From: Reijer Grimbergen FU IS SAGA-U AC JP> Date: 13 jun 2003 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 995-997, May 28th-June 11th 2003) In this Shukan Shogi report the final game of the Meijin match between Moriuchi and Habu. This game was played in two parts, as the first game ended in sennichite. The press had to wait a long time, but luckily for them Habu won, so they could interview the new Meijin after the game (at about 3:30 in the morning). Here are the two games with comments: [Black "Habu Yoshiharu, Challenger"] [White "Moriuchi Toshiyuki, Meijin"] [Event "61st Meijin-sen, Game 4"] [Date "May 19th and 20th 2003"] 1.P7g-7f 00:00:00 00:00:00 2.P8c-8d 00:00:00 00:03:00 3.P1g-1f 00:03:00 00:03:00 The early pawn push on the edge is a move often used by Furibisha players these days. It limits the options of the opponent. If white does not answer with P1d, then black can extend with P1e and if white does answer with P1d, then black has the option of abandoning the Furibisha and play a bogin attack instead, which is much more powerful with the white pawn on 1d. 4.P3c-3d 00:03:00 00:11:00 5.P6g-6f 00:05:00 00:11:00 6.P8d-8e 00:05:00 00:12:00 7.B8h-7g 00:07:00 00:12:00 8.P1c-1d 00:07:00 00:12:00 White has made sure that black does not have a bogin attack anymore, because the bishop is now on 7g. However, black does have the option now of playing any Furibisha opening. Especially Mukaibisha with 9.R8h is now a very strong option. 9.R2h-6h 00:15:00 00:12:00 Habu opts for the Shikenbisha, which is of course also good. Habu does not play this opening with black that much, but his convincing victory with this opening in game 3 must have given him the confidence to play it again. If he can win with white, he should be able to win with black, right? 10.S7a-6b 00:15:00 00:14:00 11.S3i-3h 00:22:00 00:14:00 12.K5a-4b 00:22:00 00:14:00 13.S7i-7h 00:30:00 00:14:00 14.K4b-3b 00:30:00 00:14:00 15.S7h-6g 00:32:00 00:14:00 16.P5c-5d 00:32:00 00:26:00 17.G6i-5h 00:47:00 00:26:00 18.S6b-5c 00:47:00 01:04:00 19.P4g-4f 01:15:00 01:04:00 20.P7c-7d 01:15:00 01:06:00 21.K5i-4h 01:17:00 01:06:00 22.G6a-5b 01:17:00 01:08:00 23.K4h-3i 01:42:00 01:08:00 24.S5c-6d 01:42:00 01:16:00 25.K3i-2h 02:36:00 01:16:00 26.P7d-7e 02:36:00 01:20:00 The Quick Attack is a very powerful strategy for white as the data of professional games show. This position appeared in 19 games so far and the Ibisha side won no less than 16 of them. Moreover, the only Furibisha player winning against this attack is Kubo, who won all three games in which he had to defend against this attack. All other Furibisha players lost. 27.R6h-7h 02:39:00 01:20:00 28.G5b-4b 02:39:00 01:47:00 This castle is less conventional than the Lozenge, but very strong. The Ibisha side won all three games in which this castle was played. 29.P9g-9f!? 03:57:00 01:47:00 A new move. This is a very subtle waiting move. It leaves no weaknesses and Habu wants to play L9g next, which would make it more difficult for white to pick up the lance after the position is opened up. 30.P7ex7f 03:57:00 03:16:00 The end of the first day and the move that most people expected. 31.S6gx7f 03:59:00 03:16:00 32.R8b-7b 03:59:00 03:17:00 33.B7g-8h 04:01:00 03:17:00 34.B2b-3c 04:01:00 04:07:00 Here white has a number of alternatives like 34.P*7g and 34.S6e. Habu intended to play 34.P*7g Rx7g Bx6f S6g Bx7g+ Bx7g S2b B*8c or 34.S6e Px6e Bx8h+ Rx8h Rx7f S*7g R7d P*7f which both lead to unclear positions. 35.G5h-6h 05:06:00 04:07:00 36.P9c-9d 05:06:00 05:01:00 37.S7fx8e 05:54:00 05:01:00 Positive play. 38.R7b-8b 05:54:00 06:30:00 Moriuchi sees that 38.Rx7h+ Gx7h R*7e N7g P*7f R*8b is good for black. 