From: Reijer Grimbergen ETL GO JP> Date: 26 mar 1998 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 730, March 25th 1998) This week in Shukan Shogi two games from the Kio title match. It is highly unusual that two games of the same title match are being played in the same week. Goda won the third one to save the match, but in game four Habu showed that his loss of three important games in a row (last round A-Junisen, Kio game three and Meijin play-off against Sato) was just a coincidence. Before giving the games with some comments, here are some other bits and pieces from Shukan Shogi: 1) The biggest news after the Kio games was of course Sato's victory over Habu in the Meijin Challenger play-off. Sato has had some bad results against Habu lately, but this was a big win. Sato had a lead through most of the game, but in the end he made some minor mistakes that lead to a very close endgame. However, it was Habu who made the final mistake and with a very elegant knight sacrifice Sato decided the game. Sato is the first player to become Meijin challenger after a 1-3 start in the A-class Junisen. He will face Tanigawa in a title match for only the second time. Last time was eight years ago in the Oi match. Then an epic fight ended in a 4-3 victory for Tanigawa. I think Sato has a better chance against Tanigawa than against Habu, so this might be a very interesting Meijin match. 2) Last week I already reported Habu's victory over Murayama in the NHK television tournament. At the time I thought that Habu had had the lead all through the game and that Murayama lost quickly because he made a big mistake in a bad position. However, the analysis in Shukan Shogi shows that Murayama made a big mistake in a very good (perhaps even winning) position. It is a pity that Murayama could not end his tough season with a tournament victory. 3) Kitajima has stopped the run by amateur ace Endo in the bottom group of the Ryu-O tournament. Endo had beaten two professionals to get to the best eight, but here an in-form Kitajima was to big an obstacle. This ends this year's amateur dreams in the Ryu-O tournament. 4) Kitajima also chalked up his first win in the Oi league by beating Shima from a bad position. Kitajima and Shima now both have one win and one loss. Both still keep the chance of becoming the Oi challenger this year. Here are the two Kio games: Black: Goda, Challenger White: Habu, Kio 23rd Kio-sen, Game 3, March 14th 1998 1.P7g-7f 0/0 0/0 2.P3c-3d 0/0 2/2 3.P2g-2f 1/1 0/2 4.P4c-4d 0/1 1/3 5.P2f-2e 2/3 0/3 6.B2b-3c 0/3 0/3 7.S3i-4h 0/3 0/3 8.S3a-3b 0/3 1/4 9.P5g-5f 0/3 0/4 10.S3b-4c 0/3 1/5 11.K5i-6h 0/3 0/5 12.R8b-2b 0/3 1/6 13.K6h-7h 0/3 0/6 14.K5a-6b 0/3 0/6 15.G4i-5h 4/7 0/6 16.S7a-7b 0/7 0/6 17.P9g-9f 2/9 0/6 18.P9c-9d 0/9 4/10 19.S7i-6h 3/12 0/10 20.K6b-7a 0/12 4/14 21.P3g-3f 1/13 0/14 22.K7a-8b 0/13 9/23 23.S6h-5g 7/20 0/23 24.P5c-5d 0/20 23/46 25.P4g-4f 13/33 0/46 26.G4a-5b 0/33 12/58 27.S4h-3g 11/44 0/58 That Habu chooses the Shikenbisha can no longer be called a surprise. Goda's bogin attack is also not strange. A couple of years ago it seemed that there was nothing left to discover in this opening, but there has been a small revival recently. 