From: Reijer Grimbergen FU IS SAGA-U AC JP> Date: 10 jan 2003 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 974 and 975, December 25th 2002, January 1st and 8th 2003 This week two games of the Ryu-O match between Habu and Abe. Abe convincingly won game 5 to take a 3-2 lead, but Habu somehow managed to turn things around with white in game 6 to force a deciding game 7. Here are the games with comments: Black: Habu Yoshiharu, Ryu-O White: Abe Takashi, Challenger 15th Ryu-O sen, Game 5, December 18th and 19th 2002 1.P7g-7f 00:01:00 00:00:00 2.P3c-3d 00:01:00 00:02:00 3.P2g-2f 00:04:00 00:02:00 4.P8c-8d 00:04:00 00:05:00 5.P2f-2e 00:08:00 00:05:00 6.P8d-8e 00:08:00 00:06:00 7.G6i-7h 00:11:00 00:06:00 8.G4a-3b 00:11:00 00:08:00 9.P2e-2d 00:15:00 00:08:00 10.P2cx2d 00:15:00 00:08:00 11.R2hx2d 00:15:00 00:08:00 12.P8e-8f 00:15:00 00:09:00 13.P8gx8f 00:15:00 00:09:00 14.R8bx8f 00:15:00 00:09:00 15.R2dx3d 00:30:00 00:09:00 16.B2b-3c 00:30:00 00:10:00 17.R3d-3f 00:40:00 00:10:00 18.K5a-4a 00:40:00 00:13:00 19.G4i-3h 00:53:00 00:13:00 20.G6a-5a 00:53:00 01:11:00 After the convincing win in the third game, it was expected that Abe would stick to the latest variations in the Chuza-style Yokofudori. Getting back from 2-0 down must have given Abe a lot of confidence and he is challenging Habu to come up with something new in this extremely complex opening. 21.K5i-5h 01:09:00 01:11:00 22.S3a-2b 01:09:00 01:21:00 23.B8hx3c+ 02:10:00 01:21:00 24.N2ax3c 02:10:00 01:21:00 25.S7i-8h 02:10:00 01:21:00 26.R8f-8d 02:10:00 01:24:00 27.R3f-5f 02:26:00 01:24:00 An interesting black strategy that was first played about a year ago and most recently in the A class Junisen game between Tanigawa and Maruyama (Tanigawa won that game with black). The idea is that white has kept his silver on 7a to defend against a pawn drop on 8b. This relieves the rook of this duty, so this rook can still move freely on the fourth rank, defending the head of the white knight. However, 27.R5f threatens to promote the rook, so white is more or less forced to play 28.S6b, which is where the silver eventually should go. The problem is that after S6b, the white rook now has the double task of defending the 8th file and the head of the knight. In theory, this sounds all good for black and black's results with this move are pretty good (the black side won 5 out of the 8 games). However, this game shows that in the long run white hasn't much to fear. 28.S7a-6b 02:26:00 01:33:00 29.B*6f 02:27:00 01:33:00 The point. White can not keep the rook on the 4th rank, for example 30.R2d P*2f and there is no defence against P*8b next. 30.R8d-8b 02:27:00 01:41:00 31.P3g-3f 02:27:00 01:41:00 With the rook on 8b, the head of the knight on 3c becomes a target for attack. 32.P4c-4d 02:27:00 02:14:00 33.P3f-3e 02:31:00 02:14:00 34.G3b-4c 02:31:00 02:14:00 35.R5f-3f 02:35:00 02:14:00 36.B*4e 02:35:00 02:49:00 Black has forced white to drop the bishop as well, but this actually is not a big problem. The white bishop is on a much more active square than the black bishop so black needs to be very careful not to get stuck for active moves. 