From: Reijer Grimbergen yz yamagata-u ac jp> Date: 14 apr 2004 Subject: These weeks in Shukan Shogi (no. 1035 and 1036, March 10th and 17th =========================================================== $6.95 .com Domain Name Sale! Limited Time! ICANN Accredited GoDaddy! http://click.topica.com/caab7pQa2i6YsbnuqMaa/ GoDaddy =========================================================== Even though it is only three years ago that I changed jobs for the last time, I more or less forgot how much preparation it takes and how much time it takes to get settled in a new environment. I am not there yet, but close enough to give a sign of life. My web pages still have not moved (this will take a little more time, as the system in Yamagata is a little bit different from that in Saga), but I am ready to resume my "This week in Shukan Shogi" postings. Here are two title match games that have been played quite some time ago: the 3rd game of the Kio-sen between Tanigawa and Murayama and the 5th game of the Osho-sen between Habu and Moriuchi: [Black "Tanigawa Koji, Challenger"] [White "Maruyama Tadahisa, Kio"] [Event "29th Kio-sen, Game 3"] [Date "February 29th 2004"] 1.P2g-2f 00:00:00 00:00:00 2.P3c-3d 00:00:00 00:03:00 3.P7g-7f 00:01:00 00:03:00 4.P8c-8d 00:01:00 00:03:00 5.P2f-2e 00:01:00 00:03:00 6.P8d-8e 00:01:00 00:03:00 7.G6i-7h 00:02:00 00:03:00 8.G4a-3b 00:02:00 00:03:00 9.P2e-2d 00:03:00 00:03:00 10.P2cx2d 00:03:00 00:03:00 11.R2hx2d 00:03:00 00:03:00 12.P8e-8f 00:03:00 00:03:00 13.P8gx8f 00:03:00 00:03:00 14.R8bx8f 00:03:00 00:03:00 15.R2dx3d 00:03:00 00:03:00 16.B2b-3c 00:03:00 00:03:00 17.R3d-3f 00:14:00 00:03:00 18.S3a-2b 00:14:00 00:03:00 19.P*8g 00:15:00 00:03:00 20.R8f-8e 00:15:00 00:03:00 Not a surprise. Maruyama likes this opening very much and Tanigawa was of course prepared for it. For a long time this games follows well-known lines. 21.R3f-2f 00:15:00 00:03:00 22.K5a-4a 00:15:00 00:03:00 23.K5i-6h 00:19:00 00:03:00 24.S7a-6b 00:19:00 00:05:00 25.S3i-3h 00:23:00 00:05:00 26.G6a-5a 00:23:00 00:06:00 27.P3g-3f 00:24:00 00:06:00 28.P7c-7d 00:24:00 00:07:00 29.N2i-3g 00:32:00 00:07:00 30.N8a-7c 00:32:00 00:07:00 31.P4g-4f 00:35:00 00:07:00 32.P7d-7e 00:35:00 00:23:00 33.B8hx3c+ 00:41:00 00:23:00 34.N2ax3c 00:41:00 00:23:00 35.P3f-3e 00:41:00 00:23:00 36.P*2e 00:41:00 00:28:00 37.R2f-1f 00:42:00 00:28:00 38.R8e-8d 00:42:00 00:29:00 39.P3e-3d 00:46:00 00:29:00 40.R8dx3d 00:46:00 00:31:00 41.B*5f 00:46:00 00:31:00 42.R3d-5d 00:46:00 00:37:00 43.P*3d 00:46:00 00:37:00 44.B*2h 00:46:00 00:38:00 45.L1i-1h 00:54:00 00:38:00 46.B2h-1i+ 00:54:00 00:38:00 47.P3dx3c+ 00:55:00 00:38:00 48.S2bx3c 00:55:00 00:38:00 49.B5f-4e 00:56:00 00:38:00 50.R5d-9d 00:56:00 00:45:00 51.P7fx7e 01:33:00 00:45:00 52.P1c-1d?! 01:33:00 01:32:00 Up until this move, the