Heart of Wales Shogi Open was held at Nant y Walch Barn on May 27&28, 2023. The venue is located in Llanwrtyd Wells, about 5 hours away from London by train, and surrounded by beautiful mountains and farms.

In the main event, more than 50 games were played from 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 27 to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 28 with 40min+30sec byoyomi rule. 14 Shogi players joined the tournament from UK, Germany, Netherlands, Bulgaria and Japan. From 7th Kyu to 6th Dan, the rating scale covered by the various players. Even an ex-Shorei Kai (奨励会, an official training institution in Japan for junior Shogi players who want to become a professional player) player joined the tournament.

All the participants were very serious during the game, but once done, they felt more relaxed and enthusiastically discussed and analyzed the game.
As side events, players were also thrilled with Blitz tournament, pair Shogi, and other board games such as chess and xiangqi in the evenings.

Most of the participants stayed in the cottages close to the venue. They fully enjoyed the meals served by the cottage owners including BBQ and pizza along with the guitar music.

We AIS thank our friend Nozomi, author of the article.