28.L1a-1b?! 0/44 19/77 29.G6i-6h 22/66 0/77 30.P1c-1d?! 0/66 2/79 Habu plays the Shikenbisha so well, that one easily forgets that it is not his natural style of play. In this game, however, Habu does not fully appreciate the subtleties of the position and plays two standard Shikenbisha moves that weaken his position. 31.P4f-4e! 56/122 0/79 Great strategy switch by Goda. L1b and P1d now become a waste of time and the hole on 1a invites a bishop drop. 32.R2b-4b 0/122 9/88 33.S3g-4h 0/122 0/88 34.P6c-6d 0/122 1/89 35.N2i-3g 0/122 0/89 36.G5b-6c 0/122 32/121 37.P2e-2d 3/125 0/121 38.B3cx2d 0/125 0/121 39.P4ex4d 2/127 0/121 40.S4cx4d 0/127 0/121 41.P*4c 0/127 0/121 42.R4bx4c 0/127 35/156 43.R2hx2d 0/127 0/156 44.P2cx2d 0/127 0/156 45.B*3b 0/127 0/156 Painful drop. 46.R4c-4b 0/127 4/160 47.B3bx2a+ 0/127 0/160 48.P*4c 0/127 2/162 It looks like white can weather the storm after 48.R*4a, but after 49.Bx4d white can not take either bishop: 50.Rx4d +Bx1b followed by L*4e or 50.Rx2a B3c+. In both cases black wins easily. 49.N*4f! 35/162 0/162 Looks a bit strange, but white has no good defense. 50.P5d-5e 0/162 10/172 51.P5fx5e 2/164 0/172 52.P3d-3e 0/164 0/172 53.P*4e 0/164 0/172 54.S4d-5c 0/164 0/172 55.P5e-5d 13/177 0/172 56.S5c-6b 0/177 0/172 57.B8h-3c+ 7/184 0/172 With two promoted bishops Goda has a big, perhaps even winning, advantage. 58.R4b-4a 0/184 0/172 59.+B2a-3b 0/184 0/172 60.R4a-5a 0/184 0/172 61.P4e-4d 0/184 0/172 62.P4cx4d 0/184 2/174 63.+B3cx4d 0/184 0/174 64.P3ex3f 0/184 25/199 A move one hates to play, since it forces the black knight into a good attacking position. Still, this the only way to try something. 65.N3g-4e 1/185 0/199 66.P3f-3g+ 0/185 0/199 67.S4hx3g 0/185 0/199 68.R*3i 0/185 0/199 69.+B3b-3c? 14/199 0/199 Natural move, but wrong. Goda had an easy win here after 69.P*4b Rx3g+ P4a+ +Rx3b +Px5a Gx5a P5c+ and white's position crumbles. Also, the defense P*5i is good against all white counters. 70.P*4b 0/199 5/204 71.+B3cx4b 4/203 0/204 72.P*5b 0/203 0/204 73.S3g-4h 0/203 0/204 74.R3ix1i+ 0/203 0/204 75.P*4c 1/204 0/204 76.P*4a 0/204 3/207 77.+B4bx2d 2/206 0/207 78.+R1i-2i 0/206 0/207 79.+B2d-3e 6/212 0/207 80.P*3h 0/212 1/208 81.+B3e-3f? 4/216 0/208 This second mistake gives Habu a glimmer of hope. After 81.P*3d P3i+ P3c+ +P4i S4g +P5i G4h white has no continuation. 82.P3h-3i+ 0/216 1/209 83.+B3f-4g 0/216 0/209 84.+P3i-3h 0/216 1/210 85.P*3d 1/217 0/210 86.+R2i-2g 0/217 4/214 87.P3d-3c+ 0/217 0/214 88.P7c-7d 0/217 1/215 89.P*3i 7/224 0/215 90.+P3hx4h 0/224 0/215 91.S5gx4h 0/224 0/215 92.P7d-7e 0/224 11/226 93.P7fx7e 0/224 0/226 94.P1d-1e! 0/224 0/226 If a computer would play a move like this, it would be hard not to laugh. This is one of the strangest moves I have seen in a professional game. Attacking the edge far away from both kings in this stage of the game is remarkable. Habu shows himself a master of patience here. He can not force the position or he will lose immediately. On the other hand, if Goda attacks and gives him pieces, he will have a good counterattack. 