From: Reijer Grimbergen ETL GO JP> Date: 25 jun 1998 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 743, June 24th 1998) There is something wrong with the schedules of professional games. In recent weeks I have complained a couple of times about the lack of interesting games and results in Shukan Shogi, but this week there has been a ton of news so this is going to be extra long. The main part will be the two commented games Shukan Shogi has this week. Of course the glorious win of Sato in game seven of the Meijin-sen to take his first Meijin title is the main feature. Comments on this historic game can be found below. Also, the first game of the Kisei match between Yashiki and Goda has been commented. If the one-sided win by Goda in this opening game is any indication of what is to come, this match might be over soon (especially since Goda has taken game two in the meanwhile). Here is the other Shogi news: 1) In the A-Junisen two games of the first round were played: Habu-Shima and Moriuchi-Kato. Lately, Shima has not had very good results against Habu. He was whitewashed in the Oza for two years in a row and last year Habu also won their game in the A-class. Still, Shima is a very talented player and it was time that he hit back. It was an exciting game where Shima had to sacrifice a silver to have a chance. Habu could not resist the temptation and took the sacrifice, where attacking would have been best. In the end Shima managed to turn the attack into a winning one with some fine endgame play. Bad start for Habu in his quest for yet another title. The game between Moriuchi and Kato had the more expected result: Moriuchi won. Kato has been playing the Bogin attack against the Shikenbisha since he was a young player. Professional shogi seems to have shown that there is nothing in this anymore for black, so the Bogin has become a rarity. Kato played it again this time, but the game does not give anything to change the conclusion about this opening. Kato tried something new, but it was easily countered by Moriuchi who went on to win from there. 2) In C1 the first round was played. Shukan Shogi focusses on the games of the three first-timers in the group. Sato, Okazaki and Fukaura all won their opening game. Fukaura especially showed his great strength by calculating accurately through a difficult endgame. Variations of more than thirty moves had to be read, but he played the end at great pace, leaving 68-year old veteran Sekine without a chance. However, there were some upsets this first round that Shukan Shogi does not even go into. Kisei Yashiki lost his opening game against Kobayashi and again has to come from behind to have a shot at promotion. Ryu-O challenger Sanada also lost his first game, although oppenent Nakata Hiroki is a strong player, who challenged for the Oi title once. He too will have a lot of work to do to get to B2 this year. 3) Goda looks almost invincible this season. He lost only one game, but that was a big one in the white group of the Oi League against rookie Kimura. This meant that he was forced into a play-off with Abe to decide the winner of this group. It was a tough game for Goda, but a brilliant gold move won the game for Goda. Abe was completely surprised by the use of a gold to get to an attacking rook. The gold was only one of two pieces defending