From: Richard Sams parkcity ne jp> Date: 27 oct 2003 Subject: RYUO GAME 1 - SHUKAN SHOGI REPORT The report on the 1st game of the Ryuo Title Match in the October 29 edition of Shukan Shogi provides a summary of the lines considered by Habu and Moriuchi in the post-mortem. Here is the score of Game 1 again, incorporating this analysis and the post-match comments of Fujii 9-dan and Shima 8-dan. (Times in brackets) Black White Habu Moriuchi 1. P-7f 2. P-3d (1) 3. P-2f (1) 4. P-4d 5. P-2e (3) 6. B-3c 7. S-4h (1) 8. P-9d 9. K-6h (2) 10. R-4b 11. K-7h (3) 12. S-7b (3) 13. P-5f (14) 14. G4a-5b 15. P-9f (16) 16. S-3b (2) 17. G4i-5h (1) 18. K-6b 19. P-3f (24) 20. K-7a (2) 21. S-6h 22. K-8b (2) 23. S6h-5g 24. S-4c (1) 25. G6i-6h (36) 26. P-5d (15) 27. P-4f (25) 28. P-6d (7) 29. P-4e (1) 30. G-6c (36) 31. N-3g (8) 32. P-7d 33. P-2d (15) 34. Px2d (2) 35. Px4d (2) 36. Sx4d 37. P*4e 38. Sx4e 39. Bx3c+ (1) 40. Nx3c 41. B*8h 42. R-4c (12) 43. Rx2d (1) 44. P*4g (2) A useful move. If 45. Sx4g P*4f. After S-5i, Black can no longer answer P-3e by S-4g and is also denied the possibility of bringing this silver to 5f in lines where the pawn moves to 5e. Ranging rook specialist Fujii 9-dan pointed out that this idea of interpolating the moves P*4g S-5i before a bishop-silver exchange on 5e was not new, but he was not aware of any recent examples of it in practical play. 45. S-5i (4) 46. P-5e (47) 47. Bx5e (15) 48. S-5d (6) 49. P*4d (1) 50. R-5c (6) 51. R-2b+ (3) 52. Sx5e (40) 53. Px5e (2) 54. P-3e (1) 55. +Rx1a (8) Here the game was adjourned. 56. P*5f (82) Moriuchi's sealed move, not anticipated by Habu or by any of the professionals watching the game. Most had expected Moriuchi to seal either 56. Px3f or 56. R-5a. Moriuchi himself was mainly looking at 56. G6c-6b. He analyzed the following line: L*5f R-5a; +Rx5a Gx5a; P-5d Px4h+; S5ix4h P-3e; P-5c+ Px3g+; +Px6b Gx6b; Sx3g N-4e when he thought the position was difficult but playable. But while he was considering this line, he noticed the idea of P*5f. It's the kind of light, counterattacking pawn drop that ranging rook players like, but after the game Moriuchi said it was an "over-refinement." If Black had replied with 57. Sx5f, he felt he would have stood worse. Fujii 9-dan, on the other hand, was very impressed by P*5f, pointing out that it was a difficult move to see because it took away from White the possibility of Rx5e. From Black's point of view, he thought it was the most unpleasant move to face. 57. S-6f (52) Habu must have been surprised too, since he took 52 minutes over a reply he later regretted. After the game he said that S-6f had been a crucial mistake. 58. P-6e (12) 59. Sx6e (37) This capture looks natural, but Habu later regretted it, pointing out that 59. L*5d would have been better. This lance drop seems dubious with the silver en prise, but it is surprisingly strong: L*5d Rx5d; Px5d Px6f; R*3b L*6b; P-5c+ Gx5c; Rx6b+ Gx6b; S*7a K-7c; Sx6b= Kx6b; L*6e. Black's attack looks very dangerous, though of course White has the possibility of playing Px6g+ at any point in the above line, so it's actually quite difficult. Even so, it certainly gives Black better prospects than the game continuation. 