From: Reijer Grimbergen yz yamagata-u ac jp> Date: 12 dec 2005 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 1122, November 16th 2005) Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Is your computer freezing up or slowing down? Repair corrupt files and harmful errors - protect your PC Take a 2-minute PC health check-up at no charge! http://click.topica.com/= caaegt3a2i6YsbnuqMaa/PC PowerScan ------------------------------------------------------------------- In this report the second game of the Ryu-O match between Watanabe and=20 Kimura. A disappointing game with Kimura losing straight from the=20 opening. Kimura is known for his defensive skills, but here his position= =20 was too suspect to put any real fight. Here is the game with comments: [Black "Watanabe Akira, Ryu-O"] [White "Kimura Kazuki, Challenger"] [Event "18th Ryu-O sen, Game 2"] [Date "November 7th and 8th 2005"] 1.P7g-7f 00:01:00 00:00:00 2.P3c-3d 00:01:00 00:02:00 3.P2g-2f 00:05:00 00:02:00 4.G4a-3b 00:05:00 00:04:00 5.G6i-7h 00:09:00 00:04:00 6.P8c-8d 00:09:00 00:12:00 7.P2f-2e 00:12:00 00:12:00 8.P8d-8e 00:12:00 00:13:00 9.P2e-2d 00:17:00 00:13:00 10.P2cx2d 00:17:00 00:14:00 11.R2hx2d 00:18:00 00:14:00 12.P8e-8f 00:18:00 00:19:00 13.P8gx8f 00:20:00 00:19:00 14.R8bx8f 00:20:00 00:20:00 15.R2dx3d 00:25:00 00:20:00 16.B2b-3c 00:25:00 00:25:00 17.R3d-3f 00:30:00 00:25:00 18.S3a-2b 00:30:00 00:28:00 19.K5i-5h 00:47:00 00:28:00 20.R8f-8d?! 00:47:00 00:52:00 With two specialists in the Yokofudori, the opening is not a big=20 surprise, but pulling back the rook to 8d instead of 8e is. The general=20 opinion among professionals is that with the rook on 8d it is more=20 difficult to win for white than with the rook on 8e. This being said,=20 Kimura was a specialist in this way of playing before the R8e-Yokofudori= =20 became fashionable. He is the man with the 70% career winning=20 percentage, so he has shown that he can win consistently with the rook=20 on 8d. 21.G4i-3h 01:04:00 00:52:00 22.K5a-4a 01:04:00 01:04:00 23.P*8g 01:11:00 01:04:00 24.S7a-6b 01:11:00 01:09:00 25.R3f-2f 01:22:00 01:09:00 26.G6a-5a 01:22:00 01:31:00 27.S3i-4h 01:28:00 01:31:00 28.P5c-5d 01:28:00 02:09:00 29.P3g-3f 01:43:00 02:09:00 30.P5d-5e 01:43:00 02:17:00 31.S7i-6h 01:45:00 02:17:00 32.P7c-7d 01:45:00 02:29:00 33.P3f-3e 02:16:00 02:29:00 34.N8a-7c 02:16:00 02:44:00 35.P1g-1f 02:25:00 02:44:00 36.P1c-1d 02:25:00 03:31:00 37.S6h-7g! 02:36:00 03:31:00 Kimura might have made a mistake in setting up this game, because this=20 silver maneuver gives white a lot of trouble. The aim is to take the=20 pawn on 5e, which is supposed to the stronghold of the white attack.=20 After the game, Watanabe said that with pushing the edge pawns, this=20 silver attack gives white a lot of trouble. It is likely that he either=20 played it himself, or had it played against him in a training game. 38.B3c-4d 02:36:00 03:38:00 39.S7g-6f 02:58:00 03:38:00 40.B4dx3e 02:58:00 03:51:00 41.R2f-3f 03:01:00 03:51:00 42.B3e-5c 03:01:00 03:53:00 43.S6fx5e 03:46:00 03:53:00 44.P7d-7e 03:46:00 04:04:00 45.N2i-3g 03:50:00 04:04:00 46.P*3e 03:50:00 04:11:00 47.R3f-5f 04:15:00 04:11:00 48.N2a-3c 04:15:00 04:20:00 Kimura said he already felt he was in trouble for a while, but the=20 professionals in the press room still thought this was a difficult=20 position. For example, 49.S5d fails to 50.P*5e Rx5e (Bx5e Rx5d) B4d R5f=20 Bx8h+ Gx8h P*5e Rx5e B*4d which is bad for black. The silver on 5e looks= =20 strong, but how to continue from here... 49.S5e-4f! 04:20:00 04:20:00 A difficult move to find. The black rook, silver and knight are ready to= =20 attack, so drawing back the silver is not something one wants to do.