39.P8g-8f 06:56:00 06:30:00 40.N8a-7c 06:56:00 06:39:00 41.S8e-7f 06:56:00 06:39:00 42.R8bx8f 06:56:00 06:45:00 43.G6h-7g 06:56:00 06:45:00 44.R8fx7f 06:56:00 07:13:00 45.G7gx7f 06:56:00 07:13:00 46.S*8g 06:56:00 07:13:00 47.G7f-7g 06:59:00 07:13:00 48.S8gx7h+ 06:59:00 07:17:00 49.G7gx7h 06:59:00 07:17:00 50.P*8g 06:59:00 07:17:00 51.G7hx8g 07:00:00 07:17:00 52.R*6i 07:00:00 07:29:00 53.S*7h 07:06:00 07:29:00 54.R6i-6h+ 07:06:00 07:38:00 55.R*5h! 07:06:00 07:38:00 The reflex move is 55.P*7i, but this removes the option of P*7d. 55.R*5h is much better and the general feeling was that black was ahead here. However, things are far from easy. 56.+R6hx5h 07:06:00 07:49:00 57.G4ix5h 07:06:00 07:49:00 58.S6d-7e 07:06:00 07:49:00 59.R*7d! 07:21:00 07:49:00 A mistake would be 59.R*7a P*8f G7g Sx6f Gx6f P*7g Bx7g R*7i G6h P8g+ Sx8g N8e and white has a strong attack. The point of 59.R*7d is that in this variation black can defend against R*7i by B8h. 60.S7e-6d 07:21:00 07:54:00 61.R7d-8d 07:42:00 07:54:00 62.S6d-7e 07:42:00 07:55:00 63.R8d-7d 07:53:00 07:55:00 This leads to sennichite, which was a big surprise to the professionals in the press room. The general opinion was that 63.R8c+ would be good for black. Only after careful analysis the following variation was found: 64.Bx6f +Rx7c Bx8h+ Gx8h B*5e +R8c R*8f +Rx8f Sx8f P*7g P*8g which is good for white. 64.S7e-6d 07:53:00 07:55:00 65.R7d-8d 07:53:00 07:55:00 66.S6d-7e 07:53:00 07:55:00 67.R8d-7d 07:53:00 07:55:00 68.S7e-6d 07:53:00 07:56:00 69.R7d-8d 07:53:00 07:56:00 70.S6d-7e 07:53:00 07:56:00 71.R8d-7d 07:53:00 07:56:00 Sennichite 07:53:00 07:56:00 Habu did not like his castle and decided to settle for a replay with reversed colors. The game ended at 7:59 in the evening and after one hour of rest, the replay starts. [Black "Moriuchi Toshiyuki, Meijin"] [White "Habu Yoshiharu, Challenger"] [Event "61st Meijin-sen, Replay Game 4"] [Date "May 19th and 20th 2003"] 1.P7g-7f 07:00:00 00:00:00 2.P3c-3d 07:00:00 06:58:00 3.P2g-2f 07:00:00 06:58:00 4.P8c-8d 07:00:00 06:58:00 5.P2f-2e 07:00:00 06:58:00 6.P8d-8e 07:00:00 06:58:00 7.G6i-7h 07:00:00 06:58:00 8.G4a-3b 07:00:00 06:58:00 9.P2e-2d 07:00:00 06:58:00 10.P2cx2d 07:00:00 06:58:00 11.R2hx2d 07:00:00 06:58:00 12.P8e-8f 07:00:00 06:58:00 13.P8gx8f 07:00:00 06:58:00 14.R8bx8f 07:00:00 06:58:00 15.R2dx3d 07:00:00 06:58:00 16.B2b-3c 07:00:00 06:58:00 17.R3d-3f 07:00:00 06:58:00 18.K5a-4a 07:00:00 06:58:00 19.P*8g 07:01:00 06:58:00 20.R8f-8e 07:01:00 06:58:00 A Chuza Yokofudori. This very complicated opening usually requires a lot of difficult decisions that take a long time. Because both players only have two hours for this very important game, this becomes more a game of Russian roulette. Who will make a mistake? 21.R3f-2f 07:01:00 06:58:00 22.S3a-2b 07:01:00 06:58:00 23.K5i-6h 07:01:00 06:58:00 24.S7a-6b 07:01:00 06:59:00 25.P3g-3f 07:01:00 06:59:00 26.P5c-5d 07:01:00 07:00:00 27.S3i-3h 07:02:00 07:00:00 28.P5d-5e 07:02:00 07:01:00 29.S3h-3g 07:03:00 07:01:00 30.P7c-7d 07:03:00 07:02:00 31.S3g-4f 07:04:00 07:02:00 32.N8a-7c 07:04:00 07:04:00 33.N2i-3g 07:09:00 07:04:00 34.G6a-5b!? 07:09:00 07:05:00 Highly unusual. This gold usually goes to 5a to avoid a rook drop with check later in the game. It is highly likely that Habu prepared this at home. It is unclear from this game if this is a good move, but it definitely seems playable. 