From: Reijer Grimbergen yz yamagata-u ac jp> Date: 25 aug 2004 Subject: A month ago in Shukan Shogi (no. 1055, July 28th 2004) Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Sponsor a child today through Children International.=20=20 Give a desperately poor child hope for a brighter future. For only $18 a month you can make a difference! http://click.topica.com/= caacvgoa2i6YsbnuqMaa/ChildrenInternational ------------------------------------------------------------------- In this report the opening game of the Oi match between Tanigawa and=20 Habu. A very high level game where one overplay by Habu decided the=20 outcome. Here is the game with comments: [Black "Habu Yoshiharu, Challenger"] [White "Tanigawa Koji, Oi"] [Event "45th Oi-sen, Game 1"] [Date "July 16th and 17th 2004"] 1.P7g-7f 00:00:00 00:00:00 2.P3c-3d 00:00:00 00:03:00 3.P7f-7e 00:01:00 00:03:00 The Quick Ishida Opening. Before the match Habu said that he wanted to=20 try new moves and new ways of building positions and already on his=20 second move he is true to his word. This opening is a rarity in title=20 matches. 4.K5a-4b 00:01:00 00:43:00 After the game, Tanigawa denied that he was surprised by Habu's choice=20 of opening. "One of the possibilities", he called it. Still, he took 40=20 minutes for 4.K4b. When asked if he used this time to decide whether or=20 not to play Ai-Furibisha (Double Ranging Rook) he again responded=20 negatively: "This shape has disadvantages, so I never considered it". 5.P6g-6f 00:12:00 00:43:00 6.S7a-6b 00:12:00 00:47:00 7.R2h-7h 00:14:00 00:47:00 8.K4b-3b 00:14:00 00:49:00 9.K5i-4h 00:19:00 00:49:00 10.P8c-8d 00:19:00 01:06:00 11.K4h-3h 00:46:00 01:06:00 12.P8d-8e 00:46:00 01:14:00 13.R7h-7f 00:47:00 01:14:00 14.P6c-6d 00:47:00 01:21:00 15.G6i-5h 02:19:00 01:21:00 16.S6b-6c 02:19:00 01:25:00 17.K3h-2h 02:19:00 01:25:00 18.P1c-1d 02:19:00 02:01:00 19.P1g-1f 02:23:00 02:01:00 20.G6a-5b 02:23:00 02:09:00 21.S3i-3h 02:29:00 02:09:00 22.R8b-7b!? 02:29:00 03:51:00 It is impossible to say if this move is good or bad, but commentator=20 Fujii thought this showed Tanigawa's relaxed state of mind. 22.R7b is=20 not an unusual move, but it is usually played after strengthening the=20 castle with P2d-K2c-S3b. Playing it with only a boat formation is risky=20 because of the thin defense around the white king. It is unlikely that=20 Tanigawa prepared this move at home, so this shows that he is not afraid= =20 to choose risky opening strategies over the board. 23.P9g-9f 02:53:00 03:51:00 24.P9c-9d 02:53:00 03:53:00 25.B8h-7g 04:09:00 03:53:00 26.S3a-4b 04:09:00 04:18:00 27.S7i-6h 04:24:00 04:18:00 28.S4b-3c 04:24:00 04:41:00 29.P9f-9e 04:37:00 04:41:00 30.P9dx9e 04:37:00 04:59:00 31.L9ix9e 04:37:00 04:59:00 32.P*9c 04:37:00 05:00:00 33.R7f-9f 05:10:00 05:00:00 34.R7b-8b 05:10:00 05:03:00 35.S6h-6g 05:30:00 05:03:00 36.G5b-4b 05:30:00 05:08:00 37.B7g-6h 05:37:00 05:08:00 38.S3c-2d 05:37:00 05:22:00 39.N8i-7g 05:39:00 05:22:00 40.S6c-5d 05:39:00 05:33:00 An unusual formation of generals around the king, but again Fujii=20 praised Tanigawa's shogi sense. Despite being unusual, this castle=20 formation is quite hard to break down. This being said, black has=20 developed his knight and lance on the left, getting a pawn in hand in=20 the process. The general opinion here was that black was better. 41.P5g-5f 05:52:00 05:33:00 42.B2b-3c 05:52:00 05:49:00 43.P7e-7d? 06:18:00 05:49:00 An important overplay. This pawn exchange is going to be used against=20 the black position, so this turns out to be a mistake. If black wants to= =20 attack here, he should have done it with the simple 43.Lx9c+. For=20 example, 44.Lx9c P*9d Lx9d Rx9d L*9c Rx6d P*6c L*8d R5b Rx5d Px5d Lx8a+=20 L9g+ N6e and black has two pieces for the rook and developed his small=20 pieces. White is in trouble, for example P6d Nx7c+ P6e N*4e is gives=20 black a strong attack. Black can also strengthen his castle with 43.P2f,= =20 followed by S2g and G3h before attacking. 44.P7cx7d 06:18:00 05:50:00 45.L9ex9c+ 06:18:00 05:50:00 46.L9ax9c 06:18:00 05:53:00 47.P*9d 06:18:00 05:53:00 48.L9cx9d 06:18:00 05:53:00 49.R9fx9d 06:18:00 05:53:00 50.P*9c 06:18:00 05:53:00 51.R9d-9f 06:18:00 05:53:00 The problem. 