position is identical to last November's A-class Junisen game between Maruyama and Miura. Miura played 52.S4d and after 53.P*3c Gx3c P7d Rx7d B*5f R5d P*7d white won the game, even though this was primarily caused by an endgame mistake by Maruyama. With colors reversed, Maruyama has prepared something else. He wants to put pressure on the black rook, winning it if black does not act soon. However, black can attack strongly and Maruyama admitted after the game that his plan is perhaps a little too dangerous. 53.N*7d 02:18:00 01:32:00 54.S3c-2d 02:18:00 02:44:00 55.P*3c 02:29:00 02:44:00 56.G3b-2b 02:29:00 02:47:00 No choice. 56.Gx3c is answered by 57.P*3d and now 58.G3b Nx6b+ Gx6b S*3c or 58.G2c R3f P*3e Nx2e! Sx2e (Px3f P3c+) Rx3e G2d Rx2e Gx2e P3c+ is good for black. 57.P*2c 03:07:00 02:47:00 58.G2b-2a 03:07:00 02:52:00 59.N7dx6b+ 03:07:00 02:52:00 60.G5ax6b 03:07:00 02:52:00 61.S*3b 03:07:00 02:52:00 62.K4a-5b 03:07:00 03:14:00 63.S3bx2a+ 03:10:00 03:14:00 64.P1d-1e 03:10:00 03:15:00 65.B4e-5f 03:12:00 03:15:00 66.R9d-5d 03:12:00 03:27:00 67.P3c-3b+ 03:15:00 03:27:00 68.P1ex1f 03:15:00 03:28:00 69.B5f-8c+ 03:24:00 03:28:00 70.P*7b 03:24:00 03:30:00 71.+S2ax1a 03:29:00 03:30:00 72.N*6e? 03:29:00 03:36:00 An important mistake. Here Maruyama should have played 72.+Bx1h. For example, 73.L*5f R3d P7d N8e +B8d N*7f K6i +B3f G*4g +Bx4g Sx4g R*1i and the black position is hard to defend. 73.L*5f 03:34:00 03:36:00 74.R5d-3d 03:34:00 03:37:00 75.N8i-7g! 03:37:00 03:37:00 Good defense. 76.N6ex7g+ 03:37:00 03:55:00 A change of plan. Maruyama intended 76.Nx5g+, but here he saw that after Kx5g +Bx3g N*7d N*5d Sx3g Rx3g+ G*4g there is no continuation for white. 77.K6hx7g 03:38:00 03:55:00 78.N*6e? 03:38:00 03:57:00 This chases the king into the castle. 78.Rx3b was better. 79.K7g-8h 03:39:00 03:57:00 80.+B1ix1h 03:39:00 03:57:00 81.P7e-7d 03:44:00 03:57:00 Now black has the clearly better position. 82.N7c-8e 03:44:00 03:58:00 82.L*8a looks promising, but after 83.Px7c+ Lx8c +Px6b Kx7b G*7e! is a good move that both attacks and defends. White has not much hope in this position. 83.P7d-7c+ 03:44:00 03:58:00 84.N6e-7g+ 03:44:00 03:58:00 85.G7hx7g 03:44:00 03:58:00 86.N8ex7g+ 03:44:00 03:58:00 87.K8hx7g 03:44:00 03:58:00 88.L*7e 03:44:00 03:58:00 89.K7g-6h 03:44:00 03:58:00 90.R*8i 03:44:00 03:59:00 91.N*4d 03:54:00 03:59:00 92.R3dx4d 03:54:00 03:59:00 93.