From: Reijer Grimbergen ETL GO JP> Date: 5 jul 2000 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 847, July 5th 2000) This week in Shukan Shogi two title match games: the seventh and final game of the Meijin match between Sato and Maruyama and the second game of the Kisei match between Tanigawa and Habu. Of course, most attention focuses on the Meijin match where Maruyama played a very good game to get his first Meijin title. Here is the game with comments: Black: Maruyama Tadahisa, Challenger White: Sato Yasumitsu, Meijin 58th Meijin-sen, Game 7, June 26th and 27th 2000 1.P2g-2f 0/0 0/0 Aono, who comments the game for Shukan Shogi, says that he did not think that it would make much difference who would be black in this all-deciding 7th game. I still think that Maruyama was happy that he could start the most important game of his shogi career with the black pieces. "Not only a game that will decide the Meijin title, but also a game that will change the lives of both players" (Aono). 2.P8c-8d 0/0 9/9 3.P7g-7f 1/1 0/9 4.G4a-3b 0/1 1/10 5.G6i-7h 0/1 0/10 6.P8d-8e 0/1 1/11 7.B8h-7g 0/1 0/11 8.P3c-3d 0/1 0/11 9.S7i-8h 0/1 0/11 10.S3a-4b 0/1 1/12 11.B7gx2b+ 0/1 0/12 12.G3bx2b 0/1 0/12 A Kakugawari game for the fourth time in this match. Maruyama sticks to his game plan and he has every reason to. He has won two of the three previous Kakugawari games and Sato still has a horrible score against this opening, despite winning game four in this match. 13.S3i-3h 0/1 0/12 14.S7a-7b 0/1 1/13 15.P4g-4f 1/2 0/13 16.P6c-6d 0/2 9/22 17.S8h-7g 0/2 0/22 18.S7b-6c 0/2 0/22 19.S3h-4g 0/2 0/22 20.K5a-4a 0/2 6/28 21.K5i-6h 1/3 0/28 22.K4a-3a 0/3 0/28 23.P9g-9f 16/19 0/28 24.P9c-9d 0/19 3/31 25.P1g-1f 4/23 0/31 26.P1c-1d 0/23 1/32 27.K6h-7i 9/32 0/32 28.S6c-5d 0/32 14/46 29.S4g-5f 1/33 0/46 30.P6d-6e 0/33 21/67 31.K7i-8h 35/68 0/67 32.G2b-3b 0/68 3/70 33.S5f-4e 12/80 0/70 This game develops in the same way as the second game. The only difference is that white's gold is still on 6a. Aono's comment on 33.S4e is that this move should not be seen as just a new attack in this type of position, but even as a new way of thinking about the game. I am not really sure what he means by this, but 33.S4e is definitely a Maruyama special and he has good results with it. 34.S5dx4e 0/80 140/210 35.P4fx4e 0/80 0/210 36.S4b-3c 0/80 3/213 37.R2h-4h 5/85 0/213 38.P3d-3e 0/85 6/219 If Sato would have played 38.G5b, the position would have been identical to game 2. It is likely that 38.P3e is the move that Sato prepared for this game. 39.S*4f 122/207 0/219 40.G6a-5b 0/207 18/237 41.S4fx3e 11/218 0/237 42.R8b-8d 0/218 1/238 43.N2i-1g 8/226 0/238 44.G5b-4b 0/226 9/247 45.S3e-4f!? 109/335 0/247 A surprise. Maruyama did not like the natural follow-up 39.N2e after 40.S2d (40.S3d Sx3d Rx3d P4d Px4d P3f Rx3f B*1h is good for black) Sx2d Px2d B*5e which does not look so bad for black. The combination of the aggressive 43.N1g with this defensive retreat of the silver does not look very good, but Maruyama has judged correctly that leaving the initiative to his opponent is not bad for him. 46.S3c-3d 0/335 51/298 47.P3g-3f 20/355 0/298 48.P2c-2d 0/355 6/304 49.P2f-2e 2/357 0/304 50.B*2g 0/357 5/309 51.P2ex2d 30/387 0/309 52.B2gx3f+ 0/387 0/309 53.B*5f! 1/388 0/309 White seems to be doing well, using the pressure on the head of the knight to make a promoted bishop. 53.B*5f might have been a cold shower for Sato. It keeps the white horse under control, defends against a silver drop on 4g and this bishop also has its eye on the weak point 2c. 54.G4b-3c 0/388 25/334 55.G4i-5h! 6/394 0/334 Aono was very impressed by this move. Again Maruyama leaves the initiative to his opponent, but the strong threat of G4g to hassle the promoted bishop followed by the strong attack P*3e is very hard to defend against. It seems that Sato completely overlooked this quiet development of the gold. 56.