95.P*2c 1/225 0/226 96.P1e-1f 0/225 0/226 97.P2c-2b+ 0/225 0/226 98.L*7f 0/225 0/226 99.K7h-6i 0/225 0/226 100.P1fx1g+ 0/225 1/227 Suddenly this pawn does not look that far away from the black king. 101.+B4d-6f 2/227 0/227 102.S*3f 0/227 5/232 103.+B4g-5f 1/228 0/232 104.+R2g-2e 0/228 0/232 105.+B6fx7f 1/229 0/232 106.S3fx4e 0/229 0/232 107.+B5f-6f 3/232 0/232 108.S4ex4f 0/232 0/232 109.P4c-4b+ 0/232 0/232 110.P4ax4b 0/232 0/232 111.+P3cx4b 0/232 0/232 112.P*4g 0/232 5/237 113.S4h-5i 0/232 0/237 114.P6d-6e! 0/232 0/237 With both players close to byoyomi, Habu goes all out to win. 115.+P4bx5a? 1/233 0/237 After 115.+B7fx6e Goda still would have had the better chances. 116.P6ex6f! 0/233 0/237 Overlooked by Goda. He thought that +Px5a was a forcing move. 117.+P5ax6a 0/233 0/237 118.S7bx6a 0/233 0/237 119.R*4a 0/233 0/237 120.P4g-4h+ 0/233 0/237 121.S5ix4h 0/233 0/237 122.N*5f 0/233 0/237 123.L*6e 5/238 0/237 124.N5fx6h+ 0/238 1/238 125.K6ix6h 0/238 0/238 126.+R2e-5e? 0/238 0/238 Throws the game away after fighting hard to get back in it. After 126.N*8d +Bx6f P*6d Rx6a+ G*7a +R5b Px6e there remains a very tight endgame which is very hard to judge. 127.R4ax6a+ 1/239 0/238 128.G*7h 0/239 1/239 129.K6hx7h 0/239 0/239 130.+R5ex5h 0/239 0/239 131.G*6h 0/239 0/239 132.B*6i 0/239 0/239 133.K7h-8h 0/239 0/239 134.+R5hx6h 0/239 0/239 135.K8h-9g 0/239 0/239 136.+R6hx6g 0/239 0/239 137.+R6ax6b 0/239 0/239 138.G6cx6b 0/239 0/239 139.N*7d 0/239 0/239 Resigns 0/239 0/239 Time: 03:59:00 03:59:00 And mate after 140.K9b S*9c Kx9c S*8b K9b Sx9a+ K9c +Bx9d Kx9d G*9e K9c L*9d. This ends Habu's winning streak in the Kio-sen. After sixteen games in more than 5 years Goda breaks the spell. Can he continue this in game 4? Black: Habu, Kio White: Goda, Challenger 23rd Kio-sen, Game 4, March 20th 1998 1.P7g-7f 0/0 0/0 2.P8c-8d 0/0 1/1 3.S7i-6h 0/0 0/1 4.P3c-3d 0/0 0/1 5.P6g-6f 1/1 0/1 6.S7a-6b 0/1 2/3 7.P5g-5f 2/3 0/3 8.P5c-5d 0/3 3/6 9.S3i-4h 2/5 0/6 10.S3a-4b 0/5 0/6 11.G4i-5h 2/7 0/6 12.G4a-3b 0/7 0/6 13.G6i-7h 2/9 0/6 14.K5a-4a 0/9 0/6 15.K5i-6i 0/9 0/6 16.G6a-5b 0/9 1/7 17.S6h-7g 6/15 0/7 18.P4c-4d 0/15 0/7 19.B8h-7i 1/16 0/7 20.G5b-4c 0/16 0/7 21.G5h-6g 8/24 0/7 22.S4b-3c 0/24 0/7 23.P3g-3f 2/26 0/7 24.B2b-3a 0/26 0/7 25.S4h-3g 2/28 0/7 26.S6b-5c 0/28 8/15 27.B7i-6h 10/38 0/15 28.B3a-4b 0/38 1/16 29.K6i-7i 1/39 0/16 30.K4a-3a 0/39 0/16 31.K7i-8h 1/40 0/16 32.S5c-6d 0/40 1/17 33.P3f-3e 34/74 0/17 Habu chooses the P3e-variation in the Yagura. This looks aggresive, but as a quick attack it is too early to be effective. The aim is therefore just to get a pawn in hand and develop pieces from there. The game usually does not open up until much later, like in this game. 34.P3dx3e 0/74 9/26 35.B6hx3e 0/74 0/26 36.P5d-5e 0/74 1/27 37.P6f-6e 3/77 0/27 38.S6dx6e 0/77 0/27 39.P5fx5e 0/77 0/27 40.P8d-8e 0/77 26/53 A little unusual. 40.P9d followed by N9c has been played before in this position. Goda aims at the pawn push to 8f to attack and that is an interesting new idea. 41.B3e-4f 6/83 0/53 42.P8e-8f 0/83 71/124 43.S7gx8f 5/88 0/124 44.P4d-4e 0/88 1/125 45.B4f-6h 9/97 0/125 46.B4b-6d 0/97 0/125 47.P*6f 3/100 0/125 48.B6dx5e 0/100 21/146 49.P*5f 1/101 0/146 50.B5e-4d 0/101 0/146 51.S8f-7g 1/102 0/146 52.S6e-5d 0/102 0/146 All white's pieces are looking good and white also has no less than three pawns in hand. It is easy to think that white has the advantage here, but actually the position is unclear. 