35.B8h-6f 07:17:00 07:05:00 36.P7d-7e 07:17:00 07:08:00 37.S7i-8h 07:32:00 07:08:00 38.P7ex7f 07:32:00 07:22:00 39.P*7d 07:37:00 07:22:00 40.N7c-6e 07:37:00 07:22:00 41.R2f-2i 07:38:00 07:22:00 Habu has started the attack, but Moriuchi does not seem to worry. He just plays another waiting move. 42.P*2f 07:38:00 07:56:00 43.G4i-4h 07:47:00 07:56:00 44.B3c-4d 07:47:00 08:01:00 Habu returns the favor with a couple waiting moves himself. He felt that his position would collapse if he opened the game to quickly and decided to wait instead. Having patience in an explosive position like this might have been the reason for his victory. 45.S4f-4e 08:00:00 08:01:00 46.B4d-5c 08:00:00 08:04:00 47.S4e-5d 08:04:00 08:04:00 48.B5c-6d 08:04:00 08:06:00 49.K6h-7i? 08:08:00 08:06:00 A mistake. Aono gives 49.P7c+ and after 50.Sx7c P*7e white loses the knight on 6e, while 50.Bx7c is answered by P8f (which can no longer be taken by the bishop), also aiming at the knight on 6e. 49.K7i is played with the idea that a future Bx8f is no longer a check, but probably more played from a positional perspective than out of thorough calculation. 50.P5e-5f 08:08:00 08:13:00 51.P5gx5f 08:09:00 08:13:00 52.N2a-3c 08:09:00 08:14:00 With this knight as an extra attacking force, Habu believed that his attack was unstoppable. 53.P7d-7c+ 08:36:00 08:14:00 Too late, but black has little else. The white threat P*5c can not be defended in any other way. 54.S6bx7c 08:36:00 08:15:00 55.P*7e 08:38:00 08:15:00 56.R8ex7e! 08:38:00 08:19:00 The difference. After 57.Bx7e Bx7e, the gold on 4h is attacked. 57.G4h-3h? 08:38:00 08:19:00 Played immediately, but the final mistake. The only way to fight was 57.P*7g. Moriuchi feared 58.P*5c, but after Px7f R8e Sx6e Rx6e N7g the black king has some important space on the left to run away. Things are far from easy in that position. 58.P*5g 08:38:00 08:31:00 59.B6fx7e 08:55:00 08:31:00 60.B6dx7e 08:55:00 08:31:00 61.R*8a 08:57:00 08:31:00 Looks like a good check, but... 62.G5b-5a 08:57:00 08:36:00 Simple and strong. The black rook attack has almost no power. 63.G3h-4h 08:57:00 08:36:00 64.P5g-5h+ 08:57:00 08:40:00 65.G4hx5h 08:57:00 08:40:00 66.N6e-5g+ 08:57:00 08:41:00 67.G5h-5i 08:57:00 08:41:00 68.S7c-6b! 08:57:00 08:44:00 Very strong. This not only takes away all worries of a sudden death, but it forces black to use a vital pawn in his attack. 69.P*7c 08:57:00 08:44:00 70.B*2d 08:57:00 08:49:00 71.P8g-8f 08:58:00 08:49:00 The difference of the extra pawn becomes clear after 71.P*2e Nx2e Nx2e +Nx6g and black can not defend against this check with a pawn drop (and N*3e B5g+ simply wins for white). 72.+N5g-5h 08:58:00 08:50:00 73.G7h-6h 08:58:00 08:50:00 74.+N5hx5i 08:58:00 08:50:00 75.P7c-7b+ 08:58:00 08:50:00 76.+N5i-5h 08:58:00 08:52:00 77.K7i-7h 08:58:00 08:52:00 78.B2dx6h+ 08:58:00 08:52:00 79.K7h-8g 08:58:00 08:52:00 80.P*8e 08:58:00 08:53:00 81.+P7bx6b 08:59:00 08:53:00 Moriuchi decides to be mated. 81.+Rx8e prolongs the game, but also means that the final position will look like a completely one-sided victory for black. 82.+B6hx8f 08:59:00 08:53:00 Resigns 08:59:00 08:53:00 Mate after 83.K9h G*8g Sx8g +Bx8g Kx8g G*8f K8h S*8g K7i B5g+. A grueling game in two stages that finally ended at 1:38 in the morning. The press conference of the new Meijin started at 3:30 and the party after the game ended at 4:50. A long day to end a short match that gives Habu his 4th Meijin title, his first in seven years. Moriuchi will be very disappointed to not win a single game in this match. It seems that after his loss in the second game he more or less lost hope of keeping his title. I guess that is what Habu does to you, even if you are the Meijin. In other shogi news: ================= * Maruyama is the challenger of Sato in the