From: Reijer Grimbergen FU IS SAGA-U AC JP> Date: 20 feb 2003 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 981, February 19th 2003) This week in Shukan Shogi two title match games: the 4th game of the Osho match between Sato and Habu and the second game of the Kio match between Habu and Maruyama. Habu won both games in great style, taking the Osho title from Sato with a perfect 4-0 score, and also takes a 2-0 lead against Maruyama. Here are the games with comments: [Black "Habu Yoshiharu, Challenger"] [White "Sato Yasumitsu, Osho"] [Event "52nd Osho-sen, Game 4"] [Date "February 12th and 13th 2003"] 1.P2g-2f 00:00:00 00:00:00 2.P3c-3d 00:00:00 00:05:00 3.P7g-7f 00:03:00 00:05:00 4.P4c-4d 00:03:00 00:06:00 5.P2f-2e 00:05:00 00:06:00 6.B2b-3c 00:05:00 00:06:00 7.S3i-4h 00:10:00 00:06:00 8.R8b-3b 00:10:00 00:09:00 Despite being 3-0 down in the match, Sato has taken command of the opening in each of the games. In game one the new move N*5e in the R8e-Yokofudori, in game 2 the new idea of pushing the edge pawn early in the Gokigen-Nakabisha and in game 3 B*6d in the reclining silver variation of the Kakugawari. This time he plays the 3rd file rook, the same opening that he started last year's Osho match with. Winning with this opening could give him the same mental boost that resulted in taking the Osho title from Habu. Sato really needs something special with a match score as it is. 9.K5i-6h 00:14:00 00:09:00 10.S3a-4b 00:14:00 00:10:00 11.K6h-7h 00:15:00 00:10:00 12.K5a-6b 00:15:00 00:11:00 13.P5g-5f 00:39:00 00:11:00 14.K6b-7b 00:39:00 00:20:00 15.B8h-7g 00:54:00 00:20:00 16.P5c-5d 00:54:00 00:27:00 17.K7h-8h 00:58:00 00:27:00 18.K7b-8b 00:58:00 00:30:00 19.L9i-9h 01:14:00 00:30:00 20.S4b-5c 01:14:00 00:34:00 21.S4h-5g 01:15:00 00:34:00 22.L9a-9b 01:15:00 00:39:00 The Furibisha-anaguma. Not an opening that is often played by top professionals, but Habu will not have been too surprised. It is the same opening that Sato played 10 days earlier in the first group of the Ryu-O ranking tournament against Minami (Sato won that game). 23.K8h-9i 01:17:00 00:39:00 24.K8b-9a 01:17:00 00:39:00 25.S7i-8h 01:17:00 00:39:00 26.S7a-8b 01:17:00 00:39:00 27.S5g-6f 01:38:00 00:39:00 28.S5c-6d 01:38:00 00:43:00 29.B7g-6h 01:38:00 00:43:00 30.G4a-5b 01:38:00 01:54:00 31.P3g-3f 02:46:00 01:54:00 32.G5b-6b 02:46:00 03:06:00 33.P2e-2d! 03:45:00 03:06:00 The double anaguma used to be an opening where both players first finished their castle before thinking about anything else. This is no longer true. One has to be very careful at each castling move not to give the opponent an opportunity to attack. Because both sides have a strong castle, it is very hard to come back from a strategic loss. Therefore, it is not surprising that Habu and Sato spent so much time on the last four moves (G4a-5b: 71 minutes, P3f: 68 minutes, G5b-6b: 72 minutes, P2d: 59 minutes). 33.P2d was a complete surprise to all, including Sato. It is a very difficult move to play, as it starts the fighting with the two black generals still on their original squares. On the other hand, these two generals defend well against rook drops or rook promotions. After careful calculation Habu reached the conclusion that this advantage was more important. He was the only one and he was right. 