From: Reijer Grimbergen yz yamagata-u ac jp> Date: 02 sep 2005 Subject: This week in Shukan Shogi (no. 1111, August 31st 2005) Your free subscription is supported by today's sponsor: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Need a new Cell Phone? A BlackBerry 7250 could be yours free! Find=20 out how! http://click.topica.com/= caadV2ba2i6YsbnuqMaa/Amazing phone ------------------------------------------------------------------- A few weeks of rest between the 3rd and the 4th game of the Oi match=20 between Habu and Sato was not only what Habu needed, but what I needed=20 as well. For the first time in months, the Shukan Shogi reports are back= =20 in the present. Not for long, because two weeks away will put me behind=20 again. As for the Oi match, Habu looked very fresh as he won the game to= =20 level the match at 2-2. Here is the game with comments: [Black "Habu Yoshiharu, Oi"] [White "Sato Yasumitsu, Challenger"] [Event "46th Oi-sen, Game 4"] [Date "August 24th and 25th 2005"] 1.P7g-7f 00:00:00 00:00:00 2.P3c-3d 00:00:00 00:04:00 3.P6g-6f 00:01:00 00:04:00 4.B2b-3c 00:01:00 00:27:00 5.B8h-7g 00:11:00 00:27:00 6.R8b-2b 00:11:00 00:40:00 7.S3i-4h 00:17:00 00:40:00 8.S3a-4b 00:17:00 00:40:00 9.P3g-3f 00:23:00 00:40:00 10.P5c-5d 00:23:00 00:44:00 11.S4h-3g 00:39:00 00:44:00 12.S4b-5c 00:39:00 00:44:00 13.R2h-8h 00:45:00 00:44:00 Something that would be unthinkable ten year ago: Habu and Sato playing=20 Ai-Furibisha. Both have been playing Furibisha numerous times, so=20 Ai-Furibisha has become an option, but this is the first time (in their=20 93rd mutual game) that Habu and Sato play this opening. Black's strategy= =20 is to get a pawn in hand by exchanging pawns on the 8th file and to=20 build a yagura castle. 14.K5a-6b 00:45:00 00:47:00 15.S7i-6h 00:54:00 00:47:00 16.S7a-7b 00:54:00 00:59:00 17.S6h-6g 01:02:00 00:59:00 18.K6b-7a 01:02:00 01:04:00 19.G6i-5h 01:11:00 01:04:00 20.G4a-5b 01:11:00 01:14:00 21.P8g-8f 01:24:00 01:14:00 22.P6c-6d 01:24:00 02:03:00 23.P8f-8e 01:38:00 02:03:00 24.G5b-6c 01:38:00 03:14:00 25.K5i-4h 02:04:00 03:14:00 26.P5d-5e 02:04:00 03:18:00 27.G4i-3h 03:01:00 03:18:00 28.S5c-5d 03:01:00 03:20:00 29.K4h-3i 03:02:00 03:20:00 30.R2b-5b 03:02:00 04:12:00 31.P8e-8d 03:34:00 04:12:00 32.P8cx8d 03:34:00 04:16:00 33.R8hx8d 03:37:00 04:16:00 34.G6c-7d 03:37:00 04:17:00 When Ai-Furibisha specialist Fujii saw this move, he couldn't help but=20 thinking that Habu had won this game. Putting the gold in front of the=20 pawn is a big positional sin and Fujii found it "unthinkable". Still,=20 there is a perfectly good reason for this move. Sato doesn't want to=20 allow Habu getting what he wants (a pawn in hand and an open rook file)=20 without a fight. Furthermore, he didn't like 34.P*8c R8h B2d P2f P1d P1f= =20 S4e P4f Sx4f S4h, but that might have been underestimating his chances.=20 For example, after P5f Px5f P*5e P*4g Px5f Px4f Bx4f things are far from= =20 clear. Habu said that this variation was too frightening to actually try= =20 in a real game. 34.G7d might be a strange-looking move, it is too early=20 to discard it as a failed experiment. 35.R8d-8h 03:42:00 04:17:00 36.P*8e 03:42:00 04:17:00 37.K3i-2h 03:50:00 04:17:00 38.K7a-8b? 03:50:00 04:23:00 The natural move, but based on an oversight. After the game, Sato said=20 he should have played 38.S8c here. The reason for playing K8b first is=20 that this keeps the white position compact, while after 38.S8c the=20 pieces are all over the place. However, after K8b white is going to be=20 one move late in defending against the black threats. 39.P9g-9f 04:21:00 04:23:00 40.S7b-8c? 04:21:00 04:26:00 If Sato would have seen what was coming, he would have played 40.P9d=20 here. Why this is so will become clear soon. If black then goes for the=20 pawn on 8e with 41.N9g then 42.S8c Nx8e G7b is alright for white. 