From: Reijer Grimbergen ETL GO JP> Date: 27 feb 1998 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 726, February 25th 1998) This week in Shukan Shogi not one, but two title game matches. The fifth game of the Osho was an incredible endgame fight which was won in the end by Habu. The first game of the Kio was much less interesting and was a win for Habu after a serious mistake by Goda in the middle game. Both games are given below, but first the other shogi news. 1) Moriuchi beat Fujii in a tough game that lasted 174 moves to get to the semifinals of the Zen Nihon pro tournament. The other semifinalist are Yashiki, Sato Yasumitsu and Habu, so we are sure of a great match for the title this year. 2) Morishita and Shima started their bid for the Oi title well by beating Yagura and Kitajima respectively in the red group of the Oi league. Kitajima was a bit unfortunate that a simple recapture he played without much thought was the difference between winning and losing. Yagura also seemed to be winning but in truth his attack was one move too slow. 3) Shukan Shogi has a two-week special on the computer shogi championships. This week the prerounds with the game between Shotest and IS Shogi. I am writing my own article about the tournament, which I will post some time next week. Therefore I will not say too much about it here. 4) 17-year old Yamazaki is the first to promote to the professional ranks this year. With two rounds left to play in the 3-dan league his score of 12-4 is enough to secure promotion. I am sure there will be a profile of him and of the second player that will promote on the 5th of March. Then I will return to this topic. OK, that's all for the non-title match news. Here are the Osho and Kio game with some comments: Black: Habu, Osho White: Sato, Challenger 47th Osho-sen, Game 5, February 18th and 19th 1998 1.P2g-2f 1/1 0/0 2.P8c-8d 0/1 11/11 3.P2f-2e 2/3 0/11 4.P8d-8e 0/3 0/11 5.G6i-7h 2/5 0/11 6.G4a-3b 0/5 0/11 7.P2e-2d 3/8 0/11 8.P2cx2d 0/8 0/11 9.R2hx2d 0/8 0/11 10.P*2c 0/8 0/11 11.R2d-2f 0/8 0/11 Yagura in game one, Yodofuribisha in game two, Kakugawari in game three, Shikenbisha in game five and now Aigakari. This match shows new ideas in almost every opening possible. 12.S7a-6b 0/8 13/24 13.S3i-3h 10/18 0/24 14.P1c-1d 0/18 6/30 15.P1g-1f 17/35 0/30 16.P5c-5d 0/35 12/42 17.P7g-7f 22/57 0/42 18.S6b-5c 0/57 19/61 19.P4g-4f 91/148 0/61 20.P3c-3d 0/148 16/77 21.S3h-4g 0/148 0/77 22.P8e-8f 0/148 35/112 23.P8gx8f 0/148 0/112 24.R8bx8f 0/148 0/112 25.P*8g 1/149 0/112 26.R8f-8b 0/149 0/112 27.G4i-5h 11/160 0/112 28.P4c-4d 0/160 2/114 29.K5i-6i 1/161 0/114 30.G6a-5b 0/161 10/124 31.P3g-3f 17/178 0/124 32.S3a-4b 0/178 8/132 33.N2i-3g 5/183 0/132 34.S4b-4c 0/183 6/138 35.S7i-6h 15/198 0/138 