+B3f-2f 0/394 110/444 57.P*3e 5/399 0/444 58.S3dx3e 0/399 0/444 59.S4fx3e 0/399 0/444 60.+B2fx3e 0/399 0/444 61.S*2c 0/399 0/444 62.G3cx2d 0/399 5/449 63.S2cx3b+ 10/409 0/449 64.K3ax3b 0/409 0/449 65.P4e-4d 0/409 0/449 66.P4cx4d 0/409 0/449 67.P*2e 12/421 0/449 68.G2d-2c 0/421 1/450 69.G*2d 0/421 0/450 70.G2cx2d 0/421 6/456 71.P2ex2d 0/421 0/456 72.S*4e 0/421 1/457 73.P2d-2c+ 9/430 0/457 74.K3bx2c 0/430 20/477 Black has the advantage, but it is only very small. Putting the king on the same diagonal as the bishop is quite frightening, but Sato has seen that it is the only way to stay in the game. 75.G*4f 1/431 0/477 76.+B3ex4f 0/431 0/477 77.R4hx4f 0/431 0/477 78.S*3d 0/431 0/477 79.B5fx6e 47/478 0/477 In the press room only 79.Bx4e Px4e R5f G*4c B*7e was analysed, which seems good for black. However, Maruyama saw that after B*7e, white has the strong R5d! Rx5d Px5d and the bishop on 7e has become an idle piece. 80.S4ex4f 0/478 20/497 81.B6ex2a+ 0/478 0/497 82.R*7a! 0/478 0/497 It is not often that Sato drops back a rook in his own camp, but here it is strong. 83.+B2a-6e 2/480 0/497 84.G*5d 0/480 0/497 85.+B6e-2i 4/484 0/497 86.R8d-8b? 0/484 7/504 So far Sato has played very well to stay in the game, but this might have been the move that lost him his Meijin title. No alternative is given in Shukan Shogi, but this move leads to disaster. 87.N*8c 3/487 0/504 This takes two potentially attacking pieces on the black king side. After this, black does not have to fear a white counter attack anymore and can take his time to go for the white king. 88.R7a-2a 0/487 9/513 89.N8cx9a+ 0/487 0/513 90.P*3f 0/487 0/513 91.P*2e 6/493 0/513 92.K2c-3c 0/493 2/515 93.L*5f 3/496 0/515 94.S3d-3e 0/496 0/515 95.L5fx5d 4/500 0/515 96.P5cx5d 0/500 0/515 97.+N9ax8a 1/501 0/515 98.R8bx8a 0/501 4/519 99.+B2i-5f? 1/502 0/519 This prolongs the game. 99.G4g would have been correct after black wins quickly. It might be that Maruyama feared the counter attack 99.N*8f and wanted to make absolutely sure of victory. Or maybe he just became a little nervous at the prospect of becoming Meijin... 100.S*4e 0/502 0/519 101.+B5f-9b 0/502 0/519 102.R8a-3a 0/502 0/519 103.N*2g 0/502 0/519 104.S3e-2f 0/502 1/520 105.B*2d 11/513 0/520 106.K3c-3d 0/513 4/524 107.B2d-4b+ 1/514 0/524 108.S2fx2g+ 0/514 0/524 109.G*3b 1/515 0/524 110.R3ax3b 0/515 6/530 111.+B4bx3b 0/515 0/530 112.G*2b 0/515 0/530 113.+B3bx2a 4/519 0/530 114.G2bx2a 0/519 0/530 115.R*2d 0/519 0/530 116.K3d-3e 0/519 0/530 117.R2dx2a+ 0/519 0/530 118.P3f-3g+ 0/519 0/530 119.P2e-2d 0/519 0/530 120.K3e-3f 0/519 0/530 121.P2d-2c+ 0/519 0/530 122.L*7d 0/519 2/532 123.+P2c-3c 0/519 0/532 124.N*1c 0/519 2/534 125.R*2b 0/519 0/534 126.G*2f 0/519 5/539 127.+P3c-4c! 1/520 0/539 Coolly played. Maruyama does not panic at the prospect of his opponent getting an entering king. He just counts the pieces, knows that he has enough points to win anyway and uses this promoted pawn to grab some extra security points. Tempting was 127.G*2e, but after 128.Gx1f things are far from easy. 128.S4f-4g= 0/520 0/539 129.G5h-6h 1/521 0/539 130.+P3g-3h 0/521 0/539 131.+P4cx4d 0/521 0/539 132.K3f-3g 0/521 0/539 133.+P4dx4e 0/521 0/539 134.K3g-2h 0/521 0/539 This was probably a deliberate choice by Sato. Rather than play on for a long time in which almost all of his pieces will be taken before both players get an entering king, he decides to let himself be mated. 135.R2bx2f+ 5/526 0/539 136.+S2gx2f 0/526 0/539 137.