Chapter 3 Kaku-Kawari (Bishop Exchange Opening)

SECTION 2 Kaku-kawari Bo-Gin
Habu-Kato /Kato-Shima

Another game, played by (b)Aono and (w)Tanigawa (in the Kisei-sen, October, 8th, 1991) had a position exactly the same as Diagram 15.
Then there followed :(from W)K-6b, K-6h, +B-2h, Lx2c+, Gx2c, L-1b+, N-3c.
Still a very difficult position to figure out.

Back at White's B-2h+ which was the sixth move prior to Diagram 15, an alternative move was played in two games: (b)Habu-(w)Kato in NHK on Jan. 9, 1989, and (b)Moriuchi-(w)Habu in the Osho-sen, on Dec. 13th, 1991). The move was K-4b.

After K-4b followed: G-3i, P*2h, K-4h. Forcing White's Bishop to be stifled at 1i, Black seems to be dominant here. (Diagram 16)

White in hand: nothing
  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1
+---------------------------+
|wL wN  * wG  *  *  * wN  * |a
| * wR  *  *  * wK wG  *  * |b
|wP  * wS wP wP wP  * wS  * |c
| *  * wP  *  *  * wP  *  * |d
| * wP  *  *  *  * wS  * bL |e
| *  * bP  * bR  *  *  * wP |f
|bP bP bS bP bP bP bP  *  * |g
| *  * bG  *  * bK  * wP bP |h
|bL bN  *  *  *  * bG bN wB |i
+---------------------------+
Black in hand: B L P 
Diagram 16  White to Move

Let's have a look at how they proceeded in the Habu-Kato game.

Moves from Diagram 16:(From White)
1.S3e-2d Rx1f
2.N-3c N-1g
3.S-6d L*2g
4.Sx1e Rx1e
5.L*1d P*2d (Diagram 17)

White: Kato
White in hand: nothing
  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1
+---------------------------+
|wL wN  * wG  *  *  *  *  * |a
| * wR  *  *  * wK wG  *  * |b
|wP  *  * wP wP wP wN wS  * |c
| *  * wP wS  *  * wP bP wL |d
| * wP  *  *  *  *  *  * bR |e
| *  * bP  *  *  *  *  *  * |f
|bP bP bS bP bP bP bP bL bN |g
| *  * bG  *  * bK  * wP bP |h
|bL bN  *  *  *  * bG  * wB |i
+---------------------------+
Black: Habu
Black in hand: B S P 
Diagram 17  Up to 5. P*2d.

Black's Rook will be captured, but his attack by P*2d will cause even greater damage. After Diagram 17 : (from White) Lx1e, Px2c+, Lx1g+, Px1g, R*1h, +Px3b, Kx3b, S*5b! Thus Habu managed to win this game, and he also captured the championship that year.

Let's move on to the next game, played by (b)Moriuchi and (w)Habu.

Moves from Diagram 16: (from White)
1.S3e-2d Rx1f
2.N-3c N-1g
3.S-6d L-1b+
4.N-4e +L-2b
5.Nx3g+ K-5h
6.P*1e +Lx3b
7.Sx3b R-2f
8.L*2c P*3c
9.S2dx3c L*2e!

The last move, L*2e was quite effective. Then:(From White)
10.Lx2e Rx2e
11.L*2a Rx1e
12.P-2i+ G-4i
13.B-2h+ R-1b+

Moriuchi's Rook got promoted on 1b, and that was it. The game ended in Moriuchi's victory.

Now further back at Diagram 14, instead of dropping the Bishop on 1i, Akira Shima played Px2d. Let's look into the (b)Kato-(w)Shima game, played on Sept. 21, 1995 in the Kio-sen. Prior to Diagram 18, Shima had played Px2d, followed by Kato's B drop on 1b.

White in hand: B S P 
  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1
+---------------------------+
|wL wN  * wG wK  *  * wN  * |a
| * wR  *  *  *  * wG  * bB |b
|wP  * wS wP wP wP  *  *  * |c
| *  * wP  *  * wS wP wP  * |d
| * wP  *  *  *  *  *  * bL |e
| *  * bP  *  *  *  *  * wP |f
|bP bP bS bP bP bP bP  *  * |g
| *  * bG  *  *  *  * bR bP |h
|bL bN  *  * bK bG  * bN  * |i
+---------------------------+
Black in hand: L 
Diagram 18.  White to Move

Moves from Diagram 18:(from White)
1.G-2b Bx3d+
2.G-3c

Where to move the Bishop, +Bx1f or +B-1b? Either will lead to a difficult position.

