From: "'Gary Whelan'" ENTERMAIL NET> Date: 14 mar 2003 Subject: Re: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 984, March 12th 2003) I think it's a shame that Goda had to be relegated when he did no worse than the others who scored 4-5. I'm still not clear on the reason. Is it because he is most junior player of the group? Is it because the others finsished their games before his game was finished? This week in Shukan Shogi the 4th game of the Kio match between Habu and Maruyama. With a lot of patience and a little bit of luck, Maruyama managed to win the game and take the match to a decisive 5th game. Here is the game with comments: [Black "Maruyama Tadahisa, Challenger"] [White "Habu Yoshiharu, Kio"] [Event "28th Kio-sen, Game 4"] [Date "March 5th 2003"] 1.P7g-7f 00:00:00 00:00:00 2.P8c-8d 00:00:00 00:01:00 3.P2g-2f 00:00:00 00:01:00 4.G4a-3b 00:00:00 00:02:00 5.G6i-7h 00:00:00 00:02:00 6.P8d-8e 00:00:00 00:02:00 7.B8h-7g 00:00:00 00:02:00 8.P3c-3d 00:00:00 00:02:00 9.S7i-8h 00:00:00 00:02:00 10.B2bx7g+ 00:00:00 00:02:00 In game 2 Habu played the Shikenbisha, but this time he is meeting Maruyama head on. The Kakugawari is Maruyama's favourite opening with black. 11.S8hx7g 00:00:00 00:02:00 12.S3a-4b 00:00:00 00:02:00 13.P9g-9f 00:00:00 00:02:00 14.P9c-9d 00:00:00 00:02:00 15.S3i-3h 00:00:00 00:02:00 16.S7a-7b 00:00:00 00:02:00 17.P4g-4f 00:00:00 00:02:00 18.P6c-6d 00:00:00 00:02:00 19.S3h-4g 00:00:00 00:02:00 20.S7b-6c 00:00:00 00:02:00 21.K5i-6h 00:00:00 00:02:00 22.K5a-4a 00:00:00 00:03:00 23.P1g-1f 00:00:00 00:03:00 24.P1c-1d 00:00:00 00:03:00 25.K6h-7i 00:02:00 00:03:00 26.K4a-3a 00:02:00 00:03:00 27.S4g-5f 00:12:00 00:03:00 28.S6c-5d 00:12:00 00:03:00 29.P6g-6f 00:12:00 00:03:00 30.P4c-4d 00:12:00 00:03:00 31.G4i-5h 00:12:00 00:03:00 32.G6a-5b 00:12:00 00:03:00 33.P3g-3f 00:12:00 00:03:00 34.P7c-7d 00:12:00 00:03:00 35.N2i-3g 00:21:00 00:03:00 36.N8a-7c 00:21:00 00:03:00 37.P2f-2e 00:25:00 00:03:00 38.S4b-3c 00:25:00 00:03:00 39.P4f-4e 00:27:00 00:03:00 40.P4dx4e 00:27:00 00:03:00 41.P3f-3e 00:28:00 00:03:00 42.S3c-4d 00:28:00 00:03:00 43.P2e-2d?! 00:30:00 00:03:00 The main line is to sacrifice pawns on 1e and 7e before exchanging pawns on the 2nd file. Of course, Maruyama knows this, but he has prepared something in a line that is less well known. 44.P2cx2d 00:30:00 00:03:00 45.R2hx2d 00:30:00 00:03:00 46.P*2c 00:30:00 00:03:00 47.R2d-2h 00:30:00 00:03:00 48.P6d-6e 00:30:00 00:28:00 49.P6fx6e 00:44:00 00:28:00 50.P8e-8f 00:44:00 00:51:00 51.P8gx8f 00:49:00 00:51:00 52.P7d-7e 00:49:00 00:53:00 53.P*2b!? 02:28:00 00:53:00 The Reclining Silver variation of the Kakugawari has been analysed so deeply that new moves are often played very late in the game. So far the position is identical to the position in a game that Maruyama and Habu played 10 years ago. There are two moves that are considered the main line here: 53.S6f and 53.P1e (with or without the pawn exchange on 8f). 