From: Takako Noda JA2 SO-NET NE JP> Date: 7 sep 1998 Subject: A Little Bit from the recent Habu Magic Hi, While Reijer Grimbergen is vacationing, let me give you a little bit from the latest issue of Shukan Shogi. You're gonna love this.:-) >From the Habu-Fujii game as the first of the three games deciding the Ryu-o challenger. White: Fujii White in hand: N P5 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 +---------------------------+ |wL wN * wG * * * * * |a | * wK wP wL * * wG wR * |b | * wP * * wP * * * wL |c | * * bP bP wS * wP * * |d |wP * bN * bP wB * wP * |e | * * * bS * wP * * * |f |bP bP * bG * * wR+ * * |g | * bK bG * * * * * * |h |bL bN bS * * * * * * |i +---------------------------+ Black: Habu Black in hand: B S P Up to B*4e The diagram above shows that Fujii(w) has just dropped his Bishop on 4e, not minding Habu's Pawn drop on 5e claiming Silver. What would you play if you were Black? Px5e won't do.White's Bx6g+ would be devastating. G6g-7g? Mmm, not a very ingenious move. Well, Habu played S*8d. Yes, a threatmate, momentarily. But if it was taken? Don't worry. You are not the only one. Sato Yasumitsu, Tanaka Torahiko, Fukaura Kouichi,etc were investigating this game, and they were all puzzled. The big question:"Is this really good?" was floating in the air until they saw the several moves that followed. 1.S*8d Px8d 2.Px5d N*7a 3.P-6c+ Lx6c 4.Nx6c+ Nx6c 5.B*6d K-8c 6.P*6h! The last move, P*6h, was the game-deciding move.(They say, not me.) So, the first S*8d was necessary to make the following Px5d a threatmate, thereby depriving Fujii of a chance to play Bx6g+. Then Habu went on to secure the G on 6g to reinforce his camp. And Habu won this game. You'll hear more about other important games from Reijer Grimbergen. Takako Noda E-mail: mxc06231 ja2 so-net ne jp "Kabuki & Shogi" URL http://www02.u-page.so-net.ne.jp/ja2/mxc06231/