From: Reijer Grimbergen FU IS SAGA-U AC JP> Date: 18 oct 2001 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 913, October 17th 2001) This week in Shukan Shogi the fourth game of the Oza match between Habu and Kubo. This turned out to be the final game, as Kubo couldn't convert an early lead and was overpowered by Habu's endgame skils. Here is the game with comments: Black: Kubo Toshiaki, Challenger White: Habu Yoshiharu, Oza 49th Oza-sen, Game 4, October 11th 2001 1.P7g-7f 00:00:00 00:00:00 Kubo looked quite confident at the start of this game. He even played the first move two times in a row as a service to the photographers. The sign of a title match veteran. Winning the third game seemed to have done wonders for Kubo's fighting spirit. For Habu this is a game he really wants to win. Ending the match before starting the fight against Fujii in the Ryu-O would make it much easier to focus. Furthermore, he not only lost the third game of this match, he also lost in the A class Junisen. Time to win before losing becomes a pattern. 2.P3c-3d 00:00:00 00:00:00 3.P6g-6f 00:02:00 00:00:00 4.P8c-8d 00:02:00 00:02:00 5.R2h-6h 00:04:00 00:02:00 6.S7a-6b 00:04:00 00:04:00 7.P1g-1f 00:07:00 00:04:00 8.K5a-4b 00:07:00 00:06:00 9.S3i-3h 00:09:00 00:06:00 10.K4b-3b 00:09:00 00:07:00 11.S7i-7h 00:09:00 00:07:00 12.P5c-5d 00:09:00 00:13:00 13.S7h-6g 00:10:00 00:13:00 14.S6b-5c 00:10:00 00:16:00 15.P1f-1e 00:16:00 00:16:00 16.P7c-7d 00:16:00 00:18:00 17.G6i-5h 00:26:00 00:18:00 A sign of Kubo's positive state of mind. Instead of moving the king to safety early, he is inviting Habu to play the quick attack, confident that he will be able to counter it. One of his future options for this counter is an attack on the edge. 18.P8d-8e 00:26:00 00:52:00 19.B8h-7g 00:26:00 00:52:00 20.S5c-6d 00:26:00 00:52:00 21.K5i-4h 00:39:00 00:52:00 22.P7d-7e 00:39:00 00:53:00 23.K4h-3i 00:39:00 00:53:00 24.P7ex7f 00:39:00 01:05:00 25.S6gx7f 00:39:00 01:05:00 26.P*7e 00:39:00 01:05:00 27.S7f-6g 00:43:00 01:05:00 28.S6d-7c 00:43:00 01:06:00 29.R6h-7h 00:54:00 01:06:00 30.S7c-7d 00:54:00 01:07:00 31.L9i-9h 01:05:00 01:07:00 32.G6a-5b 01:05:00 01:24:00 33.K3i-2h 01:05:00 01:24:00 34.P6c-6d 01:05:00 01:24:00 35.P5g-5f 01:09:00 01:24:00 36.G4a-4b!? 01:09:00 01:39:00 For this type of move a deep understanding of shogi is needed. Of course the usual move is to play 36.S4b, followed by S5c~G4a-4b or S3c. However, Habu didn't like black's high edge pawn. By keeping the silver on 3a, there is the option of defending against a future edge attack by moving the silver to 2b at some point. Also, escape with the king to the other side of the board is now easier. 37.G5h-5g! 02:10:00 01:39:00 Kubo shows deep positional understanding of his own. The usual plan is 37.P4f followed by G4g, but Kubo wants to keep the 4f square empty for a possible bishop drop there. Also, he plans to use this gold to attack Habu's king from the front. 38.P6d-6e 02:10:00 01:46:00 39.P5f-5e 02:29:00 01:46:00 40.P8e-8f 02:29:00 02:17:00 41.P8gx8f 02:37:00 02:17:00 42.P5dx5e 02:37:00 02:29:00 43.R7h-5h 02:55:00 02:29:00 44.N8a-7c 02:55:00 02:44:00 45.G5g-4f 03:02:00 02:44:00 46.P7e-7f 03:02:00 02:59:00 47.B7g-5i 03:03:00 02:59:00 This bishop is threatening to come into play through 4h at any time. 48.R8b-8d 03:03:00 02:59:00 49.P6fx6e 03:08:00 02:59:00 50.S7d-7e 03:08:00 03:13:00 51.G4fx5e 03:24:00 03:13:00 52.P*5d 03:24:00 03:18:00 53.G5e-4e! 03:37:00 03:18:00 This gold looks to be in an awkward position, but it is actually positioned very well. For the attack, it keeps the option of exchanging rooks by Rx5d whenever this is strongest. Also, it keeps pressure on the head of the enemy king. For defense, it gives the king support if the king needs to escape up the board via 1g. The general opinion here was that Kubo had the better position. 