From: Patrick Davin <patrick <at> LYRA <dot> VEGA <dot> OR <dot> JP>
Date: 13 mar 1997
Subject: Re: Habu and his Castles

George Jost writes:
>What Castles has Habu used in professional games in
>the last two years? Does he use any of the less standard ones?

>How can one describe his play? What is his area of strength that distinguishes
>him from the rest of the pack?  Does he have a characteristic style
>or does he simply sit down and beat his opponents in some unanticipated way?

Habu Meijin plays a wide variety of openings.  In the past two years, he
has certainly played all the major openings.  And tried a few experiments,
too.  Not always successfully.

As far as opening and middlegame, Habu's style is as yet undefined.
You could call it universal or well-balanced.  Fairly aggressive, yet
flexible.  Practical.

Tanigawa Ryuo (Pro Shogi's number two) is famous for aiming to win in an
aesthetically pleasing manner.  To Habu, a win is a win.

Habu's area of strength is the endgame.  If he's winning, he just wins.
If he's behind (which is surprisingly often), he finds a way to
confuse the issue.  In Japan, this is called "Habu magic".
In the recent Kio match against Morishita, (a famous openings
specialist), which he won 3-0, all three games turned around
in the endgame, if I'm not mistaken.  He's certainly got nerves
of steel.

>Even if he is next to unbeatable, can we understand him at all?

I don't know, but I think anybody can appreciate his games.