From: Reijer Grimbergen FU IS SAGA-U AC JP> Date: 29 nov 2002 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 969 and 970, In this week's Shukan Shogi report the second game of the Ryu-O match between Habu and Abe. This game was played in Sasebo which is not too far from Saga, so I had the opportunity to watch this game at the venue. Despite the fact that it looked like a straightforward win by Habu there were many difficult decisions to be made by both players. Both players made mistakes, but Abe made the important ones. Here is the game with comments: Black: Abe Takashi, Challenger White: Habu Yoshiharu, Ryu-O 15th Ryu-o sen, Game 2, November 20th and 21st 2002 1.P7g-7f 00:00:00 00:00:00 2.P8c-8d 00:00:00 00:04:00 3.G6i-7h 00:03:00 00:04:00 4.G4a-3b 00:03:00 00:07:00 5.S7i-6h 00:04:00 00:07:00 6.P3c-3d 00:04:00 00:11:00 7.P6g-6f 00:06:00 00:11:00 8.S7a-6b 00:06:00 00:15:00 9.P5g-5f 00:07:00 00:15:00 10.P5c-5d 00:07:00 00:18:00 11.S3i-4h 00:10:00 00:18:00 12.S3a-4b 00:10:00 00:22:00 13.G4i-5h 00:11:00 00:22:00 14.K5a-4a 00:11:00 00:32:00 15.K5i-6i 00:12:00 00:32:00 16.G6a-5b 00:12:00 00:38:00 17.S6h-7g 00:30:00 00:38:00 18.S4b-3c 00:30:00 00:42:00 19.B8h-7i 00:32:00 00:42:00 20.B2b-3a 00:32:00 00:43:00 21.P3g-3f 00:32:00 00:43:00 22.P4c-4d 00:32:00 00:43:00 23.G5h-6g 01:13:00 00:43:00 24.P7c-7d 01:13:00 00:59:00 25.B7i-6h 01:13:00 00:59:00 26.P9c-9d 01:13:00 01:23:00 27.K6i-7i 01:53:00 01:23:00 28.G5b-4c 01:53:00 01:38:00 29.K7i-8h 02:08:00 01:38:00 30.P9d-9e 02:08:00 02:37:00 31.R2h-3h 03:38:00 02:37:00 32.N8a-7c 03:38:00 02:50:00 33.P4g-4f 03:46:00 02:50:00 34.L9a-9c 03:46:00 03:27:00 Habu is aiming for the Suzumesashi ("Spearing the Sparrow") formation with L9c-R9b-N8e followed by Nx9c+. Opening theory dictates that this attack is best countered by a climbing silver attack in combination with B4f (B6d if black plays the Suzumesashi). Therefore, Habu only plays this attack after seeing Abe's 32.R3h and 33.P4f. This makes both the climbing silver and the B4f counter impossible. Of course, white had to sacrifice something: the combination of the king on 4a and the gold on 4c is quite dangerous for white. To be able to attack first, white has to attack with this formation. The king on 4a would be much better protected with the gold still on 5b instead of 4c. 35.S4h-4g 03:50:00 03:27:00 36.R8b-9b 03:50:00 03:32:00 37.S7g-8f 04:09:00 03:32:00 38.N7c-8e 04:09:00 03:55:00 39.N2i-3g? 04:09:00 03:55:00 This is dubious. Actually, Habu has experience with this position, as he played black against Nakahara in a game in the 1992 Osho tournament. There he played 39.P3e Px3e Rx3e P9f Px9f P*9g Sx8e S3d R3h Px8e Lx9g and he had enough counter chances against the white attack to win the game. Abe was surprised when he was told about this game during the post-mortem analysis, saying he didn't know it. He said that 39.N3g was the move he intended to play all along. However, this gives white the first opportunity to attack. Black's attacking pieces just wait for an opportunity to be activated, but this opportunity never comes. 