+P7cx6b? 03:54:00 03:59:00 For someone who imposes such high standards upon his own level of play, for Tanigawa missing a relatively easy mate is almost worse than losing. Still, this is what happened to him in this position. Correct was 93.Lx5c+. Then 94.Gx5c G*6b is mate in one and after 94.Kx5c N*6e is also pretty straightforward. Tanigawa is lucky that his oversight does not influence the outcome of the game. 94.K5bx6b 03:54:00 03:59:00 95.L5fx5c+ 03:54:00 03:59:00 96.K6bx5c 03:54:00 03:59:00 97.N*6e 03:54:00 03:59:00 98.K5c-6d 03:54:00 03:59:00 99.G*7d 03:54:00 03:59:00 100.K6dx6e 03:54:00 03:59:00 Actually, Tanigawa had not calculated this all to the end. He was not sure how to win after 100.K5d. After the game, analysis showed that black would still win after 101.N*6f Kx6e G*5f K7f S7h which threatens mate and threatens the rook on 8i. Then even after N*8e Gx7e Kx7e P*7f K6d Sx8i Maruyama admitted that it looked like he is still losing. 101.G7dx7e 03:54:00 03:59:00 102.K6e-5d 03:54:00 03:59:00 103.G*5e 03:55:00 03:59:00 Resigns 03:55:00 03:59:00 Mate after 103.Kx5e +B5f K5d L*5f and hisshi after 103.K5c N4e K6b Gx4d, so Maruyama resigned here. Not a victory to make Tanigawa proud, but it does give him a 2-1 lead in the match and he needs only one more win from two games to take the Kio title from Maruyama. [Black "Habu Yoshiharu, Osho"] [White "Moriuchi Toshiyuki, Challenger"] [Event "53rd Osho-sen, Game 5"] [Date "March 8th and 9th 2004"] 1.P7g-7f 00:00:00 00:00:00 2.P8c-8d 00:00:00 00:01:00 3.S7i-6h 00:04:00 00:01:00 4.P3c-3d 00:04:00 00:01:00 5.P6g-6f 00:05:00 00:01:00 6.S7a-6b 00:05:00 00:01:00 7.P5g-5f 00:07:00 00:01:00 8.P5c-5d 00:07:00 00:01:00 9.S3i-4h 00:08:00 00:01:00 10.S3a-4b 00:08:00 00:02:00 11.G4i-5h 00:11:00 00:02:00 12.G4a-3b 00:11:00 00:02:00 13.G6i-7h 00:13:00 00:02:00 14.K5a-4a 00:13:00 00:02:00 15.K5i-6i 00:15:00 00:02:00 16.G6a-5b 00:15:00 00:02:00 17.S6h-7g 00:19:00 00:02:00 A double Yagura like in the previous game. Habu really likes this opening and is almost unbeatable with it when he plays black. When he lost with black in the 3rd game of last year's Ryu-O match, it was really for the first time in a very long time. He wins about 17 games in every 20 he plays with black. Of course, Moriuchi also has very good results in this opening... 18.S4b-3c 00:19:00 00:03:00 19.B8h-7i 00:23:00 00:03:00 20.B2b-3a 00:23:00 00:04:00 21.P3g-3f 00:25:00 00:04:00 22.P4c-4d 00:25:00 00:04:00 23.G5h-6g 00:27:00 00:04:00 24.P7c-7d 00:27:00 00:06:00 25.S4h-3g 00:50:00 00:06:00 26.B3a-6d 00:50:00 00:07:00 27.B7i-6h 00:51:00 00:07:00 28.G5b-4c 00:51:00 00:07:00 29.K6i-7i 00:53:00 00:07:00 30.K4a-3a 00:53:00 00:08:00 31.K7i-8h 00:54:00 00:08:00 32.K3a-2b 00:54:00 00:09:00 33.S3g-4f 01:01:00 00:09:00 34.S6b-5c 01:01:00 00:24:00 35.N2i-3g 01:03:00 00:24:00 36.P9c-9d 01:03:00 00:24:00 37.P2g-2f 01:08:00 00:24:00 38.S3c-2d 01:08:00 00:24:00 39.P1g-1f 01:08:00 00:24:00 40.P1c-1d 01:08:00 00:24:00 41.R2h-3h 01:15:00 00:24:00 42.B6d-7c 01:15:00 00:25:00 43.L1i-1h 01:21:00 00:25:00 44.P9d-9e 01:21:00 00:25:00 45.P6f-6e 02:10:00 00:25:00 46.P8d-8e 02:10:00 00:31:00 47.N3g-2e 02:21:00 00:31:00 48.S5c-4b 02:21:00 00:36:00 