=20 Black aims at opening the rook and bishop files and setting up N4e at=20 the same time. If black can exchange the knights (N4e Nx4e Sx4e), then=20 there will be a lot of pressure on the white position. 50.P7ex7f 04:20:00 05:29:00 Kimura spent a painful hour to try and find something to counter the=20 black plans, but unfortunately for him there is nothing. For example,=20 50.R2d P*2e R7d N4e Nx4e Sx4e and N*2d or P*3c next is very good for=20 black. "Playing natural moves should win" (Watanabe). 51.P*2c 04:51:00 05:29:00 52.G3bx2c 04:51:00 05:37:00 Or 52.Sx2c N4e Nx4e Bx1a+ is also good for black. 53.R5fx5c+ 04:51:00 05:37:00 54.S6bx5c 04:51:00 05:37:00 55.B*7e 04:51:00 05:37:00 56.R8d-6d 04:51:00 06:16:00 57.P*2d 04:55:00 06:16:00 58.G2cx2d 04:55:00 06:40:00 59.B7ex6d 04:58:00 06:40:00 60.P6cx6d 04:58:00 06:41:00 61.R*2a 05:00:00 06:41:00 62.B*3a 05:00:00 06:43:00 63.N3g-4e 05:03:00 06:43:00 64.S5c-4b 05:03:00 06:53:00 65.N4ex3c+ 05:09:00 06:53:00 66.S4bx3c 05:09:00 06:54:00 67.N*4e 05:09:00 06:54:00 68.S3c-4d 05:09:00 07:13:00 There is nothing else. White has the tricky 69.P7g+, aiming at 70.Bx7g=20 S4d Bx4d Px4d S*4c N*6f and now Px6f B*7f forks the king and silver on=20 4c, while K4i can be answered by G5b, because now N5c+ Gx4c +Nx4c and=20 the black king is mated after R*2i (G3i B*2g and S*5h; S3i S*5h and=20 B*5i). However, black can just ignore the pawn promotion and play=20 70.Nx3c+. Then 71.+Px7h +Nx2b wins because there is no mate after R*6h=20 K4i R6i+ S*5i. The interesting question is whether white could have=20 played P7g+ earlier and get into the variation above at this point. The=20 answer is no. With an extra pawn in hand, black doesn't have to play=20 67.N*4e, but can play 67.P*3d instead. Then 68.Gx3d (Sx3d Bx2b+) P*2c=20 and the white position collapses. The conclusion is that the game was=20 over after 49.S4f. 69.B8hx4d 05:12:00 07:13:00 70.P4cx4d 05:12:00 07:13:00 71.S*4c 05:12:00 07:13:00 Resigns 05:12:00 07:24:00 Kimura took eleven minutes to resign, but there is no defense. The=20 simple mating threat is N5c=3D next and 72.G5b fails to 72.N5c+ Gx5c (Gx4c= =20 +Nx4c) Rx2b+ and hisshi. A convincing win by Watanabe, who outplayed=20 Kimura in this game. All is not lost, but Kimura now desperately needs=20 to win the third game to avoid a near decisive 3-0 deficit. He has black= =20 in that game, so there are definitely possibilities to get back in this=20 match. The problem is that he has only one week to recover from the=20 shock of a bad loss. Will this be enough? --=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: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Make phone calls with phone service from Packet8.Order VoIP today & get Free Activation, Free Equipment & First Month=20 Free! 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