From: Patrick Davin LYRA VEGA OR JP> Date: 12 aug 2000 Subject: Re: Aiming For a Draw Alexander asks: >Can anyone write an example of Impass on the Board ? Here is a pro game from last year that resulted in an impasse. Sente: Hiroyuki Miura 6-dan Gote: Michio Ariyoshi 9-dan Event: 58th Jun'i-sen, B2 Group, Round 1 Date: 1999 June 25th Site: Osaka Opening: Kakugawari Koshikakegin 1 P7f P8d 2 P2f G3b 3 G7h P8e 4 B7g P3d 5 S8h B7g+ 6 S7g S4b 7 S3h S7b 8 P9f P9d 9 P1f P1d 10 P3f S3c 11 P4f P6d 12 K6h S6c 13 S4g K4b 14 K7i S5d 15 N3g G5b 16 G5h P6e 17 S5f K3a 18 K8h P7d 19 R4h N7c 20 G56h B6d 21 R4i P4d 22 L1h K2b 23 P2e G6c 24 K7i G4b 25 B2f S4c 26 P4e G5d 27 P1e P1e 28 L1e P1c 29 P7e B7e 30 P4d S34d 31 P2d P2d 32 P2e K3b 33 P2d P2b 34 N2e P4e 35 R1i B6d 36 R1h P8f 37 P8f P8e 38 L1c= N1c 39 N1c+ K4a 40 N7f B4f 41 P4g B2d 42 B3g L1c 43 R2h L2c 44 B7c+ R9b 45 P2e B3c 46 +B7d K3b 47 N2d L2d 48 P2d R7b 49 P7c R7a 50 L2i N3a 51 P8e P3e 52 S6e G6e 53 +B6e S*3d 54 P3e S43e 55 P3f S2d 56 G3e S33e 57 P3e G5d 58 +B7d P2c 59 R3h P3g 60 R3g B5e 61 R3f S3c 62 S3d B1i+ 63 P4f P8g 64 S3c+ G3c 65 S3d S4b 66 S3c+ S3c 67 G8g +B1h 68 R3i P3h 69 R4i P4f 70 R4f +B2i 71 G6b +B2h 72 R4c+ K4c 73 G7a K4d 74 K8h P6e 75 R4a N4c 76 K9g R4i 77 G8h K3e 78 G7b K2f 79 K8f S3d 80 R9a+ N3e 81 K7e P8g 82 G8g R8i+ 83 S7h +R4i 84 K8d N4g+ 85 K9c +B3i 86 +B7e N4e 87 S8f N5g+ 88 Gh7g +N6h 89 P8d +R9i 90 K8b +R7i 91 P8c+ +N7h 92 +B3i P3i+ 93 N8d +N7g 94 G7g P7f 95 +R9d P7g+ 96 S7g B5i 97 +R9a B7g+ 98 P9e jishogi There was also an impasse in the televised NHK tournament recently. Kanki vs Suzuki. In that game, if I remember correctly, (no, I don't have the score) one king was about to enter the promotion zone but the other was nowhere near when the players agreed to call it an impasse. Though draws by jishogi are pretty rare, games affected by the point-count are more common. I've seen several games where one player resigns when he decides that he'll never get the necessary points to achieve the draw. The jishogi rule as used in pro shogi is still somewhat ambiguous. One doesn't see it "claimed" as much as "proposed" and "accepted." All pros would like to see the rule clarified and some would like to see it replaced with something more in the spirit of the game as a whole. The rule whereby one could win by moving one's king to the enemy king's starting square was proposed by Manabu Senzaki as such a replacement. My impression is that if it were to come to a vote at the Shogi Renmei, the Senzaki "touchdown" rule, as it might be called, would receive significant support. Personally, I'd be very happy to see it implemented in real tournaments, as it seems obviously preferable to point-counting.