34.P2cx2d 03:45:00 03:54:00 35.B6hx2d 03:46:00 03:54:00 36.R3b-2b 03:46:00 03:54:00 37.P*2e 03:46:00 03:54:00 38.G6a-7a 03:46:00 04:00:00 39.B2d-6h 05:40:00 04:00:00 40.P*2c 05:40:00 04:13:00 41.P3f-3e 05:43:00 04:13:00 42.P3dx3e 05:43:00 04:39:00 43.R2h-3h 05:45:00 04:39:00 44.P2c-2d? 05:45:00 05:04:00 A mistake based on a miscalculation. Sato should have played 44.R5b here, aiming at developing the rook through the centre or play a waiting game with P7d followed by G6b-7b and P9d. 45.R3hx3e 06:00:00 05:04:00 46.B3c-4b 06:00:00 05:39:00 The reason Sato played 44.P2d was that he thought that he could play 46.Px2e here. However, here he realised that after 47.P*2d 48.Bx2d (Rx2d? Rx3c+ Nx3c Bx2d) 49.R3a+ white is in trouble after both 50.Bx6h+ Gx6h R2c +R3b R3c +Rx2a (now the gold on 4i is defending against the rook promotion on 3i), or 50.B3c P5e P2f Px5d P2g+ +Rx2b Bx2b R*2c R*2f Rx2f+ +Px2f R*2c. The game move B4b is a change of plan, but gives Sato a very passive position. 47.G4i-5i 06:12:00 05:39:00 48.G6b-5b 06:12:00 06:39:00 This gold should move in the other direction, but Sato is desperately trying to keep his position together. 49.P*3b 06:51:00 06:39:00 50.P*3c 06:51:00 06:52:00 Another move white doesn't want to play, as it blocks the bishop, but Sato has no other option. 51.N2i-3g 06:54:00 06:52:00 While Sato is struggling, Habu plays one natural move after another. 52.G5b-6b 06:54:00 07:12:00 53.G6i-7i 07:07:00 07:12:00 54.P7c-7d 07:07:00 07:32:00 55.G5i-6i 07:12:00 07:32:00 56.P9c-9d 07:12:00 07:32:00 57.G6i-7h 07:13:00 07:32:00 58.S6d-7c 07:13:00 07:40:00 59.P4g-4f 07:33:00 07:40:00 60.P9d-9e 07:33:00 07:53:00 61.P4f-4e 07:33:00 07:53:00 62.P2dx2e 07:33:00 07:58:00 63.P4ex4d 07:33:00 07:58:00 64.P9e-9f 07:33:00 07:58:00 65.P9gx9f 07:34:00 07:58:00 66.P*9g 07:34:00 07:58:00 67.N8ix9g 07:43:00 07:58:00 68.B4b-5c 07:43:00 07:58:00 69.R3e-4e 07:44:00 07:58:00 70.B5c-6d 07:44:00 07:58:00 71.P5f-5e 07:45:00 07:58:00 72.P2e-2f 07:45:00 07:58:00 73.P*2c 07:45:00 07:58:00 74.R2bx2c 07:45:00 07:58:00 75.P*2d 07:45:00 07:58:00 76.P*9e 07:45:00 07:59:00 77.P9fx9e 07:46:00 07:59:00 78.R2cx2d?! 07:46:00 07:59:00 Sato can no longer bear being slowly pushed back by Habu and decides to go out in a blaze of glory. Objectively, 78.R2b P4c+ P2g+ N2e might be better, but also in that case black has a very comfortable position. Habu admitted that he was completely surprised by 78.Rx2d. The idea is simple: take a pawn to fuel the edge attack. Not a bad idea, but giving up a complete rook for it is too much for white's fragile position. 79.B6hx2d 07:47:00 07:59:00 80.P*9f 07:47:00 07:59:00 81.P4d-4c+ 07:51:00 07:59:00 82.S7c-8d 07:51:00 07:59:00 83.+P4c-5b 07:51:00 07:59:00 84.G6bx5b 07:51:00 07:59:00 85.R4e-4a+ 07:51:00 07:59:00 86.G5b-6b 07:51:00 07:59:00 87.+R4ax2a 07:51:00 07:59:00 88.G6b-7b 07:51:00 07:59:00 89.B2d-3e 07:53:00 07:59:00 90.L9bx9e 07:53:00 07:59:00 91.R*9d! 07:55:00 07:59:00 Good defence. This defends against white's edge attack with check. Without the edge attack and without material to attack or defend, the white position is hopeless. 