From: Reijer Grimbergen FU IS SAGA-U AC JP> Date: 5 jul 2001 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 898, July 4th 2001) The second game of the Kisei match between Habu and Goda showed that Goda is serious about getting another title. After a home brewed opening he gave Habu absolutely no chance to display his magical skills and won very convincingly after only 79 moves. Here is how it went: Black: Goda Masataka, Challenger White: Habu Yoshiharu, Kisei 72nd Kisei-sen, Game 2, June 26th 2001 1.P7g-7f 00:00:00 00:00:00 2.P3c-3d 00:00:00 00:02:00 3.P2g-2f 00:00:00 00:02:00 4.P4c-4d 00:00:00 00:03:00 5.P2f-2e 00:00:00 00:03:00 6.B2b-3c 00:00:00 00:03:00 7.S3i-4h 00:00:00 00:03:00 8.S3a-3b 00:00:00 00:05:00 9.P5g-5f 00:00:00 00:05:00 10.R8b-4b 00:00:00 00:08:00 "Habu won't play the same opening twice in a row. It will probably be a furibisha game" was the prediction of Kano (1-dan). She was right, but this may be the last time Habu plays this against Goda. 11.K5i-6h 00:01:00 00:08:00 12.S7a-7b 00:01:00 00:09:00 13.K6h-7h 00:01:00 00:09:00 14.P9c-9d 00:01:00 00:10:00 15.G4i-5h 00:06:00 00:10:00 16.S3b-4c 00:06:00 00:13:00 17.S4h-5g 00:07:00 00:13:00 18.P9d-9e 00:07:00 00:18:00 19.B8h-7g 00:08:00 00:18:00 20.P7c-7d 00:08:00 00:27:00 21.P6g-6f 00:08:00 00:27:00 22.P6c-6d 00:08:00 00:29:00 23.G5h-6g 00:08:00 00:29:00 24.N8a-7c 00:08:00 00:34:00 25.B7g-8f! 00:11:00 00:34:00 Well timed new move that Goda had prepared at home. If 25.K8h here, white can set up a good attack after 26.R6b B8f G6a-5b. 26.S7b-6c 00:11:00 01:00:00 Habu didn't like 26.R6b P5e after which it will be much hard for white to attack on the 6th file. However, moving up this silver is also not what white wants. As building a mino castle is no longer possible, white has to spend time to build a safe haven for the king on the other side of the board. This time can be used by black to move into the anaguma. 27.K7h-8h 00:11:00 01:00:00 28.R4b-6b 00:11:00 01:07:00 29.L9i-9h 00:55:00 01:07:00 30.P4d-4e 00:55:00 01:17:00 31.K8h-9i 00:57:00 01:17:00 32.G6a-5b 00:57:00 01:18:00 33.S7i-8h 00:57:00 01:18:00 34.S6c-5d 00:57:00 01:20:00 35.G6i-7h 00:57:00 01:20:00 36.G4a-3b? 00:57:00 01:22:00 Probably already the decisive mistake. After the game, Habu said he should have played 36.K4b instead. Now 37.P4f Px4f Sx4f P6e looks good for white. Better is 37.P3f G3b N3g N8e P4f Px4f Sx4f P6e with chances for both sides. 37.P4g-4f! 01:04:00 01:22:00 With the king still on 5a this move is very strong. The difference becomes clear after the violent 38.Px4f Sx4f P6e P5e Px6f Px5d Px6g+ Px5c+ +Px7h +Px6b Gx6b Rx7h. Black's king is still relatively safe while the white king is completely exposed. For example, G*6g R2h G*7h P*5e leads to nothing and black has moves like P*6c or S*5c to choose from. 38.P6d-6e 01:04:00 01:47:00 39.P4fx4e 02:05:00 01:47:00 40.K5a-4a 02:05:00 02:07:00 Good for black is 40.Px6f Sx6f Bx6f Gx6f Rx6f P4d Sx4d B*7g R6i+ Bx4d and the double threat Bx5c+ (by either bishop) and Bx1a+ is good for black. 41.P6fx6e 02:16:00 02:07:00 42.K4a-3a 02:16:00 02:07:00 Habu sacrificed two pawns to put his king safe and is now waiting for a black mistake. 43.P5f-5e! 02:35:00 02:07:00 The start of a series of fine tesuji moves by Goda. Here 44.Sx5e P*5f loses the silver, so white has no choice... 44.B3cx5e 02:35:00 02:22:00 45.S5g-6f 02:40:00 02:22:00 46.B5e-3c 02:40:00 02:38:00 47.P*5e 02:40:00 02:38:00 48.S5dx6e 02:40:00 02:43:00 49.S6fx6e 02:40:00 02:43:00 50.R6bx6e 02:40:00 02:43:00 51.S*5d! 02:41:00 02:43:00 Black has forced the exchange of silvers and immediately uses this silver for another fine combination. The power of the bishop on 8f is more than white's position can handle. 52.R6ex5e 02:41:00 02:46:00 53.S5dx4c+ 02:41:00 02:46:00 54.G5bx4c 02:41:00 02:46:00 55.S*4d! 02:44:00 02:46:00 And another one of white's defensive pieces is exchanged. The white castle gets thinner and thinner. 56.G4cx4d 02:44:00 02:50:00 Even giving up the bishop doesn't help: 56.Rx4e Sx3c+ Nx3c B*6d and if white moves the knight on 7c, then P*4d is terrible (Rx4d Bx5c+). 57.P4ex4d 02:48:00 02:50:00 58.B3cx4d 02:48:00 02:50:00 59.P*5d! 03:05:00 02:50:00 Goda is really rubbing it in: having the bishop and the king on the same diagonal is dangerous. 60.P7d-7e 03:05:00 03:04:00 Closes the deadly diagonal, but only temporarily. 