From: Reijer Grimbergen yz yamagata-u ac jp> Date: 04 mar 2005 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 1083, February 16th 2005) Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Claim your Free* Christian T-shirt. Click here! http://click.topica.com/= caadeMsa2i6YsbnuqMaa/PermissionData ------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is the fourth game of the Osho match between Moriuchi and Habu with= =20 comments: [Black "Habu Yoshiharu, Challenger"] [White "Moriuchi Toshiyuki, Osho"] [Event "54th Osho-sen, Game 4"] [Date "February 9th and 10th 2005"] 1.P7g-7f 00:00:00 00:00:00 2.P3c-3d 00:00:00 00:07:00 3.P2g-2f 00:02:00 00:07:00 4.P4c-4d 00:02:00 00:11:00 5.P2f-2e 00:05:00 00:11:00 6.B2b-3c 00:05:00 00:11:00 7.S3i-4h 00:06:00 00:11:00 8.P9c-9d 00:06:00 00:12:00 9.G4i-5h 00:10:00 00:12:00 10.P9d-9e 00:10:00 00:13:00 11.K5i-6h 00:11:00 00:13:00 12.S3a-3b 00:11:00 00:13:00 13.K6h-7h 00:13:00 00:13:00 14.R8b-4b 00:13:00 00:15:00 Moriuchi is a static rook player who also plays ranging rook, but in=20 this match this is the fourth time he plays Furibisha. Game 1 and 3 were= =20 Ai-Furibisha games, Game 2 was a Sankenbisha opening and in this game=20 Moriuchi chooses the Shikenbisha. Moriuchi is known for mixing in=20 Furibisha openings at strategic times in matches, but playing only=20 Furibisha is very rare. His intention might have been to change the=20 pattern of losing title matches (Moriuchi had lost three in a row coming= =20 into this match), but if so, it did not pay off. 15.P5g-5f 00:25:00 00:15:00 16.K5a-6b 00:25:00 00:16:00 17.B8h-7g 00:30:00 00:16:00 18.S3b-4c 00:30:00 00:18:00 19.K7h-8h 00:45:00 00:18:00 20.K6b-7b 00:45:00 00:20:00 21.L9i-9h 00:54:00 00:20:00 22.S4c-5d 00:54:00 01:08:00 23.P6g-6f 01:10:00 01:08:00 24.K7b-8b 01:10:00 01:11:00 25.S4h-5g 01:12:00 01:11:00 26.G4a-5b 01:12:00 01:27:00 27.K8h-9i 01:19:00 01:27:00 28.L9a-9b 01:19:00 01:37:00 29.S7i-8h 01:19:00 01:37:00 30.K8b-9a 01:19:00 01:37:00 31.P3g-3f! 01:20:00 01:37:00 A nice strategic subtlety. White wants to play 32.S8h, but then black=20 can get the advantage by attacking the head of the bishop with 33.P3e=20 Px3e S4f or 33.R3h followed by P3e. To avoid this, the next white move=20 is almost forced... 32.P4d-4e 01:20:00 01:45:00 This defends against S4f and 33.R3h can now be answered by 34.B4d, but... 33.P6f-6e! 01:45:00 01:45:00 This forces an exchange of bishops which is what Habu was really aiming=20 for when he played 31.P3f. 34.B3cx7g+ 01:45:00 01:56:00 35.N8ix7g 01:46:00 01:56:00 In similar positions, the anaguma side takes with the silver. In=20 general, taking with the knight exposes the king too much. However, Habu= =20 has no intention to stay in the anaguma, he wants to attack the white=20 anaguma from a Silver Crown position. In the press room he was admired=20 for his skillful strategic play, but this actually was actually already=20 explained in the Shima Akira book "Shima notes". Both players of course=20 were fully aware of that. Moriuchi even pointed this out to one of the=20 journalists after the end of the first day of play. Habu even seemed a=20 bit embarrassed about borrowing this idea straight from a book. Still,=20 he did add some important spice... 36.R4b-2b 01:46:00 02:00:00 37.B*6f 01:56:00 02:00:00 38.B*3c 01:56:00 02:00:00 39.B6fx3c+ 01:57:00 02:00:00 40.N2ax3c 01:57:00 02:00:00 41.B*6f 01:57:00 02:00:00 42.G5b-4b 01:57:00 02:06:00 43.P5f-5e 02:01:00 02:06:00 44.S5d-4c 02:01:00 02:06:00 45.S5g-5f 02:01:00 02:06:00 46.S7a-8b 02:01:00 02:36:00 47.G5h-6g 02:12:00 02:36:00 48.R2b-2a 02:12:00 02:46:00 49.P8g-8f 02:19:00 02:46:00 50.P5c-5d?! 02:19:00 03:09:00 Moriuchi regretted this move. After the game, he pointed out that=20 50.B*4d would have been better, aiming at P5d and R5a next (white can=20 not take the pawn on 5d because of Bx6f Gx6f B*3i). However, in this=20 position the bishop on 6f is much better than the bishop on 4d and P5d=20 is the only idea behind it, making it hard to play at the professional=20 level. If there is a way for black to counter this single idea, the=20 white position will become very bad very quickly. In the post-mortem=20 analysis the variations after 50.B*4d weren't analyzed very deeply, but=20 Habu clearly wasn't convinced. 