From: Reijer Grimbergen yz yamagata-u ac jp> Date: 08 feb 2005 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 1078, January 12th 2005) Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor: ------------------------------------------------------------------- We have the 42 Inch Plasma TV you've been looking for!! Sony or=20 Panasonic 42 Inch Plasma Wide Screen TV's. Put one up on your=20 wall today! Click Below http://click.topica.com/= caac8uBa2i6YsbnuqMaa/ExclusiveRewards ------------------------------------------------------------------- I have been spending all of my spare time shoveling snow (we have had=20 almost 3 meters of snow in this year), so I again got seriously behind=20 in my Shukan Shogi reports. Catching up will take a while, but here is=20 at least a sign of life in the form of the final game of the Ryu-O match= =20 between Moriuchi and Watanabe. As you all know, Watanabe won and this=20 game shows that this was definitely not a lucky break. Watanabe again=20 played like a veteran in his umpteenth title match and had no problems=20 handling the pressures of a decisive game on the big stage. Here is the=20 game with comments: [Black "Moriuchi Toshiyuki, Ryu-O"] [White "Watanabe Akira, Challenger"] [Event "17th Ryu-O sen, Game 7"] [Date "December 27th and 28th 2004"] 1.P7g-7f 00:00:00 00:00:00 In this decisive game, the pawn toss gives Moriuchi black. This is=20 usually an advantage, but Watanabe was more than happy with the result. 2.P3c-3d 00:00:00 00:01:00 3.P2g-2f 00:01:00 00:01:00 4.P8c-8d 00:01:00 00:02:00 5.P2f-2e 00:01:00 00:02:00 6.P8d-8e 00:01:00 00:02:00 7.G6i-7h 00:01:00 00:02:00 8.G4a-3b 00:01:00 00:02:00 9.P2e-2d 00:01:00 00:02:00 10.P2cx2d 00:01:00 00:03:00 11.R2hx2d 00:01:00 00:03:00 12.P8e-8f 00:01:00 00:03:00 13.P8gx8f 00:01:00 00:03:00 14.R8bx8f 00:01:00 00:03:00 15.R2dx3d 00:01:00 00:03:00 16.B2b-3c 00:01:00 00:03:00 17.R3d-3f 00:01:00 00:03:00 18.S3a-2b 00:01:00 00:03:00 19.P*8g 00:01:00 00:03:00 20.R8f-8e 00:01:00 00:03:00 Of course. Watanabe played all four of his white games using the R8e=20 Yokofudori. There was a time that more than half of the games with this=20 opening was won by white, but recently the balance seems to have shifted= =20 to black again. Watanabe does not care about statistics: he loves the=20 R8e Yokofudori. "It was a relaxing feeling knowing I could play this=20 strategy with white". 21.R3f-2f 00:01:00 00:03:00 22.K5a-4a 00:01:00 00:03:00 23.K5i-6h 00:02:00 00:03:00 24.S7a-6b 00:02:00 00:09:00 25.P3g-3f 00:04:00 00:09:00 26.P7c-7d 00:04:00 00:11:00 27.S3i-3h 00:11:00 00:11:00 28.N8a-7c 00:11:00 00:12:00 29.N2i-3g 00:19:00 00:12:00 30.G6a-5a 00:19:00 00:14:00 31.P4g-4f 00:19:00 00:14:00 32.P7d-7e 00:19:00 01:14:00 33.B8hx3c+ 00:29:00 01:14:00 34.N2ax3c 00:29:00 01:14:00 35.P3f-3e 00:29:00 01:14:00 36.P*2e 00:29:00 01:14:00 37.R2f-1f 00:30:00 01:14:00 38.R8e-8d 00:30:00 01:15:00 39.P3e-3d 01:12:00 01:15:00 40.R8dx3d 01:12:00 01:15:00 41.B*5f 01:12:00 01:15:00 42.R3d-5d 01:12:00 01:18:00 43.P*3d 01:13:00 01:18:00 44.B*2h 01:13:00 01:20:00 45.L1i-1h 01:53:00 01:20:00 46.B2h-1i+ 01:53:00 01:23:00 47.P3dx3c+ 01:54:00 01:23:00 48.S2bx3c 01:54:00 01:23:00 49.B5f-4e 01:55:00 01:23:00 50.R5d-8d 01:55:00 02:15:00 51.R1f-3f 01:55:00 02:15:00 52.S3c-4d 01:55:00 02:16:00 53.R3f-3d 01:56:00 02:16:00 54.N7c-6e 01:56:00 02:36:00 55.P6g-6f 02:26:00 02:36:00 56.P*8h 02:26:00 03:01:00 So far the game has followed a known path, but this is a new move. Both=20 of the previous games with this position continued 56.P*3f P*3c Gx3c=20 Rx3c+ Sx3c B2c+ K5b +Bx3c Px3g+ N*5e N*3a which leads to a violent=20 mutual attack. Whether 56.P*8h is a good move or not is very difficult=20 to judge. After 57.Sx8h, if black plays the same line as above, the=20 silver on 8h becomes a wall silver, which makes it more difficult for=20 the black king to escape. On the other hand, after N*3a, black has a=20 pawn in hand and (unlike the variation above) can attack strongly with P*3b= . 