From: Reijer Grimbergen yz yamagata-u ac jp> Date: 16 sep 2004 Subject: Last week in Shukan Shogi (no. 1061, September 8th 2004) Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Are Americans getting fat? Give us your opinion and win. http://click.topica.com/= caacDvYa2i6YsbnuqMaa/PermissionData ------------------------------------------------------------------- In this Shukan Shogi report the first game of the Oza match between Habu= =20 and Moriuchi. Habu has lost three title matches in a row against=20 Moriuchi and losing the Oza could leave him without a single crown.=20 There is another reason Habu desperately wants to keep this one. If he=20 wins the match, he will have won 13 Oza titles in a row, equaling the=20 record of Oyama (only Oyama did it in the much more prestigious Meijin)=20 and a once in a lifetime chance to better that record next year. On the=20 other hand, Moriuchi is trying to take the majority of major titles, but= =20 failed in his first attempt against Sato. The first game was an intense=20 opening preparation battle in which surprisingly Habu turned out to have= =20 dug deeper. Here is the game with comments: [Black "Moriuchi Toshiyuki, Challenger"] [White "Habu Yoshiharu, Oza"] [Event "52nd Oza-sen, Game 1"] [Date "September 2nd 2004"] 1.P7g-7f 00:00:00 00:00:00 2.P8c-8d 00:00:00 00:02:00 3.G6i-7h 00:00:00 00:02:00 4.P3c-3d 00:00:00 00:04:00 5.P2g-2f 00:00:00 00:04:00 6.G4a-3b 00:00:00 00:04:00 7.P2f-2e 00:01:00 00:04:00 8.B2bx8h+ 00:01:00 00:04:00 The Kakugawari opening with loss of tempo. A popular opening these days.= =20 White loses an extra move, but can keep the pawn on 8d, which gives more= =20 opportunities for a counter attack with N8e. 9.S7ix8h 00:01:00 00:04:00 10.S3a-2b 00:01:00 00:04:00 11.S3i-3h 00:06:00 00:04:00 12.S2b-3c 00:06:00 00:05:00 13.S8h-7g 00:06:00 00:05:00 14.S7a-6b 00:06:00 00:07:00 15.P1g-1f 00:06:00 00:07:00 16.P6c-6d 00:06:00 00:09:00 17.P4g-4f 00:08:00 00:09:00 18.S6b-6c 00:08:00 00:10:00 19.S3h-4g 00:08:00 00:10:00 20.P1c-1d 00:08:00 00:11:00 21.K5i-6h 00:08:00 00:11:00 22.K5a-4b 00:08:00 00:12:00 23.P9g-9f 00:10:00 00:12:00 24.P9c-9d 00:10:00 00:13:00 25.G4i-5h 00:11:00 00:13:00 26.G6a-5b 00:11:00 00:14:00 27.P3g-3f 00:11:00 00:14:00 28.P7c-7d 00:11:00 00:16:00 29.S4g-5f 00:14:00 00:16:00 30.S6c-5d 00:14:00 00:20:00 31.K6h-7i 00:15:00 00:20:00 32.K4b-3a 00:15:00 00:22:00 33.N2i-3g 00:24:00 00:22:00 34.N8a-7c 00:24:00 01:13:00 35.S7g-6f 00:26:00 01:13:00 36.P8d-8e 00:26:00 01:23:00 37.S6f-5e 00:39:00 01:23:00 38.S5dx5e 00:39:00 01:27:00 39.S5fx5e 00:39:00 01:27:00 40.P8e-8f 00:39:00 01:28:00 41.P8gx8f 00:39:00 01:28:00 42.R8bx8f 00:39:00 01:28:00 43.P*8g 00:39:00 01:28:00 44.R8f-8e 00:39:00 01:28:00 45.S5ex6d 00:42:00 01:28:00 46.N7c-6e 00:42:00 01:28:00 47.P2e-2d 01:58:00 01:28:00 48.P2cx2d 01:58:00 01:40:00 49.P*2c 02:07:00 01:40:00 50.G3bx2c 02:07:00 02:03:00 51.N3g-4e 02:11:00 02:03:00 52.S3c-4d 02:11:00 02:17:00 This game is an opening preparation battle. Six years ago, Moriuchi and=20 Habu played a game with a very similar position in the 16th Zen-Nihon=20 Pro tournament. The difference was only in the position of the edge=20 pawns on the right. In that game, the pawns were on 1e and 1g, while in=20 this game they are on 1d and 1f. In the game played six year ago, Habu=20 had black and played 53.B*6a, after which 54.G4b 55.S*5a 56.B*3g=20 57.Sx4b=3D 58.Kx4b 59.R2g 60.Bx4f+ 61.Nx5c+ 62.Sx5c 63.Sx5c+ followed and= =20 Habu won. However, in the post-mortem analysis it was found that white=20 had missed a subtle defense that would have won the game and the overall= =20 conclusion was that white was winning. However, in the current game this= =20 conclusion is no longer valid. With the pawns on 1d and 1f, black can=20 play the same line as above, but instead of 61.Nx5c+, 61.Sx5c+ 62.Sx5c=20 63.G*5b 64.K3a 65.Gx5c, he can take the silver. The difference is that=20 in the position with the pawns on 1d and 1f, 67.Bx4c+ next is a mating=20 threat (G4b K2b +B3b K1c +Bx2c Kx2c S*3b K1c G*2c). With the pawn on 1e,= =20 Bx4c+ is not a mating threat, so white has two free moves instead of one. 53.S*6c!? 