From: Reijer Grimbergen ETL GO JP> Date: 22 oct 1997 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 709, October 22nd 1997) Sanada was very close to winning the first game of the Ryu-O sen against Tanigawa, but not close enough. It was one of the most interesting title match games I have seen this year. Here are the comments taken from Shukan Shogi. These, and other professional games with comments, can also be found at http://www.etl.go.jp/etl/suiron/~grimberg/SHOGI/kifu.html ============================================================================= Black: Sanada, Challenger White: Tanigawa, Ryu-O 10th Ryu-O sen, Game 1, October 16th and 17th 1997 1.P7g-7f 1/1 0/0 The furigoma (pawn toss) gave Sanada the black pieces and he choses P7f to start the first game of this year's Ryu-O match. The game was played in Australia and is the first one played south of the equator. Since the time difference between Japan and the Gold Coast is only one hour, this year's overseas game is much less tiring for the players. Tanigawa had already said in a pre-match interview that he would probably choose some special strategy with white. He also likes to play as many different opening strategies as possible in a match. 2.P8c-8d 0/1 3/3 3.S7i-6h 3/4 0/3 4.P3c-3d 0/4 0/3 5.P6g-6f 5/9 0/3 6.S7a-6b 0/9 8/11 7.P5g-5f 1/10 0/11 8.P5c-5d 0/10 16/27 9.S3i-4h 2/12 0/27 10.S3a-4b 0/12 3/30 11.G4i-5h 1/13 0/30 12.P6c-6d 0/13 33/63 13.G6i-7h 5/18 0/63 14.S6b-6c 0/18 3/66 15.K5i-6i 6/24 0/66 16.K5a-6b 0/24 21/87 This gives white the two options of playing right side king and Yodo-furisbisha which is the strategy played in this game. 17.P2g-2f 21/45 0/87 18.K6b-7a 0/45 7/94 19.P2f-2e 4/49 0/94 20.B2b-3c 0/49 1/95 21.G5h-6g 7/56 0/95 22.S4b-5c 0/56 16/111 23.S6h-7g 4/60 0/111 24.P7c-7d 0/60 11/122 25.B8h-7i 20/80 0/122 26.R8b-3b 0/80 24/146 Finally the game strategy is settled. White played the Yodofuribisha strategy, pretending to play Ibisha, but then switching his rook in the end. White loses two moves with the silver to play this strategy (S7a-6b-6c-7b instead of S7a-7b), but he has forced black into the unfavourable Yagura castle. Tournament practice has shown that this is a satisfactory strategy for white. 27.P3g-3f 6/86 0/146 27.P2d looks dangerous, but after 28.Px2d Bx2d R2b Bx3c+ Rx2h+ the black king is too vulnerable to the two rooks. 28.G4a-5b 0/86 10/156 29.S4h-3g 64/150 0/156 30.S6c-7b 0/150 19/175 31.B7i-6h 5/155 0/175 32.K7a-8b 0/155 11/186 33.K6i-7i 6/161 0/186 34.G5b-6c 0/161 12/198 35.S3g-4f 5/166 0/198 36.B3c-5a 0/166 17/215 37.P9g-9f 6/172 0/215 38.P9c-9d 0/172 0/215 39.P8g-8f 2/174 0/215 40.P4c-4d 0/174 26/241 41.K7i-8h 41/215 0/241 The end of the first day and Sanada takes his first opportunity to seal the move. It is Sanada's first appearance in a title match and also his first appearance in a game that lasts more than a day. Last year in the Meijin match Moriuchi avoided sealing the move, but Sanada does not mind. 42.N8a-7c 0/215 22/263 43.P3f-3e!? 25/240 0/263 Criticized in the press room as an "unreasonable attack". However, Sanada has used the time for his sealed move well and has found a hidden treasure in this position. 