61.P2e-2d 03:15:00 03:04:00 62.P2cx2d 03:15:00 03:05:00 63.B8fx7e 03:19:00 03:05:00 The bishop is back. 64.R5ex5d 03:19:00 03:08:00 No choice, but this loses a major piece. 65.G*4e 03:24:00 03:08:00 66.B4dx8h+ 03:24:00 03:08:00 67.G7hx8h 03:25:00 03:08:00 68.R5d-5i+ 03:25:00 03:08:00 69.B*8f! 03:25:00 03:08:00 Ends all hope for a white counterattack. Dropping the second bishop on this diagonal with attack on the promoted rook decides the game quickly in black's favor. 70.P*6h 03:25:00 03:16:00 71.B7ex5c+ 03:29:00 03:16:00 72.K3a-2b 03:29:00 03:16:00 73.R2hx2d 03:36:00 03:16:00 74.P*2c 03:36:00 03:29:00 75.R2dx3d 03:37:00 03:29:00 76.S*3c 03:37:00 03:30:00 Or 76.P*3c R5d +Rx2i (+Rx5d +Bx5d is just putting the promoted bishop on a better square) +B3a Gx3a Bx3a+ Kx3a R5b+ and no defense. 77.R3dx3c+ 03:38:00 03:30:00 78.N2ax3c 03:38:00 03:30:00 79.S*4a 03:38:00 03:30:00 Resigns 03:38:00 03:30:00 A mating threat and there is no effective defense. A complete victory for Goda, overwhelming Habu straight from the opening. However, Habu is known for having these types of "accidents" once in while. It says nothing about his form and I am sure that Goda will not take the third game any easier. Still, he will feel much more confident now that he can beat Habu in this pivotal third game In other shogi news: ==================== * Third time lucky for Yashiki as he finally became Oi challenger. Winning his group in the previous two years as well, he was defeated by Tanigawa twice in a row. This time he had a different opponent in Moriuchi and that changed his fortunes. Not only did Yashiki win this game, but he will also be happy with the level of his play, as he beat the in-form Moriuchi in great style. It will be the first time that Yashiki plays Habu in a match where the games are played over two days. Quite a change of pace and it will be interesting to see how Yashiki deals with this. The Oi match starts on July 17th. * In the A class Junisen two games were played and we had the first major upset as Aono beat Morishita. At the start of the season, Aono and Kato seemed destined to go down to B1 in a class that is exceptionally strong this year. However, like last year, Aono seems to be the only one believing in his own chances, feeling quite comfortable in the position of the underdog. Morishita is his first victim and even though he needs a couple of more wins to stay in the safe zone, Aono couldn't have wished for a better start. The second game in the A class was between Fujii and Kato. This game went as expected as Fujii won quite comfortably, despite Kato's dangerous looking attack in the end. Fujii had seen it all through the end, though and knew he would win by one move. * In B1 the second round was played. It's still early days in this 12 round class, but five players have stated their claim on promotion by winning both of their first round games. Shima, Goda, Inoue and Abe were expected to do well, but having Kiriyama among the leaders is a big surprise. He followed a win against Kubo in the first round with a win over Nakahara in the second. Kiriyama is probably more worried about staying in the class than about promotion, but two years ago he also stayed in the promotion race until the very end. His next round game against Goda will tell us more about how far this 53-year old veteran can go this time. By the way, young Kubo recovered a little from a false start with a convincing win against Fukuzaki. Kubo might still join the promotion race, but he will need to come from behind. * An upset in the Oza challenger tournament as Kubo beat Tanigawa in the quarter finals. Perhaps even more surprising than the result was that it was Kubo who dictated the game from start to finish. Losing game 7 of the Meijin match might have something to do with it, but Kubo should be praised for a fine game. For a moment Tanigawa thought that things had gotten interesting again towards the end, but Kubo had seen everything and Tanigawa's chances were all an illusion. Kubo now plays Sato Yasumitsu in the semis, while the other game is between Moriuchi and Maruyama. Habu will have a strong challenger in the Oza this year. More next week, Reijer -- Reijer Grimbergen Department of Information Science Saga University 1 Honjo-machi, Saga-shi, 840-8502 Japan E-mail: grimbergen fu is saga-u ac jp URL: http://www.fu.is.saga-u.ac.jp/~grimberg/ Tel: +81-(0)952-28-8821 Fax: +81-(0)952-28-8650