From: Reijer Grimbergen ETL GO JP> Date: 31 aug 1997 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 701, August 27th 1997) Sorry for the delay this week, but even I sometimes have more important things to do than writing "This week in Shukan Shogi" :-). Let's start right away with the fourth game of the Oi match, an impressive win by Habu. Black: Habu Yoshiharu, Oi White: Sato Yasumitsu, Challenger 38th Oi-sen, Game 4, August 18th and 19th 1997 1.P7g-7f 1/1 0/0 2.P8c-8d 0/1 4/4 An interesting choice by challenger Sato. He is probably an expert on the Yagura opening and has written several good books on the opening. However, lately the results by white in the Yagura have not been very good. 3.S7i-6h 4/5 0/4 4.P3c-3d 0/5 1/5 5.P6g-6f 1/6 0/5 6.S7a-6b 0/6 1/6 7.P5g-5f 2/8 0/6 8.P5c-5d 0/8 2/8 9.S3i-4h 4/12 0/8 10.S3a-4b 0/12 1/9 11.G4i-5h 2/14 0/9 12.G4a-3b 0/14 0/9 13.G6i-7h 1/15 0/9 14.K5a-4a 0/15 0/9 15.K5i-6i 1/16 0/9 16.P7c-7d 0/16 4/13 17.G5h-6g 4/20 0/13 18.G6a-5b 0/20 0/13 19.S6h-7g 7/27 0/13 20.S4b-3c 0/27 2/15 21.B8h-7i 4/31 0/15 22.B2b-3a 0/31 1/16 23.P3g-3f 4/35 0/16 24.P4c-4d 0/35 1/17 25.S4h-3g 13/48 0/17 26.B3a-6d 0/48 13/30 27.B7i-6h 5/53 0/30 28.G5b-4c 0/53 4/34 29.K6i-7i 2/55 0/34 30.K4a-3a 0/55 2/36 31.K7i-8h 3/58 0/36 32.K3a-2b 0/58 8/44 33.S3g-4f 26/84 0/44 34.S6b-5c 0/84 11/55 35.N2i-3g 4/88 0/55 36.B6d-7c 0/88 5/60 37.P2g-2f 52/140 0/60 38.S3c-2d?! 0/140 5/65 A standard move that has been played in this position many times before, but this game shows that it might be a dubious move if black does not play the attack with N2e. There are three main problems with this move and all come out in this game. One problem is that it opens the diagonal to the white king by opening square 3c. The second problem is that the white king now has one defender less for protection. The third problem is that knight drops on both 3d and 1d will become possible in the future. 39.P1g-1f 0/140 0/65 40.P1c-1d 0/140 6/71 41.R2h-5h 2/142 0/71 42.P4d-4e 0/142 35/106 43.N3gx4e 33/175 0/106 44.S5c-4d 0/175 0/106 45.R5h-1h 25/200 0/106 46.P8d-8e 0/200 9/115 47.P6f-6e 24/224 0/115 48.P6c-6d 0/224 116/231 The sealed move and also a new idea. Morishita played 48.Sx4e Sx4e N*3c in the Kio match against Habu. 49.S7g-6f 22/246 0/231 50.R8b-6b 0/246 7/238 51.P6ex6d 23/269 0/238 52.R6bx6d 0/269 5/243 53.P*6e 1/270 0/243 54.R6d-6a 0/270 3/246 55.P9g-9f 18/288 0/246 56.P9c-9d 0/288 4/250 57.B6h-7g 1/289 0/250 Black has succeeded in exploiting problem one mentioned above. The bishop is now on the long diagonal to the white king that white has opened by playing S2d. 58.B7c-8d 0/289 28/278 59.P3f-3e 6/295 0/278 Making room for a knightdrop on 3d. 60.P3dx3e 0/295 14/292 61.P5f-5e 2/297 0/292 62.N8a-7c 0/297 18/310 63.P5ex5d 21/318 0/310 64.P*5b 0/318 4/314 Painful defence-only move. This move makes a later P5c+ a little less problematic, but this move is still possible. More importantly, white can never drop a pawn on the fifth file himself. However, taking with the gold leaves the white king too exposed after 64.Gx5d P*3c Nx3c Nx3c+ S2dx3c N2e. Here we see how the second problem of the silver on 2d influences white's options. 65.P6e-6d! 24/342 0/314 Great move that makes clear that Habu is now dictating this game. White can not take this pawn, since after 65.Rx6d S6f-5e Sx5e Bx5e he loses the rook. If only the silver was still on 3c... 66.P9d-9e 0/342 29/343 White is forced into a desperate attack. If he waits, he will be slowly pushed off the board. 