03:15:00 02:17:00 So why did Moriuchi not play 53.B*6a here? The reason is that here he=20 suddenly realized that he had overlooked a possible defense for white:=20 54.S*4a. Then black can try a number of moves, for example 55.G4g or=20 55.B7b+, but after 55.G4g P*6c N9g R8b Moriuchi did not like the=20 weakness on 7g and 55.B7b+ B*3g R2g Bx4f+ N9g Nx5g+ leads to a position=20 "I do not want to think about" (Moriuchi). After the game, Habu admitted= =20 that he had indeed prepared S*4a. Still, judging this rather passive=20 looking defense as good for white needs Habu-like abilities. Actually,=20 this move had already been played six years ago in a game. Habu has won=20 the opening preparation battle. 53.S*6c is a bit heavy, but not a bad=20 move. However, changing his plans has broken Moiruchi's rhythm and=20 invites a mistake. 54.G5b-4b 03:15:00 03:21:00 55.S6cx7d=3D 03:30:00 03:21:00 56.P*7g 03:30:00 03:23:00 57.N8ix7g 03:32:00 03:23:00 58.N6ex7g+ 03:32:00 03:23:00 59.G7hx7g? 04:08:00 03:23:00 The mistake. Moriuchi had to take the rook. He was worried about 59.Sx8e= =20 N*6e, but after G5h-6h B*5i R*6a K2b G6hx7g Nx7g+ N*6h! is a very good=20 defense (found by Sato Yasumitsu who was following the game in the press= =20 room). White has other attacking options besides B*5i, for example B*3g,= =20 but the position is definitely not easy. 60.N*6e 04:08:00 03:39:00 Now the rook that was doomed is saved and stays on the board until the=20 end of the game. 61.G7h fails to P*7g and the white attack is too strong. 61.S7dx6e 04:09:00 03:39:00 62.R8ex6e 04:09:00 03:39:00 63.S6dx5c=3D 04:26:00 03:39:00 64.S4dx5c 04:26:00 03:40:00 65.B*5f 04:26:00 03:40:00 66.B*4d 04:26:00 04:29:00 67.P6g-6f 04:37:00 04:29:00 68.R6e-5e 04:37:00 04:30:00 69.P*2e 04:50:00 04:30:00 70.P2dx2e 04:50:00 04:33:00 71.N*3e 04:50:00 04:33:00 72.B4dx3e 04:50:00 04:33:00 73.P3fx3e 04:50:00 04:33:00 74.N*8e 04:50:00 04:34:00 75.B*8f 04:50:00 04:34:00 76.S*7e 04:50:00 04:40:00 Resigns 04:59:00 04:40:00 A nice silver sacrifice to end the game. 77.Px7e fails to Nx7g+ Bx7g=20 P*7f and wherever the bishop goes to, S*7g is next. Moriuchi could have=20 played on for a little while, but after nine minutes he decides to give=20 Habu the satisfaction of ending the game with a beautiful move. Habu's=20 phenomenal endgame skills are apparent in this final position, but=20 Moriuchi shows a lot of confidence to resign in a position where the=20 strength of his opponent is so apparent. Still, Habu ends a bad streak=20 of starting his last three matches against Moriuchi by dropping the=20 opening game. In other shogi news: =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D * Watanabe had a good start in the Ryu-O challenger final against=20 Morishita. He won the first game of this best-of-three mini-match. After= =20 losing the Oza challenger final against Moriuchi, he really wants to=20 make the best of this second opportunity to show his abilities at the=20 big stage. * In the A class Junisen, Kubo somewhat surprisingly beat Tanigawa in=20 their third round game. Both players now have 2-1 scores. * In B1, round 5 was played and this class is looking even tighter than=20 expected. Nakagawa is the only player with only one loss and he is=20 followed by no less than 8 players with two losses. The woes of the=20 rookies continue as Namekata lost against Tanaka to fall back to 1-3 and= =20 Horiguchi lost to Goda to be at the bottom of the standings at the=20 moment with 1-4. Shima scored his first win against Kitahama and that=20 was important, as he is in serious danger of relegating two years in a row.= --=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: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Do you love your country? Get a Free USA T SHIRT click here to=20 receive your gift. http://click.topica.com/= caacDvPa2i6YsbnuqMaf/PermissionData ------------------------------------------------------------------- --^---------------------------------------------------------------- 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 --^----------------------------------------------------------------