37.R3f-2f 04:00:00 02:49:00 38.P*2e 04:00:00 02:56:00 39.R2f-2h 04:10:00 02:56:00 40.P6c-6d 04:10:00 03:26:00 41.S3i-4h 04:27:00 03:26:00 42.P5c-5d 04:27:00 04:05:00 43.B6f-7g 04:40:00 04:05:00 44.P6d-6e 04:40:00 04:12:00 45.P*8f 05:01:00 04:12:00 46.P6e-6f 05:01:00 04:50:00 47.B7gx6f 05:01:00 04:50:00 48.S6b-5c! 05:01:00 04:50:00 The prime target for attack is point 6g and white's pawn sacrifice 46.P6f is a tesuji to speed up the activation of the silver by drawing the black bishop closer. 49.S8h-8g 05:09:00 04:50:00 50.S5c-6d 05:09:00 04:54:00 Threatens either S6e or S5e followed by P*6f. 51.N2i-3g? 05:29:00 04:54:00 A mistake that more or less ends the game. The following attack looks good, but is an illusion. Black's only option here is 51.B8h and hope that he can stop the white attack and make the pawn advantage work in his favour. 52.B4e-1b 05:29:00 05:05:00 53.N3gx2e 05:32:00 05:05:00 54.N3cx2e 05:32:00 05:25:00 55.R2hx2e 05:32:00 05:25:00 56.S6d-5e 05:32:00 05:25:00 57.B6fx5e 05:49:00 05:25:00 No choice. 57.B8h is no longer an option because of 58.P*6f Px6f N*9e. 58.P5dx5e 05:49:00 05:25:00 59.R2e-2f 05:49:00 05:25:00 Admitting failure. Black has been forced to sacrifice the bishop and has to follow that up with a move that gives white the initiative. 59.R2f is necessary because of the nasty white threat N*4f (Px4f is answered by B*3f). 60.R8b-6b! 05:49:00 06:26:00 Good move that increases the pressure on the black king. 61.S*3d 06:41:00 06:26:00 The white position looks far from solid and maybe Habu thought that there would be something for black here. However, here he realised that black has no good way to take advantage of the white weaknesses. 62.G4cx3d 06:41:00 06:34:00 63.P3ex3d 06:43:00 06:34:00 64.B1bx3d 06:43:00 06:41:00 65.G*3e!? 07:04:00 06:41:00 With his back to the wall, Habu tries his magic powers. This is objectively a questionable move, but it gives Abe a chance to play the attack wrong. 66.P*2e 07:04:00 06:54:00 67.R2f-4f!? 07:34:00 06:54:00 No time for 67.R2i because of 68.P*6f Px6f N*7d. Also 67.R6f Rx6f Px6f N*7d wins for white. Still, 67.R4f is an unbelievable move. Habu puts all his eggs in one basket in a final attempt to win the game. If Abe finds the right attack, the game will be over in an instant. 68.B3dx6g+ 07:34:00 07:19:00 69.G7hx6g 07:34:00 07:19:00 70.B*6i 07:34:00 07:19:00 71.K5h-6h 07:34:00 07:19:00 72.B6ix8g+! 07:34:00 07:33:00 The right move. 72.S*7i is very tempting, but would have thrown it all away after 73.Kx6i 74.Rx6g+ 75.Kx7i 76.N*9e. This looks winning but after 77.Rx4d 78.P*4b 79.N*3c Abe would have fallen in Habu's trap. 80.Sx2c is answered by B*2c and 80.K5b by B*3d, in both cases winning the rook on 6g. Abe not only had to calculate this correctly, he also needed to worry about 73.B*9f in reply to 72.Bx8g+. Fortunately for him, he had enough time to find the win. 73.P*6c 07:34:00 07:33:00 74.R6bx6c 07:34:00 07:33:00 75.P*6d 07:34:00 07:33:00 76.R6cx6d 07:34:00 07:37:00 77.P*6e 07:34:00 07:37:00 78.R6dx6e 07:34:00 07:37:00 79.P*6f 07:34:00 07:37:00 80.S*6i! 07:34:00 07:37:00 Winning. At any of the pawn sacrifices on the 6th file Rx4d instead is pointless after P*4c Rx4c+ P*4b. 81.B*9f 07:37:00 07:37:00 82.