92.S8b-9c 07:55:00 07:59:00 93.R9dx9e 07:55:00 07:59:00 94.P9fx9g+ 07:55:00 07:59:00 95.R9ex9g 07:55:00 07:59:00 96.N*8e 07:55:00 07:59:00 97.R9gx9c+ 07:55:00 07:59:00 98.S8dx9c 07:55:00 07:59:00 99.N*8d! 07:59:00 07:59:00 Perfect until the end. Lesser players would have played the wrong order 99.Bx7a+ 100.Gx7a 101.+Rx7a which is threatening P*9b Kx9b N*8d and mate, but 102.P*9g! is a mating threat that defends against this threat because black can no longer play P*9b Kx9b N*8d as white can now take this knight with the silver as this silver is no longer pinned by the lance on 9h. 100.P8cx8d 07:59:00 07:59:00 101.B3ex7a+ 07:59:00 07:59:00 102.G7bx7a 07:59:00 07:59:00 103.+R2ax7a 07:59:00 07:59:00 Resigns 07:59:00 07:59:00 This time 104.P*9g fails to 105.P*9b Kx9b +R7b R*8b G*8c K9a P*9b Rx9b Gx9b. Also, a defence like 104.B*9b doesn't work after 105.G*7b. A rather one-sided game to finish a one-sided match. After five months with only three titles, Habu again holds the majority of the seven major titles by taking his 7th Osho title. Here is game 2 of the Kio match with comments: [Black "Maruyama Tadahisa, Challenger"] [White "Habu Yoshiharu, Kio"] [Event "28th Kio-sen, Game 2"] [Date "February 8th 2003"] 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 00:02:00 5.P2f-2e 00:00:00 00:02:00 6.B2b-3c 00:00:00 00:03:00 7.S3i-4h 00:00:00 00:03:00 8.P9c-9d 00:00:00 00:04:00 9.K5i-6h 00:01:00 00:04:00 10.R8b-4b 00:01:00 00:05:00 Before the game, most commentators expected that Habu would play the Kakugawari here. Maruyama's favourite openings are the R8e Yokofudori with white and the Kakugawari with black. Beating him in both of his favourite openings would not only certainly win the match, but also send a message to Maruyama that whatever he plays, Habu can beat it. This would certainly carry over to future encounters. In a small world like the professional shogi scene, this type of thinking is quite common. However, in the end Habu decided to play the Shikenbisha opening instead. It has been a while since Habu played the 4th file rook in a title match game, as he didn't use it in both the Ryu-O match and the Osho match. 11.K6h-7h 00:01:00 00:05:00 12.S7a-7b 00:01:00 00:05:00 13.P5g-5f 00:02:00 00:05:00 14.G4a-5b 00:02:00 00:06:00 15.S4h-5g 00:04:00 00:06:00 16.S3a-3b 00:04:00 00:27:00 17.G4i-5h 00:05:00 00:27:00 18.P9d-9e 00:05:00 00:43:00 19.P3g-3f 00:09:00 00:43:00 20.K5a-6b 00:09:00 00:44:00 21.B8h-7g 00:12:00 00:44:00 22.K6b-7a 00:12:00 00:46:00 23.K7h-8h 00:13:00 00:46:00 24.S3b-4c 00:13:00 00:46:00 25.L9i-9h 00:16:00 00:46:00 26.R4b-3b 00:16:00 00:47:00 27.S7i-7h 00:20:00 00:47:00 28.K7a-8b 00:20:00 00:51:00 29.S5g-6f 00:24:00 00:51:00 30.P4d-4e 00:24:00 00:53:00 31.K8h-9i 00:25:00 00:53:00 32.S4c-5d?! 00:25:00 00:56:00 So far, the position was identical to the final of the JT Series between Maruyama and Fujii that was played on November 10th last year. There Fujii played 32.P5d and the game developed as follows: 33.B6h B4b N3g S4d R3h P6d S6f-7g P6e S8h. Black wants to pull back the silver into the anaguma castle and Habu's 32.S5d is an attempt to prevent this. Because the bishop line is open, 33.B6h can be answered by 34.S6e. After the game, Maruyama admitted that he didn't expect 32.S5d. Rightly so, as this move is quite likely an overplay. Habu said after the game that either 32.P6d or 32.P5d would have been better. 