From: Takako Noda <mxc06231 <at> JA2 <dot> SO-NET <dot> OR <dot> JP>
Date: 22 jan 1997
Subject: "QUEST" Masuda's Ishida-ryu (7)

Masuda's Ishida-ryu (7)

There is one way that I can recommend which should forestall White's
Masuda-shiki.
P-7f, P-3d;       P-2f, P-3e;        K-6h.   (See Diagram below)
To place your King on 6h should do the trick, though it seldom
appears in official game records.

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

If, from the diagram, (w)R-3b, then Bx2b+, Sx2b, B*6e! A favorable prospect
for Black. And this was exactly what plagued those amateur Masuda-shiki
players.
The more they investigated, the more unfavorable variations for the system
they found, thus leading the way to its exit.

For those ranging Rook players who love to attack, Masuda's Ishida-ryu must
have, at first, looked like an answer to a prayer (and presumably, it would
have appealed to those furi-bisha lovers who were inimical of the static
Rook anaguma). So, it must have been more than frustrating for them to see
the system dissected and pushed aside. However, another system came on the
scene, which dispersed those frustrating clouds over furi-bisha lovers'
heads.
Tateishi-ryu 4th file Rook was its name. And it was invented by an amateur,
one Mr. Tateishi.  Fourth file Rook, not the third file, you ask? Don't be
rash. It was a strategy imbued with Masuda's conception of the third file
Rook. Tateishi-ryu was eventually taken up by the professionals, which was
quite exceptional, since the flow is usually the other way around, from the
pro world to the amateur.

When this system got known in the professinal world, the first who actually
used it for their games were Keiji Mori(9-dan) and Kenji Kobayashi(8-dan).
Let me present one masterful game played by Kenji Kobayashi(b) and Koji
Tanigawa(w).
(TO BE CONTINUED)