+B8gx9f 07:37:00 07:37:00 83.P9gx9f 07:37:00 07:37:00 84.B*8g 07:37:00 07:37:00 Resigns 07:52:00 07:37:00 The final thing that Abe had to find was the right way to deal with 85.G7g which looks like a possible defence. White then has 86.P*6g Kx6g N*7e!, which leads to mate after Px7e S*7f K6h (Gx7f B7h+) Sx7g+ Kx7g Rx7e. Habu took 15 minutes to make sure that there is no magic left in his position. A very convincing victory for Abe, who wins his third game in a row and is now very close to taking the Ryu-O title from Habu. A development very few will have predicted when Abe became challenger. Here is game 6 with comments: Black: Abe Takashi, Challenger White: Habu Yoshiharu, Ryu-O 15th Ryu-O sen, Game 6, December 26th and 27th 2002 1.P7g-7f 00:01:00 00:00:00 2.P8c-8d 00:01:00 00:05:00 3.G6i-7h 00:04:00 00:05:00 4.G4a-3b 00:04:00 00:07:00 5.S7i-6h 00:07:00 00:07:00 6.P3c-3d 00:07:00 00:10:00 7.P6g-6f 00:07:00 00:10:00 8.S7a-6b 00:07:00 00:12:00 9.P5g-5f 00:09:00 00:12:00 10.P5c-5d 00:09:00 00:14:00 11.S3i-4h 00:10:00 00:14:00 12.S3a-4b 00:10:00 00:19:00 13.G4i-5h 00:12:00 00:19:00 14.K5a-4a 00:12:00 00:25:00 15.K5i-6i 00:13:00 00:25:00 16.P7c-7d 00:13:00 00:27:00 17.G5h-6g 00:18:00 00:27:00 18.G6a-5b 00:18:00 00:40:00 19.S6h-7g 00:19:00 00:40:00 20.S4b-3c 00:19:00 00:43:00 21.B8h-7i 00:20:00 00:43:00 22.B2b-3a 00:20:00 00:45:00 23.P3g-3f 00:21:00 00:45:00 24.P4c-4d 00:21:00 00:50:00 25.B7i-6h 01:14:00 00:50:00 26.G5b-4c 01:14:00 02:15:00 27.K6i-7i 01:15:00 02:15:00 28.B3a-6d 01:15:00 02:16:00 29.N2i-3g 01:43:00 02:16:00 30.K4a-3a 01:43:00 02:16:00 31.R2h-3h 01:43:00 02:16:00 32.K3a-2b 01:43:00 02:17:00 33.K7i-8h 02:04:00 02:17:00 Except for the very first game, the opening in this match has been quite predictable. Yagura in the games where Abe has black and Yokofudori in the games where Habu has black. After the gruelling game 4, Habu seems to have lost confidence in the early edge attack he played against Abe's Morishita System. In this game he plays a very orthodox Yagura opening. 34.P8d-8e 02:04:00 02:31:00 35.P2g-2f 02:31:00 02:31:00 36.S6b-5c 02:31:00 02:42:00 37.S4h-5g 02:46:00 02:42:00 38.S3c-2d 02:46:00 02:53:00 39.S5g-4f 03:21:00 02:53:00 40.P9c-9d 03:21:00 03:09:00 41.P1g-1f 03:25:00 03:09:00 42.P1c-1d 03:25:00 03:14:00 43.L1i-1h 03:32:00 03:14:00 44.P9d-9e 03:32:00 04:03:00 45.P6f-6e 04:00:00 04:03:00 46.B6d-7c 04:00:00 04:05:00 47.N3g-2e 04:00:00 04:05:00 48.S5c-4b 04:00:00 04:12:00 This is a position that Abe has played before. In a 1997 Junisen game he played the black pieces against Ono. There it followed 49.P5e Px5e P1e Px1e P3e P4e Sx4e Px3e P7e and in the end white won. Other moves that have been tried are 49.P3e and 49.P1e. 49.P5f-5e 05:27:00 04:12:00 Abe plays the same move he played against Ono. It is highly likely that he had some improvement of the black play, but we will not know that in this game. 50.P4d-4e 05:27:00 04:46:00 Habu is the one who varies first. After 50.Px5e black can play 50.P3e or 50.P1e which is also playable for both sides. In other positions, 50.P4e is a common response to a black pawn push, but in this position it took Abe completely by surprise. 51.S4fx4e 05:30:00 04:46:00 52.B7cx5e 05:30:00 04:46:00 53.P4g-4f!? 06:12:00 04:46:00 Hard to play as it seems that white can now just exchange the pawns on the 8th file after 54.P8f Px8f Rx8f. However, Habu said after the game that he was in trouble after P4f. He might have been counting on 53.B4f Bx4f Px4f P*4d S5f B*2g which favours white. 54.B5e-7c 06:12:00 06:13:00 Played after 87 long minutes. It is unclear why Habu didn't play 54.P8f here. After 54.B7c, white wins a silver, but black gets a very strong attack in the centre. No way of telling who has the advantage. 