36.K5a-6b 0/198 43/181 37.P5g-5f 14/212 0/181 38.P6c-6d 0/212 5/186 39.K6i-7i 63/275 0/186 40.P7c-7d 0/275 72/258 41.P3f-3e 36/311 0/258 42.N2a-3c 0/311 14/272 43.P5f-5e 32/343 0/272 44.P5dx5e 0/343 13/285 45.B8hx5e 0/343 0/285 46.P3dx3e 0/343 16/301 47.B5e-7g 2/345 0/301 48.K6b-6c 0/345 41/342 It is unclear what Sato had prepared for this game, but this move shows that his strategy has failed. Having to play the king to 6c is very painful. Normal would have been 48.G6c, but Sato felt this would weaken the fourth file too much. The king on 6c gives this game the flavour of a handicap game. 49.S4g-5f 14/359 0/342 50.P*5d 0/359 1/343 51.P6g-6f 37/396 0/343 52.N8a-7c 0/396 11/354 53.G5h-6g 0/396 0/354 54.R8b-8a 0/396 10/364 55.P6f-6e 16/412 0/364 56.N7cx6e 0/412 12/376 57.B7g-8h 7/419 0/376 58.P2c-2d 0/419 6/382 59.P9g-9f 8/427 0/382 60.N3c-2e 0/427 30/412 61.N3gx2e 0/427 0/412 62.S4c-3d 0/427 1/413 63.N2e-1c+ 7/434 0/413 64.B2bx1c 0/434 1/414 65.P*6f 0/434 0/414 66.P5d-5e 0/434 1/415 67.S5fx5e 2/436 0/415 68.P*5d 0/436 1/416 69.S5ex4d 0/436 0/416 70.S5cx4d 0/436 1/417 71.P6fx6e 0/436 0/417 72.N*5e 0/436 8/425 73.G6g-5g? 6/442 0/425 Unnecessary move which lets Sato back in. Habu was a little overconfident here: "I wanted to make it completely safe". Black can just ignore the threat on the gold on 6g, even though white can take this with check. Opening the bishop diagonal would be too dangerous. Therefore, Habu should have played the much stronger 73.N*5f! and after 74.S3c N*4d G3b-4b Px6d K5c Nx5b+ Kx5b P6c+ Kx6c G*6d K5b Gx5d black's position is much better. 74.P2d-2e! 0/442 11/436 Takes the chance to wake the sleeping pieces on the right side of the board. 75.R2f-2i 1/443 0/436 76.P*8f 0/443 3/439 77.P8gx8f 0/443 0/439 78.P*8g 0/443 1/440 79.G7hx8g 2/445 0/440 80.P3e-3f 0/445 0/440 81.P*5f 9/454 0/440 82.P3f-3g+ 0/454 1/441 83.P6ex6d 8/462 0/441 84.K6c-5c 0/462 1/442 85.P5fx5e 0/462 0/442 86.P5dx5e 0/462 1/443 87.B8h-7g! 0/462 0/443 Incredible coolness. Habu takes two moves to make his king safer in a position where white seems to threaten everything. It is his best chance to win the game. 88.+P3g-3f 0/462 2/445 89.K7i-8h 7/469 0/445 90.+P3fx4f 0/469 1/446 91.G5g-6f 0/469 0/446 92.S*5d 0/469 15/461 93.P*2d 0/469 0/461 94.P*6e 0/469 0/461 95.G6f-6g 0/469 0/461 96.B1cx2d 0/469 0/461 97.P*4g 0/469 0/461 98.+P4f-4e 0/469 1/462 99.N*4f 0/469 0/462 100.+P4ex4f 0/469 0/462 101.P4gx4f 0/469 0/462 102.B2dx4f 0/469 0/462 103.N*3f 0/469 0/462 104.B4f-3g+ 0/469 1/463 105.N3fx4d 0/469 0/463 106.K5cx4d 0/469 0/463 107.P*5f 1/470 0/463 108.P7d-7e? 0/470 12/475 It is in Sato's character to try and win in attack as soon as possible. However, there is a hole in his calculations. With only five minutes left, it would have been wiser to go for the entering king after P*4g which makes the head of the king safe to enter. After P7e, white gives black too many pieces and the position becomes very dangerous again. 