From: Reijer Grimbergen ETL GO JP> Date: 30 apr 1999 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 786, April 28th 1999) This week in Shukan Shogi the second game in the Meijin match between Sato and Tanigawa and the second game in the Zen Nihon Pro Tournament between Moriuchi and Maruyama. Both games were very one sided (Sato and Maruyama won). The commented games can be found below, but first the other shogi news: 1) In the challenger tournament of the Oza two games were played for a spot in the quarterfinals. Fujii surprisingly chose Ibisha (Static Rook) against Nakata Isao, who is also a Furibisha player. Nakata was more or less outplayed by the Ryu-O title holder. Fujii managed to get the lead early in the game and when Nakata overlooked a nice silver sacrifice it was over quickly. In the other game Takahashi beat Fukaura to qualify for the quarterfinals. No details about this game in Shukan Shogi. 2) In the Kisei the semi-final game between Moriuchi and Namekata was played. These players have a habit of choosing the wildest possible variations when they play each other. This game was no exception, but in this case Namekata overplayed his hand and lost quickly. The post mortem analysis was very short with Namekata's start of the wild attack judged as unreasonable by both players. Moriuchi is now only one win away from challenging Kisei Goda. Too early to think about that though. His opponent in the final will be either Tanigawa or Habu. 3) In the White Group of the Oi league a vital game between Goda and Yagura. Young Yagura had taken the lead in the group with two wins, while Goda was on 1-1. A win by Yagura would make him the clear favourite to win the group, while Goda would be out of the challenger race. However, Goda showed that his shogi is still on a different level, beating Yagura convincingly. This means that in the White Group there are now four players with a 2-1 score: Goda, Takahashi, Yashiki and Yagura. Here are the comments on the second game of the Meijin match and the second game of the Zen Nihon Pro Tournament final: Black: Sato Yasumitsu, Meijin White: Tanigawa Koji, Challenger 57th Meijin-sen, Game 2, April 21st and 22nd 1999 1.P7g-7f 1/1 0/0 2.P3c-3d 0/1 3/3 3.P2g-2f 1/2 0/3 4.P8c-8d 0/2 2/5 5.P2f-2e 14/16 0/5 6.P8d-8e 0/16 1/6 7.G6i-7h 0/16 0/6 8.G4a-3b 0/16 0/6 9.P2e-2d 0/16 0/6 10.P2cx2d 0/16 0/6 11.R2hx2d 0/16 0/6 12.P8e-8f 0/16 2/8 13.P8gx8f 0/16 0/8 14.R8bx8f 0/16 0/8 15.R2dx3d 0/16 0/8 16.B2b-3c 0/16 14/22 Again Yokofudori, as in the first game. This is a very popular opening these days and in this game Tanigawa chooses the latest variation. 17.R3d-3f 49/65 0/22 18.S3a-2b 0/65 8/30 19.P*8g 6/71 0/30 20.R8f-8e 0/71 6/36 This move has been studied deeply by Chuza (4-dan) and is now together with the Fujii system the most popular opening in professional games. New developments in this opening are too fast to follow and a conclusion about this variation is still very far away. In this game the dangers of this variation become very clear. A small positional mistake might suddenly end the game. 21.R3f-2f 1/72 0/36 22.K5a-4a 0/72 5/41 23.K5i-5h 33/105 0/41 24.S7a-6b 0/105 11/52 25.G4i-3h 65/170 0/52 26.G6a-5a 0/170 14/66 27.P3g-3f 6/176 0/66 28.P7c-7d 0/176 74/140 29.N2i-3g 18/194 0/140 30.N8a-7c 0/194 76/216 31.S3i-4h 30/224 0/216 32.P*8f 0/224 62/278 33.P8gx8f 153/377 0/278 The move is not a surprise, but the time used to play it became a major talking point in the press room. At first it was thought that Sato looked deeply at 33.Bx3c+ Nx3c, but after the game Sato said the major part of the time used was spent looking at deep variations after Px8f. Strange to spend so much time on a more or less forced move... 34.R8ex8f 0/377 0/278 35.P3f-3e 0/377 0/278 36.P*2e 0/377 14/292 37.R2f-5f 1/378 0/292 38.R8f-8e 0/378 10/302 39.P7f-7e 19/397 0/302 40.R8ex7e 0/397 34/336 41.B8hx3c+ 1/398 0/336 42.S2bx3c 0/398 0/336 43.N8i-7g 0/398 0/336 44.B*4d 0/398 45/381 Another possibility is 44.B*5d to aim at 3f instead of 7g. After 45.S6h P*3f Nx2e S4d P*8c Rx3e P*2f P*2d P8b+ Px2e +P7b Px2f P*2h both players felt uncomfortable with the position. This could be translated as interesting for both sides. 