From: Reijer Grimbergen FU IS SAGA-U AC JP> Date: 11 jul 2003 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 1001, July 9th 2003) This week in Shukan Shogi the third game of the Kisei match between Sato and Maruyama. Rather surprisingly, this is also the last game of this Kisei match, as Sato won to end the match with a convincing 3-0 score. The game itself was also a rather one-sided affair, where Sato needed only one slip by Maruyama to take full control. Here is the game with comments: [Black "Sato Yasumitsu, Kisei"] [White "Maruyama Tadahisa, Challenger"] [Event "74th Kisei-sen, Game 3"] [Date "July 1st 2003"] 1.P7g-7f 00:00:00 00:00:00 2.P3c-3d 00:00:00 00:00:00 3.P2g-2f 00:00:00 00:00:00 4.P8c-8d 00:00:00 00:01:00 5.P2f-2e 00:00:00 00:01:00 6.P8d-8e 00:00:00 00:01:00 7.G6i-7h 00:00:00 00:01:00 8.G4a-3b 00:00:00 00:01:00 9.P2e-2d 00:00:00 00:01:00 10.P2cx2d 00:00:00 00:01:00 11.R2hx2d 00:00:00 00:01:00 12.P8e-8f 00:00:00 00:01:00 13.P8gx8f 00:00:00 00:01:00 14.R8bx8f 00:00:00 00:01:00 15.R2dx3d 00:00:00 00:01:00 16.B2b-3c 00:00:00 00:01:00 17.R3d-3f 00:02:00 00:01:00 18.S3a-2b 00:02:00 00:01:00 19.P*8g 00:05:00 00:01:00 20.R8f-8e 00:05:00 00:02:00 Another R8e Yokofudori game. One of the biggest strengths of Maruyama is that it is almost impossible to get him off his game. Whether he is 2-0 down or 2-0 up, he will not change the openings he likes or change his playing style. In contrast, Sato is quite the opposite. He is an emotional player who started this match rather nervously, but with a 2-0 lead is brimming with confidence. 21.R3f-2f 00:05:00 00:02:00 22.K5a-4a 00:05:00 00:02:00 23.K5i-6h 00:12:00 00:02:00 24.S7a-6b 00:12:00 00:03:00 25.S3i-3h 00:15:00 00:03:00 26.P7c-7d 00:15:00 00:06:00 27.P3g-3f 00:16:00 00:06:00 28.N8a-7c 00:16:00 00:07:00 29.N2i-3g 00:17:00 00:07:00 30.G6a-5a 00:17:00 00:08:00 31.P4g-4f 00:17:00 00:08:00 32.R8e-5e 00:17:00 00:34:00 33.P4f-4e 00:30:00 00:34:00 34.R5e-5d 00:30:00 00:37:00 35.B8hx3c+ 00:30:00 00:37:00 36.N2ax3c 00:30:00 00:37:00 37.P6g-6f 00:30:00 00:37:00 38.P7d-7e 00:30:00 00:44:00 39.B*8c 00:49:00 00:44:00 40.N3cx4e 00:49:00 00:54:00 This position was recognized immediately by many as it is the same position that Maruyama played in one of the big games of his career: the decisive game of the 59th Meijin match against Tanigawa. Maruyama has fond memories of this move, as he won that game and defended his Meijin title as a result of it. Of course, Sato comes well prepared. 41.N3gx4e 00:51:00 00:54:00 42.B*4f 00:51:00 00:54:00 43.G4i-5h 00:59:00 00:54:00 44.B4fx1i+ 00:59:00 00:54:00 45.P*2c 02:41:00 00:54:00 46.S2b-3a 02:41:00 00:56:00 47.P3f-3e!? 02:41:00 00:56:00 There is one other game with 40.Nx4e: a game in the Ryu-O tournament between Nakata Hiroki and Nozuki. In the meijin match game, Tanigawa played 47.N*3c here, which seems to rush the attack a little too much. On the other hand, Nakata played 45.P3e instead of 45.P*2c, which seems a bit slow. Sato has prepared a combination of these two, but it is very hard to judge if it is a real improvement. The 120 minutes thought he spent on 45.P*2c show that he is far from confident about the validness of his new idea. 48.+B1i-5e 02:41:00 01:48:00 49.B8c-5f+ 02:42:00 01:48:00 50.+B5e-4d 02:42:00 01:51:00 51.+B5f-4f 02:44:00 01:51:00 52.P7ex7f 02:44:00 02:05:00 53.S7i-8h 03:02:00 02:05:00 54.P*2a? 03:02:00 02:11:00 A typical Maruyama move. The “Gekikara-ryu”, as his style is often referred to, is about slowly removing any attacking options the opponent has and then slowly strangling him afterwards. However, in this case his style is working against him. With 54.P*2a he not only takes away the attacking possibilities of his opponent, but more importantly those of himself. Sato’s king is pretty vulnerable and Sato is more than happy that the game is now slowing down and that he has some time to strengthen his king position. A player like Tanigawa would definitely picked 54.R5e to put pressure on the knight on 4e. The variation 55.P7d +Bx4e Px7c+ +Bx4f +Px6b +Bx3e +Px5a Kx5a N*4g +Bx2f Nx5e N*4f is wild, but gives white plenty of attacking chances. 