109.P6d-6c+ 3/473 0/475 110.G5bx6c 0/473 0/475 111.S*7b 0/473 0/475 112.P7ex7f 0/473 0/475 113.G6gx7f 0/473 0/475 114.N*8d 0/473 0/475 115.S7bx6c= 1/474 0/475 116.N8dx7f 0/474 0/475 117.G8gx7f 0/474 0/475 118.S5dx6c 0/474 0/475 119.P*3h 0/474 0/475 120.+B3g-4f 0/474 1/476 121.B7gx5e 0/474 0/476 122.+B4fx5e 0/474 0/476 123.P5fx5e 0/474 0/476 124.N*6d 0/474 1/477 125.G7f-7g 0/474 0/477 126.P*8g 0/474 0/477 127.K8h-9h 2/476 0/477 128.P8g-8h+ 0/476 2/479 129.K9hx8h 0/476 0/479 130.P*8g? 0/476 0/479 In byoyomi, Sato sacrifices a pawn to win time he can use to find the winning position. In a way, he has given himself two chances to find the winning variation, but there was not enough time. Here he could have won by playing 130.P*7f G7h P*8g Gx8g B*6f P*7g Px7g+ Sx7g S*7f! (diagram). Then black can not take the bishop: Sx6f Sx8g+ Kx8g Rx8f K7h (Kx8f G*7f leads to mate) G*8g and white takes the silver next and wins. 131.K8h-9h 0/476 0/479 132.N6d-7f 0/476 0/479 133.B*6b 0/476 0/479 134.P*5c 0/476 0/479 135.N*3f 0/476 0/479 136.K4d-3c 0/476 0/479 137.G7gx7f 1/477 0/479 138.S*7h 0/477 0/479 139.G7f-7g 0/477 0/479 140.B*6f 0/477 0/479 141.G*7i 2/479 0/479 It is a surprise that there is still a defense in this position, but this game has quite a few incredible things. 142.G*8h 0/479 0/479 143.K9h-9g 0/479 0/479 144.G8hx7i 0/479 0/479 145.S6hx7i 0/479 0/479 146.S7hx7i= 0/479 0/479 147.G7gx6f 0/479 0/479 148.P8g-8h+ 0/479 0/479 And Sato wins. At least that was the opinion of everyone in the press room. 149.B*4d 0/479 0/479 "Habu just starts a rush of checks before resigning". 150.K3c-2c 0/479 0/479 151.R2ix2e 0/479 0/479 152.S3dx2e 0/479 0/479 153.P*2d 0/479 0/479 154.K2c-1c 0/479 0/479 155.G*2c 0/479 0/479 156.G3bx2c 0/479 0/479 157.P2dx2c+ 0/479 0/479 158.K1cx2c 0/479 0/479 159.P*2d 0/479 0/479 160.K2c-3d 0/479 0/479 161.G*3e 0/479 0/479 162.K3d-4c 0/479 0/479 163.B6bx5c+ 0/479 0/479 164.K4c-3b 0/479 0/479 165.P2d-2c+ 0/479 0/479 166.K3bx2c 0/479 0/479 167.G3e-2d 0/479 0/479 168.K2c-1b 0/479 0/479 Habu has played the moves up to now without any confidence, often thinking until the last possible second of his one minute byoyomi to play his move. Now there surely can not be mate with only two knights in hand. Habu is groping in the dark... 169.B4dx1a+! 0/479 0/479 ...and finally finds the light switch. I do not know what is more amazing: that there was a 35-move mate in the position at all or that Habu played the only possible mating variation without being able to calcualte it to the end. 170.K1bx1a 0/479 0/479 171.L*1c 0/479 0/479 172.B*1b 0/479 0/479 This is not a tsume problem, because if white would have had a knight in hand there would have been no mate here. But if you don't have it, you don't have it... 172.K2a is mate after +B4c. 173.