45.S7i-6h 12/410 0/381 46.N7c-8e 0/410 2/383 47.P6g-6f 7/417 0/383 48.N8ex7g+ 0/417 5/388 49.G7hx7g 1/418 0/388 50.P*8f 0/418 22/410 Interesting is also 50.N*8e. Tanigawa read the variation 51.P*7f Nx7g+ Px7e +Sx6h Kx6h and decided it was too dangerous to give up the rook. On the other hand, Sato planned to play the sharp 51.G6g R7h+ N4e. It is unclear who is right here. 51.B*9f! 23/441 0/410 This type of move shows why Sato is Meijin. No one in the press room even looked at this move, while Sato said after the game that he had hardly looked at anything else. This moves defends against P8g+ Gx8g R7h+, but also defends against the nasty N*6e, since Gx8f then would lose the rook. 52.N*8d? 0/441 36/446 Better was directly 52.P5d. The plan is to play P5e-P5f next. In contrast to the game, it is now very hard for black to use the bishop on 9f. Black could try 53.P*8d, but after P8g+ Bx8g R8e it is hard to defend against N*7e next. 53.B9f-7h 30/471 0/446 54.P5c-5d? 0/471 12/458 One move too late. The plan P5e-P5f is the same, but with the bishop on 7h, this only helps black. The combination of the aggressive N*8d and the waiting move P5d is an important strategic mistake. Tanigawa should have continued aggressively here. After 54.Rx7g+ Sx7g G*8g B8i Gx7g white still has good chances. For example, after the obvious P*7c, white can choose between S*6h or S*7h P7b+ Sx8i=. 55.P*8h 9/480 0/458 56.R7ex3e 0/480 32/490 57.R5fx5d 7/487 0/490 Suddenly the black bishop is working very well. The white position suddenly becomes critical. 58.P8f-8g+ 0/487 10/500 59.G7gx8g 8/495 0/500 60.B4dx6f 0/495 2/502 61.P*2d 7/502 0/502 Very painful. In the press room there were discussions if this game might finish even earlier than the first game. Tanigawa decides to play on for a little longer. 62.P*3d 0/502 0/502 63.R5d-5f 8/510 0/502 64.B6f-4d 0/510 6/508 65.N*4e 3/513 0/508 The decider. Now the white rook is lost and there is no compensation. All that is left for Tanigawa is desperate attack. 66.R3ex4e 0/513 15/523 67.N3gx4e 1/514 0/523 68.N*6f 0/514 0/523 69.K5h-6i 15/529 0/523 70.P*8f 0/529 1/524 71.G8g-7g 1/530 0/524 72.N6fx7h+ 0/530 0/524 73.G7gx7h 1/531 0/524 74.N8d-7f 0/531 3/527 75.R*8a 0/531 0/527 76.N7fx6h+ 0/531 4/531 77.G7hx6h 0/531 0/531 78.B*6e 0/531 4/535 Quickens the end, but after 78.P*5e Rx8f or 78.P*5b N*5d the white position would look very bad at the moment of resignation. 79.R5fx5a+ 1/532 0/535 80.S6bx5a 0/532 0/535 81.N*5c 0/532 0/535 Resigns 0/532 0/535 Time: 08:52:00 08:55:00 The choice is between mate after 82.K3a Rx5a+ K2b N*1d Px1d G*2c etc., or 82.Bx5c Nx5c+ and a simple win for black. Tanigawa takes the third option: resignation. That makes two devastating losses in a row. Furthermore, Tanigawa's opening preparation must have been severely damaged by two losses with the Yokofudori, both straight from the opening. What will he choose for game three, a game he has to win. =========================================================================== Black: Moriuchi, 8-dan White: Maruyama, 8-dan 17th Zen Nihon Pro Tournament, Game 2, April 17th 1999 1.P2g-2f 0/0 0/0 2.P3c-3d 0/0 0/0 3.P7g-7f 0/0 0/0 4.P8c-8d 0/0 0/0 5.P2f-2e 0/0 0/0 6.P8d-8e 0/0 0/0 7.G6i-7h 0/0 0/0 8.G4a-3b 0/0 0/0 9.P2e-2d 0/0 0/0 10.P2cx2d 0/0 0/0 11.R2hx2d 0/0 0/0 12.P8e-8f 0/0 0/0 13.P8gx8f 0/0 0/0 14.R8bx8f 0/0 0/0 15.R2dx3d 0/0 0/0 16.B2b-3c 0/0 0/0 17.R3d-3f 0/0 0/0 18.S3a-2b 0/0 0/0 19.G4i-3h 0/0 0/0 20.K5a-4a 0/0 1/1 21.K5i-5h 0/0 0/1 22.S7a-6b 0/0 1/2 23.P1g-1f 1/1 0/2 24.P1c-1d 0/1 2/4 25.P*2c?! 7/8 0/4 In a game with short time limits (for the Zen Nihon Pro Tournament 3 hours per player) it is important to have good opening preparation. Maruyama was clearly aiming for the R8e variation, which is so popular these days. However, before we get into this variation, Moriuchi has a surprise. 