| Quest of the lost systems |
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| Chapter One: Yagura |
| Section 1: suzume-zashi, or attack a la sparrow shish kebab |
Moves from the Diagram 9: (from Black)
Px9f, Lx9f; Lx9f, Rx9f; P-6e, B-9g+; L*9i, P*9h;
Sx9g, Rx9g+, G-8h, +R-9b; L*9h, +R-7b; B-5g, P-6d;
Px6d, L*6a;
After those moves, White has something to look forward to, e.g., P-7e
through S-6d, which would mark White's success.
The problem remains though: once both parties complete their formations,
the suzume-zashi side has difficulty to time when to open fire. It might
even have a possibility of sen-nichi-te (literally, a thousand-day move,
meaning you keep on getting back to exactly the same phase after a thousand
days; repetition of moves). In other words, that's exactly why White resorts
to suzume-zashi, because even if the game ends up with sen-nichi-te, he/she
is guaranteed to play Black in a re-match. What's there to lose?
Besides a danger of getting into repetition of moves, another factor that
made suzume-zashi less popular was White's shagami-yagura, which still makes
the Black indecisive how to go about it.
Suzume-zashi, however, is very active in other formations like S-4f or S-4g-yagura,
and still a very powerful weapon in many games. The concept of suzume-zashi
will no doubt be succeeded and give rise to many revised strategies in years
to come. Every time I think about it, I'm overwhelmed by Kozo Masuda's ingenuity.
(End of Section 1)
Takako Noda