53.S3g-3f! 19/121 0/146 Natural and very strong here. Habu starts to explore white's weak points. The first one is the pawn on 4e, which can not be defended if white allows N3g. 54.B4d-7a 0/121 5/151 No choice. 55.R2h-3h 34/155 0/151 56.S3c-4d 0/155 13/164 Now white's pawn on 4e is defended well, but S4d leaves another weak point to aim at... 57.P1g-1f 9/164 0/164 The edge! 58.P9c-9d 0/164 2/166 59.P1f-1e 3/167 0/166 60.P9d-9e 0/167 7/173 61.N2i-1g 8/175 0/173 62.P*5h 0/175 0/173 63.N1g-2e! 7/182 0/173 Goda tried to counter by threatening to win the silver by P5i+ Bx5i P*3e, but Habu ignores the threat and goes straight for the white king. 64.P5h-5i+ 0/182 14/187 65.B6hx5i 0/182 0/187 66.P*3e 0/182 20/207 67.P1e-1d 0/182 0/207 68.P1cx1d 0/182 0/207 69.P*1b 0/182 0/207 70.L1ax1b 0/182 0/207 71.P*1c 0/182 0/207 72.L1bx1c 0/182 0/207 73.N2ex1c+ 0/182 0/207 74.P3ex3f? 0/182 1/208 Bad move that loses the game. Taking the knight was the only way. After 74.Nx1c 75.Lx1d white even has two options: 1) 76.Px3f Lx1c+ P9f Px9f P*9g Lx9g P*9e Px9e P*9f Lx9f N*8d and it is now white who is attacking strongly on the edge (L*9i is not good enough after S*8e). 2) 76.P*1b Lx1c+ Px1c S2e N3c and it looks like white is better. He still has to be careful though after B*1e. Then Nx2e? is bad because of B5a+ and L*8c next. However, after B*1e K4a the position is very hard for black to win. 75.+N1c-1b 0/182 0/208 76.S4d-3c 0/182 3/211 77.R3h-1h 15/197 0/211 The rook now eventually comes in at the edge, deciding the game. 78.S3c-2d 0/197 1/212 79.R1hx1d! 8/205 0/212 Patient move. 79.L*2f looks good, but after S1e things are suddenly not so clear anymore. 80.P*1c 0/205 0/212 81.R1d-1h 0/205 0/212 82.P4e-4f 0/205 6/218 83.P4gx4f 5/210 0/218 84.P*5h 0/210 0/218 85.B5i-2f! 0/210 0/218 The final blow. 86.B7ax2f 0/210 4/222 This loses quickly, but the alternatives are also far from appealing. For example, 86.S*3e is bad after 87.P*5e Sx5e P*5c Sx2f (Bx5c L*5g) Px2f and P2e next is very severe. 87.P2gx2f 0/210 0/222 88.P5h-5i+ 0/210 0/222 89.P2f-2e 2/212 0/222 90.S2d-3c 0/212 1/223 91.+N1bx2a 5/217 0/223 92.K3ax2a 0/217 0/223 93.R1hx1c+ 0/217 0/223 94.S*2b 0/217 1/224 95.+R1c-1b 2/219 0/224 96.K2a-3a 0/219 2/226 97.P*3d 0/219 0/226 98.S3cx3d 0/219 0/226 99.P*3c 1/220 0/226 100.P*1a 0/220 1/227 101.P3cx3b+ 1/221 0/227 102.K3ax3b 0/221 0/227 103.B*2a 1/222 0/227 104.K3b-3c 0/222 0/227 105.+R1b-1d 0/222 0/227 Resigns 0/222 3/230 Time: 03:42:00 03:50:00 White has no moves to attack the king and can only wait how he will be mated. Goda thrusts Habu's ability to do so and resigned after three minutes thought. Because of this, Habu now took his eight Kio title in a row, breaking another record. He is now the first player who took eight titles in a row in one-day title matches, breaking Oyama's record of seven consecutive Kisei victories. -- 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