From: Hans_Geuns EURONET NL> Date: 10 jan 1996 Subject: Game Commentary (43d Oza-sen, 3d game) Dear Shogi fans, Sometime ago Randal J. Andrews asked me whether I would be willing to translate some Japanese game commentaries for the readers of Shogi-L. Although I knew that this would be a rather ambitious thing to do -- because I am only an amateur and likely to make mistakes I wouldn't have liked to make --, I agreed. So here is my first translation then. The reason for translating this particular text was, first of all, that it was in the most recent Shogi Sekai I could lay my hands on, and secondly, that I liked the title (which maybe could also be translated as "The Tricked Trixter"). I have done my best to translate the text correctly, but if you find any serious errors or misrepresentations, please write me a note. Hans Geuns geuns euronet nl ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------- ==================== The Dazzled Magician ==================== Report on the 3d game of the 43d Oza-sen -- Mori (9 dan) vs Habu (Oza) -- by Noguchi Kenji [source: Shogi Sekai, November 1995, "Genwaku sareta majutsushi", 48-55; diagrams refer to the original text] translation Hans Geuns The players in this best of 5 match were Habu Yoshiharu (Oza), playing his 25th title match, and Mori Keiji (9 dan) who had defeated 9 men to become the challenger. Mori is 49 years of age and two generations older than Habu. Seventeen years ago he was challenger in the Meijin-sen and shaved his head like a monk; seven years ago he took the Oi title from Tanigawa after having boasted: "Uncle will teach his little nephew what it really means to play Shogi!" This unorthodox behaviour has made him famous. Although he he hadn't been doing much recently, he managed to defeat Morishita, Tanigawa, Sato (Yasumitsu) and Fuka'ura in the Oza-prerounds and so he could once again make his entry on the grand stage. His words before the match were: "I will have to defend myself with the hineribisha (Twisting Rook)". As this was the first serious encounter between the two players, Habu would be challenged by an new, unknown opponent. In the first game Mori got Black and of course chose hineribisha. After a strategical victory he got the upper hand but he missed the decisive move several times -- perhaps because he was playing so fast -- , the odds suddenly turned against him and he had to suffer a defeat. The final position was reached at 16.33h. In the second game Mori played mukaibisha (Opposing Rook), a very appropiate opening for someone who likes power shogi. Once again he managed to get the advantage and in the endgame he had a sure win. [Game score at the end of this text.] After seeing 49.B6f one of the referees of the match, Naito (9 dan) said: "Looking for a place to resign. Just one or two moves more and he will resign." White's previous move (B3g+) was decisive. After B6f Black threatens mate (starting with S'7a) but White can force mate right away after S'6i Kx6i +Bx5i Kx5i G'4i K6h Rx5h+. But Mori just sat and looked. In contrast to the first game he had used his time prudently during the middle game and he now had 21 minutes left. After 14 minutes he played P8d. The waiting room became noisy. Black struggled on with N'6h but P9e was very resourceful; White still had a won position. Then Habu played the fighting move S'4h. Maybe White was dazzled by this move S'4h, but anyhow, his reply +B2h was the loosing move. If White would have played R3hx4h+ he still could have won. Black doesn't have a mate, even with the Rook in hand, and because he also doesn't have any defence left he can only resign. When this mate was pointed out to Mori after his second, painful defeat, he cried: "I had a mate ? How stupid !" After two incredible victories Habu only needed one more game to secure the title. The third game was now about to begin. 43e Oza-sen, 3e partij September 22, 1995, Hakone (Kanagawa district) (Time allotment: 5 hours each) Black: Mori Keiji (9 dan) White: Habu Yoshiharu (Oza) 1.P2f P8d (3)2.P2e P8e (1) 3.G7h G3b 4.P2d Px2d 5.Rx2d P'2c 6.R2f S7b 7.P9f P1d (1) 8.P7f (1) P8f (1) 9.Px8f Rx8f 10.N7g S4b 11.K4h (6) P9d 12.P1f K4a (1)13.S3h R8b (9) 14.P7e (1) P6d 15.P'8e S6c 16.S6h P3d 17.R7f K3a 18.K3i B3c (48) Positive thinking ----------------- This was Mori's last chance. In a business suit he made his appearance for the third game. "I only have two kimono's," he explained. But one might also see this as his way of saying that he wanted to play just an ordinary game of Shogi. Or maybe he wanted to show the burden of his distress. As in the first game Mori chose hineribisha. Habu's honour as title holder now also was at stake: he probably would like to decide the match by defeating Mori's favorite opening strategy. The game developed smoothly until 18.K3i. At that point Habu, for the first time during this game, started thinking longer. Mori showed up in the waiting room. To Nakamura (8 dan) he said: "Please tell me how to play. I'm somebody who manages to lose a game even when he has a mate, you know..." But contrary to his words he didn't seem concerned at all. No wonder that after two lost games he only replied: "It was a good game." Probably he had brazed up his spirits by 'positive thinking': "I will be satisfied as long as I can put up a good fight." 