From: George Fernandez EROLS COM> Date: 15 may 1996 Subject: 18th Ladies Osho Title Match 18th Ladies Osho Title Match, Game 1 Story by George Fernandez, amateur 4Dan, DC Shogi Club Game score collaborators: Teiichi Yamada and Michael Pustilnik The first game of the Ladies Osho Title Match was held on May 8 at the Nakato Restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia. Titleholder Ms. Hiroe Nakai, 26, faced a strong challenger in Ms. Ichiyo Shimizu, 27, who is the Ladies Meijin and Oi titleholder and is looking to control all three major titles with a victory in the Osho. The two players are easily the best among the ladies at this time. Nakai is a six-time Meijin, winning her first at age 15(!), while Shimizu has been a top player since 1987 and has been winning everything in site lately. In addition to the players, a 15 person group came from Japan for the event, including: Three professional players; Some reporters and cameramen; Family members and spectators. Mr. Nobuyuki Ouchi, 9Dan, was the primary commentator, he was assisted by Ms. Kiyoko Sekine, Ladies 4Dan. The very cute 19-year-old, Ms. Akiko Nakakura, 2Kyu, was the scorekeeper. Three of us took the 10 1/2 hour drive down to Atlanta from Washington, DC to attend the event and do some sightseeing. Mr. Kazunori Sango, ama-4Dan, the runner-up in the recent US Shogi Championship held in New York[an interesting side note is that Mr. Sango once beat Habu in an even game(!), back when he was 18 and among the top High School players in the Tokyo area and Habu was 11 years old]. My old friend Pat Olexa(a beer connoisseur) was our "social director", in-charge of keeping us up late and myself, the primary driver. On Tuesday, May 7, a reception was held at the Nakato Restaurant for the players, the tour group, local businessmen and a couple of japanese shogi players from Atlanta. It turned out that this was a "closed" event, contrary to the earlier postings on Shogi-L. Luckily for us, Mr. Teiichi Yamada of the International Shogi Popularization Society, whom I had planned to meet there, made arrangements for us to stay. However, some individuals were asked to come back the next day, I later found out. The restaurant is quite large and nice. It has several private rooms with tatami mats, one of which was used for the game, on the following day. During the reception, there were the normal introductions and brief speeches by the players and others. We had a long conversation with Ms. Nakai, who was very pleasant and down-to-earth. Her understanding of the English language was surprisingly good. After the reception, Mr. Sango & I were hungry for some shogi but no one seemed to want to play. Finally, Ms. Sekine invited us to her hotel for a game. It was one of the highlights for both Mr. Sango and myself. She played us both at once in even games. Sango made a mistake in the middle-game and lost rather badly. In my game we decided on a draw because it seemed the game would take too long to finish. Her assessment of our game, which was in the early middle-game, was that she had a slight advantage. The restaurant was closed during the game. The analysis began on move #47[#24, western style], after the lunch break and was conducted on a large magnetic display board. The setting was outdoors, in a calm patio area of the restaurant. A "runner" would bring moves regularily from the playing area, which was closed to spectators. Now, moving on to the game. Are you still awake? :-). Please assume all the comments listed below to be based on those made by Mr. Ouchi, 9Dan, unless otherwise stated. At times "B" will be used for Black(sente) and "W" for white(gote), instead of the players name. At the start of the game, one of the reporters said that Ms. Shimizu's demeanor was relaxed while Nakai's was tense. 