41.P*8f! 04:33:00 04:26:00 42.P8ex8f 04:33:00 04:30:00 43.B7gx8f 04:33:00 04:30:00 44.P*8e 04:33:00 05:00:00 45.B8f-9g 04:35:00 05:00:00 The difference between the position after move 40 is only the position=20 of the bishop, but this is a huge difference. Habu wants to develop the=20 silver on 6g and with the bishop on 9g he can do that because the threat= =20 is P7e followed by S7f next and there is nothing white can do about=20 that. This is the reason why 40.P9d would have been better. Then white=20 can start a counter attack on the edge with 46.P9e. 46.S5d-6c 04:35:00 05:04:00 47.N8i-7g 04:43:00 05:04:00 48.G6a-7b 04:43:00 05:52:00 49.P7f-7e 05:15:00 05:52:00 50.G7d-8d 05:15:00 05:52:00 51.S6g-7f 05:15:00 05:52:00 52.P5e-5f 05:15:00 05:57:00 53.P5gx5f 05:15:00 05:57:00 54.R5bx5f 05:15:00 05:57:00 55.P*8f 05:15:00 05:57:00 56.P8ex8f 05:15:00 06:22:00 57.P*8e 05:15:00 06:22:00 58.G8d-9d 05:15:00 06:24:00 59.B9gx8f 05:28:00 06:24:00 60.R5fx6f 05:28:00 06:25:00 61.G5h-6g 05:29:00 06:25:00 62.R6fx6g+ 05:29:00 06:25:00 63.S7fx6g 05:29:00 06:25:00 64.G9dx8e 05:29:00 06:25:00 65.R*3a! 05:40:00 06:25:00 Good move. If white now plays 66.Gx8f Rx8f Bx7g+ then Rx8c+ is very=20 strong (Gx8c S*7a K9b P*8d or Kx8c Rx8a+ G*8b +Rx9a are both winning for= =20 black). Also, defending with 66.P*8d is not good after 67.Nx8e Bx8h+=20 Nx7c+ Gx7c Rx2a+ and black has the threats N*7d or N*9e next. 66.P9c-9d 05:40:00 07:17:00 There are two ways of looking at this move. First, it takes a lot of=20 nerve to play a quiet defense move if the board is on fire. On the other= =20 hand, if a move like P9d is necessary in a position like this, it means=20 that white has no proper defense. Both may be true, but the fact is that= =20 black has no immediate knock-out after 66.P9d and white can still hope=20 for a mistake. 67.P*6f 06:16:00 07:17:00 68.G8ex8f 06:16:00 07:17:00 69.R8hx8f 06:16:00 07:17:00 70.P*8d 06:16:00 07:17:00 71.R3ax2a+ 06:16:00 07:17:00 72.B*6h 06:16:00 07:17:00 73.G*7h 06:21:00 07:17:00 74.B6h-2d+ 06:21:00 07:17:00 75.N*7f 06:21:00 07:17:00 76.P*5a 06:21:00 07:25:00 77.R8f-8i! 06:29:00 07:25:00 The simple way of playing would be 77.Nx8d Sx8d Rx8d P*8c R8i, but Habu=20 is aiming at taking away all of the white attacking options. Good if it=20 works, but it requires deep calculation. 78.P3d-3e 06:29:00 07:33:00 79.P3fx3e 06:30:00 07:33:00 80.P7c-7d 06:30:00 07:33:00 81.P7ex7d 06:34:00 07:33:00 82.P*3f 06:34:00 07:36:00 83.S3g-4f 06:39:00 07:36:00 84.B3c-4d 06:39:00 07:39:00 85.S6g-5f 06:45:00 07:39:00 86.B4dx6f 06:45:00 07:42:00 87.G7h-6g 06:49:00 07:42:00 Cool play. Habu is not worried at all about the white bishops. 88.+B2d-3c 06:49:00 07:43:00 89.P3e-3d 07:00:00 07:43:00 90.+B3c-4d 07:00:00 07:43:00 91.+R2ax5a 07:12:00 07:43:00 92.G*7h 07:12:00 07:57:00 93.R8i-8f 07:17:00 07:57:00 94.B6fx7g+ 07:17:00 07:57:00 95.G6gx7g 07:17:00 07:57:00 96.+B4dx7g 07:17:00 07:57:00 97.N7fx8d 07:19:00 07:57:00 98.+B7gx8f 07:19:00 07:57:00 99.N8dx7b+ 07:19:00 07:57:00 100.S6cx7b 07:19:00 07:58:00 101.B*7a 07:20:00 07:58:00 102.K8b-9b 07:20:00 07:58:00 103.P*8d 07:20:00 07:58:00 104.S8cx8d 07:20:00 07:58:00 105.G*8b 07:22:00 07:58:00 106.K9b-9c 07:22:00 07:58:00 107.+R5a-5c 07:22:00 07:58:00 108.P*7c 07:22:00 07:59:00 109.G8bx7b 07:22:00 07:59:00 110.K9c-8c 07:22:00 07:59:00 111.+R5c-6c 07:22:00 07:59:00 112.S8d-8e 07:22:00 07:59:00 113.S*7e 07:22:00 07:59:00 Resigns 07:22:00 07:59:00 Mate after 114.+Bx7e Px7c+ Nx7c +Rx7c K9b +R8b and there is no defense.=20 A very strong game by Habu, who seems to have benefited a lot from the=20 three weeks between the 3rd and the 4th game. A little bit of rest might= =20 have been exactly what he needed. Sato, on the other hand, might have=20 suffered a little from the summer vacation, which came at the time when=20 he was in top form. Let's see how this match develops next. --=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: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Erase wrinkles without Botox! 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