55.S7g-6f 06:13:00 06:13:00 56.P8e-8f 06:13:00 06:14:00 57.P8gx8f 06:16:00 06:14:00 58.P5d-5e 06:16:00 06:14:00 59.B6h-7g 06:26:00 06:14:00 60.P*4d 06:26:00 06:29:00 61.S6fx5e 06:26:00 06:29:00 62.P4dx4e 06:26:00 06:29:00 63.P4fx4e 06:26:00 06:29:00 64.S4b-3c 06:26:00 06:46:00 65.S5e-4d 06:37:00 06:46:00 66.S2dx2e 06:37:00 07:08:00 67.P2fx2e 06:39:00 07:08:00 68.S*4g 06:39:00 07:08:00 69.R3h-6h? 06:46:00 07:08:00 An important mistake. Correct was 69.R3i B2h+ R7i (R5i seems to fail to Gx4d Px4d S*5h, but even that is difficult to judge) Gx4d Px4d N*5e G*4c Sx4d Gx4d P*8e Px8e N7c which results in a difficult position. 70.N*5f 06:46:00 07:10:00 71.S*4a? 07:02:00 07:10:00 The second mistake in a row changes the black position from questionable to losing. Here 71.Sx4c+ was the only way to stay in the game. After 72.Gx4c, black can choose between 73.S*4d Nx6h+ G6gx6h S*3b Sx4c+ Sx4c G*5c S*3b P4d or 73.R6i S5h= R2i S*6i. Both variations are far from easy for white. This might have been a moment where the pressure of becoming Ryu-O title holder might have clouded Abe's judgement. 72.N5fx6h+ 07:02:00 07:12:00 73.S4ax3b+ 07:02:00 07:12:00 74.K2bx3b 07:02:00 07:12:00 75.G6gx6h 07:02:00 07:12:00 76.R*5i 07:02:00 07:16:00 77.N*5e 07:14:00 07:16:00 78.G4cx4d 07:14:00 07:36:00 79.P4ex4d 07:15:00 07:36:00 80.R5ix5e+?! 07:15:00 07:36:00 Strange. The general opinion in the press room was that 80.Sx4d would win easily here. For example, 81.G*4c K2b Nx6c+ B5e and here Habu feared G*6i, but after R2i+ Gx4d S*6f is winning for white. 81.G*4c 07:32:00 07:36:00 82.K3b-2b 07:32:00 07:36:00 83.P*5b? 07:39:00 07:36:00 A desperate attempt at trying to keep the white king contained, but this overlooks white's reply. Better was 83.Bx5e Bx5e N7g B*4f and even though it seems white is still winning, black has more chances of setting up a good attack than in the game. 84.+R5ex2e! 07:39:00 07:41:00 Now the white king can escape up the board and there is no way for black to prevent this. 85.P*2f 07:50:00 07:41:00 86.+R2ex3f 07:50:00 07:48:00 87.P*3b 07:53:00 07:48:00 88.N*6f 07:53:00 07:52:00 89.P3b-3a+ 07:54:00 07:52:00 90.N6fx7h+ 07:54:00 07:52:00 91.G6hx7h 07:54:00 07:52:00 92.S*6i 07:54:00 07:52:00 93.G*6h 07:56:00 07:52:00 94.S6ix7h+ 07:56:00 07:53:00 95.G6hx7h 07:56:00 07:53:00 96.P*8g 07:56:00 07:54:00 97.K8hx8g 07:56:00 07:54:00 98.S*6i 07:56:00 07:56:00 99.S*6g 07:59:00 07:56:00 100.K2b-1c!? 07:59:00 07:57:00 This move shows how important it is for Habu to win this game. The professional way of playing this position is attacking the black can as soon as you are convinced that your attack is one move faster than your opponent's. However, in this special case Habu opts for a tactic that strong amateurs often play: rather than winning, make a position from which it is impossible to lose. The game will last longer, but Abe gets no chance to turn the tables. 101.+P3ax2a 07:59:00 07:57:00 102.K1c-2d 07:59:00 07:57:00 103.B7g-6h 07:59:00 07:57:00 104.B7c-4f 07:59:00 07:57:00 105.B6hx4f 07:59:00 07:57:00 106.