53.S6f is good for white after 54.P9e Px9e P*9g Lx9g Rx8f (or P8f Px8f Rx8f if the pawns have not yet been exchanged) B*6a (P*8g R8a followed by N8e gives white an unstoppable attack) G5b-4c P*8g R8b P9d N8e. However, 53.P1e is also not very appealing for black as 54.Nx6e S6f Px7f (or P8f Px8f Px7f if the pawns have not been exchanged) P*2b P7g+ Sx7g Nx7g+ Gx7g P*7f Gx7f P*7e G7g S*7f G5b-6g ends in sennichite (Sx7g+ Gx7g G*7f etc.). The problem for black is that his pawn drop on 2b is simply ignored. Maruyama's idea is to play this pawn drop at a time when it can't be ignored. This certainly improves the black position, but this game seems to show that white still can get the upper hand. 54.K3ax2b 02:28:00 01:18:00 55.P1f-1e 02:28:00 01:18:00 56.N7cx6e 02:28:00 01:43:00 57.S7g-6f 03:15:00 01:43:00 58.P*8h 03:15:00 01:47:00 59.K7ix8h 03:15:00 01:47:00 60.P7ex7f 03:15:00 01:47:00 61.P1ex1d 03:15:00 01:47:00 62.P7f-7g+ 03:15:00 02:06:00 63.S6fx7g 03:15:00 02:06:00 64.N6ex7g+ 03:15:00 02:06:00 65.G7hx7g 03:15:00 02:06:00 66.P*7f 03:15:00 02:06:00 67.G7gx7f 03:15:00 02:06:00 68.P*7e 03:15:00 02:07:00 69.G7f-7g 03:15:00 02:07:00 70.S*7f 03:15:00 02:07:00 71.P1d-1c+ 03:18:00 02:07:00 72.L1ax1c 03:18:00 02:15:00 73.L1ix1c+ 03:24:00 02:15:00 74.N2ax1c 03:24:00 02:20:00 75.P*1d 03:24:00 02:20:00 The critical position. If black gets the time to play Px1c+ followed by +Px2c, the white position collapses. Can white use the two moves he has to give his attack decisive power? 76.S7fx7g+ 03:24:00 03:04:00 Habu took a long time for a move that the commentators thought obvious. The conclusion in the press room was: 76.Sx7g+ Nx7g (Kx7g L*7f K6h Rx8f wins because it threatens mate after G*6i) P*8g (not B*6i Px1c+ K3a P*7h and it is hard to find a good move) K7h L*2d! and white wins because the black attack is slowed down too much after Px1c+ K3a P*2e. Habu didn't like the position after P*2e, but it seems Rx8f P*8i P7f Px2d P8h+ Px8h B*8i is winning for white. 77.N8ix7g 03:24:00 03:04:00 78.L*2f!? 03:24:00 03:20:00 A big surprise for everyone. If Habu would have won this game, it would have been considered a brilliant move. It is not bad, as it seems that white can still win with it. However, in hindsight Habu would probably have preferred to play the line with L*2d given above. 79.R2hx2f 03:51:00 03:20:00 No choice. After 79.R1h P*8g K7h B*3f white wins. 80.B*6i 03:51:00 03:20:00 The first point of forcing the rook to 2f is that white can now take the gold on 5h at any convenient moment. The second point is that black can't play 81.G6h because of 82.Rx8f K7i P*6g! (Bx8g+? P*7h gives black chances to get back in the game) and because the rook is hanging on 2f, black can't take this pawn with the silver. Furthermore, white also wins after Kx6i Px6h+. 81.P1dx1c+ 03:51:00 03:20:00 82.K2b-3a 03:51:00 03:20:00 83.S*7h 03:51:00 03:20:00 84.P*8g 03:51:00 03:37:00 85.S7hx8g 03:51:00 03:37:00 86.G*7f 03:51:00 03:40:00 87.N*7i 03:51:00 03:40:00 88.G7fx8g 03:51:00 03:40:00 89.N7ix8g 03:51:00 03:40:00 90.S*7f 03:51:00 03:41:00 91.N*7i 03:54:00 03:41:00 92.R8bx8f? 03:54:00 03:56:00 An uncharacteristic blunder in the endgame. Habu takes 15 minutes, but is unable to find the hidden win he had in this position. 92.Sx8g+ Nx8g N*7f K9h Rx8f G*9g B7h+ P*8i N8h+! and now Px8h is answered by Rx5f R2i R2f! and white wins. 93.P*7h 03:54:00 03:56:00 Now white is unable to keep threatening mate and black gets the time to take over the attack. 94.B6ix5h+ 03:54:00 03:56:00 95.+P1cx2c 03:54:00 03:56:00 96.P9d-9e 03:54:00 03:57:00 97.+P2cx3b 03:56:00 03:57:00 98.K3ax3b 03:56:00 03:57:00 99.B*2c 03:56:00 03:57:00 100.K3b-4c 03:56:00 03:57:00 101.B2cx3d+ 03:56:00 03:57:00 102.K4c-4b 03:56:00 03:57:00 103.R2f-2b+ 03:56:00 03:57:00 104.P*3b 03:56:00 03:57:00 105.+B3d-2d 03:56:00 03:57:00 106.G*3c 03:56:00 03:57:00 107.P*4c! 03:56:00 03:57:00 Winning. 