19.P5f (4) P2d (1) 20.S5g (6) P2e (3) 21.P3f (3) P4d (33) 22.S4h (10) S4c (38) 23.B7i (7) P4e (3)24.B5g (6) P5d (2) 25.R8f P'8c (3) 26.G6h (46) Vanguard Pawn (P2e) ------------------- Habu's counter to the hineribisha was P2d~P2e. At first, he said, he had planned to counter 22.S4h with 22. ... B2d. But Black could then offer a Bishop's exchange (23.B3i) or simply switch the Rook 23.R8f, so he came to the conclusion that 22. ... B2d would be a rather poor move. Before and after the lunch recess he thought for 38 minutes, changed his plan and played 22. ... S4c. At that moment Mori had used 31 minutes against Habu's 2 hours and 19 minutes. White set up a vanguard Pawn on the 4th file too. Black kept his position low and was on the lookout for weak points in White's camp. After the game Habu remarked that the vanguard Pawn on 2e was far less effective than he had expected and that after playing that move he had trouble positioning his pieces. 26. ... P5e (25) 27.Px5e (1) Bx5e 28.S4h-3g (13) B4d (1)29.B6f (2) P'5e (4) 30.B4h (13) S6c-5d (5) 31.R7f (1) G5b (4)32.P7d (1) Px7d 33.Rx7d G6c (2) 34.R7f P'7d (2)35.R8f (2) G7c (11)36.K2h (9) K2b (10)37.L9h (6) N3c (3) 38.P'7h (7) Zugzwang -------- As reply to the exchange of Pawns, Mori said he had also considered 28.B6f. Play would then continue with 28. ... Bx1i+ 29. Bx1a+ L'2f, an unusual move pointed out by Nakamura, but very difficult to defend against. Mori showed his whole board vision by deciding against this -- in his eyes-- too wild variation. After 28. ... B4d Black confronted White's Bishop with 29.B6f and forced him to close the Bishop's diagonal with a Pawn drop. 30.B4h left the initiative to White. The light moves R7f~P7d, characteristic for the hineri- bisha, gave Black a second Pawn in hand. "But after the patient move 33. ... G6c, I didn't know what to do", said Mori after the game. 38.P'3h is a strange move. If Black would play G6h-5h, leaving the initiative to White, White would also have trouble finding a move. 38. ... B5c (5)39.G5g (7) P6e (3)40.R8i G6d (1)41.P6f (2) N7c 42.P9e (2) Px9e (6)43.R9i Px6f (7) 44.Gx6f (2) P3e (1)45.Px3e Bx3e (2)46.G6g (4) Habu's brainwaves ----------------- After 39. ... P6e White had vanguard Pawns on 4 files, the 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th file. His plan was clearly to press in on Black's position. Just before 5 o'clock in the afternoon Black finally started the real fight with 41.P6f. If 41. ... Px6f then 42.Gx6f P'6e 43.G6f P7e. Now 44.P'2d is an annoying dangling Pawn. After having played P2e square 2d has become a vital square in this position. 42.P9e -- a sharp "pitch"-like sound resounded from the monitor when Mori put the Pawn down. Directly afterwards he appeared again in the waiting room. "I even ended up studying, it's no use..." he said. During this match Mori often showed up in the waiting room. "If I stay near Habu," he said,"I will be done in by his brainwaves..." True or not, -- isn't this just the kind of remark Mori would make ? "Tell me when he has made his move, will you please," he said. A few minutes later, hearing that Habu had played 42. ... Px9e, he sighed: "Well, I guess I've no choice..." He returned and in no time replied 43.R9i. 44. ... P3e, somewhat later, was a delicate move because of the possibility that it would leave new weaknesses in White's camp. But it would also have been difficult to find something else here. 46.G6g was a calm reply. Habu had neglected this move. 46. ... N6e (14)47.P'3f (2) B4d (1)48.Lx9e (18) Nx7g+ (4)49.Px7g (4) N'2d 50.Lx9a+ (5) P'3e 51.B9c+ (1) R5b (1)52.P'5c (7) Bx5c 53.+Bx8c P'6f (4) 54.Gx6f (4) P5f (3)55.