+B5c-4d 0/479 0/479 174.K1a-2a 0/479 0/479 It all just works. After 174.S*2b N*2c K2a Lx1b+ also leads to mate. 175.L1cx1b+ 0/479 0/479 176.K2ax1b 0/479 0/479 177.G2d-1c 0/479 0/479 Resigns 0/479 0/479 Time: 07:59:00 07:59:00 After 178.Kx1c B*2b K1b N*2d K2a N*1c white is mated with the last piece. An incredible endgame where Habu needed more than magic to win: he needed a miracle. ============================================================================= Black: Habu, Kio White: Goda, Challenger 23rd Kio-sen, February 14th 1998 1.P7g-7f 0/0 0/0 2.P8c-8d 0/0 0/0 3.S7i-6h 1/1 0/0 4.P3c-3d 0/1 0/0 5.P6g-6f 0/1 0/0 6.S7a-6b 0/1 0/0 7.P5g-5f 1/2 0/0 8.P5c-5d 0/2 0/0 9.S3i-4h 0/2 0/0 10.S3a-4b 0/2 1/1 11.G4i-5h 0/2 0/1 12.G4a-3b 0/2 0/1 13.G6i-7h 1/3 0/1 14.K5a-4a 0/3 0/1 15.K5i-6i 1/4 0/1 16.P7c-7d 0/4 0/1 17.G5h-6g 0/4 0/1 18.G6a-5b 0/4 0/1 19.S6h-7g 0/4 0/1 20.S4b-3c 0/4 0/1 21.B8h-7i 0/4 0/1 22.B2b-3a 0/4 0/1 23.P3g-3f 1/5 0/1 24.P4c-4d 0/5 0/1 25.S4h-3g 3/8 0/1 26.P8d-8e 0/8 6/7 27.P3f-3e 7/15 0/7 28.B3a-6d 0/15 1/8 29.P3ex3d 1/16 0/8 30.S3cx3d 0/16 0/8 31.R2h-1h 0/16 0/8 32.B6d-7c 0/16 1/9 33.B7i-5g 4/20 0/9 34.S6b-5c 0/20 0/9 35.K6i-7i 0/20 0/9 36.P6c-6d 0/20 0/9 37.P1g-1f 47/67 0/9 The Kio match starts with a Yagura game. The Kio is a match that is played by the one game on one day system. A special thing is that the players actually play their game on a stage in a public hall. The time limits are only four hours per player, so it is not a surprise that both players quickly play their moves in the opening. Habu has chosen the 25.S3g variation and Goda has chosen to defend by using a special defensive formation he used to beat Minami to become the Kio challenger. The move 37.P1f is a new move in this position. Habu waits to play the king into the castle and instead aims at developing his major pieces first. The rook now has a little more freedom, but the main aim is to put the bishop on 1g. 38.B7c-8d 0/67 33/42 39.R1h-3h 11/78 0/42 40.N8a-7c 0/78 1/43 41.S3g-3f 3/81 0/43 42.R8b-6b 0/81 35/78 43.B5g-4f 5/86 0/78 44.P4d-4e 0/86 0/78 45.B4f-2h 19/105 0/78 46.S5c-4d 0/105 0/78 47.N2i-3g 14/119 0/78 48.P*3e?! 0/119 32/110 Tempting, but very risky. Goda wins a knight, but being out of pawns makes his position very hard to defend. 49.S3fx4e 2/121 0/110 50.S3dx4e 0/121 1/111 51.N3gx4e 0/121 0/111 52.S4dx4e 0/121 1/112 53.R3hx3e 1/122 0/112 54.S*3d? 0/122 61/173 Already the losing move! The natural 54.S*4d is much, much better. Goda was afraid of 55.Rx3b+ Kx3b B1g N*3e G*8c. However, after B9e P9f Bx7g+ G6gx7g R6c white also has some strong attacking moves like N6e and R*4i. Habu: "I was planning to play the rook back to R3h". Goda: "If so, I would have played S*4d without thinking". 