49.P5f-5e 02:40:00 00:36:00 50.P4d-4e 02:40:00 00:51:00 51.S4fx4e 02:41:00 00:51:00 52.B7cx5e 02:41:00 00:51:00 53.P4g-4f 02:41:00 00:51:00 54.P8e-8f 02:41:00 00:54:00 Up until this move, the position was identical to the 6th game of the 2002 Ryu-O match between Abe and Habu. Habu won that game, but played 54.B7c here. He won that game, but even at that time everybody wondered why he did not play 54.P8f here. Moriuchi decides that he is going to try and find out. 55.P8gx8f 02:41:00 00:54:00 56.R8bx8f 02:41:00 00:54:00 57.P*8g 02:41:00 00:54:00 58.R8f-8b 02:41:00 00:54:00 59.B6h-5g 03:33:00 00:54:00 60.K2b-3a 03:33:00 02:16:00 61.S4e-5f 04:07:00 02:16:00 62.B5e-2b 04:07:00 02:18:00 63.S7g-6f 04:10:00 02:18:00 64.P5d-5e! 04:10:00 03:16:00 The sealed move and even more sharp than the expected 64.N7c or 64.R5b. 65.S6fx5e 05:02:00 03:16:00 Not much choice here. If black shows a weak heart here and retreats with 65.S4g, white gets an overwhelming position after S5c, S5d followed by N7c. 66.R8b-5b 05:02:00 03:16:00 The point. The silver on 5e can not be saved. 67.P*5d Gx5d or 67.S6f Rx5f Gx5f S*4g and the black position crumbles. White can afford to sacrifice some material for attack, because he always has the safeguard of a pawn drop on 5a to defend against a rook drop. 67.N8i-7g 05:09:00 03:16:00 Habu decides to give Moriuchi the two silver and wait for a chance. 68.B2bx5e 05:09:00 04:14:00 69.S5fx5e 05:09:00 04:14:00 70.R5bx5e 05:09:00 04:15:00 71.B*6f! 05:09:00 04:15:00 The best counter. Most people in the press room thought that Moriuchi had taken Habu by surprise again, like in the first game where Habu just lost a silver. However, the position is actually very close. 72.R5ex5g+ 05:09:00 05:51:00 73.G6gx5g 05:09:00 05:51:00 74.B*9c 05:09:00 05:52:00 75.R*6a 05:41:00 05:52:00 74.B*9c seems to defend indirectly against Bx1a+, but it still seems that black might win after 75.Bx1a+ Bx5g+ L*5i +B4g P*5b. However, after S*2b +B1b P*5g white still has the upper hand. 75.R*6a was therefore the correct decision. 76.P*5a 05:41:00 05:54:00 77.B6fx9c+ 06:47:00 05:54:00 78.N8ax9c 06:47:00 05:59:00 79.P*5b 06:47:00 05:59:00 80.B*4i 06:47:00 06:52:00 81.R3h-2h 07:05:00 06:52:00 82.K3a-2b 07:05:00 06:52:00 83.P5bx5a+ 07:15:00 06:52:00 84.P*5f 07:15:00 06:55:00 It seems that with the early escape 82.K2b, the white king has gotten far enough from the enemy pieces to have time for a winning attack. However, Habu has found a way to bring his attack to life. 85.B*6f! 07:20:00 06:55:00 86.S4b-3c 07:20:00 07:04:00 87.N2ex3c+ 07:25:00 07:04:00 88.S2dx3c 07:25:00 07:50:00 89.S*4a! 07:25:00 07:50:00 Suddenly, the white position does not look very good anymore. Even after Px5g+ it is impossible to create a mating threat because the black rook is working perfectly in defense. Here Habu felt that things were starting to get better for him. Still, Moriuchi has one more trick up his sleeve. 