round affair, nationally rated with games having a time control of 30 minutes plus a 30 second bonus. What's more it took place during the great Ghibli craze of 2025.

All over social media, netizens have been uploading photos of themselves which have been "Ghiblified" using AI technology. Studio Ghibli is a legendary Japanese animation studio, famous for its distinctive animation style, and some of the most critically acclaimed releases in anime history, Spirited Away and Grave of the Fireflies, being chief among them.

Being a fan of Studio Ghibli, AI and random internet trends, I decided it would be fun to Ghiblifiy a few of my pics. What's more, I'm a resident of Japan, I can hardly think of a place where Ghiblifiying would be more apt.

Dr. Chess

In round one I sat down at board 1, and faced off against Dr Adam Jasco, a Hungarian national who was doing a 6-month research exchange at Kobe University. The pairings were announced a bare few minutes before the start of the game, so at the time I had no idea what he was rated, but as we were at board 1, I assumed him to be somewhere in the 2000s.

What followed was a closely contested game but end game technique would be the deciding factor in crowning the winner.

After stopping the clock, shaking hands and signing the score sheet, I asked Dr. Jasco what his rating was, he replied 2200...I just smiled and laughed.

Overall, I was happy with my play, but it certainly wasn't a showing that demonstrated any progress.

All Out of Tempi

In round 2, I found myself paired with an unrated opponent. I'm always wary of such pairings, on one hand, it may end up being an easy win, but often, unrated players perform surprisingly well.

Our game was very closely contested, I felt the endgame position favored me, so I forced some trades, only to make a few critical mistakes that threw away the equality of the position...lucky for me, I'm not the only one who has a penchant for endgame blunders.

White has missed a chance to take the advantage, can you see the most precise way to win?

I was lucky to get away with that one, but I will give myself some credit for playing quickly, putting my opponent under time pressure, and taking my opportunities when they were presented.

At Long Last...

In the 3rd round, I was paired with my old friend and nemesis, Chess Olympiad team member and former Japan Women's Champion, Melody. Long ago in the fall of 2021, I played my first ever rated game against Melody at the Kyoto Gion Open 2...a game I lost. We once played a game that lasted over 120 moves and took nearly 5 hours...a game I lost. In fact, I have never beaten Melody at any time control nor format, perhaps a dozen or so futile efforts...

If I am truly progressing as a player, it is about time that I win a game against Melody, all this was going through my head as I sat down across from my old friend.

Double Exclam!!

At last, we come to the final round, where I played Kazunori Inukai. I had seen him around the chess club and various events but had never played against him. In truth because of my historic win in the previous round I didn't take the game as seriously as I should have.

I got out to a great start and had a slight advantage in the early middle game, before disaster struck. I allowed White to attack the bottom of my pawn chain and found myself down two pawns in the endgame. Luckily for me, I'm not the only chess player who has a penchant for throwing away winning positions.

Thanks to White's errors, I was able to maneuver into a winning position and play a "Brilliant" move.

Well...at least it was "Brilliant" according to Chess.com's AI, but since the engine usually gives me nothing but a tongue lashing for my blunders and missed wins, any good news is welcome.

Can you see how I finished off the tournament in "Brilliant" fashion?

The Results

Postmortem

A good player is always lucky.

-Jose Raul Capablanca

And that was it, that was the Kobe Chess Championship 2025.

What can I say? I was lucky, in two of my games, I was in losing positions, only for my opponent to blunder and allow me to gain the full point. Yet, I must give myself some credit, when I got into those tough positions, I never wavered or gave into despair. I carried on as if it was my God given right to earn the full point. I think that is underrated part of progress, you must believe that you deserve to make progress, that your hard work has paid off, and the natural result is victory or at least the satisfaction of playing your best chess.

The Japan Chess Championship is only a month away, and I believe I have a lot to look forward to.

As always, thanks for reading, and feel free to share these games with your friends down at the library or studio.

Cheers, SheldonOfOsaka.

P.S. I have a bunch of chess merchandise available at my online shop, if that is of interest to you invite the "Click Button" to a friendly game of chess, but when he sits down to play, spend the whole game ranting about the virtues' of Hans Niemann.

"The Click Button"