+R2ax2f 0/526 0/539 138.K2hx1i 0/526 0/539 139.G*1h 1/527 0/539 140.K1ix1h 0/527 0/539 141.S*2g 1/528 0/539 142.K1h-1i 0/528 0/539 143.G*1h 1/529 0/539 Resigns 0/529 0/539 Time: 08:49:00 08:59:00 144.K2i Sx3h leads to a simple mate. For the third time in a row the Meijin match is decided in the final game, but this time Sato is on the wrong end of the score. Maruyama becomes the 11th Meijin since the introduction of the tournament Meijin in 1937, winning the most important title of them all as his first ever major title. Not bad for a player who flunked the Shoreikai entrance exam in his first try and had to spent a year in the Kenshukai (a kind of shogi study group for young players who want to prepare for the Shoreikai) before finally being allowed on the road to professional shogi. It was a long but steady climb and now Maruyama stands at the top of the mountain! The second game of the Kisei match also was a Kakugawari opening. The pattern of this match seems set: the player with a horrible middle game position will win the game. This time it was Habu with a lucky escape and the match has now become a best-of-three. Here is the game with comments: Black: Tanigawa Koji, Kisei White: Habu Yoshiharu, Challenger 71st Kisei-sen, Game 2, June 24th 2000 1.P7g-7f 0/0 0/0 2.P8c-8d 0/0 1/1 3.P2g-2f 3/3 0/1 4.G4a-3b 0/3 2/3 5.G6i-7h 1/4 0/3 6.P8d-8e 0/4 1/4 7.B8h-7g 1/5 0/4 8.P3c-3d 0/5 0/4 9.S7i-8h 0/5 0/4 10.B2bx7g+ 0/5 1/5 11.S8hx7g 0/5 0/5 Habu and Tanigawa are not only fighting for the Kisei title, they will also meet in the Oi match very soon. Therefore, it is very likely that we will see the Kakugawari opening a number of times in the coming month or two. It is Tanigawa's speciality and Habu has to find a way to beat it. 12.S3a-4b 0/5 0/5 13.S3i-3h 2/7 0/5 14.S7a-7b 0/7 1/6 15.P9g-9f 2/9 0/6 16.P9c-9d 0/9 1/7 17.P4g-4f 11/20 0/7 18.P6c-6d 0/20 5/12 19.S3h-4g 4/24 0/12 20.S7b-6c 0/24 1/13 21.K5i-6h 2/26 0/13 22.P1c-1d 0/26 21/34 23.P1g-1f 2/28 0/34 24.K5a-4a 0/28 2/36 25.K6h-7i 3/31 0/36 26.K4a-3a 0/31 9/45 27.S4g-5f 15/46 0/45 28.S6c-5d 0/46 15/60 29.P6g-6f 18/64 0/60 30.P4c-4d 0/64 13/73 31.G4i-5h 10/74 0/73 32.G6a-5b 0/74 2/75 33.P3g-3f 3/77 0/75 34.P7c-7d 0/77 1/76 35.N2i-3g 7/84 0/76 36.N8a-7c 0/84 9/85 37.P2f-2e 6/90 0/85 38.P6d-6e 0/90 22/107 Unusual, but 38.S3c is known to lead to a black advantage after 39.P4e. This plan was first played by Sato Yasumitsu against Tanigawa in the 5th game of the Oi match in 1990. 39.P6fx6e 27/117 0/107 40.P7d-7e 0/117 1/108 41.P2e-2d 5/122 0/108 42.P2cx2d 0/122 1/109 43.P*2e 1/123 0/109 44.P2dx2e 0/123 6/115 45.P7fx7e 41/164 0/115 46.P8e-8f 0/164 16/131 47.P8gx8f 3/167 0/131 48.N7cx6e 0/167 10/141 49.P*2b! 2/169 0/141 This is a new move by Tanigawa and it is very strong. He previously played 49.P*2d against Nakamura in the Osho league two years ago. 50.N2a-3c 0/169 15/156 Difficult decision. It is quite worrying to leave the pawn on 2b, as black will have a mate in one move with a rook in hand. However, Habu judged that 50.Gx2b Sx6e Sx6e Rx2e B*3b P*2c Gx2c P*2d G2b N*2c was worse. 51.S5fx6e 17/186 0/156 52.S5dx6e 0/186 0/156 53.B*7c 0/186 0/156 54.R8b-8a 0/186 50/206 55.N*6d 25/211 0/206 56.G5b-5a 0/211 5/211 It seems that Habu actually planned to play 56.G5b-4c here, but realised that the king would be too weak after being forced to 4a and that it would be very difficult to escape up the board with the gold blocking square 4c. Tanigawa has a huge advantage here. 57.N6d-7b+ 1/212 0/211 58.R8a-8c 0/212 0/211 59.B7cx9a+ 8/220 0/211 60.P*7f 0/220 7/218 61.S7g-8h 0/220 0/218 62.S*3i 0/220 0/218 63.R2h-1h 12/232 0/218 64.P2e-2f 0/232 0/218 65.