90.G4c-4b 07:25:00 07:50:00 91.+P5a-5b 07:40:00 07:50:00 92.P5fx5g+ 07:40:00 07:50:00 93.+P5bx4b 07:47:00 07:50:00 94.G3bx4b 07:47:00 07:50:00 95.R6a-6b+ 07:48:00 07:50:00 96.P*5b 07:48:00 07:53:00 97.G*3b 07:52:00 07:53:00 98.K2b-1b 07:52:00 07:53:00 99.+R6b-5a 07:55:00 07:53:00 This is not a mating threat, but after +Rx4b next, there is no defense for white. S*6h, S*6i or N*8d are clearly no mating threats, so it was felt that the game was over here. 100.N9c-8e! 07:55:00 07:54:00 Moriuchi has prepared a last prayer. 101.Nx8e fails to Bx7f+ +Rx4b +Bx6f. 101.+R5ax4b 07:57:00 07:54:00 No choice. It is unclear whether Habu had seen the next rush of checks until the end, but his shaking hand after the game showed that he might have been a little bit rattled by Moriuchi's final attempt. 102.N*9f 07:57:00 07:54:00 103.P9gx9f 07:58:00 07:54:00 103.K9h leads to mate after 104.G*8h. Suddenly, the black king looks in a lot of danger. 104.S*9g 07:58:00 07:55:00 105.K8h-7i 07:58:00 07:55:00 106.S*8h 07:58:00 07:57:00 107.G7hx8h 07:58:00 07:57:00 108.S9gx8h+ 07:58:00 07:57:00 109.K7ix8h 07:58:00 07:57:00 110.G*9g 07:58:00 07:57:00 111.L9ix9g 07:58:00 07:57:00 112.N8ex9g+ 07:58:00 07:57:00 113.K8h-9i 07:58:00 07:57:00 The right answer. 113.Kx9g Px9f is mate. 114.L*9h 07:58:00 07:59:00 115.R2hx9h 07:58:00 07:59:00 116.+N9gx9h 07:58:00 07:59:00 117.K9ix9h 07:58:00 07:59:00 118.R*9g 07:58:00 07:59:00 119.K9h-8h 07:58:00 07:59:00 Resigns 07:58:00 07:59:00 Still close, but no mate after 120.G*9h K7i G8i Kx8i +Rx8g+ K9i. Black has an easy mate with Gx3c, so Moriuchi resigned here. Habu pulls one back to get to 3-2 in the match, but is still very much in danger of losing his Osho title. In other shogi news: ==================== There is a lot of old news, which is not of much interest anymore, but I would like to report this year's Junisen promotions: A: Moriuchi (Meijin challenger) B1: Fukaura and Takahashi (a great comeback by Takahashi) B2: Namekata and Horiguchi Kazushiza (no surprises here) C1: Yashiki and Nozuki (Yashiki finally promoted after 14 years in C1; Toyokawa loses in the final round to lose his spot to Nozuki; Watanabe has also 9-1 but this is not enough) C2: Miyata Atsushi, Chiba, Yamasaki (rookie Yokoyama stumbles over the final hurdle Hirafuji to let Yamasaki in) Still four issues to catch up on... Reijer -- Reijer Grimbergen Yamagata University, Department of Informatics Jonan 4-3-16, Yonezawa, 992-8510 Japan Tel: +81-(0)238-26-3740 FAX: +81-(0)238-26-3299 =========================================================== $6.95 .com Domain Name Sale! Limited Time! 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