+B6a (13) Px3f 56.S4h G6e 57.Gx6e (5) Sx6e Bending and stretching ---------------------- After 47. ... B4d the game was recessed. Both players would return to their rooms to have dinner. Mori however once again went to the waiting room and sat down before the monitor. On the screen one saw the position from Habu's side. A quarter of an hour before play would be continued Habu returned to the board. He seemed very tense. Mori still had a lot af time left, more than 1 hour. After 48.Lx9e Habu left the Lance at stake so after 48. ... Nx7g+ he was first to arrive at 2d and drop a piece there (49. ... N'2d). White seemed to be gaining pace quickly but afterwards both agreed that defending once with 48. ... P'9b would have been better. At this point Habu said he didn't have any confidence in his position, while his opponent played on very confidently. The striking Pawn drop 52.P'5c forced White to play 52. ... Bx5c so White would lose the option of B5e later on. 53.+Bx8c however was the first move to be critized during the analysis after the game. This move aimed at winning the semeai (mating race), but it was too hasty. If Black had chosen an early escape with 53.K3i White would have had trouble attacking. About 53. ... P'6f Mori remarked: "This bending-and-stretching strategy I didn't understand anymore". In stead of 54.Gx6f Black 54.G6h would have been better. After White's 57th move the crucial position of the game was reached. 58.G'5e P5g+ (4)59.Sx5g (1) P3g+ (1)60.Sx3g (1) P'3f 61.S3g-4h (1) P'5f 62.S6h (16) P2f 63.G3h (5) B7e (1) Difficult variations ------------------- 58.G'5e prevented B6d. White replied with the light move 58. ... P5g+. One of the referees, Hasebe (9 dan), had already anticipated this reply. During the discussion after the game Suzuki (7 dan) pointed out that Black's most severe counter-attack would be 59.L'4d. But after 59. ... +Px4h 60.Gx4h B7e the position became too complicated to find a winning continuation for Black. After 57. ... Sx6e Black can still play 58.K3i. This is followed by 58. ... B6d 59.P'2h P5g+ 60.+Bx5b Sx5b 61.N'3d K1c, a variation found after much trial and error. Analysis continued with 62.R'2a +Px4h 63.Gx4h B'2f 64.P'3g S'1b, but even these two players could only conclude that this was an extremely difficult variation. After 58. ... P5g+ Habu showed a nice "Dance of the Pawns" and in no time Black's position [the original text says: "White's position", but this is clearly a printing error - tr.] was undermined. 63. ... B7e, finally, decided the game. 64.+Bx5b (12) G'2g 65.K3i Sx5b 66.P'2c (12) K1c 67.R'2a (3) Gx3h (1) 68.Kx3h B'2g 69.K2h G'3h and Black resigned (Time used: Black 4 h 32 min, White 4 h 33 min) Homework to be done ------------------- Nine moves after +B5a Black at last could take the Rook (64.+Bx5b) but it was too late already. From 46. ... N6e onwards Habu had barely used time and his play had been flawless. The first "magician of the endgame" [Mori's nickname - tr.] could only mutter: "I have let myself be hypnotized once more...". Habu's "magic" truely is awesome. The final position was reached at 21.15h. The discussion afterwards continued for almost two and a half hours. Seeing all the variations Black could have hoped for Mori dejectedly said: "A 'won position', yes, that's easy to say. But winning is hard, you know, even for me." Habu now had won the Oza title 4 times in a row. He has also 5 times won a title match played according to the one day system and he has prolonged his winning streak to 17 games. Looking back on the match he said: "Mori often played contrary to my expectations and I often was in a fix or didn't know how to continue because my intuitions went astray. Today also I suffered a strategic defeat in the opening which was rather painful. This match has left some homework to be done..." The result alone clearly didn't satisfy him. When he heard that Sato Yasumitsu would be challenger in the Ryuo-sen (the game to decide the challenger had been played the same day), he said: "A strong opponent. I think we will be able to play a very interesting match." His face was calm but -- maybe it was only my imagination -- for a brief moment I thought I also saw a glimpse of his severity. ******* 43 Oza-sen, 2nd game September 14, 1995, Arima Onsen (Hyougo district) Black: Habu Yoshiharu (Oza) White: Mori Keiji (9 dan) 1.P7f P3d 2.P2f P4d 3.P2e B3c 4.S4h S3b 5.G4i-5h S4c 6.K6h R2b 7.K7h K6b 8.P5f K7b 9.P3f K8b 10.S6h S7b 11.S6h-5g P9d 12.P9f P1d 13.P4f P5d 14.G6i-6h G4a-5b 15.S3g L1b 16.P1f R3b 17.P4e R4b 18.S3g-4h P6d 19.N3g P7d 20.P2d Px2d 21.Px4d Sx4d 22.P'4e Sx4e 23.Bx3c+ Nx3c 24.B'8h N2e 25.Nx2e Px2e 26.Rx2e P'4g 27.S3g P'2d 28.Rx2d P3e 29.R2a+ Px3f 30.S2f P4h+ 31.Sx4h Sx5f 32.P'4g N'5e 33.N'4f B'2h 34.L1g R4e 35.P'5g S6e 36.+Rx1b P'2e 37.P5f Sx5f 38.L'5g Sx4g+ 39.Sx4g Px2f 40.P'5c Gx5c 41.S'6b Gx6b 42.+Rx6b G6c 43.Nx5d Nx4g+ 44.G'7a Gx6b 45.Nx6b+ S6a 46.Gx6a +Nx5h 47.Gx5h R'3h 48.P'5i B3g+ 49.B6f (refered to in the text) P8d 50.N'6h P9e 51.S'4h +B2h 52.G7a Px9f 53.Gx8a K7c 54.G'7b K8c 55.G7b-8b K9c 56.+N7b S'9e 57.G8ax9a P6e 58.Lx9f Px6f 59.Lx9e Rx9e 60.G9a-9b K9d 61.S'8c K8e 62.N'7g and White resigns. *******