From: Reijer Grimbergen yz yamagata-u ac jp> Date: 03 jun 2005 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 1098, June 1st 2005) Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Need a Laptop? Get a Sony Vaio Laptop Free! http://click.topica.com/= caadAcra2i6YsbnuqMaa/ProductTestPanel ------------------------------------------------------------------- This week in Shukan Shogi the 4th game of the Meijin match between=20 Moriuchi and Habu. People with little time on their hands might opt to=20 skip this one, because it was not very interesting. Moriuchi had=20 prepared a killing move against Habu's Gokigen Nakabisha opening and=20 everything went downhill from there. For those who want to see how even=20 Habu can look like an average player, here is the game with comments: [Black "Moriuchi Toshiyuki, Meijin"] [White "Habu Yoshiharu, Challenger"] [Event "63rd Meijin-sen, Game 4"] [Date "May 23rd and 24th 2005"] 1.P7g-7f 00:00:00 00:00:00 2.P3c-3d 00:00:00 00:01:00 3.P2g-2f 00:01:00 00:01:00 4.P5c-5d 00:01:00 00:02:00 5.S3i-4h 00:11:00 00:02:00 6.P5d-5e 00:11:00 00:07:00 7.K5i-6h 00:16:00 00:07:00 8.R8b-5b 00:16:00 00:10:00 The Gokigen Nakabisha is a surprise. The first three games were all with= =20 the Kakugawari opening and before the game Habu hinted that he might try= =20 something different this time. Changing the opening was to be expected=20 after Habu lost the third game with the black pieces, but a different=20 Ibisha opening was expected. Habu is an all-round player, who plays=20 almost everything, but the Gokigen Nakabisha with white is a risky=20 opening that can lead to a quick disaster if not handled very carefully. 9.K6h-7h 00:18:00 00:10:00 10.K5a-6b 00:18:00 00:11:00 11.S7i-6h 00:25:00 00:11:00 12.K6b-7b 00:25:00 00:19:00 13.P4g-4f 00:27:00 00:19:00 14.K7b-8b 00:27:00 00:28:00 15.S4h-4g 00:28:00 00:28:00 16.S7a-7b 00:28:00 00:38:00 17.G4i-5h 00:31:00 00:38:00 18.B2b-3c 00:31:00 01:05:00 19.S6h-7g 01:00:00 01:05:00 20.P6c-6d 01:00:00 02:28:00 21.S4g-3f 02:10:00 02:28:00 22.G4a-3b 02:10:00 03:01:00 The black position looks strange with the silver on 7g blocking the=20 bishop and the silver on 3f is also not in an orthodox attacking=20 position, but this is one of the latest ideas against the Gokigen=20 Nakabisha. The silver on 7g might be blocking the bishop, but this also=20 makes it impossible for white to exchange bishops, which is always one=20 of the white goals. Furthermore, this silver can move to 6f at some=20 point to attack the vanguard pawn on 5e. The silver on 3f is aiming at=20 the head of the white bishop. This is an important problem for white,=20 because this bishop can not be exchanged in this position. The position=20 after 22.G3b is almost identical to the A Junisen game between Habu and=20 Kubo (played on February 1st). The only difference was that the pawns on= =20 the 9th file were pushed. That game continued 23.S4e P3e P3f Px3f Sx3f=20 S6c P2e G7b S3e B5a P2d and even though Habu won that game, he was=20 struggling for most of the time and the conclusion was that white had a=20 clear advantage. 23.P2f-2e! 02:29:00 03:01:00 Moriuchi's new move. Judging from this game it is very strong, maybe=20 even killing all hopes for white in this position. Further analysis will= =20 have to show if there is something for white after this, but the mood=20 after the game was that white has irresolvable problems. 24.P5e-5f 02:29:00 03:25:00 25.P5gx5f 03:50:00 03:25:00 26.R5bx5f 03:50:00 03:26:00 27.G5h-4g 03:50:00 03:26:00 28.R5f-5a 03:50:00 03:29:00 29.S3f-4e 03:54:00 03:29:00 30.P3d-3e 03:54:00 03:31:00 31.S4e-3d 04:30:00 03:31:00 32.B3c-2b 04:30:00 03:55:00 33.P2e-2d 04:51:00 03:55:00 34.P2cx2d 04:51:00 03:55:00 35.P*2c 04:52:00 03:55:00 36.B2b-4d 04:52:00 04:47:00 37.P4f-4e 04:54:00 04:47:00 38.B4d-6b 04:54:00 04:48:00 39.S7g-6h 05:00:00 04:48:00 40.P*5e 05:00:00 04:49:00 41.G4g-4f 05:08:00 04:49:00 42.P3e-3f 05:08:00 05:35:00 43.R2hx2d 05:32:00 05:35:00 44.R5a-5d 05:32:00 05:42:00 45.P2c-2b+! 