51.Rx7d fails to 52.L*7c followed by P*7f. 52.P7d-7e 06:18:00 06:16:00 53.L*2f 06:31:00 06:16:00 54.L*7a! 06:31:00 06:39:00 There is a big difference between the effectiveness of the consecutive=20 lance drops. Even though 53.L*2f attacks the silver, white can just=20 ignore this. On the other hand, 54.L*7a strongly threatens P8f followed=20 by P7f next. If white can get a promoted pawn on 7g, the black position=20 will fall apart, so Habu has to rush into an attack that has not been=20 fully prepared. White has taken the lead in this game. 55.B6h-4f 06:53:00 06:39:00 56.P8e-8f 06:53:00 06:57:00 57.B4fx6d 06:57:00 06:57:00 58.R8b-8d 06:57:00 06:57:00 59.B6d-9a+ 06:57:00 06:57:00 60.P7e-7f 06:57:00 07:01:00 61.P5f-5e 07:00:00 07:01:00 62.S5dx5e 07:00:00 07:06:00 63.N7g-6e 07:01:00 07:06:00 64.P7f-7g+ 07:01:00 07:06:00 65.L2fx2d 07:02:00 07:06:00 66.P2cx2d 07:02:00 07:06:00 67.P*5d 07:13:00 07:06:00 68.P5cx5d 07:13:00 07:07:00 69.S*5c 07:13:00 07:07:00 70.P1d-1e 07:13:00 07:13:00 71.P1fx1e 07:18:00 07:13:00 72.P*1g 07:18:00 07:13:00 73.L1ix1g 07:29:00 07:13:00 74.+P7gx6g 07:29:00 07:13:00 75.G5hx6g 07:29:00 07:13:00 76.P*6d! 07:29:00 07:15:00 At this stage of the game, taking the time to go for a knight is often=20 bad, but in this position it shows the confidence Tanigawa has in his=20 position. He wants to kill the black attack completely. Habu has to=20 sacrifice more material to keep it going. 77.S5cx4b+ 07:34:00 07:15:00 78.G4ax4b 07:34:00 07:15:00 79.N6e-5c+ 07:34:00 07:15:00 80.G4bx5c 07:34:00 07:15:00 81.+B9ax8a 07:34:00 07:15:00 82.R8dx8a 07:34:00 07:16:00 83.R9fx9c+ 07:34:00 07:16:00 Threatens both +Rx6c and the fork +R9b, but this attack has no real=20 power. White is winning. It looks like the black king is still=20 well-protected, but from here on Tanigawa shows his famous "Lightning=20 Speed Endgame Technique". 84.L*5b 07:34:00 07:32:00 85.N*4e 07:35:00 07:32:00 86.N*2e 07:35:00 07:33:00 87.G*1f 07:38:00 07:33:00 88.B3c-4d 07:38:00 07:34:00 89.N4ex5c+ 07:48:00 07:34:00 90.B4dx5c 07:48:00 07:34:00 91.+R9c-9b 07:48:00 07:34:00 92.S*7b 07:48:00 07:34:00 93.P*7c 07:48:00 07:34:00 94.L1ax1e 07:48:00 07:40:00 95.G1fx1e 07:48:00 07:40:00 96.N2ex1g+ 07:48:00 07:40:00 97.N2ix1g 07:48:00 07:40:00 98.L*1a 07:48:00 07:42:00 99.P*1d 07:54:00 07:42:00 100.L1ax1d 07:54:00 07:42:00 101.G1ex1d 07:54:00 07:42:00 102.N*1f 07:54:00 07:42:00 103.K2h-1h 07:57:00 07:42:00 103.K3i holds out longer, but after 104.Sx6f! Gx6f B*5g G4h Bx1g+ K4i=20 Bx6f+ is a mating threat: N*5g Gx5g (K5i G*6i K5h S*6g; K5h S*6g K5i=20 G*6h) +B3i Kx3i +Bx5g G*4h S*2h K4i G*3i K5i G*6h. There is no defense=20 and his position is in complete disarray, so Habu opts to be mated instead.= 104.B5cx1g+ 07:57:00 07:43:00 105.K1hx1g 07:57:00 07:43:00 106.B*2h 07:57:00 07:43:00 Resigns 07:57:00 07:43:00 Mate after 107.Kx1f S*2e K1e Sx1d Kx1d N*2b or 107.K1h P*1g K2i S*1h. A=20 very good start of this match by Tanigawa, who needed only one overplay=20 by Habu to win with the white pieces. Habu drops the opening game of the= =20 Oi match for the third year in a row, which is not a good sign (after=20 all, he lost the other two matches after that). There is already a lot=20 of pressure on Habu to win the second game. --=20 Reijer Grimbergen Department of Informatics, Yamagata University Jonan 4-3-16, Yonezawa, 992-8510 Japan Tel: +81-(0)238-26-3740 FAX: +81-(0)238-26-3299 http://gamelab.yz.yamagata-u.ac.jp/ Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor: ------------------------------------------------------------------- RE-GROW YOUR HAIR STARTING NOW.....Click here for more info! http://click.topica.com/= caacxyda2i6YsbnuqMaf/Medical Hair Restoration ------------------------------------------------------------------- --^---------------------------------------------------------------- This email was sent to: = shogi-l shogi net EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a2i6Ys.= bnuqMa.= c2hvZ2kt Or send an email to: shogi-unsubscribe topica com For Topica's complete suite of email marketing solutions visit: http://www.topica.com/?p=3DTEXFOOTER --^----------------------------------------------------------------