From: Richard Sams parkcity ne jp> Date: 22 mar 2007 Subject: Re: Watanabe's comments (3) See Watanabe's site for diagrams: http://blog.goo.ne.jp/kishi-akira/ From Akira Watanabe=81fs Blog March 22, 2007 Bonanza Match Supplement After yesterday's game, I went out to celebrate with the Internet=20 transmission staff. Mura-san and Tobe-san joined us later for the=20 "second party." Food and alcoholic drinks taste especially good a hard=20 day's work! Got up this morning at eight. The Bonanza match was featured on Fuji=20 TV's "Tokudane" morning show. Yesterday's increase in access to this site was amazing. On March 20th,=20 there were 17,685 page views from 7,977 IP addresses. Yesterday (March=20 21), there were 110,415 page views from 79,013 IP addresses! That's=20 about 10 times more than usual, so there was clearly a lot of interest=20 in this event. There were a couple of questions in the comments and trackbacks. Here=20 are my replies. Question: Please explain why Bonanza resigned in the final position. (Resignation diagram after 112. P*2g) As long as White doesn't give Black a knight, he cannot be mated. In=20 the final position, if G*3i Sx3i+; Sx3i G*3h. Since White has plenty of=20 pieces in hand, Black has no way to defend. Question: What about 101. *Bx2h instead of 101. Sx2h? I'd like to use this question to say a little more about the computer's=20 endgame ability. After *Bx2h Px2h+: Kx2h we reach the following=20 position. (Reference diagram after 103. Kx2h) Yes, *Bx2h is a better move than Sx2h and I was surprised Bonanza=20 played Sx2h. In the diagram position, White plays ... R*2g and after=20 K-3h Rx7g+, Black has can't defend against both N*4f and B-6f. If K-1i=20 instead of K-3h, B*4f (P-2h+ also wins); P*2h Rx2h+; Sx2h P*2g=20 (Reference diagram 2) (Reference diagram 2 after 110. P*2g) Here, after S*3i or G*3i, White just takes and drops a pawn again on=20 2g, against which Black has no defense. G*3g or S*3g are answered by=20 ... Px2h+; Kx2h S*2g. This leaves only L*3g Gx3g; Nx3g (If Sx3g Bx3g+;=20 Nx3g S*2h) ... L*2f (Reference Diagram 3) (Reference diagram 3 after 114. L*2f) Here, after P*2i Px2h+; Px2h Bx3g+, or if S*2i or G*2i then White=20 repeatedly takes and drops pawns again on 2g as before. The variations are long, but a strong player will spot this repeat=20 attack theme immediately. In this position, almost anything is good as=20 long as White doesn't give Black a knight. The computer, on the other=20 hand, has to consider all the possibilities over a wide range, which=20 might make it difficult for it to focus on the key point and probe it=20 deeply. In this respect, human experience still seems to be superior. Computer programs are incredibly good at tsumi (forced mating attacks),=20 so they tend to be viewed as very strong in the endgame, but one thing=20 I learned from this game is that endgame technique apart from tsumi is=20 still a challenge for the computer. --^---------------------------------------------------------------- This email was sent to: = shogi-l shogi net EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a2i6Ys.= aB5TiY.= 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 --^----------------------------------------------------------------