From: Reijer Grimbergen FU IS SAGA-U AC JP> Date: 1 feb 2002 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 927, January 30th 2002) No title match game in Shukan Shogi this week. The second game of the Osho (won by Sato who now surprisingly is 2-0 up against Habu) finished on Saturday, so didn't make this week's Shukan Shogi. Therefore, a short report this week with some other professional news. * A Junisen, round 7: Fujii-Sato 1-0, Kato-Aono 0-1. An important loss for Sato, who has a chance to catch up with Moriuchi (6-1), but instead is joined in second place by Tanigawa at 5-2. On the other hand a big win for Fujii, who had lost four in a row and suddenly was in very serious relegation trouble in his first year in the top division. He is not really safe yet, but a win against Senzaki in the next round is enough to keep in the A class next year. Aono also seems to be keeping his place with a vital victory over relegation rival Kato. Aono has a pretty good position in the league, but with games against Miura and Tanigawa still to play, it is too early to feel safe. Kato is in big trouble this time. His league position is bad, he has only two wins and he still has to play Habu and Miura. All he can hope for is that Habu has lost all motivation to win in the A class and that Miura is already relegated before the final round. Kato probably needs to win both games to avoid relegation. * C2 Junisen, round 8: Toyokawa-Kubota 1-0, Matsuo-Ito No 1-0, Tamura-Nakao 0-1, Takano-Anzai 1-0, Naganuma-Hirafuji 1-0, Akutsu-Ueno 1-0, Yamasaki-Yagura 1-0. Toyokawa and Matsuo stayed in the lead with perfect records even though both had to work very hard for it. Tamura's game was again over very quickly, but this time he was on the losing end as he overlooked a nice combination in an endgame that was already bad for him. Takano now has his chances in his own hands as he is the only player with 7-1 behind Toyokawa and Matsuo. Naganuma needed a replay after sennichite to stay close to a promotion spot. Other players still in with a chance at 6-2 are Akutsu, Yamasaki and Nakao. * Kisei leagues: Fukaura-Kimura 0-1 (Group B, second round), Tanigawa-Yashiki 1-0 (Group C, second round). Kimura and Tanigawa win their second game in their group and join Habu in the challenger finals. Fukaura and Yashiki will get another chance against another player with a 1-1 score in any of the other four leagues. * Ladies Meijin, Game 2: Saida-Nakai 0-1. Nakai takes a 2-0 lead in the match after a thrilling game which ended in a Houdini like escape of Nakai's king when both players thought there was mate. 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