+Bx1f
3.B*1i R-2g
4.S-3e K-6h
5.P*3f L*3h
6.S*2e +B-1g
7.G-3d Px3f
8.S3ex3f Lx3f
9.Sx3f R-2f
10.G-2e Rx2e
11.Px2e +Bx5c
12.P*5f S*8c
13.R-6b L-1a+
14.B-6d+ +B-3e
15.R-5b (Diagram 19)

White: Shima
White in hand: R L 
  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1
+---------------------------+
|wL wN  * wG wK  *  * wN bL+|a
| *  *  *  * wR  *  *  *  * |b
|wP bS wS wP  * wP  *  *  * |c
| *  * wP wB+ *  *  *  *  * |d
| * wP  *  *  *  * bB+wP  * |e
| *  * bP  * wP  * wS  *  * |f
|bP bP bS bP bP bP  *  *  * |g
| *  * bG bK  *  *  *  * bP |h
|bL bN  *  *  * bG  * bN  * |i
+---------------------------+
Black: Kato
Black in hand: G P4 
Diagram 19.  Up to 15. R-5b.

The game ended in Shima's victory.

When I looked further into past game records, I had to come to the conclusion that the bo-gin side's winning rate was far from satisfactory. To sum up the fellow pro players' comments, the bo-gin side has a lot to worry about when the opponent plays the hayaguri-gin B*5d or P-1d, whichever the variation may be. Therefore, the bo-gin does not seem to be the number 1 choice for Black.

Since 1995, however, Kato the Yagura player has been pursuing Kaku-kawari bo-gin. Diagram 20 is from a Kisei preliminary played by Kato(b) and Teruhiko Suzuki(w) on Sept. 13, 1995.

White: Suzuki
White in hand: S 
  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1
+---------------------------+
|wL wN  * wG wK  *  * wN wL |a
| *  *  *  *  *  *  * wR  * |b
|wP  * wS wP wP  * wG  * wP |c
| *  * wP  * wB  * wP wP  * |d
| * wP  *  *  * wP  *  *  * |e
| *  * bP  *  *  *  * bP  * |f
|bP bP bS bP bP bP bP  * bP |g
| *  * bG  *  *  * bB bR  * |h
|bL bN  *  * bK bG  * bN bL |i
+---------------------------+
Black: Kato
Black in hand: S 
Diagram 20. Up to P-4e.

This is exactly the same position that appeared in the Waki-Ono game which I referred to earlier. According to the record keeper who was present at the post mortem, Kato surprisingly did not know about those moves played earlier by White, i.e., from P-2d to R-2b toP-4e. But Kato showed his strength by maneuvering the game in his own way as follows:

1.S-6f S-6d
2.N-7g P-7e
3.S*6e

Looks like Kato found the right way. White could have played better than he actually did, it seems, but that is yet to be proved. Kato also played, as White, with the P on 1c in quite a few games. When it comes to the bo-gin, Kato is the player to watch.

I asked Tanaka 9-dan, who came up with the revolutionary conception from K-6h on, why he stopped playing the bo-gin.

He answered:
"That opening requires a special sense, so to speak. Remember it was Kozo Masuda who first played B*3h. My shogi master, Takayanagi honorary 9-dan was a good bo-gin player and I sort of inherited his uncommon sense."

Indeed, his R-5f and B*2g, not to mention the audacious Rook moves in the game against Izumi, do not seem to be easy for ordinary players to play.

"Yes, you have to come up with a brilliant idea to make it work, since the basic idea of the bo-gin is rather simple and crude."

I asked him if he would play this opening again in the future.
"I will. Seeing Kato 9-dan has been playing it, I think it really has more potential to be exploited. I'm also aware that this opening appeals to amateur players because it's easy and interesting, even if it's not appealing to professionals."

And lastly he promised, "I will try and play something that will attract people's attention."

(End of Sec 2)