33.G5h-6h 01:21:00 00:56:00 34.P6c-6d 01:21:00 01:23:00 35.G6i-7i? 01:23:00 01:23:00 A mistake that turns 32.S5d into a good move. Habu feared 35.S5g here. Then after 36.P3e P2d Px2d Bx3c+ Rx3c Rx2d P*2c R2e Px3f P*3d R4c B*3b white looks to be in trouble. 36.P3d-3e 01:23:00 01:34:00 37.S6f-5e 01:33:00 01:34:00 38.P3ex3f 01:33:00 02:07:00 39.P2e-2d 01:42:00 02:07:00 40.P2cx2d 01:42:00 02:07:00 41.S5ex5d 01:44:00 02:07:00 42.P5cx5d 01:44:00 02:07:00 43.B7gx3c+ 01:52:00 02:07:00 44.R3bx3c 01:52:00 02:07:00 45.R2hx2d 02:00:00 02:07:00 46.P*2c 02:00:00 02:07:00 47.R2d-2e 02:00:00 02:07:00 48.S*3d 02:00:00 02:23:00 49.R2e-2h 02:04:00 02:23:00 50.P3f-3g+ 02:04:00 02:23:00 51.N2ix3g 02:04:00 02:23:00 52.P*3f 02:04:00 02:23:00 53.N3gx4e 02:41:00 02:23:00 54.S3dx4e 02:41:00 02:29:00 55.R2h-2e 02:41:00 02:29:00 56.S4e-3d 02:41:00 02:50:00 57.R2e-8e 02:48:00 02:50:00 Looks dangerous, because white can win this rook. However, after 58.B*6c R7e P7d R8e N7c R8f N*9d P7e Nx8f Px8f white is a rook up, but the head of the knight is weak and the rook on 3c and the silver on 3d are not working at all, so black has the better chances here. 58.R3c-4c! 02:48:00 02:50:00 This needed some careful calculation, as black seems to have a nice counter against this. 59.B*1f 02:50:00 02:50:00 60.R4c-4d 02:50:00 02:51:00 61.S*3e 03:17:00 02:51:00 62.S3dx3e 03:17:00 03:01:00 63.R8ex3e 03:17:00 03:01:00 64.N*3c! 03:17:00 03:02:00 Maruyama probably underestimated the strength of this move. Dropping a piece far away from the king like this is usually in black's favour, but in this case it takes away almost all of black's options. Habu even considered 64.S*3c here, because he also wanted to take away the option P*2b from black, but then after 65.S*4e R2d Bx5b+ Gx5b P*2e R1d P1f it is hard to save the rook. 65.P*2b 03:40:00 03:02:00 66.R4dx4g+ 03:40:00 03:16:00 67.S*8h? 03:40:00 03:16:00 An important mistake caused by the psychological superiority of Habu in this game. He is 1-0 up in the match and in this game has made it very difficult for Maruyama to find good moves, dictating the pace despite having the white pieces. Maruyama had already more or less given up on this game and doesn't see that he still has a chance to fight back. Of course white needs to do something about the fork B*4d, but 67.P*4d! would have been the perfect reply. For example, 68.B*2f (the move Habu intended to play) R3d S*4e P4c+ Gx4c R2d Px2d Bx4c+ Sx5f +B3d and black still has a lot to play for. After picking up the knights one 2a and 3c and/or the lance on 1a, black has all kinds of interesting attacking options like N*8f followed by N*9d. 68.B*4f 03:40:00 03:22:00 69.R3e-8e 03:41:00 03:22:00 70.S*7d! 03:41:00 03:23:00 Now the game becomes a blow-out. White chases the rook, strengthening his own position at the same time. 71.R8e-8f 03:41:00 03:23:00 72.B4fx1i+ 03:41:00 03:23:00 Threatening to win the rook with L*8d. 73.P7f-7e 03:44:00 03:23:00 74.S7dx7e 03:44:00 03:26:00 75.R8f-8e 03:44:00 03:26:00 76.S7e-8d 03:44:00 03:26:00 77.R8e-8f 03:45:00 03:26:00 78.P3f-3g+ 03:45:00 03:33:00 79.P*4i 03:46:00 03:33:00 80.P2c-2d 03:46:00 03:36:00 81.B1f-3d 03:50:00 03:36:00 82.+R4gx4i 03:50:00 03:36:00 83.P2bx2a+ 03:50:00 03:36:00 84.