Enju Sakai wins Naniwa Open 2025
Mayur Gondhalekar and his good friend, Sheldon Donaldson regularly keeps us updated about the Japan chess scene. Sheldon writes a blog about his experience of playing at Naniwa Open 2025. The Canadian origin, currently residing in Japan, Sheldon's article is full of high quality photos and some interesting moments from his games. He loves playing, having fun, analyzing and making us enjoy various moments from his games. Check out his account of the tournament, which took place in Osaka, Japan. Enju Sakai won the overall tournament. Sheldon finished second in the B-Class category. Photos: Sheldon Donaldson
Facing Down My Demons at The Naniwa Open
“Don't wish it was easier, wish you were better.” - Jim Rohn
Welcome everybody, to another Over-The-Board, edition of the Osaka Papers.
Most chess players are faced with one inevitable and burning question: "When will I get better?". At first your ability and rating increase by leaps and bounds, but without fail this progress slows to a crawl, and you find yourself in the lonely and desolate confines of "The Plateau". A dismal way station of the soul, where nothing grows and dreams go to die. It's depressing, I know.
My most recent attempt to break through my personal stagnation was at the 2025 Naniwa Open Chess Tournament, held here in Osaka, Japan, on the weekend of August 23rd and 24th. The tourney was a five-round affair, nationally rated and consisting of games with a 30 minute + 60 second bonus time control.
The prize fund was a collection of chessboards, chess clocks, chess books, and all manner of chess themed accessories. I had my eye on a new chess clock and the fact that my 1667 national rating classed me in the B-division, the odds of placing near the top seemed high. I set myself the modest goal of 3 points out of a possible 5.
Would I do it? Would I finally progress from the dreaded plateau? Or would I continue to stagnate on the bottom half of the chess table.
Before we answer these pressing questions, how about a few pictures to prove that any of this happened.
This unassuming square located in front of the OCAT building is the center of break-dancing culture in Osaka. At all hours of the day and night, you will find B-boys and B-girls pop-locking. I took this picture at 9:00am and there was one B-boy practicing just out of shot.
On the morning of Monday August 18th, a fire broke out in a building near Dontonbori, Osaka. Tragically two fire fighters lost their lives trying to extinguish the fire. The people of Osaka have raised a makeshift shrine to honour their bravery. The most common offerings are flowers and bottled water.
Even Monkeys Fall from Trees
In the first round I was paired with Taro Shinoda, a much higher rated player, who far outstrips me in talent and knowledge. I played him a few years ago at the Japan Chess Championship and was soundly beaten. These facts notwithstanding, that old Japanese proverb comes to mind: "Even monkeys fall from trees.", meaning even an expert can err. And although, Taro is an expert player, he certainly did err in this game.
Not a horrible game, but certainly not great. One thing that is apparent, is the need for improved visualization and calculation, some of those variations were incredibly difficult, but it is not good enough to say "Chess is hard that is why I keep losing.", as Jim Rohn would say, "Don't wish it was easier, wish you were better.
In the second round, I outplayed a much lower rated player, in the interest of time, lets skip past that victory and look at another difficult confrontation.
If Looks Could Kill
“A player surprised is half beaten.” - Chess Proverb
In the third round, I was up against Liv Ivanov. I had seen here at the Kyoto Gion Open late last year and understood that she is quite a strong player. I started the game well, equalizing and gaining a slight advantage by the tenth move, but I am an aficionado of playing harmless inaccurate moves that look dangerous, and so it was in this game. When faced with a dangerous double-edged position I chose the sharpest option and prayed that I had calculated every outcome accurately...spoiler alert, I had not. But would Liz know that?
Sheldon - Ivanov, Round 3
Can you see how White should respond to this "killer" move?
In our post-match analysis, Liz admitted that she was surprised by 17...Qf2, which I think can explain her suboptimal response, but how do you explain me playing it, when I saw that I would lose a pawn, and have trouble developing?
If I am ever to improve, I need to play the best move, not the best-looking move.
In the fourth round, I faced off with an unrated player, I have learned to loath unrated players. If you beat an unrated player, you gain almost no Elo points, but if you lose, they take a huge bite out of your rating...there is no upside.
I was able to put my opponent under pressure quickly and gained the full point in only 19 moves, a good game, but I think the next one is more interesting, so let's skip past to that.
A Fight to the Finish
“Calculation Over Everything.” - -James Canty III
In the final round, I played another unrated player (just my luck, I know...O_o). With two and a half points I calculated that a win or even a draw would gain me 2nd place in the B-class division, good enough for a brand-new chess clock, but the thing about chess is that you're only one bad move away from losing.
Postmortem
And that was it, that was the 2025 Naniwa Open Chess Tournament. So, what did we learn?
At the end of the day, I achieved my goal of scoring 3 points, finishing 2nd in the B-class division, a good result. But have I progressed? The honest answer is no. I made the same type of calculation mistakes that I always do and even gave away two clearly winning positions in the last round.
Yet, this is an opportunity not a setback, it is a chance to get serious about what I need to do to escape from the dreaded "Plateau". Concrete visualization and calculation practice is needed. It will not be easy, but I need to start blindfold training.
Moreover, my mindset must change, at times I shy away from the truly hard calculations, simply saying to myself that "no one can calculate all that", but I must calculate all that if I am ever to go from where I am to where I want to be.
As always, thanks for reading and feel free to share these games with your friends down at the bar or Shinto shrine.
Cheers, SheldonOfOsaka.
Thanks to the Abeno Chess Club and Bunji Takashima for putting on this tournament and for my brand-new chess clock.
About the Author
SheldonOfOsaka is a 43-year-old chess player originally from Canada, who has lived in Japan for the past 13 years; he took up chess 10 years ago, but only began to play over-the-board tournaments last year.