25.P*2c has been played only once before in a game between Aono and Nakagawa (September 1998). In that game the edge pawn was still on 1c. Moriuchi had studied this variation and thought it was worth a try. 26.G3bx2c 0/8 25/29 27.R3fx3c+ 2/10 0/29 28.S2bx3c 0/10 11/40 29.P*2d 1/11 0/40 30.G2c-2b 0/11 6/46 31.B*2c 0/11 0/46 32.G2b-3b! 0/11 14/60 This is much better than 32.K5b, which was played by Nakagawa. After 33.B5f+ R2e Aono won the game. With the pawn on 1d, Moriuchi thought this variation was even better for black, because of the possibilities of an edge attack. "My first impression was that G3b Bx3b+ was dangerous, so I did not think about it much" (Moriuchi). 33.B2c-5f+ 34/45 0/60 Moriuchi takes 34 minutes to admit his opening failure. Indeed, after 33.Bx3b+ Kx3b G*2c K4b Gx3c Nx3c P2c+ P*3b black can not continue despite having made a tokin near the white king. +Px3c Px3c is pointless and after S*3d P4d P*2d K5b the white king escapes and white's material advantage is decisive. 34.P*2b 0/45 1/61 This defends against P2c+ and closes the diagonal of the bishop on 8h. Black has no more moves. 35.+B5f-6f 18/63 0/61 36.P7c-7d 0/63 8/69 37.S3i-2h 11/74 0/69 38.R8f-8e 0/74 31/100 39.+B6f-5f 10/84 0/100 40.S6b-7c 0/84 5/105 41.P*8g 1/85 0/105 42.P5c-5d 0/85 1/106 43.P3g-3f 2/87 0/106 44.G6a-5b 0/87 1/107 45.P9g-9f 4/91 0/107 46.P9c-9d 0/91 1/108 47.S7i-6h 8/99 0/108 48.S3cx2d 0/99 0/108 Painful. White just takes the time to take an extra pawn. Black has no way to prevent this. 49.S6h-7g 7/106 0/108 50.S2d-3c 0/106 1/109 51.S7g-6f 13/119 0/109 52.S3c-4d 0/119 0/109 53.P4g-4f 4/123 0/109 54.R8e-8b 0/123 15/124 55.S6f-6e 8/131 0/124 56.P5d-5e 0/131 5/129 57.+B5f-6f 7/138 0/129 58.S7c-6d 0/138 7/136 59.S6ex6d 1/139 0/136 60.P6cx6d 0/139 0/136 61.P4f-4e 0/139 0/136 62.S4d-5c 0/139 0/136 63.+B6fx5e 0/139 0/136 64.N8a-7c 0/139 0/136 It looks like black has improved his position. The horse seems to be working nicely on the centre square of the board and black finally managed to get a pawn in hand. However, it is an illustration of Maruyama's strength that he felt he was winning in this position. 65.+B5e-5f 6/145 0/136 66.S*6e 0/145 8/144 67.+B5f-4g 0/145 0/144 68.P*5f 0/145 0/144 69.P5gx5f 1/146 0/144 70.S6ex7f 0/146 0/144 71.B8h-6f 1/147 0/144 A desperate attempt to avoid the breakthrough. After 72.Sx8g+ black has the pawn drops P*8c followed by P*8d. 72.P*8f! 0/147 1/145 The game winner. Black can now no longer avoid the breakthrough on the 8th file. After that, his position collapses. 73.G7h-7i 4/151 0/145 74.N7c-6e 0/151 3/148 75.G7i-6h 17/168 0/148 76.P8fx8g+ 0/168 2/150 77.P*8c 7/175 0/150 78.R8bx8c 0/175 0/150 79.P*8d 0/175 0/150 80.R8c-7c 0/175 0/150 81.K5h-4h 0/175 0/150 82.R*7i 0/175 0/150 83.+B4g-4f 2/177 0/150 84.R7ix8i+ 0/177 2/152 85.P5f-5e 0/177 0/152 86.+P8g-7g 0/177 3/155 87.P5e-5d 0/177 0/155 88.+P7gx6h 0/177 0/155 89.K4h-3g 1/178 0/155 90.N*3d 0/178 10/165 Resigns 1/179 0/165 Time: 02:59:00 02:45:00 It took about five minutes before the people in the press room realised that the game was over. There were no words exchanged between the players for a long time. The disappointment of Moriuchi about the level of his play in this game was clear. The post mortem analysis was also very short. Maruyama is now only one win away from his first victory in a tournament where all professionals participate. Can Moriuchi bounce back from two crushing defeats? A little less next week (^-^), Reijer -- Reijer Grimbergen Complex Games 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