51.P5ex5d 02:35:00 03:09:00 52.S4cx5d 02:35:00 03:15:00 53.P*5e 02:35:00 03:15:00 54.S5d-4c 02:35:00 03:15:00 55.S8h-8g 02:35:00 03:15:00 56.G6a-7b 02:35:00 04:17:00 57.G6i-7h! 03:18:00 04:17:00 This is Habu's new idea. It looks very simple (just completing the=20 Silver Crown castle), but it is very tempting here to attack with=20 57.P9f, but then after 58.Px9f Sx9f P*9c both players agreed that the=20 position wasn't very interesting for black. However, the real importance= =20 of 57.G7h is psychological. By not attacking here, black seems to admit=20 that there is no good way to continue from here, giving Moriuchi the=20 impression that he can go for it. This invites the next overplay... 58.P*5h? 03:18:00 04:40:00 A big mistake. Moriuchi even called it the losing move. Still, there was= =20 a hidden way of playing for white that Habu was worried about here:=20 58.P4f 59.Px4f 60.B*6i!. This looks bad because after 61.R3h the bishop=20 has no place to go. However, then 62.P2d G6g-6h Bx7h+ Gx7h Px2e is far=20 from easy. If white can manage to promote his rook, then the black king=20 will be very vulnerable. Habu looked at this variation very deeply and=20 decided that he had no choice but to take his chances. On the other=20 hand, Moriuchi almost immediately discarded it because the bishop would=20 be lost. The difference between the man in form and the man struggling=20 to find the form that made him the top player in 2004? 59.R2hx5h 03:45:00 04:40:00 60.B*2g 03:45:00 04:42:00 61.R5h-5i 03:50:00 04:42:00 Now it is clear that white has made a mistake. He has made a promoted=20 bishop, but black can switch the rook to the other side and build an=20 unstoppable edge attack. 62.B2gx3f+ 03:50:00 04:44:00 63.K9i-8h 03:52:00 04:44:00 64.P4e-4f 03:52:00 04:45:00 65.P4gx4f 03:56:00 04:45:00 66.+B3fx4f 03:56:00 05:00:00 67.P9g-9f 04:05:00 05:00:00 68.+B4fx1i 04:05:00 05:00:00 69.P9fx9e 04:05:00 05:00:00 70.P*9c 04:05:00 05:00:00 71.R5i-9i 04:08:00 05:00:00 72.+B1i-1h 04:08:00 05:07:00 73.N7g-8e 04:29:00 05:07:00 74.+B1h-3f 04:29:00 05:08:00 75.P9e-9d 05:05:00 05:08:00 76.P9cx9d 05:05:00 05:08:00 77.P*9e! 05:05:00 05:08:00 Black already has a winning advantage, but he has to be careful. 77.P*9c= =20 is tempting, but after 78.Sx9c Nx9c+ Lx9c P*9b K8b white can still fight. 78.P9dx9e 05:05:00 05:19:00 79.P*9d 05:05:00 05:19:00 80.L9bx9d 05:05:00 05:19:00 81.P*9b 05:08:00 05:19:00 82.K9ax9b 05:08:00 05:19:00 83.L9hx9e 05:08:00 05:19:00 84.L9dx9e 05:08:00 05:20:00 85.P*9c 05:08:00 05:20:00 Resigns 05:08:00 05:20:00 After both 86.N*9c Rx9e or 86.Sx9c Nx9c+ Nx9c Rx9e there is no way to=20 defend 9c and the white anaguma collapses. Moriuchi resigned at 12:13 in= =20 the afternoon, which was even 17 minutes before the scheduled lunch=20 break. It is very rare for a two-day title match game to finish so early= =20 and a clear indication of Habu's domination. Despite nursing a cold, he=20 again overwhelmed Moriuchi, winning back the Osho title he lost last=20 year. This is becoming a pattern in the Osho. Habu has been in this=20 title match for eleven years in a row. During that stretch, he lost the=20 Osho title three times, but every time he came back the next year to=20 take the title with a 4-0 score. A disappointing finish to a much=20 anticipated clash between the two double crown title holders. Habu is=20 back at the top of the shogi world again. --=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: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Want a laptop? Get an Apple iBook for free!=20 http://click.topica.com/= caadeMma2i6YsbnuqMaf/Amazing Computer=20 ------------------------------------------------------------------- --^---------------------------------------------------------------- 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 --^----------------------------------------------------------------