+R3fx4f 07:59:00 07:57:00 Resigns 07:59:00 07:57:00 In this position without hope Abe resigned. A game that will be remembered for the pressure upon both players rather than the playing level. Abe will be disappointed that he was not able to convert a promising middle game position. However, he will get another chance in the decisive game. Habu or Abe, who will be the next Ryu-O? In other shogi news: ==================== * Habu may look vulnerable these days, he still manages to pull out the big ones. In the Osho play-off game he played an up and down game with Goda, but in the end prevailed. He will now get a chance to take the Osho title back from Sato, a match that will start on January 15th. * Goda will not have happy memories about the final week of 2002, as he also failed to clinch the right to challenge Habu in the Kio tournament. A win against Maruyama would have done it, but it was not to be. As Maruyama came from the second chance round, he and Goda will now play another game to decide the challenger of Habu. * In B1 round 8 was played and Kubo seems certain to make his debut in the top class next year. He beat Minami to get to 7-1 and only needs to win two games from the last three to promote. He is followed only by Senzaki and Inoue at 6-2. If Inoue loses against Senzaki in the next round, a win by Kubo is enough to clinch promotion. Fukaura and Suzuki follow at 5-3, but their low Junisen position makes promotion highly unlikely. One problem for Kubo: in the final three rounds he plays Abe, Fukaura and Suzuki. Very tough opponents indeed. * In B2 round 7 was played and Nakagawa seems to be determined to make life hard for himself. Just when he had taken the sole lead with a high position in the class, he loses against veteran Naito, allowing five players to catch up: Kitahama, Izumi, Naito and Hatakeyama Mamoru. Neither of these players looks a certain promotion to B1, but the field at 4-3 is also far from impressive, except for Kimura, who won his fourth game in a row. He will be kicking himself for his bad start, as 7-3 and a low Junisen position is almost certainly not enough for promotion unless some very strange things happen in the final three rounds. * In the C2 Junisen round 8 was played. Not much changed in the leader board as Kubota won kept his perfect score (7-0) with a win against Sakurai. He is followed by Chuza, Watanabe, Hashimoto, Kawakami and Iijima who all have 6-1. Tamura suffered a painful loss against Kawakami to drop back to 6-2, where Chiba joined him by beating Ono. With three rounds left to play, these seem to be the players who still have a chance to promote. * In the Kisei leagues the first games where played. A-group: Goda-Moriuchi 1-0, Kato-Katsumata 1-0; B-group: Maruyama-Nakahara 1-0, Shima-Kobayashi Hiroshi (5d) 0-1; C-group: Kubo-Sugimoto 0-1, Yonenaga-Suzuki 0-1; D-group: Kimura-Habu 1-0, Miura-Kamiya 0-1. Already some surprises, as Shima and Habu lost, but they both will get another chance to stay in the challenger race. * The Asahi Open tournament is nearing its final stages with four of the eight quarterfinalists decided. Last year the tournament was a showcase for young players, ending in a final between Sugimoto and Horiguchi. However, this year the established players seem to have the upper hand as Sato, Aono, Morishita and Habu advanced. A complete A class quarterfinal is still possible as the other games are Fujii-Fukaura, Maruyama-Kimura, Shima-Yamasaki and Miura-Nozuki. More next week, Reijer