Kisei match. He beat Goda in the challenger final to get a shot at a double crown for the first time in his career (Maruyama already holds the Kio title). * In the Oi leagues the final round was played. In the White group Yashiki beat co-leader Ohira to win his group with a 4-1 score. On the other hand, Sato Yasumitsu lost his third game in a row against Nakagawa to drop out of the league for the first time in years. In the Red group Habu rubbed some extra salt in the Meijin wound by beating Moriuchi again (that’s five in a row) to win the group. He needed the help of Hirafuji, though, as Ogura still had a chance to reach a play-off with Habu. However, Ogura lost and we will now have a challenger game between Habu and Yashiki on June 16th to decide the challenger of Tanigawa. * The new Junisen season started with the first games in the A class. This year’s A-class has an unusual high number of Furibisha specialists (Fujii, Kubo and Suzuki), which means that we can expect a couple of top level Ai-Furibisha fights. The first one was between Fujii and Suzuki, which surprisingly ended in a victory for A-class rookie Suzuki. Fujii, who was considered a favorite to challenge the Meijin this year, already faces an uphill struggle. The other rookie Kubo also had a good start with a win against Shima. The other game that was played between Tanigawa and Miura ended in a victory for Tanigawa. * In B1 the first round was played. This class has not been the strongest class over the years and very often players promoted after spending only one year in this class. However, this year is probably going to be different. Rookies Kitahama and Nakagawa are strong players, but it seems unlikely that they keep up the marathon promotion race (B1 has 12 games) with players like Goda, Morishita, Inoue, Fukaura, Senzaki and Abe. I am pretty sure that two out of these six will play in the top class this year. Therefore, the first round wins of Fukaura against Senzaki and Abe against Inoue are already very important. Morishita also won (against Kato) and Goda didn’t have to play in this class with an uneven number of players. Kitahama seems to prove me right with a loss against Takahashi, but Nakagawa started his campaign well with a win against Nakamura. * In the quarterfinals of the challenger tournament of the Oza there was big surprise as prodigy Watanabe beat Kisei Sato Yasumitsu to reach the final four. He will play either Moriuchi or Sugimoto next. In the other half of the draw Maruyama beat Fujii and he will play the winner of the game between Abe and Morishita. * The amateurs are again doing well in their encounters with the professionals in the first round of the Asahi Open tournament. It wasn’t as shocking as the 7-3 pounding the professionals suffered last year, but four wins out of nine games still shows that the top amateurs can play on even terms with the 4-dan pros. The result might even have been better if Takeuchi hadn’t made the unbelievable blunder to lose on time when he went to the restroom in byoyomi. His position was overwhelming against Sasaki but this didn’t matter as his time was running out while taking a leak. The amateurs that won were Kiriyama, Koizumi, Amano and Shinoda. Kiriyama was especially happy as his victory against Nishio was his first one against a pro in seven games. Moreover, he now gets the chance to play Morishita in the next round! With this long Shukan Shogi report, I am now back on schedule. Starting next week, I hope I can mail the reports again at the normal pace of once a 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