From: Reijer Grimbergen ETL GO JP> Date: 30 jul 1998 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 748, July 29th 1998) Last week was a week of Junisen games with complete rounds in B1, B2 and C1 plus one game in the A class. The game in the A class was a big one, since it was the game between Habu and Tanigawa. It was a pity that these two giants had to play each other so early, since they both will probably be in the race for challenging Meijin Sato until the very end. Habu had surprisingly lost his first game against Shima. For Tanigawa it was his first game in the A class for more than a year. It became a Yagura game where Tanigawa (with black) chose one of the latest variations. It was Habu who made the first mistake and although Tanigawa lost some confidence in the position towards the end of the game, objectively he was never in real danger of losing. This second loss in a row is a big blow for the chances of Habu, but last year there was another player who started with two losses: Sato Yasumitsu... In B1 only three rounds have been played, but the first A class spot seems to be already reserved for Goda. At the moment he is almost invincible and after winning his third straight win in B1, he is already the only leader. He had some trouble fighting off Aono, but after Aono made a mistake in middle game, Goda took back the advantage and won by showing great endgame attacking strength. Aono fell back to 2-1 because of this loss and still has his eyes on a return to the A-class. He is joined in second place by Nakamura, Tanaka, Kobayashi, Kiriyama and Kamiya. Kamiya and Nakamura are the two players in this group without any A-class experience. In B2 the second round was played. It was interesting that all but two players had the same result in their second game as they had in their first game. It seems this class can be neatly divided in players fighting for promotion and players fighting against relegation. Surprising are the two losses of Tsukada and Ono, since both were expected to play for a return to B1. 58-year old Naito is the oldest player with two wins, but since he just relegated from B1 last year, his good start is not too big a surprise. Still, I expect Nakagawa and Fujii to promote this year, with Hatakeyama and Sensaki as outsiders. In C1 also the second round was being played. So far the class fits the knock-out schedule, since after two rounds there are six players with two wins in this class of 24. The leaders are H.Nakata, Hatakeyama, Suzuki, Kanzaki, Ogura and S.Sato. The biggest win was by Sato, who beat former Kisei Miura in a very tough game, where in the end the difference in time used might have given the game the vital push in Sato's direction. A setback for Miura, who is one of the big favourites to promote. Another big favourite, Yashiki (also a former Kisei), recovered from a bad loss in the first round by beating Fukaura, another outside favourite for promotion. Being in the number one spot in the class means that 9-1 and probably 8-2 might be enough to promote. We will have to wait and see if he can do this... Not much else of interest in Shukan Shogi this week, so I will keep it short this time. More next week, Reijer -- Reijer Grimbergen Complex Game Lab Electrotechnical Laboratory 1-1-4 Umezono, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki-ken, 305 JAPAN E-mail: grimberg etl go jp URL: http://www.etl.go.jp/etl/suiron/~grimberg/ Tel: +81-(0)298-54-3316 Fax: +81-(0)298-54-5918