the king. Goda will now play the winner of the Red Group, Meijin Sato, on the 29th to decide the challenger of Habu. 4) In the Oza the two remaining quarterfinals in the challenger tournament were played. Goda again won, this time against Takahashi and again with some brilliant and unexpected play. This time he calmly moved the king up the board towards the attacking pieces, calculating accurately that to drive the king back and save material, black's attack would die. In the other quarterfinal there was a rather surprising win of Minami against Morishita. Morishita had the lead in this game until the very end, but in a complicated endgame lost his way in byoyomi. Minami now will play Tanigawa in the semifinal, while Goda meets Fukaura. Here are the commented games: ============================= Black: Tanigawa, Meijin White: Sato, Challenger 56th Meijin-sen, Game 7, June 17th and 18th 1998 1.P7g-7f 0/0 0/0 It has been a very long time since the result of the furigoma has been watched with so much interest. After six consecutive wins by black, the toss of the pawns almost seemed to decide the outcome of the game. Scorekeeper Ohira (3-dan) even practised the furigoma the day before the game. The "real" furigoma showed three pawns and two tokins, so the black pieces went to Meijin Tanigawa. 2.P8c-8d 0/0 8/8 3.S7i-6h 14/14 0/8 4.P3c-3d 0/14 4/12 5.P6g-6f 0/14 0/12 A big surprise. After winning games 1, 3 and 5 with the Kakugawari, Tanigawa changes to the Yagura in the all-deciding game. When asked he told that he had planned to play Yagura both with black or with white. This despite the fact that Sato is the leading expert in this type of play. 6.S7a-6b 0/14 5/17 7.P5g-5f 1/15 0/17 8.P5c-5d 0/15 0/17 9.S3i-4h 0/15 0/17 10.S3a-4b 0/15 1/18 11.G4i-5h 1/16 0/18 12.G4a-3b 0/16 0/18 13.G6i-7h 1/17 0/18 14.K5a-4a 0/17 0/18 15.K5i-6i 0/17 0/18 16.G6a-5b 0/17 14/32 17.S6h-7g 11/28 0/32 18.S4b-3c 0/28 1/33 19.B8h-7i 5/33 0/33 20.B2b-3a 0/33 0/33 21.P3g-3f 4/37 0/33 22.P4c-4d 0/37 1/34 23.G5h-6g 15/52 0/34 24.P7c-7d 0/52 4/38 25.S4h-3g 15/67 0/38 26.B3a-6d 0/67 15/53 27.B7i-6h 6/73 0/53 28.G5b-4c 0/73 6/59 29.K6i-7i 1/74 0/59 30.K4a-3a 0/74 4/63 31.K7i-8h 8/82 0/63 32.P9c-9d 0/82 28/91 33.S3g-4f 20/102 0/91 34.S6b-5c 0/102 22/113 35.N2i-3g 10/112 0/113 36.B6d-7c 0/112 7/120 37.P2g-2f 17/129 0/120 38.S3c-2d 0/129 84/204 39.P1g-1f 95/224 0/204 40.P1c-1d 0/224 2/206 41.R2h-3h 11/235 0/206 42.K3a-2b 0/235 4/210 43.L1i-1h 2/237 0/210 44.P9d-9e 0/237 7/217 45.N3g-2e 19/256 0/217 In style. The Yagura anaguma after 45.L9h has been played here many times as well. Tanigawa chooses the more positive 45.N2e. 46.P4d-4e 0/256 10/227 47.S4fx4e 4/260 0/227 48.B7c-1i+ 0/260 1/228 49.B6h-4f 1/261 0/228 50.+B1ix4f 0/261 1/229 51.P4gx4f 0/261 0/229 52.B*5i 0/261 2/231 53.B*3g 18/279 0/231 54.B5ix3g+ 0/279 21/252 55.R3hx3g 0/279 0/252 56.B*1i 0/279 0/252 57.R3g-3h 1/280 0/252 58.B1ix4f+ 0/280 2/254 59.P*4d 0/280 0/254 60.+B4fx4e 0/280 46/300 61.P4dx4c+ 0/280 0/300 62.G3bx4c 0/280 0/300 63.B*1i 14/294 0/300 64.P6c-6d 0/294 13/313 65.R3h-4h 4/298 0/313 66.P*4f 0/298 1/314 67.B1ix4f 53/351 0/314 So far the game has not developed into new territory. Both the games between Morishita and Moriuchi (last year's Junisen) and Kitahama-Namekata (last year's Zen Nihon Pro Tournament) had the same development. Morishita played 67.Rx4f here, but Tanigawa chooses Kitahama's Bx4f. 68.P*4d 0/351 42/356 69.P6f-6e 1/352 0/356 New move. Kitahama played B1i here. Tanigawa's P6e seems better. 