18th Zen Nihon Pro Tournament Game 3
Black: Okazaki Hiroshi, 5-dan
White: Tanigawa Koji, Kisei
18th Zen Nihon Pro Tournament, Game 3, April 27th 2000
1.P7g-7f 1/1 0/0
2.P3c-3d 0/1 1/1
3.P2g-2f 3/4 0/1
4.P8c-8d 0/4 1/2
At the party before the start of the tournament, Morishita and Ouchi predicted
that Tanigawa would play Furibisha, but he selects the Yokofudori instead.
5.P2f-2e 0/4 0/2
6.P8d-8e 0/4 0/2
7.G6i-7h 0/4 0/2
8.G4a-3b 0/4 0/2
9.P2e-2d 0/4 0/2
10.P2cx2d 0/4 0/2
11.R2hx2d 0/4 0/2
12.P8e-8f 0/4 1/3
13.P8gx8f 0/4 0/3
14.R8bx8f 0/4 0/3
15.R2dx3d 0/4 0/3
16.B2b-3c 0/4 0/3
17.K5i-5h 1/5 0/3
18.S3a-2b 0/5 5/8
19.G4i-3h 0/5 0/8
20.K5a-4a 0/5 2/10
21.R3d-3f 0/5 0/10
22.S7a-6b 0/5 1/11
23.P9g-9f 0/5 0/11
24.P9c-9d 0/5 14/25
25.P7f-7e 3/8 0/25
Okazaki likes this move, which is an attempt to avoid the R8e-Yokofudori.
However, he runs straight into the home preparation of Tanigawa. This game
seems to indicate that 25.P7e is not good and that black has to play either
S4h or N7g.
26.R8f-8d! 0/8 7/32
The move that Tanigawa prepared. Okazaki only knew 26.R8b and admitted that
he had not studied this variation well enough. The game now picks up pace
very quickly.
27.N8i-7g 0/8 0/32
28.P*8g 0/8 13/45
29.B8h-9g 0/8 0/45
30.P9d-9e 0/8 0/45
31.P9fx9e 14/22 0/45
32.N8a-9c 0/22 0/45
33.P7e-7d 16/38 0/45
34.P7cx7d 0/38 20/65
Not good is 34.Rx7d Rx3c+ Nx3c B*8c G5a (G7a P*7b) Bx7d+ Px7d P*7c and black
gets the initiative.
35.R3f-8f 10/48 0/65
36.R8dx8f 0/48 21/86
37.B9gx8f 0/48 0/86
38.P8g-8h+ 0/48 0/86
39.S7ix8h 0/48 0/86
40.P*8e 0/48 0/86
This looks like a complete loss for black, as 41.B9f fails to 42.Px9f and
after 40.Nx8e white can play the sacrifice Bx8h+ anytime he likes.
41.R*8a! 6/54 0/86
With his back against the wall, Okazaki shows that he is not a pushover.
The next moves are forced.
42.R*7a 0/54 2/88
43.R8ax7a+ 1/55 0/88
44.G6ax7a 0/55 0/88
45.P*7b 0/55 0/88
46.G7ax7b 0/55 3/91
47.R*8a 8/63 0/91
48.R*7a 0/63 16/107
49.P*7c 2/65 0/107
And suddenly black seems to have everything to play for. 50.Sx7c or Gx7c
fail to Rx7a+ followed by Bx5c+ and black has an overwhelming position.
White has no choice.
50.R7ax8a 0/65 0/107
51.P7cx7b+ 24/89 0/107
52.P8ex8f 0/89 0/107
53.P*8b! 0/89 0/107
Much better than 53.+Px8a which moves the promoted pawn to far from the
king. Okazaki thought that he had the better position here, but in the
press room Ouchi already pointed to the general wall on 3h and 3i, which
would make it very hard for the black king to escape. Ouchi predicted that
black's attack was not strong enough and that white's counter attack would
be very severe.
54.P8f-8g+ 0/89 2/109
55.S8hx8g 0/89 0/109
56.P*8f 0/89 1/110
57.S8g-7f 29/118 0/110
Here Okazaki woke up to reality. He thought he could play 57.Sx8f, which
after 58.R*8i +Px6b G4b Px8a+ B*6i K6h P*8g S*7i is good for black. However,
here he realised that after 58.Rx8b! +Px8b R*8i R*8a S5a +P7b B*6i K6h P*8g
he has no silver in hand and he can no longer defend. 57.S8f is a change of
plan and that is almost never a good sign.
58.R8ax8b 0/118 3/113
59.+P7bx8b 0/118 0/113
60.P7d-7e! 0/118 0/113
Now white's advantage is clear.
61.+P8b-7b 3/121 0/113
62.S6b-5a 0/121 0/113
63.+P7b-6a 1/122 0/113
64.S5a-4b 0/122 0/113
65.+P6a-6b 2/124 0/113
66.G3b-3a 0/124 1/114
67.R*7a 1/125 0/114
68.K4a-3b 0/125 0/114
69.R7ax7e+ 0/125 0/114
Black has managed to avoid immediate disaster by taking this pawn, but allowing
the white king to get out of danger has virtually ended this game. White is
completely safe and black has nowhere to run.
70.R*8i 0/125 1/115
71.P6g-6f 5/130 0/115
No choice. The natural 71.P*7i fails to 72.Bx7g+ Gx7g Rx7i+.
72.B*4i 0/130 13/128
73.K5h-6h 4/134 0/128
74.B4ix7f+ 0/134 1/129
75.+R7ex7f 0/134 0/129
76.P*7e 0/134 0/129
77.+R7fx7e 1/135 0/129
78.P8f-8g+ 0/135 0/129
79.P*2d 0/135 0/129
80.B3cx2d 0/135 1/130
81.G*3d 0/135 0/130
82.+P8gx7h 0/135 4/134
83.K6hx7h 0/135 0/134
84.B2dx5g+ 0/135 0/134
85.K7hx8i 0/135 0/134
86.S*8g 0/135 0/134
Resigns 0/135 0/134
Time: 02:15:00 02:14:00
Black has no mate and even the defence 87.R*7h P*8h Rx8h G*7i leads to mate.
Another great performance by Tanigawa, who wins the Zen Nihon Pro Tournament
after a three year lapse for the 7th time, improving on his own record. One
has to feel a little sorry for Okazaki, who failed to make much impact in his
first appearance on the big stage. Still, most professionals do not even get
this far in their entire career and Okazaki will take this experience with
him into the other tournaments.