44.P4d-4e 0/240 7/270 45.S4fx4e 0/240 0/270 46.P3dx3e 0/240 0/270 47.P2e-2d 0/240 0/270 48.P2cx2d 0/240 1/271 49.P5f-5e 0/240 0/271 50.P5dx5e 0/240 1/272 51.P*5d 14/254 0/272 52.G6cx5d 0/254 6/278 53.S4ex5d 0/254 0/278 54.S5cx5d 0/254 0/278 55.G*4a!! 2/256 0/278 At first glance the worst move on the board. This gold seems to be dropped only to attack the bishop and will be lost soon. Sanada was the only one who had seen this move. All professionals in the press room and Tanigawa were completely taken by surprise. Sensaki's comments on the NHK: "He probably did not sleep all night, just thought about this move". 56.B5a-3c 0/256 62/340 57.B6hx3e 2/258 0/340 58.P5e-5f! 0/258 0/340 Good fighting move. The reason for G*4a being a good move lies in the variation after 58.S*5b. Black then plays 59.P*3d B2b Rx2d Sx4a B5c+ S5d-6c +B4c (not P*2c B3c! Px3c+ Rx3c and white wins) G*4b +Bx3b Gx3b P3c+ and even though black is a silver behind, his position is clearly better. 59.P*3d 59/317 0/340 60.B3c-5e 0/317 9/349 61.R2hx2d 0/317 0/349 62.P*2b 0/317 29/378 63.B3e-5c+ 16/333 0/378 64.S5d-6c 0/333 1/379 65.+B5c-4c? 20/353 0/379 How sad. This throws away the game. Sanada could have cashed in his great play up until now by playing the easy 65.G4b. He was afraid of 66.Rx4b +Bx4b G*5g, but as Sato Yasumitsu pointed out, then P*5h Gx6g (Gx5h Gx5f) Gx6g leaves white without moves to continue the attack. 66.P*3a 0/353 3/382 67.P*5d 10/363 0/382 68.S*5b! 0/363 0/382 Now it is very difficult for black to find a good attack. 69.+B4cx3b 5/368 0/382 70.P3ax3b 0/368 1/383 71.G4a-4b 6/374 0/383 72.B*6i 0/374 32/415 73.G7h-6h 17/391 0/415 74.B6ix4g+ 0/391 0/415 75.G4bx5b 0/391 0/415 76.S6cx5b 0/391 0/415 77.P5d-5c+ 0/391 0/415 78.S5bx5c 0/391 1/416 79.R*4a 10/401 0/416 80.G*5g 0/401 14/430 81.R4ax4g+ 23/424 0/430 82.G5gx4g 0/424 0/430 83.G6gx5f 0/424 0/430 84.B5ex1i+ 0/424 7/437 85.R2dx2b+ 1/425 0/437 86.R*5i 0/425 0/437 87.P*5d 2/427 0/437 88.G4g-5h! 0/427 4/441 Another good move by Tanigawa. After 89.Gx5h Rx5h+ G*6h +Rx5f Px5c+ +Rx5c the inactive gold on 4g has become a piece in hand. 89.G6h-7h 16/443 0/441 90.+B1ix2i 0/443 1/442 91.G5f-5e 0/443 0/442 92.N*8e? 0/443 12/454 Too eager. 92.Sx5d Gx5d +B5f wins easily. After N*8e Sanada still has some chances to get back in the game. 93.P8fx8e 0/443 0/454 94.N7cx8e 0/443 0/454 95.P*8c 3/446 0/454 96.K8bx8c 0/446 1/455 97.N*7e 14/460 0/455 Painful for white. 98.Px7e +Rx2i Rx2i+ B*4g forks king and rook, so white can not take this knight. 98.K8c-8b 0/460 4/459 The only move. After 98.K9c P9e; 98.K7c Px5c+ and 98.K9b, which leaves the king on line where the bishopfork can be played, are all bad. 99.S7g-8f 13/473 0/459 If black only would have had one pawn to drop on 8c... 100.P7dx7e 0/473 2/461 101.B*2f? 2/475 0/461 Now the game is over. If Sanada would have played 101.Px5c+ or 101.+Rx2i Rx2i+ B*5f he would still have had a fighting chance. After 101.Px5c+ N*7d S7e L*8f P*8g P*7g and 101.+Rx2i Rx2i+ B*5f +R6i Px5c+ R*5i it seems white is still winning, but it would have been much more difficult than in the actual game. 102.R5i-6i+ 0/475 3/464 103.B2fx5c+ 0/475 0/464 104.+B2i-8c 0/475 0/464 With this bishop next to the king, white can not lose. 105.