+B9a-6d 13/245 0/218 66.B*2i 0/245 21/239 67.L*2d 3/248 0/239 68.P*6c! 0/248 2/241 Habu desperately tries to stay in the game. 68.P2g+ wins the rook, but this is not much use to white, as black has the rock solid defence P*6i against any rook drop. Black, on the other hand, has an unstoppable attack with +N7c followed by +B6c. 69.P2b-2a+ 9/257 0/241 70.K3a-4a 0/257 0/241 71.+B6d-7c 0/257 0/241 72.R8cx7c 0/257 5/246 73.+N7bx7c 0/257 0/246 74.P2f-2g+ 0/257 0/246 75.+P2a-2b 0/257 0/246 76.G3bx2b 0/257 0/246 77.L2dx2b+ 0/257 0/246 78.K4a-5b 0/257 0/246 79.+L2b-3b 14/271 0/246 80.+P2gx1h 0/271 0/246 81.R*2b 0/271 0/246 82.K5b-4c 0/271 7/253 83.+N7cx6c? 3/274 0/253 A blunder that turns around the game. Tanigawa could have crowned a perfect performance here with 83.Rx2i+ +Px2i B*2a. "And what if I defend with B*5d after that?" [Habu]. "Then how about moving the promoted knight sideways" [Takahashi, who commented the game for the audience]. "Aah" [Tanigawa and Habu together]. Yes, a double oversight in this position by the two best players in the world. Both had missed that after 83.Rx2i+ +Px2i B*2a B*5d the strong +Nx6c! wins the game for black. A very lucky break for Habu. 84.R*2h 0/274 7/260 85.+L3bx4b 11/285 0/260 86.G5ax4b 0/285 0/260 87.S*5b 1/286 0/260 88.K4c-5d 0/286 0/260 89.R2bx2h+?! 2/288 0/260 A better chance would have been 89.Rx4b+ K5e G*4g but even then white seems to win after Bx4g+ Gx4g Rx7h+ Kx7h G*6g because Kx6g L*6f leads to mate and K8g fails to B*6i followed by Bx4g+ and the white king can not be mated. 90.S3ix2h= 0/288 2/262 91.G*6d 3/291 0/262 92.K5d-5e 0/291 0/262 93.R*4i 0/291 0/262 94.S6e-6f 0/291 13/275 Now black can no longer prevent the white king from entering. 95.G7h-6g 1/292 0/275 96.S6fx6g= 0/292 1/276 97.G5hx6g 1/293 0/276 98.B*4g 0/293 0/276 Resigns 5/298 0/276 Time: 04:58:00 04:36:00 Tanigawa takes five minutes to resign. He could have tried 99.S*5f, but after 100.Kx4f Sx4g Bx4g+ white's king has an easy entry route on the third file and black can only wait to be mated. So after two games played in the Kisei match, we have had two games that were won by the wrong player. Two wrongs make a right, so neither Tanigawa nor Habu can complain. Game three in this short Kisei match will be very important. In other shogi news: ==================== * The second round of the B1 Junisen class was played and the results showed that it is going to be a race between Goda, Inoue, Fujii and Miura. Maybe Nakahara can also play a role, but he has dropped back after a loss against Miura. Goda easily disposed of Kiriyama and Inoue just seemed to understand the R8e Yokofudori a little better than Nakamura. Fujii, however, had to work quite hard to get the win against Takahashi. Their first game ended in sennichite and in the replay Fujii had to do some very accurate calculation in the endgame to keep Takahashi under control. The fifth player with two wins after two rounds is Fukuzaki, who beat Kobayashi. Fukuzaki, a former Oza title holder, has no had many good Junisen seasons lately, but he is good enough to be a spoiler like Aono was last year. * The line up for the challenger tournament of the Ryu-O tournament has been decided. The final remaining spot was taken by Tanigawa, who beat Moriuchi in the final of the second chance round of the top qualification group. So Moriuchi is not in the finals, but there are still a lot of good players left. The match-ups are as follows: Nakahara will play the winner of the game between Miura and Aono, Sato Yasumitsu will play Yonenaga, Yashiki plays Tanigawa (can Yashiki get revenge for his loss in the Oi challenger final?), Habu will play the winner of the game between Hatakeyama Nariyuki and the winner of the game between Yamamoto and Tamura (are you still with me?). I guess that is more than enough for this 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)298-61-3316 Fax: +81-(0)298-61-5918