+P3g-4g 03:50:00 03:36:00 85.P*4d 03:50:00 03:36:00 86.P*4b 03:50:00 03:37:00 Resigns 03:51:00 03:37:00 Maruyama had enough. He has no reasonable moves and can only wait helplessly until his king is smoked out of the anaguma. A game that Maruyama would rather forget, as it made him look pretty bad, showing both technical and psychological weaknesses. He needs to change a lot if he wants to have a chance of keeping Habu from winning his 13th consecutive Kio title. In other shogi news: ==================== * Kubo is the first player to promote in the Junisen. However, he needed the help of Suzuki Daisuke to make sure of his debut in the A class next year as he lost his 10th round game against Fukaura. Suzuki beat Kubo's promotion rival Inoue to keep his own promotion chances alive and that was enough for Kubo to promote with an 8-2 score. The second spot in the top class will be for either Inoue or Suzuki (both 7-3) with an outside chance for Senzaki at 6-4. Senzaki's nerves seemed to have gotten the better of him as his game against Nakamura first ended in sennichite and he couldn't find a way to attack Nakamura's strange piece formation in the replay. In the final round Inoue plays Takahashi and Suzuki plays Kubo, which seems to give Inoue a slight edge. However, Takahashi desperately needs the win to avoid relegation to B2, so this is not going to be an easy game for Inoue. * In B2 the 9th round was played. No decision in this class yet, but there are only three players left with a chance to promote: Nakagawa, Kitahama and Hatakeyama Mamoru. Nakagawa beat Hatakeyama's twin brother Nariyuki to get very close to B1, as he only has a game against veteran Ishida to play. Kitahama has a more difficult looking opponent in Tsukada, but Kitahama is famous for playing his best shogi in the Junisen, so my prediction is that these two will promote and that Hatakeyama will suffer from his bad position in the class (he only promoted from C1 last year). * In C2 Kubota had a chance to clinch promotion with one round left to play, but he lost to Akutsu in round 10. He will still promote if he wins his final game against Anyoji, but he is now fallen back to second place. The new leader in C2 is 18-year old Watanabe, who beat Ito Hirobumi. Watanabe and Kubota are the only players with 8 wins from 9 games. They are followed by Chuza (who could have clinched promotion himself but lost to promotion rival Yamasaki), Yamasaki, Hashimoto and Kawakami. The only other player with a theoretical chance to promote is Tamaru, but his loss against Ina is almost certainly too big to recover from. There are no more games between the leaders, so the natural outcome would be that Watanabe, Kubota and Chuza promote. That is, if they can keep their nerves under control. * A surprise in the red group of the Oi leagues as Meijin Moriuchi lost his first round game against Sanada. Can Sanada revive memories of the time when he challenged Tanigawa for the Ryu-O title? * In the Asahi Open tournament two quarterfinals were played. Fukaura beat Sato Yasumitsu and Aono showed why he is already safe in the A class and Morishita isn't. The other quarterfinals are Habu-Kimura and Yamasaki-Nozuki. Some interesting final match-ups are possible, but my money is on a match between Fukaura and Habu. -- 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