108.Gx4c is answered by G*6b, 108.Kx4c by G*3d Gx3d (K4b Gx3c) G*4b Gx4b +Bx3d and 108.K5a by G*7b. 108.S5dx4c 03:56:00 03:57:00 109.+B2d-1c 03:56:00 03:57:00 Moves the attacked bishop and threatens mate at the same time. The black attack isn't slowed down at all. 110.R8f-8a 03:56:00 03:57:00 111.P*8b 03:56:00 03:57:00 112.R8a-7a 03:56:00 03:59:00 113.L*7d 03:56:00 03:59:00 114.P*2a 03:56:00 03:59:00 115.+R2b-2h 03:58:00 03:59:00 This makes the black position completely safe. 116.S7fx8g= 03:58:00 03:59:00 117.N7ix8g 03:58:00 03:59:00 Resigns 03:58:00 03:59:00 Habu has no choice but to resign, even though he still has four generals around his king while Maruyama has only two knights. Maruyama now levels the match at two games all and is only one win away from pulling off an amazing comeback. Judging from this game, he seems to have luck on his side at the moment. Will this last long enough to take the Kio title from Habu? In other shogi news: ================ * The final round of the A class Junisen is always a great spectacle as there is a lot of television coverage. Following this live is a great treat, as there are five top level games going on at the same time, so there is always something interesting happening somewhere. This year the class was exceptionally tight, with only two players with nothing left to play for in the final round. As Richard Sams already reported, Sato lost his final game against Goda, so there will be a three-player play-off between Sato, Habu and Fujii. Goda was the MVP of the day, and it most have been very hard for him to hear that he was relegated to B1 despite his 4-5 score and great performance on the final day. He will be accompanied by Morishita, who dropped out of the top class after 9 years. He never got his game going this season despite a win against Habu. Shukan Shogi reports that this might be caused by a chronic physical problem, caused by a nerve connected to his hipbone, which makes it painful to sit. Indeed an inconvenient injury for a professional shogi player. * In the B2 Junisen class the final round was played. No surprises in this class, as leaders Nakagawa and Kitahama won to promote to B1. Nakagawa has been very close to promotion for a number of years and this year he finally made it. On the other hand, Kitahama at 27 is going to be the youngest player in the top two classes. His name rarely comes up in other tournaments, but he is always great in the Junisen promotion races. It will be interesting to see if this also will be true in B1. The promotion of Nakagawa and Kitahama was bad news for Hatakeyama Mamoru, who also finished with 8-2, but didn't promote because his Junisen position was too low, as he just promoted to B2 last year. He will spend at least another year in B2 with his twin brother Nariyuki. * In C1 also no surprises as Horiguchi and Sugimoto won their games to stay on top and promote to B2. Horiguchi didn't have much problems to beat Ogura, but Sugimoto had to work very hard to beat Katsumata after a huge opening advantage almost slipped away. This would have been very hard on Sugimoto, as he had beaten all of his promotion rivals. However, when it mattered most he showed why he is considered to be a player whose strength is far beyond the class he is playing in. A well-deserved promotion that left Yashiki one step short for the second year in a row. -- 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