70.+B4ex3f 0/352 7/363 71.P*3g?! 48/400 0/363 Played after long thought, but probably not so good. The alternative was 71.P*3c Nx3c Px6d S*3g Bx2d Px2d P6c+ and black gets a strong attack for the sacrifice of his major pieces. 72.+B3fx2f 0/400 65/428 73.G*3f?! 44/444 0/428 Bad moves often come in pairs. Having decided upon a wrong plan, it is difficult to change. Better was 73.Px6d P4e P6c+ Px4f Rx4f +B4d +Px5c +Bx5c G*6c! with good chances. Still, the game remains very close, although white may have a slight edge here. However, white has to be extremely careful with his weakened king position. 74.+B2f-2g 0/444 2/430 75.P6ex6d 0/444 0/430 76.S*4e! 0/444 16/446 Good move. It is the only way to contain black's attack. 77.G3fx4e?! 6/450 0/446 This mistake definitely gives white the advantage. Black should have played 77.Bx2d Px2d P6c+ with good chances for both sides. Both players did not have much confidence in their positions here. 78.P4dx4e 0/450 0/446 79.S*3f 0/450 0/446 80.+B2gx3f 0/450 20/466 81.B4fx2d 0/450 0/466 82.+B3fx2e 0/450 1/467 83.B2d-5a+ 0/450 0/467 84.S5c-4b 0/450 1/468 85.+B5a-4a 7/457 0/468 86.+B2e-2d 0/457 26/494 87.R4h-2h 4/461 0/494 88.+B2d-3c 0/461 0/494 This retreat of the promoted bishop is very good. White has stopped the threat P6c+, because this would lose the bishop after G*5a. Black has to take drastic measures to stay in the game. 89.P*4d 24/485 0/494 90.G4cx4d 0/485 0/494 91.S*3b 0/485 0/494 92.P2c-2d?! 0/485 11/505 Of course the biggest mistake white could make would have been 92.+Bx3b +Bx3b Kx3b B*7a, but defending 2c by 92.N*3a would have killed Tanigawa's attack. Tanigawa: "I thought that this might give me chances". 93.P6d-6c+ 1/486 0/505 94.S*4c! 0/486 7/512 Sato probably counted on the strength of this move when he played 92.P2d. It is indeed a strong defense, but from this game it is not clear if it is strong enough. 95.+B4ax4b 13/499 0/512 An alternative is 95.+P5b Sx3b +Bx4b G4c. Tanigawa: "I thought this was very painful". 96.R8bx4b 0/499 3/515 97.S3bx2a+ 4/503 0/515 98.K2bx2a 0/503 0/515 99.+P6c-5c 0/503 0/515 100.R4b-9b 0/503 0/515 101.S*4b 1/504 0/515 102.R9bx4b 0/504 4/519 103.+P5cx4b 0/504 0/519 104.+B3cx4b 0/504 0/519 105.N*3f 1/505 0/519 106.S*2c 0/505 10/529 107.N3fx4d 0/505 0/529 108.S4cx4d 0/505 0/529 109.P1f-1e 3/508 0/529 110.P1dx1e 0/508 0/529 111.R*8b 0/508 0/529 112.B*6d! 0/508 1/530 White looked in trouble after 111.R*8b, but this is a great bishopdrop that helps both attack and defense. Black is a bit short on material and would love to take the knight and lance, but white does not allow that. If black gets too much material, the difference in king defense will become decisive. 113.R8bx8a+ 2/510 0/530 114.K2a-2b 0/510 0/530 115.+R8a-7b? 1/511 0/530 The move that loses the meijin title. After 115.P5e Bx5e R5h things are still very complicated. Now white's attack is faster, but only just. 116.G*3b 0/511 0/530 117.R2h-3h 5/516 0/530 118.N*8e 0/516 0/530 119.G*6e 0/516 0/530 120.B6d-4f 0/516 0/530 121.G6ex5d 0/516 0/530 122.P9e-9f 0/516 1/531 123.P9gx9f 0/516 0/531 124.P*9h 0/516 0/531 125.P8g-8f 2/518 0/531 126.P9hx9i+ 0/518 2/533 127.G5dx4d 0/518 0/533 128.