18th Ladies Osho Title Match Game 1 [Best-of-five match] 3 Hours each[the first minute of each move doesn't count], Followed by 1 minute per/move byoyomi Black (Sente): Ms. Hiroe Nakai, Ladies Osho White (Gote): Ms. Ichiyo Shimizu, Ladies Meijin & Oi 1. P-7f P-8d 2. S-6h P-3d 3. P-6f S-6b 4. P-5f S-4b 5. S-4h G-3b 6. G-7h K-4a 7. G-5h P-5d 8. G5h-6g P-7d 9. K-6i S6b-5c 10.P-2f P-8e 11.S-7g P-5e (a) (a) Ms. Sekine said this move is Shimizu's favorite. 12.Px5e Bx5e 13.P-2e S-5d 14.B-7i B-7c 15.P-2d Px2d 16.Bx2d P*2c 17.B-6h P-4d 18.P*5f P-4e 19.K-7i S-3c (b) (b) Mr. Ouchi suggested 19...S-4c, followed by N-3c might be a better strategy. 20.P-1f G-5b 21.P-1e G5b-4c 22.K-8h K-3a 23.P-9f P-9d 24.S-5g (c) (c) Lunchtime. Ms. Nakai felt this position was unfavorable. She had used about half of her time and Shimizu only about 30 Minutes. 24.... P-3e (d) (d) Mr. Ouchi preferred 24...S-4d. 25.R-2f S-3d (e) (e) In this position, both players are focussing on Nakai's[B] Rook, Bishop and Silver. Shimizu's[W] castle has several weakpoints. Mr. Ouchi suggested that only strong players are able to handle it's complexities. 26.P-4f N-3c 27.R-2h (f) (f) 26...N-3c is aiming at P-2d & 2e, so B decides to retreat at once. 27.... P-2d 28.R-4h (g) (g) If 28.Rx2d, then P*2e traps the rook. 28.... K-2b?! (h) (h) Inaccurate. The King was better placed at 3a. 29.R-2h? (i) (i) Too passive. Better is 29.Px4e, followed by S-4f. Note that with the W King on 2b the [eventual]promotion of Black's Rook at 4a is a possibility. 29.... S-2c (j) (j) Clearly better is K-2c. 30.Px4e P-3f 31.S-4f Px3g+ 32.Sx3g P*5g! 33.Gx5g Nx4e 34.G-4f P*5g! (k) (k) A good move, again! This move prevents B's Bishop from activating. 35.P-5e Nx3g+ 36.Nx3g Sx5e (l) (l) Shimizu has the initiative. Both Rooks are equally effective but W's more active Bishop and slight material advantage gives her the edge. 37.G-3e P-5h+? (m) (m) Premature. Better is 37.S-5f, followed by either S*6g or S*6i. 38.Rx5h S*6i 39.R-3h Sx7h+ 40.Kx7h P*3d (n) (n) An advanced strategy that aims at provoking exchanges favorable to W. It also prevents P*3c, followed by N-4e, with a sharp attack. 41.Gx2d (o) (o) This attack would not have been possible if W's Pawn had remained at 5g. 41.... Sx2d 42.Bx2d S-5f 43.P*4d (p) (p) Nakai's only hope now is to attack quickly. According to a reporter, Ms. Shimizu seemed confident and was still relaxed and sitting back. Ms. Nakai was still tense and leaning over the board. 43.... Gx4d? (q) (q) This mistake should result in an inferior position for W. Better is 43...G4c-3c. After which, 44.N*2e! was B's best chance. This move shocked Mr. Ouchi, who sent the runner back for confirmation! The crowd was now at the edge of their seats. 44.N*3f? (r) (r) In severe time pressure, Nakai made this critical error. She could have grabbed a clear advantage with 44.N*2e!! 44.... G*6g! 45.K-8h G*7h 46.Rx7h Gx7h 47.Kx7h Bx3g+! (s) (s) A good move, which wisely removes an important B attacking piece. 48.Nx4d R*4h 49.P*5h Rx5h+ (t) (t) The most aggressive continuation. 49...Rx4d+ is also playable. 50.S*6h S-6g+ 51.K-8h +Sx6h 52.Nx3b+ Rx3b 53.Sx6h N*8f! 54.Px8f? (u) (u) Better is G*7i. 54.... Px8f 55.N*7i P*2c 56.S*6g?! (v) (v) Best is 56.P*3c!, Rx3c 57.Bx3c+, Kx3c 58.G*7h! 56.... +R-4i! 57.B-5a+? (w) (w) Ms. Nakai misses her final chance to stay alive with 57.P*3c! 57.... S*8g 58.Nx8g Px8g+ 59.Kx8g +Rx8i 60.P*8h P*8f 61.K-7g N*8e 62.Kx8f +B-6d (x) (x) After this move, there is no way for B to hold the position. 63.S*7e Px7e 64.G*3c Rx3c 65.+Bx3c Kx3c 66.G*4d Kx4d 67.P*4e K-3e 68.P*3f Kx3f 69.R*1f N*2f 70.Resigns