40.N8ex9g+ 04:09:00 04:50:00 41.S8fx9g 04:09:00 04:50:00 42.P9e-9f 04:09:00 04:50:00 43.S9gx9f 04:10:00 04:50:00 44.L9cx9f 04:10:00 04:51:00 45.L9ix9f 04:18:00 04:51:00 46.R9bx9f 04:18:00 05:00:00 47.L*9i 04:46:00 05:00:00 48.P*9g 04:46:00 05:03:00 49.L9ix9g 04:46:00 05:03:00 50.B3ax9g+ 04:46:00 05:03:00 51.N8ix9g 04:46:00 05:03:00 52.P7d-7e 04:46:00 05:10:00 53.B*7d 05:49:00 05:10:00 54.P8d-8e 05:49:00 05:16:00 55.B7dx8e 05:50:00 05:16:00 56.R9f-9a 05:50:00 05:16:00 57.P7fx7e 05:59:00 05:16:00 58.L*8b 05:59:00 06:02:00 59.B8e-7d 06:05:00 06:02:00 60.L*8c? 06:05:00 06:07:00 It is very tempting to play 60.L*7c, but 61.P*9b R7a N*9d Lx7d Nx8b+ Lx7e +Nx7a is not good for white. Because of this, Habu played 60.L*8c, but he underestimated Abe's reply. He should have played 60.S*8c here, keeping the extra lance in reserve. Then 61.B6e P6d B7f L*7b gives white a very solid attacking formation that leaves black little chance of survival. 61.N*9e! 06:31:00 06:07:00 Strong. White has no choice but to give up both lances. This opens up the road of the king to the other side. One of black's winning strategies is making an entering king. White has almost no chance to enter, so jishogi is very unlikely. 62.L8cx8g+ 06:31:00 06:22:00 63.G7hx8g 06:31:00 06:22:00 64.L8bx8g+ 06:31:00 06:22:00 65.K8hx8g 06:31:00 06:22:00 66.G*8d 06:31:00 06:22:00 67.P*9b? 06:36:00 06:22:00 A good opportunity missed. In the press room, Ariyoshi (9-dan) found the brilliant defence 67.S5h!. This defends against both B*6i and B*4i. Ariyoshi is a pupil of the late Oyama, the greatest defender of all time. Ariyoshi said that he found the move by thinking about how his teacher Oyama would play this position. It seemed that Abe didn't think a lot about 67.S5h, feeling that giving up the initiative would mean disaster. For example, 67.S5h S*9d P*9f Gx7e B8c+ Sx8c Nx8c+ and now Abe feared P*8f, but even after that the position is far from clear. Habu acknowledged after the game that 67.S5h would make things very difficult for him. 68.R9a-7a 06:36:00 06:42:00 69.L*7h 06:40:00 06:42:00 70.G8dx7d 06:40:00 07:02:00 71.P7ex7d 06:40:00 07:02:00 72.B*4i 06:40:00 07:02:00 73.G6g-7f 07:05:00 07:02:00 74.B4ix3h+ 07:05:00 07:36:00 75.S4gx3h 07:07:00 07:36:00 76.R*4h 07:07:00 07:36:00 77.B6h-8f 07:09:00 07:36:00 78.R4hx3h+ 07:09:00 07:36:00 79.B*8d? 07:09:00 07:36:00 There goes Abe's final chance to make a long fight of it. Correct was 79.G*7g. Then 80.+Rx3g B*8d S5c P7c+ and after N*9d Bx5c+ Gx5c K9f and Habu thought that he couldn't stop the entering king. Abe disagreed, pointing out P*7e Bx7e S*6d, but things are clearly more complicated than the variation he chose. 80.S*9h! 07:09:00 07:39:00 Simple but strong. 81.K8g-9f 07:09:00 07:39:00 82.+R3hx7h 07:09:00 07:39:00 83.G7f-7g 07:13:00 07:39:00 Or 83.G*7g S*8g K8e Sx7f= Gx7f Rx7d and white wins. 84.+R7hx7g 07:13:00 07:43:00 85.B8fx7g 07:13:00 07:43:00 86.R7ax7d 07:13:00 07:43:00 In the press room, analysis stopped here. Black has no defence. 87.R*8a 07:21:00 07:43:00 88.L*7a 07:21:00 07:44:00 89.P*7e 07:28:00 07:44:00 90.R7dx8d 07:28:00 07:45:00 91.R8ax8d+ 07:30:00 07:45:00 92.S*8g 07:30:00 07:50:00 93.+R8dx8g 07:30:00 07:50:00 94.S9hx8g= 07:30:00 07:50:00 95.K9fx8g 07:30:00 07:50:00 96.B*5h 07:30:00 07:51:00 97.G*6h 07:32:00 07:51:00 98.P*8f 07:32:00 07:52:00 99.K8gx8f 07:38:00 07:52:00 99.Bx8f fails to G*7f and 99.K9f to B7f+. 