+P9ix8i 0/518 4/537 129.K8hx8i 0/518 0/537 130.N8ex7g+ 0/518 0/537 131.G7hx7g 0/518 0/537 132.N*6e 0/518 0/537 133.S*3c 6/524 0/537 134.+B4bx3c 0/524 1/538 135.G4dx3c 0/524 0/538 136.K2bx3c 0/524 0/538 137.N*4d 0/524 0/538 White has no defense, but there is a mate. 138.N6ex7g= 0/524 0/538 139.G6gx7g 0/524 0/538 140.N*9g 0/524 0/538 141.K8i-7h 0/524 0/538 142.S*8i 0/524 0/538 143.K7h-6i 4/528 0/538 144.S*6h 0/528 0/538 145.R3hx6h 0/528 0/538 146.B4fx6h+ 0/528 0/538 147.K6ix6h 0/528 0/538 148.L*6e 0/528 0/538 Resigns 0/528 0/538 Time: 08:48:00 08:58:00 After 149.P*6f R*2h N*5h G*7h Gx7h Sx7h+ Kx7h Rx5h+ black is mated. Sato's comment's on the game: "I did not know who was going to win until the very end. Only when I saw the mate, I was sure of victory". So, a dream he has had since his early childhood has come true for 28-year old Sato Yasumitsu, Shin-Meijin ("New Meijin"). He takes his place in history to win a title that has been part of the Shogiworld since the sixteenth century. He is only the tenth player to win the title since it has been played for in tournament form (since the 1930s). The win becomes even more impressive when one realises what mental toughness Sato had to show to play catch-up for almost a year. He started the Junisen badly with a 1-3 score and in the Meijin match itself he had to come from behind three times. Shogi has a great new champion. ****************************************************************************** Black: Yashiki, Kisei White: Goda, Challenger 69th Kisei-sen, Game 1, June 13th 1998 1.P7g-7f 1/1 0/0 2.P8c-8d 0/1 1/1 3.P2g-2f 7/8 0/1 4.P8d-8e 0/8 2/3 5.B8h-7g 1/9 0/3 The Kakugawari (Bishop Exchange) again. The Meijin match between Tanigawa and Sato seems to indicate that black has good chances to get the advantage in this complicated opening. 6.P3c-3d 0/9 0/3 7.S7i-8h 0/9 0/3 8.G4a-3b 0/9 6/9 9.G6i-7h 2/11 0/9 10.B2bx7g+ 0/11 0/9 11.S8hx7g 0/11 0/9 12.S3a-4b 0/11 0/9 13.S3i-3h 0/11 0/9 14.S7a-7b 0/11 12/21 15.P4g-4f 4/15 0/21 16.P6c-6d 0/15 5/26 17.S3h-4g 0/15 0/26 18.S7b-6c 0/15 0/26 19.G4i-5h 1/16 0/26 20.K5a-4a 0/16 1/27 21.K5i-6h 1/17 0/27 22.G6a-5b 0/17 2/29 23.K6h-7i 1/18 0/29 24.P9c-9d 0/18 0/29 25.P9g-9f 4/22 0/29 26.S6c-5d 0/22 0/29 27.S4g-5f 3/25 0/29 28.P7c-7d 0/25 2/31 29.P3g-3f 10/35 0/31 30.K4a-3a 0/35 0/31 The problem with this opening is that even though the moves to be played are pretty fixed, the number of permutations is enormous and all seem to have meaning. In this game Goda chooses for a slow build-up. A more positive (and this risky) strategy would be 30.P6e followed by B*6d. 31.P1g-1f 8/43 0/31 32.P1c-1d 0/43 3/34 33.P4f-4e 16/59 0/34 34.N8a-7c 0/59 6/40 35.P6g-6f 2/61 0/40 36.G5b-6c 0/61 9/49 37.R2h-4h 20/81 0/49 38.R8b-6b 0/81 5/54 39.B*4f 5/86 0/54 40.L9a-9c 0/86 5/59 41.N2i-3g 7/93 0/59 42.R6b-9b 0/93 0/59 43.G5h-4g 8/101 0/59 44.P9d-9e 0/101 55/114 Both players seemed to be hesitant to start the attack. From black's point of view this is not a good sign. Yashiki might have thought he would get more out of the opening. Instead, it is Goda who after long deliberation opens the hostilities. 45.P9fx9e 2/103 0/114 46.L9cx9e 0/103 0/114 47.P*9g 2/105 0/114 48.P6d-6e!? 0/105 85/199 The second time in a couple of moves that Goda takes his time to make up his mind. This standard attacking move is risky, but Goda felt that he needed it to give his attack more power. 