54.N7cx6e 03:37:00 03:22:00 55.P*6f 03:48:00 03:22:00 56.S7ex6f 03:48:00 03:42:00 No choice. After 56.P7g+ Nx7g Nx7g+ Bx7g, white has been forced to exchange a knight that moved twice against a knight that didn't move at all. This type of exchange is usually bad. 57.S6gx6f 03:48:00 03:42:00 58.B2bx6f 03:48:00 03:42:00 59.R5h-6h 03:49:00 03:42:00 Here white looks in trouble. The obvious 60.Bx9i+ Rx6e +Bx8i G4f doesn't work out well and neither does 60.B5g+ Rx6e +B5f R7e. Time for Habu to show why he wins all those titles: 60.S*5g! 03:49:00 03:42:00 At first glance a terrible move. Using this silver just to defend a bishop looks like a terrible waste. Furthermore, the position of bishop, silver and knight is extremely awkward. A move for amateurs that most professionals would find almost impossible to play. However, Habu has found his only chance to stay in this game. 61.R6h-6g 04:11:00 03:42:00 62.P*6d! 04:11:00 03:43:00 It's the double punch that makes this work. Now that the knight is defended, white suddenly threatens Bx9i+, forcing black to exchange the rook for the bishop. 63.R6gx6f 04:25:00 03:43:00 64.S5gx6f= 04:25:00 03:43:00 65.P*5h?! 04:26:00 03:43:00 A better alternative seems 65.P3f to give the bishop a way out. It is strange that Kubo spent only one minute on 65.P*5h. This move indicates a switch from attack to defense and contrasts sharply with the positive attitude he showed in this game so far. 66.P7f-7g+ 04:26:00 03:45:00 Suddenly white is holding all the cards. After this move it becomes almost impossible to defend against promotion of the white rook. 67.N8ix7g 04:27:00 03:45:00 68.N6ex7g+ 04:27:00 03:46:00 69.P*6c 04:28:00 03:46:00 70.G5bx6c 04:28:00 03:52:00 71.P8f-8e 04:32:00 03:52:00 72.R8d-7d 04:32:00 04:20:00 Of course, 72.Rx8e fails to B*9f and 72.R8b to P6e Px6e P*6d and S*7c (or S*7a in case of G6b). Kubo has bought himself some time, but the rook will promote anyway. 73.P1e-1d 04:38:00 04:20:00 74.P1cx1d 04:38:00 04:21:00 75.P*1c 04:38:00 04:21:00 76.+N7g-6g 04:38:00 04:28:00 77.P*6h 04:40:00 04:28:00 78.+N6gx5h 04:40:00 04:31:00 79.G4ix5h 04:40:00 04:31:00 80.R*5f 04:40:00 04:31:00 Here Habu realized he would win. Black has used his final pawn on the edge, so it is very difficult to defend the gold on 4h. 81.B5i-4h 04:46:00 04:31:00 No choice, but it's not enough. Habu is playing a perfect endgame again. 82.R5fx5h+ 04:46:00 04:32:00 83.B4hx6f 04:46:00 04:32:00 84.R7d-7i+ 04:46:00 04:32:00 85.S*3i 04:49:00 04:32:00 86.N*5e 04:49:00 04:40:00 87.B*3f 04:53:00 04:40:00 88.L1ax1c 04:53:00 04:50:00 89.G4ex5e 04:56:00 04:50:00 90.+R7ix6h 04:56:00 04:50:00 91.S*5g 04:59:00 04:50:00 92.+R6hx5g 04:59:00 04:50:00 93.B6fx5g 04:59:00 04:50:00 94.+R5hx5g 04:59:00 04:50:00 95.G5e-4e 04:59:00 04:50:00 96.+R5g-5i 04:59:00 04:54:00 97.G4ex3d 04:59:00 04:54:00 98.P*3c 04:59:00 04:55:00 99.G3dx2c 04:59:00 04:55:00 100.K3bx2c 04:59:00 04:55:00 101.R*6a 04:59:00 04:55:00 102.B*5g 04:59:00 04:55:00 103.N*4h 04:59:00 04:55:00 104.G*5h 04:59:00 04:56:00 105.B3f-4e 04:59:00 04:56:00 106.P3c-3d 04:59:00 04:56:00 107.N*3e 04:59:00 04:56:00 108.K2c-3b 04:59:00 04:56:00 Resigns 04:59:00 04:56:00 Black has no mate and no defense against the mating threat 108.+Rx3i Kx3i Gx4h etc. A game that gives some important insight in why Habu is so much stronger than all the other professionals. Kubo played all the nice looking moves, but lost. Habu played some terrible looking moves and won. There is clearly a difference between playing nice looking shogi and winning games. Habu is in a league of his own in the latter category. For Kubo this has been a frustrating match like so many other players have experienced against Habu. Despite playing at their top level and having chances, it is almost always Habu who ends up with the title. Other results: =========== * A class Junisen, round 4: Senzaki-Aono 1-0. First win for Senzaki. Both players are now 1-3. * Osho league, round 2: Nakahara-Yonenaga 1-0. Nakahara wins the 186th encounter against Yonenaga (Nakahara leads 105-80 with one jishogi). He is now 1-1 in the league and Yonenaga is 0-1. * Kio challenger tournament, semifinal: Moriuchi-Goda 1-0. Goda has to try again from the second chance round. * Shinjin-O match, 2nd game: Matsuo-Kimura 1-0. 21-year old Matsuo wins the match surprisingly easy with two convincing victories. Kimura may be the man winning almost everything, after the Ryu-O challenger final he again comes up short on the big stage. * Ladies Oi, 2nd game: Nakai-Shimizu 1-0. Nakai leads 2-0 in this best-of-five match. No Shukan Shogi next week, as I will be at a workshop most of the time. I hope to be back in two weeks, 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