55.S3h-4g 03:06:00 02:11:00 56.K4a-5b 03:06:00 02:58:00 57.G7h-6g 03:14:00 02:58:00 58.P*3d 03:14:00 03:07:00 59.S4g-3f 03:38:00 03:07:00 60.S3a-4b 03:38:00 03:24:00 61.P5g-5f 03:39:00 03:24:00 62.L*7a 03:39:00 03:47:00 63.P*7e 03:44:00 03:47:00 64.R5d-8d 03:44:00 03:52:00 65.R2f-2i 03:48:00 03:52:00 66.P*8f 03:48:00 03:57:00 67.P8gx8f 03:48:00 03:57:00 68.P*8e 03:48:00 03:57:00 69.P5f-5e! 03:53:00 03:57:00 Sato has importantly improved his king position and now is ready to start attacking again. This pawn push is very good. It not only defends against +B5d, but also threatens N*5f. 70.P8ex8f 03:53:00 03:57:00 71.G6gx7f 03:53:00 03:57:00 72.P5c-5d 03:53:00 03:57:00 72.P8g+ looks good for white, but after 73.P*8e Nx8e Sx8g Nx9g+ P*8e black has no problems. 73.P*8e 03:53:00 03:57:00 74.N7cx8e 03:53:00 03:57:00 75.P3ex3d 03:53:00 03:57:00 76.+B4dx5e 03:53:00 03:57:00 77.+B4fx5e 03:53:00 03:57:00 78.P5dx5e 03:53:00 03:57:00 79.P2c-2b+! 03:53:00 03:57:00 The deciding move. This pawn sacrifice is times perfectly. It is important that black sacrifices this pawn first. If he does it later in the move sequence that follows, white will just ignore the pawn. 80.G3bx2b 03:53:00 03:57:00 After 80.Px2b P3c+ Sx3c Nx3c+ Gx3c black has Rx2b+. 81.P3d-3c+ 03:53:00 03:57:00 82.S4bx3c 03:53:00 03:57:00 83.P*5c 03:55:00 03:57:00 84.K5b-6a 03:55:00 03:57:00 85.N4ex3c+ 03:55:00 03:57:00 86.G2bx3c 03:55:00 03:57:00 87.R2ix2a+ 03:55:00 03:57:00 88.N*4f 03:55:00 03:58:00 89.B*9e 03:57:00 03:58:00 Resigns 03:57:00 03:59:00 If the rook moves sideways, black has mate after +Rx5a Sx5a Bx5a+ K7b G*7c. If the rook moves backwards, it will never help the attack. Also 89.Nx5h+ Kx5h leaves white without any moves. With a surprising 3-0, Sato has defended his Kisei title. Defending the Kisei title in itself is no small feat, as this title has changed hands for seven years in a row. Also, Maruyama was the favorite coming into this match, just taking the Kio title from Habu. On the other hand, Sato had just lost the Osho title and the right to challenge for the Meijin after losses in the final round of the Junisen and the play-off with Habu. Sato himself also seemed a little surprised at the relative easiness of this match. In other shogi news: ==================== * In the A Junisen class the first game of the second round was played. A class rookies Kubo and Suzuki met in a double ranging rook battle that was won by Kubo, although it was a rather up and down game. Kubo has now started very well with two wins but he will play Sato and Moriuchi in the next two rounds, which will be a real test. * In the Oza tournament Moriuchi is the final player to reach the semi-finals by beating Sugimoto. After his 4-0 defeat against Habu it was thought that he was in bad form, but Moriuchi actually has won every game he did not play against Habu this season. He will now play young Watanabe next, while the other semi-final is between Maruyama and Abe. * The line-up of the Ryu-O challenger tournament has been decided. The following players still have a chance to become Ryu-O: Sato Yasumitsu (winner group 1), Tanigawa (2nd place group 1), Moriuchi (3rd place group 1), Nakamura (3rd place group 1), Kimura (winner group 2), Nakahara (2nd place group 2), Sugimoto (winner group 3), Kubo (2nd place group 3), Kitajima (winner group 4), Yamasaki (winner group 5) and Takano (winner group 6). The challenger knock-out starts on the 14th with the game between Yamasaki and Takano. * Kitajima and Moriuchi are the first players to advance to the final 16 in the Kio tournament. Kitajima showed his great form by beating Fujii for his 12th consecutive win (this is actually not the current best record as Yamasaki has a winning streak of 17 games). Moriuchi beat Yagura to reach the final 16. 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