British univ. welcomes 'Japanese chess' players+.

CAMBRIDGE, England, May 7 Kyodo

Three Japanese professional 'shogi' players attended a two-day competition of what is known as a Japanese form of chess at Britain's prestigious University of Cambridge, university officials said Monday.

Attending the 2001 British Open Shogi Championships on the weekend were Teruichi Aono, Yuji Maeda and Fusako Ajiki, members of the Japan Shogi Association (JSA), the officials said.

The event is a showcase of Japan's traditional culture for the university's shogi-loving philosophy professors and others, and also part of ''Japan 2001,'' a yearlong festival highlighting Japanese culture for the British public from this month to March next year.

Japan 2001 is a joint initiative of the Japanese and British governments. It will feature concerts, exhibitions, theater performances and ''home stay'' visits for British children in Japanese homes in Britain.

Crown Prince Naruhito is the honorary head of the project, along with the Prince of Wales.

According to Tony Hosking, last year's European shogi champion, Japanese chess is harder than Western chess.

Also at the tournament was Phil Holland, representative of the Postal Shogi League, who said he would have to play a little faster than usual.

The Postal Shogi League is an international association of shogi players who play by correspondence, with each game lasting four to five years.

''The good players (here) are close to the best amateur players in Japan, but the problem seems to be that there is not much opportunity here to play,'' Aono said.

The three, whose visit is being funded by the Japan Foundation, will stay on to help spread shogi in northern Europe.

Shogi is a board game involving two players with 20 pieces each. Similar to the Western chess, the aim is to checkmate the opponent's king.