05:59:00 05:42:00 Outstanding play by Moriuchi. The commentators expected 45.P4d here,=20 which seems really good for black after 46.Rx4d (46.Px4d Gx5e; 46.Bx4d=20 G4e) G4e G3c Gx4d Gx2d Sx4c+ and the white silver on 3a and the gold on=20 2d are a painful sight. However, Moriuchi has looked even deeper. If=20 white takes the tokin with 46.Sx2b, the variation above is not possible,= =20 because after G3c the silver on 2b is undefended. Also, depending on=20 what white plays, the combination Sx4c Gx4c Rx2b+ comes into the=20 position. This being said, the commentators wondered if Moriuchi had=20 overlooked the next move. 46.B6b-5a 05:59:00 06:04:00 And if the rook moves, the silver on 3d is lost, right? 47.R2d-2g! 06:17:00 06:04:00 Moriuchi shows that he has looked deeper than anyone else. After 48.Rx3d= =20 +Px3b Sx3b R2b+ Px3g+ G*3e white can not avoid losing material. If the=20 rook moves from the 3rd file, the silver on 3b is captured and after R3c= =20 G2d, the white rook is lost. 48.S3ax2b 06:17:00 06:20:00 49.P4e-4d 06:20:00 06:20:00 50.R5dx4d 06:20:00 06:25:00 Also bad is 50.Px4d Gx5e R5d P*5d or 50.P*2f Rx2f Rx4d G4e Rx4e Sx4e=20 G*3e Rx2b+ Gx2b S5d R*2h S*6c and black can always defend with P*5h or=20 P*5i, making certain that the white attack is too slow. With the white=20 gold on the terrible squares 2b and 3e, there is no way white can win=20 this position. 51.G4f-4e 06:22:00 06:25:00 A complete success for black. Moriuchi wins material under the most=20 favorable circumstances. From a professional point of view, this game is= =20 over. 52.P3fx3g+ 06:22:00 06:27:00 53.N2ix3g 06:49:00 06:27:00 54.P*3f 06:49:00 06:27:00 55.G4ex4d 06:51:00 06:27:00 56.P3fx3g+ 06:51:00 06:27:00 57.P*5b 07:22:00 06:27:00 58.B5a-6b 07:22:00 06:27:00 59.R2gx3g 07:22:00 06:27:00 60.B6bx4d 07:22:00 06:27:00 61.S3d-4e 07:30:00 06:27:00 62.B4d-3c 07:30:00 06:27:00 63.P*4d 07:37:00 06:27:00 64.P5e-5f 07:37:00 06:34:00 65.P5b-5a+ 07:55:00 06:34:00 The simple 65.Sx5f is also more than enough, but gives white the option=20 of G*4f. Moriuchi is not in the mood for allowing Habu anything, he aims= =20 for total annihilation. 66.G6ax5a 07:55:00 06:40:00 67.R*5c 07:55:00 06:40:00 This was the last move before the dinner break. Black captures the pawn=20 on 5f, which is the only thing of value in the white position. Most=20 commentators expected Habu to throw the towel here, but some masochistic= =20 streak makes Habu play on for a while. 68.G5a-6a 07:55:00 06:59:00 69.R5cx5f+ 07:55:00 06:59:00 70.P*5e 07:55:00 06:59:00 71.+R5fx5e 07:59:00 06:59:00 72.N*8d 07:59:00 06:59:00 73.S6h-7g 08:03:00 06:59:00 74.P*3a 08:03:00 07:00:00 75.P8g-8f 08:15:00 07:00:00 76.G*6e 08:15:00 07:01:00 77.+R5e-5h 08:25:00 07:01:00 78.B3c-2d 08:25:00 07:07:00 79.P*3e 08:28:00 07:07:00 80.B2d-1e 08:28:00 07:21:00 81.R3g-3h 08:31:00 07:21:00 82.P*5g 08:31:00 07:37:00 83.+R5hx5g 08:32:00 07:37:00 84.P4cx4d 08:32:00 07:38:00 85.S4e-5f 08:33:00 07:38:00 86.N8dx7f 08:33:00 07:39:00 87.B8h-7i 08:34:00 07:39:00 Resigns 08:34:00 07:39:00 Here Habu finally had enough. White is actually a little up on material=20 (knight and gold for the rook), but all the black pieces are working=20 together and white has no moves to get anything going. This game ends=20 without even a check against either king. The first three games showed=20 very interesting shogi, but this is a game Habu would rather forget.=20 This will not be easy, because Moriuchi is suddenly 3-1 up and very=20 close to defending his Meijin title. --=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 $1,000 to spend on groceries=85 any way you please. 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