+R2bx2a 2/477 0/464 106.N*7d 0/477 2/466 107.+B5cx6d 1/478 0/466 108.L*7c 0/478 1/467 109.G7h-7i 1/479 0/467 110.+R6ix7i 0/479 1/468 111.K8hx7i 0/479 0/468 112.N7dx8f 0/479 0/468 113.S*7a 0/479 0/468 114.G6ax7a 0/479 1/469 115.+R2ax7a 0/479 0/469 116.K8bx7a 0/479 0/469 117.G*6b 0/479 0/469 118.K7a-8b 0/479 0/469 119.G6bx7b 0/479 0/469 120.K8b-9c 0/479 0/469 Resigns 0/479 0/469 Time: 07:59:00 07:49:00 No mate and no defense. The game ended just 30 seconds before the end of the NHK broadcast, so it was very well timed by both players. One has to feel sorry for Sanada, who played some brilliant shogi to get very close to upsetting title holder Tanigawa, but in the end it was probably experience that decided the game. In other shogi news: 1) The A class Junisen has become even tighter than expected. Morishita and Kato could not keep their perfect record intact in the fourth round. Morishita lost a very difficult battle with Habu and Shima beat Kato after an early lead almost slipped away in the endgame. Shima saved the game by a good bishop sacrifice. So, after four rounds we have five players with a 3-1 score. Habu and Morishita are no surprise, but few expected Shima, Kato and Inoue among the leaders. However, there are only big names in this class, so every round the picture can change dramatically... 2) In B1 the seventh round was played. The most interesting game seemed to be the game between Maruyama (5-0) and Minami (4-1). Minami played very well in the early stages of the game to pin Maruyama with his back to the wall. However, when it was time to finish the hard work, Minami made a mistake in the move ordering of his attack and lost. Maruyama extends his winning streak to six and is already two points clear of the opposition. Tamaru is now in second place with a 5-2 record (he beat Mori). Minami and Nakamura (who beat Tanaka) are at 4-2. 3) In B2 also a full round was played. The leaders did not make a mistake, but especially Tsukada had a very tough game against Tomioka. Tomioka had several chances to win, but pressed for time made the wrong decisions and lost close to two o'clock in the morning. Ono beat Manabe with a nice rook for lance sacrifice and Hatakeyama beat veteran Ouchi. However, followers Urano, Goda, Kamia and Nakagawa also won, so there is still a long way before a decision in this class. 4) In the Kio three of the four semifinalists have now been decided. Goda beat Moriuchi and Minami beat Waki to join Izuka in the final four. Izuka plays Goda next, while Minami has to wait for the outcome of the game between Nakahara and Maruyama to find out who is next opponent is. 5) Yauchi did it again! The 18-year old new lady star beat Shimizu for the second time in a row to take a 2-1 lead in the ladies Oi match. She now needs only one win out of the remaining two games to win here first major title. More next week, Reijer -- Reijer Grimbergen Electrotechnical Laboratory 1-1-4 Umezono Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki-ken 305 JAPAN E-mail: grimberg etl go jp WWW: http://www.etl.go.jp:8080/etl/suiron/~grimberg Tel: +81-(0)298-54-5919 Fax: +81-(0)298-54-5918