55.R3e-3h 1/123 0/173 56.N*3e 0/123 1/174 57.B2h-1g 22/145 0/174 58.R6b-6c 0/145 1/175 White would have liked to counterattack here, but after 58.P6e P*3f Px6f G6g-6h Sx5f Px3e P6g+ Px3d black is clearly a move faster with his attack. This is another reason why 54.S*3d was bad. With the silver on 4d instead of 3d, black's attack is meaningless. After 58.R6c Habu's big advantage is clear. 59.K7i-8h 9/154 0/175 60.N3ex2g+ 0/154 8/183 61.R3hx3d 12/166 0/183 62.S4ex3d 0/166 0/183 63.B1g-7a+ 0/166 0/183 64.P8e-8f 0/166 0/183 65.P8gx8f 18/184 0/183 66.P*8g 0/184 0/183 67.K8hx8g 0/184 0/183 68.R*3i 0/184 0/183 69.K8g-9h 2/186 0/183 70.P6d-6e 0/186 0/183 71.G6g-6h! 2/188 0/183 Great move. This both makes black's position stronger and prepares a strong counter after 72.Px6f: 73.P*6d Rx6d S*5c!. 72.K4a-3a 0/188 10/193 73.P*3c 4/192 0/193 74.N2ax3c 0/192 6/199 75.P*3e 4/196 0/199 76.S3d-4e 0/196 0/199 77.P*2d 2/198 0/199 78.P2cx2d 0/198 1/200 79.P*2c 0/198 0/200 80.P*8g 0/198 16/216 81.G7hx8g 8/206 0/216 82.P*8e 0/206 0/216 83.+B7a-7b 1/207 0/216 84.R6c-4c 0/207 9/225 85.+B7b-6a 0/207 0/225 86.K3a-4b 0/207 5/230 87.P2c-2b+ 2/209 0/230 88.G3bx2b 0/209 0/230 89.S*3a 0/209 0/230 90.K4b-5c 0/209 0/230 91.+B6a-7a 4/213 0/230 92.K5c-6d 0/213 0/230 93.S3ax2b= 0/213 0/230 94.S4ex5f 0/213 1/231 95.S2bx3c= 8/221 0/231 96.P8ex8f 0/221 0/231 97.G8gx8f 0/221 0/231 98.P*8e 0/221 0/231 99.G8f-8g 0/221 0/231 100.R4cx3c 0/221 4/235 101.+B7a-4d 1/222 0/235 102.R3c-5c 0/222 0/235 103.N*4h 2/224 0/235 104.S5fx4g= 0/224 2/237 105.P6fx6e 5/229 0/237 106.N7cx6e 0/229 0/237 107.P*6f 0/229 0/237 108.N6ex7g+ 0/229 0/237 109.P6f-6e 0/229 0/237 110.K6d-7c 0/229 1/238 111.G6hx7g 0/229 0/238 112.S4gx4h= 0/229 1/239 113.G*6d 4/233 0/239 This simple move decides the game. Habu has been chasing Goda's king carefully around the board, but now it is time to corner the king and go for mate. Goda can do nothing to prevent that. 114.K7c-8b 0/233 0/239 115.+B4dx5c 1/234 0/239 116.G5bx5c 0/234 0/239 117.P*8c 0/234 0/239 118.K8bx8c 0/234 0/239 119.N*7e 0/234 0/239 120.P7dx7e 0/234 0/239 121.S*7d 0/234 0/239 122.K8c-9b 0/234 0/239 123.G6dx5c 0/234 0/239 124.S*7b 0/234 0/239 125.R*7a 1/235 0/239 126.S*8a 0/235 0/239 127.G5c-6c 0/235 0/239 Resigns 0/235 0/239 Time: 03:55:00 03:59:00 Black threatens mate with Rx8a+ Kx8a Gx7b Kx7b S*6c and white has no mate and no defense. After the middle game Goda never had a chance to make a real game out of it. Still, he has black in game two, so nothing is lost yet. -- 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)298-54-3316 Fax: +81-(0)298-54-5918