57.S7ix8h 04:25:00 03:01:00 58.P*3f 04:25:00 03:04:00 59.B4ex3f 04:26:00 03:04:00 Moriuchi decides that he trusts Watanabe's opening preparation and plays= =20 a different line. 59.Bx3f is a typical Moriuchi move. Black is already a= =20 knight up and waits for a chance to take a second one at 6e. 60.G3b-2c 04:26:00 03:51:00 61.R3dx4d 04:26:00 03:51:00 62.R8dx4d 04:26:00 05:38:00 63.S*4e? 04:38:00 05:38:00 A mistake, but that was not easy to easy. Morishita also liked this=20 move, as it seems to make the white attack very difficult, but it turns=20 out that it is based on a miscalculation. Correct was the simple 63.Px6e= =20 and after 64.Rx4f B4e G2b N*5h Watanabe admitted that he did not have=20 much confidence in the white position. 64.R4d-8d 04:38:00 05:42:00 65.N*3e 04:39:00 05:42:00 66.G2c-2d 04:39:00 05:44:00 67.N3ex4c+ 04:43:00 05:44:00 68.P*4b 04:43:00 05:44:00 69.+N4c-3c 05:31:00 05:44:00 70.K4a-5b 05:31:00 05:44:00 It looks like black is better here. Black has a silver and a knight for=20 the rook and white is without pawns in hand. Furthermore, it is black to= =20 move. However, black has no fast attack and in the end the theme of this= =20 game is not material, but the efficient use of the pieces on the board.=20 The black pieces on the right are very heavy. 71.P6fx6e 05:32:00 05:44:00 72.G2d-3e 05:32:00 05:45:00 73.B3f-5h 05:40:00 05:45:00 74.+B1ix1h 05:40:00 05:56:00 75.S8h-7g 05:40:00 05:56:00 76.P2e-2f 05:40:00 05:57:00 77.S7g-8f 06:06:00 05:57:00 78.L*7a 06:06:00 06:28:00 Good enough to avoid a question mark, but as Moriuchi pointed out after=20 the game white has a quick win here after 78.P2g+ Sx7e R2d S3f +Px3h=20 Sx3e R2h+ B2e +Rx2e Nx2e +Px4i. Watanabe agreed, but L*7a is also=20 winning even though it requires a little more accuracy. Still, L*7a is a= =20 move full of realism, perfectly reflecting Watanabe's attitude towards=20 the game. 78.P2g+ would have been the more romantic way to take the=20 Ryu-O title. 79.S8fx7e 06:17:00 06:28:00 80.L7ax7e 06:17:00 06:28:00 81.P7fx7e 06:17:00 06:28:00 82.P2f-2g+ 06:17:00 06:29:00 83.L*8f 06:39:00 06:29:00 84.R8d-2d 06:39:00 06:29:00 85.S4e-3f 06:43:00 06:29:00 86.G3ex3f 06:43:00 06:33:00 87.B5hx3f 06:46:00 06:33:00 Here there still seemed everything to play for. In the press room the=20 variation after 88.+Px3h Bx1h were analyzed deeply. This leads to a=20 violent endgame, where white has to be careful not to lose the sideways=20 working of the rook or N*4d will be devastating. Depending on the black=20 pieces in hand, the white king might suddenly be mated... 88.+B1hx1g! 06:46:00 06:33:00 Cool play. Looks like a move white can not afford in this position, but=20 stopping N*4d finishes all of black's attacking hopes. 89.B3f-2e 06:59:00 06:33:00 90.R2dx2e 06:59:00 06:42:00 91.N3gx2e 06:59:00 06:42:00 92.+P2gx3h 06:59:00 06:42:00 93.N*7d 07:07:00 06:42:00 94.P5c-5d! 07:07:00 06:48:00 Game over. Black has no way of making a mating threat in this position. 95.G*3b 07:33:00 06:48:00 26 minutes spent on preparing to say goodbye to the Ryu-O title. 96.+P3hx4i 07:33:00 06:54:00 Resigns 07:37:00 06:54:00 Watanabe wins the game and the match and at 20 years and 8 months=20 becomes the third youngest title holder in shogi history (after Yashiki=20 and Habu). More importantly, he is the first player to topple the Habu=20 generation (Habu, Moriuchi, Sato, Maruyama etc.), thus creating a whole=20 new rivalry in the shogi world. But, as Watanabe also said in a=20 post-game interview: "I am happy I won a title, but winning only one=20 would be a waste". Still, for at least a year we have a new shogi star. --=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: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Get both the PlayStation2 and Game Cube for Free! Click here to=20 find out how. http://click.topica.com/= caac8uta2i6YsbnuqMaf/Consumer Research ------------------------------------------------------------------- --^---------------------------------------------------------------- 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 --^----------------------------------------------------------------