100.R*7f 07:38:00 07:52:00 Resigns 07:38:00 07:52:00 Abe has the choice between hisshi after 101.K8g Rx7e or mate after 101.K8e Rx7g+ Gx5h B*7f etc. He selected the third option: resigning. A game that on the surface looks like a strong win by Habu. Attacking first with white and pulling this off is quite an accomplishment in the Yagura these days. However, Abe had several opportunities in this game that he didn't take. He is clearly strong enough to create such opportunities even against such a brilliant opponent. Still, if he keeps missing them, this match will be over very quickly. In other shogi news: ==================== * Famous names are dropping like flies in the challenger tournament of the Kio-sen. In the semi-finals Maruyama suffered a shock defeat against Tanaka Torahiko, who suddenly finds himself within two wins of challenging Habu. In the other semi-final Goda beat Inoue. The Kio is a tournament with a second chance for the losing semi-finalists, so both Inoue and Maruyama will get another chance to challenge Habu. Who of these four will it be (I personally would like to see veteran Tanaka have a go at Habu, but this is probably as far as he will go...). * In the B1 class of the Junisen, the 7th round was played. Leader Kubo beat Takahashi to become the only player with six wins, as Inoue lost against Fukaura. This means that Kubo only needs three wins from the remaining four games to make his first appearance in the A class. However, with tough games against Abe, Suzuki and Fukaura still to play, this is far from easy. Other players who still have a chance to promote are Senzaki, Inoue, Fukaura and Suzuki, who all have 5-2 scores. Quite a strong field of contenders... * In B2, leader Nakagawa had a serious scare in his 6th round game against co-leader Hatakeyama Mamoru, who missed a golden opportunity to win. Instead, Nakagawa turned the tables and now is the only player with five wins. Co-leader Kitahama lost against Kimura, who finally seems to have found his form, winning his third game in a row after losing his first three. Kitahama still has his chances in his own hands as Hatakeyama Nariyuki also lost, but Kitahama now has to share second place with Hatakeyama Nariyuki, Izumi, Naito, Tamaru, Hatakeyama Mamoru and Ono. Not really the players that were expected to play for a place in B1 before the start of the season, so it is very much up in the air who will promote. * In C1, also the sixth round was played. Horiguchi Kazushiza had a very good round as he beat Kobayashi (6-dan) to keep his perfect record, while co-leader Kobayashi (5-dan) fell back after a loss to Kodama. Yashiki missed a golden opportunity to get back in the promotion race with a loss against Toyokawa. With Ariyoshi, Sugimoto, Kitajima, Katsumata, Matsuo and Kobayashi at 5-1, it seems highly unlikely he will get another chance this year. * In C2 the 7th round was played. Here Kubota took a big step to C1 as he was the only leader to extend his perfect record to 6-0. Co-leaders Iijima and Ueno lost, which means that Tamura now is in second place with 6-1. He only has three more games to play, so his position is a little more comfortable than Chuza, Yamasaki, Watanabe, Hashimoto, Kawakami, Iijima and Ueno, who follow with 5-1. As Kubota is ranked very low, he can't afford a mistake, so things are still very hard to predict. * In the Osho league things have gotten very interesting as Habu lost his third round game against Kubo. Now all players have at least one loss with Habu, Tanigawa and Moriuchi leading with 2-1. Kubo and Goda are right behind them with 2-2. Still, it seems unlikely that Kubo and Goda will catch up, as all games between the leaders are still to be played. The player to win both of these games is likely to be the challenger of Osho Sato. 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