67.P9fx9e 0/342 0/343 68.P8e-8f 0/342 1/344 69.B7gx8f 18/360 0/344 70.P*9g 0/360 1/345 71.L9ix9g 14/374 0/345 72.N7c-8e 0/374 2/347 73.L9g-9f 0/374 0/347 74.B8d-7c?! 0/374 3/350 This gives black an extra move. 74.Gx5d is better, but after N7g the knights are exchanged and this leaves a gaping hole on 3d for a devastating knightdrop. Problem number three is probably the biggest problem of all. 75.S6f-6e 12/386 0/350 76.S4dx4e 0/386 2/352 77.S4fx4e 11/397 0/352 78.N*8d 0/397 1/353 79.K8h-7i 1/398 0/353 80.N8dx9f 0/398 2/355 81.K7i-6h 13/411 0/355 Black moves the king away from danger. 82.L*5e? 0/411 30/385 This turns out to be a bad move, transforming white's bad position in a losing one. The last fighting chance was 82.B8d N7g L*6f Nx8e N8h+ and after Gx8h Lx6g+ Kx6g G*6f white picks up the silver on 6e and has good chances to win. However, after N8h+ B7g! black still has the advantage. 83.G6g-6f 14/425 0/385 84.B7cx9e 0/425 9/394 85.G6fx5e 3/428 0/394 86.N9f-8h+ 0/428 2/396 87.G7hx8h 5/433 0/396 88.B9ex8f 0/433 0/396 89.P8gx8f 0/433 0/396 90.B*6f 0/433 0/396 91.G8h-7h 0/433 0/396 92.B6fx5e 0/433 0/396 93.P8fx8e 0/433 0/396 94.B5e-9i+?! 0/433 51/447 Now the game is over quickly. Better is 94.L9h+ N*3d Gx3d Sx3d +L8h G7g. But even then black still has a winning position. 95.N8i-7g 3/436 0/447 96.G*5e 0/436 11/458 97.N*3d 16/452 0/458 98.K2b-1b 0/452 0/458 99.N*4d 3/455 0/458 100.G4cx4d 0/455 1/459 101.S4ex4d 0/455 0/459 102.G5ex6e 0/455 0/459 103.P1f-1e 4/459 0/459 104.G6e-6f 0/459 5/464 105.P1ex1d 1/460 0/464 106.P*1g 0/460 0/464 107.L*1c 2/462 0/464 Resigns 0/462 0/464 Time: 07:42:00 07:44:00 After 108.Nx1c G*2b Gx2b Nx2b+ Kx2b Px1c+ Kx1c (Lx1c or Sx1c then N*3d) Rx1g P*1e P*1d Kx1d Rx1e Sx1e S*2e K1c Lx1e K2b S*3c or 108.Sx1c Px1c+ Nx1c G*2b white is mated. These variations are quite long, but straightforward and not hard to read out for a professional. A good game by Habu, who outplayed Sato in this game and now is only one win away from his fifth consecutive Oi title, which will make him Lifetime Oi. In other Shogi news: 1) In B1 the fourth round was played. Leader Fukuzaki lost to rival Tanaka Torahiko and falls back to 3-1. Maruyama beat Kobayashi and remains undefeated at 3-0. He is followed by Murayama (who beat Mori), Fukuzaki, Tanaka and Tamaru (who beat Aono). Nakamura beat Naito to get to 2-1 and also is a strong challenger for promotion. All other players seem to have to worry about relegation to B2. 2) In B2 the third round was played and there were not many surprises. The nine players ranked highest in the group all won. The most important game was between Hatakeyama and Nakagawa, both with two wins. Hatakeyama won this game to keep his perfect record. Tsukada, Tomioka and Ono also have three wins. With strong players like Urano, Goda and Nakagawa at 2-1, the leaders have to be very careful. 3) In C1 also the third round was played. The most interesting game was between Kisei Yashiki, who started with two losses and Sensaki, who started with two wins. Sensaki won this important game and now looks the clear favourite for promotion. Nakata Isao and Suzuki Daisuke also have a perfect score. Former Kisei Miura kept his promotion hopes alive by beating newly promoted Ogura to get to 2-1. Still a long way to go. 4) Izuka is the first player to reach the best eight of the Kio tournament. Being only a C2 player, he was not expected to win against Takahashi, but Izuka seems to like the Kio tournament. Reaching the final eight for the second time in a row. He has a tough task ahead, facing the winner of the game between Sato Yasumitsu and Goda. More in a couple of days, Reijer -- Reijer Grimbergen Electrotechnical Laboratory Palcious Tsukuba 302 1-1-4 Umezono 1-24-8 Ninomiya Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki-ken Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki-ken 305 JAPAN 305 JAPAN E-mail: grimberg etl go jp Tel: 0298-59-1606 WWW: http://www.etl.go.jp:8080/etl/suiron/~grimberg Tel: +81-(0)298-54-5080 extension: 67431 Fax: +81-(0)298-54-5918