60. Rx5e (4) 61. L*6f (37) 62. B*4f (57) Habu said that he didn't like his position after this bishop drop. 63. Sx5f (20) 64. Rx5f (1) 65. Lx6c (1) 66. P-4h+ (20) 67. P*5g (13) Black has no choice but to drop this pawn to block out White's rook and bishop. If Sx4h Rx5h; Gx5h G*7i; K-8h B*7h is good for White. Although Black’s attack looks strong, he has no way of finishing White off after +Lx7b Gx7b. 68. +Px5h (28) 69. Sx5h (7) 70. S*5i 71. G*6i (5) 72. Sx6h+ (8) 73. Gx6h 74. B*5i 75. S*7i (25) 76. R-5d (7) 77. P-4c+ (42) 78. P*5f (1) 79. Px5f 80. B4fx3g+(6) 81. +P-5b (8) 82. Rx5b (23) Kisei titleholder Sato thought that 82.... Rx5f was strong here, when after 83. *Px6a Bx5h+ 84. Sx6h Rx5h+ 85. B*7a K-9b and White's horse on 3g defends against mate on 8b. According to Shima 8-dan, "This decision to give up his rook to eliminate the tokin was very much in Moriuchi's recent style, placing emphasis on accurate defense. While Rx5f may lead to a quicker win, both moves are good. Ranging rook players usually hate being put in check by a silver on 7a (or 7i). The fact that Moriuchi chose this line shows how confident he is in his defensive ability." 83. +Lx5b 84. Gx5b 85. S*7a (8) 86. K-9c (1) 87. P-9e (3) 88. Px9e (12) Moriuchi had originally intended to play 88. G*8e here, with the idea of getting to Black’s king first with Gx7f. But after +R-4a Gx7f; P*7g N*8f; Px8f G*8g; K-6i Bx6h+: Kx6h White has no effective way of continuing the attack. After 12 minutes' thought, Moriuchi abandoned G*8e and took the pawn on 9e. Having been forced to make this concession, he later said he had no confidence in his position at this point, but as it turned out Black had no clear way of forcing home the attack. This change of course by Moriuchi was cool-headed and, as it turned out, the correct decision. 89. +R-4a (12) 90. G*4b (4) 91. P*9d (3) 92. Kx9d (21) 93. +Rx4b (8) 94. Gx4b 95. G*8f (1) 96. K-8d (4) 97. R*6b (2) 97. R*4d looks strong here, but after G*6a; Rx4b+ Gx7a White's king is safe. 98. R*5b (1) 99. P*9b (2) Habu said after the game that this "threw it away" and that 99. N-7g was correct, but the post-mortem analysis suggested that even here Black does not quite have enough: N-7g Rx6b; Sx6b= K-9c; R*4i G-5b; Rx5i+ P-8d; R-3i +B-2h; R-4i P*4g; S-5c+ Gx5c; B*7a K-8c: Bx5c+ when Habu had no confidence in Black’s position. 100. K-7c (1) This took Habu by surprise. Now the White king's escape cannot be prevented. Black does not have enough pieces in hand to press home his attack. 101. Rx5b+ 102. Gx5b 103. Px9a+ 104. P*5g 105. Sx5g (4) 106. N-4e 107. S-6f 108. R*3h 109. R*5h 110. Bx6h+ (1) 111. Rx6h 112. G*5h 113. Rx5h 114. Rx5h+ 115. G*6h 116. +R-5i 117. L*6e 118. P*6d 119. S-5e 120. K-6c 121. Lx6d 122. K-5c 123. L-6b+ 124. Gxb6 (1) 125. B*4d 126. K-4c 127. Bx6b+ 128. R*2i 129. S-4d (1) 130. K-3d Resigns At the end of the game, out of their allotted 8 hours, Habu had 2 minutes and Moriuchi 1 minute left. Game 2 will be played on November 4-5. (translated from Shukan Shogi by Richard Sams) --^---------------------------------------------------------------- This email was sent to: shogi-l shogi net EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a2i6Ys.a7fLMV.c2hvZ2kt Or send an email to: shogi-unsubscribe topica com TOPICA - Start your own email discussion group. FREE! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/create/index2.html --^----------------------------------------------------------------