49.P3f-3e? 63/168 0/199 Goda is rewarded for his positive play. Of course Yashiki saw that 49.Px6e P7e Nx6e S6f Lx9g+ Lx9g P*9f Lx9f Rx9f would lead to disaster. Now the silver on 6f hangs and this was made possible by 48.P6e. If in this variation black does not play S6f, but pulls back to S8h, then P8f Px8f B*5i is winning for white. Yashiki decides to counter-attack with 49.P3e, but this backfires. His best chance would have been the suicidal looking 49.P9f! Lx9f Lx9f P*9e L*6d Gx6d Bx6d L*7a G*8c R9d Gx7c. It was because of this variation that Goda took such a long time for 48.P6e. Goda: "If it would go like this, I really don't know". Another alternative to 49.P3e would have been P1e. This also gives black chances for attack and does not leave the hole on 3f, which will become a big factor later. 50.P6ex6f 0/168 10/209 51.P3ex3d 5/173 0/209 Black has to keep going. 51.Sx6f is again met by P8f Px8f B*5i. 52.P*3f! 0/173 0/209 53.G4gx3f 19/192 0/209 This shows how painful the pawn drop was. The gold is now in a very bad position. This could not be helped, because after 53.N2e P2d Bx2d B*5i black can not move the rook to 2h because of P3g+. So he has to play R3h, after which Bx2f+ makes a promoted bishop, wins the knight and might even win the bishop. 54.S5d-6e 0/192 13/222 55.S5fx6e 11/203 0/222 56.P6f-6g+ 0/203 0/222 57.G7hx6g 7/210 0/222 58.N7cx6e 0/210 0/222 59.S7g-6f 13/223 0/222 60.P8e-8f 0/223 4/226 61.P8gx8f 0/223 0/226 62.S*4g 0/223 0/226 63.R4hx4g 1/224 0/226 64.B*5h 0/224 0/226 65.S*5f 1/225 0/226 66.B5hx4g+ 0/225 0/226 67.S5fx4g 0/225 0/226 68.R*4i 0/225 0/226 69.B*6i? 10/235 0/226 Black's position looks a mess and you would expect white to win easily from here. However, it is only after this mistake that things become a lot easier. After 69.K7h Rx4g+ B5e +Rx3f B*8a R9c Bx6c+ Rx6c S*5b black threatens mate and to take the rook. So white has go for the all-out attack after S*5h instead of +Rx3f, but then things become really wild and white might lose control of the game. 70.P*8h 0/235 1/227 71.K7i-6h 1/236 0/227 72.P8hx8i+ 0/236 0/227 73.S6fx6e 0/236 0/227 74.L9ex9g+ 0/236 8/235 75.S4g-5h 3/239 0/235 76.R4i-3i+ 0/239 4/239 77.P*9c 2/241 0/239 78.R9bx9c 0/241 0/239 79.B4f-5e 4/245 0/239 80.P5c-5d! 0/245 18/257 Beautiful move. White allows the bishop promotion and strengthens his attack by immediately cutting off the horse from defense. 81.B5ex1a+ 0/245 0/257 82.N*5e 0/245 0/257 83.P5g-5f 28/273 0/257 84.+P8i-7i 0/273 1/258 85.P5fx5e 1/274 0/258 86.+P7ix6i 0/274 4/262 87.K6h-5g 0/274 0/262 88.B*7i 0/274 1/263 89.P*6h 8/282 0/263 90.+P6ix6h 0/282 1/264 91.G6gx6h 0/282 0/264 92.P*6g 0/282 0/264 The deciding move. 93.N*3c 3/285 0/264 Yashiki decides to go out in a flame instead of the quiet 93.Kx6g P*6f K5g Bx6h+ Kx6h +R4h. 94.N2ax3c 0/285 0/264 95.P3dx3c+ 0/285 0/264 96.S4bx3c 0/285 1/265 97.N*2e 0/285 0/265 98.P6gx6h+ 0/285 0/265 99.N2ex3c+ 0/285 0/265 100.+P6hx5h 0/285 0/265 Resigns 0/285 0/265 Time: 04:45:00 04:25:00 Black is mated after 101.Kx5h G*5g or 101.K6f Bx5g+ K7g G*6g. It must be a worrying experience for Yashiki to be outplayed like this even when he had the black pieces. In the next game he will have to show some brilliance with white or this match might be over before it has properly started. -- 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