24th Kio Match Game 1
Black: Habu, Kio
White: Sato Yasumitsu, Challenger
24th Kio-sen, Game 1, February 13th 1999
1.P7g-7f 0/0 0/0
Again Sato is challenging Habu for a major title. After three Ryu-O matches,
two Oi title matches and one Osho title match, they now meet for the first
time in a one day title match. Except for the first title match between these
two, Meijin Sato has lost all of them and his score against Habu is 17 wins
and 30 losses. Data shows that the winner of the first game in the Kio wins
the match 80% of the time. Therefore, this is a big game for Sato, especially
since Habu seems to have an iron grip on the Kio title, aiming for his
ninth consecutive victory.
2.P3c-3d 0/0 1/1
3.P2g-2f 1/1 0/1
4.P8c-8d 0/1 0/1
5.P2f-2e 1/2 0/1
6.P8d-8e 0/2 0/1
7.G6i-7h 1/3 0/1
8.G4a-3b 0/3 0/1
9.P2e-2d 2/5 0/1
10.P2cx2d 0/5 0/1
11.R2hx2d 0/5 0/1
12.P8e-8f 0/5 0/1
13.P8gx8f 0/5 0/1
14.R8bx8f 0/5 0/1
15.R2dx3d 0/5 0/1
16.N2a-3c 0/5 0/1
17.K5i-5h 5/10 0/1
18.K5a-6b 0/10 1/2
19.R3d-3f 2/12 0/2
20.S3a-4b 0/12 1/3
21.G4i-3h 1/13 0/3
22.K6b-7b 0/13 1/4
23.S3i-4h 1/14 0/4
24.G6a-6b 0/14 5/9
25.P9g-9f 1/15 0/9
26.S7a-8b 0/15 2/11
27.N8i-7g 11/26 0/11
28.R8f-8d 0/26 4/15
29.P7f-7e 27/53 0/15
30.R8d-2d 0/53 4/19
31.P*2g 0/53 0/19
32.P*8d! 0/53 7/26
This move was prepared by Sato. It looks like the waste of a good pawn, since
white has been to all the trouble of exchanging pawns on the 8th file.
However, Sato wants to build a position with the silver on 8c. This is
a formation that Morishita played with white against Sato in the Osho league
in December. However, in that game the black pawn was dropped on 8e and as
soon as the white rook was no longer defending 8d, the attack P8d Sx8d P*8e
S9c became a big problem for white. Sato undoubtedly studied this game
deeply and concluded that the position with the silver on 8c is good, but
that it needs the pawn on 8d to avoid the black pawn drop on 8e.
33.R3f-7f 11/64 0/26
34.S8b-8c 0/64 2/28
35.S7i-6h 0/64 0/28
36.P1c-1d 0/64 13/41
37.P1g-1f 5/69 0/41
38.P9c-9d 0/69 6/47
39.P6g-6f 6/75 0/47
40.P5c-5d 0/75 7/54
41.P6f-6e 5/80 0/54
42.P5d-5e 0/80 4/58
43.S6h-6g 4/84 0/58
44.B2b-1c 0/84 3/61
45.P3g-3f 11/95 0/61
46.S4b-5c 0/95 3/64
47.S4h-3g 8/103 0/64
48.G3b-4b 0/103 3/67
49.B8h-9g 16/119 0/67
50.G4b-5b 0/119 7/74
51.S3g-2f 1/120 0/74
52.R2d-5d 0/120 30/104
53.N2i-3g 9/129 0/104
54.P6c-6d 0/129 4/108
Sato has achieved everything that he aimed for. White's position looks very
solid, a good time to start the attack. Habu seems to be in trouble here.
55.P1f-1e 33/162 0/108
Leads to a violent exchange, but black has no choice. After 55.Px6d P*6e
Nx6e Sx6d P*6f G5b-6c followed by P7d, white is better.
56.P6dx6e 0/162 4/112
57.P1ex1d 0/162 0/112
58.B1c-3a 0/162 1/113
59.P*6f 0/162 0/113
60.P7c-7d 0/162 17/130
61.P6fx6e 3/165 0/130
62.P7dx7e 0/165 0/130
63.B9gx7e 1/166 0/130
64.S8c-7d 0/166 6/136
65.B7ex8d! 4/170 0/136
Strong move. "This bishop has nowhere to go, so I thought this move was not
possible" (Sato). Habu has judged that pulling back the bishop is bad and
decides to sacrifice it for a silver and attacking chances.
66.P*7e 0/170 34/170
67.B8dx7e 7/177 0/170
68.S7dx7e 0/177 0/170
69.R7fx7e 0/177 0/170
70.G6b-7c 0/177 0/170
Feels bad, but 70.P*7d R8e P*8c R8i gives up all the pawns in hand and is
"uninteresting" (Sato).
71.R7e-7f 3/180 0/170
72.S5c-6b 0/180 0/170
73.P6e-6d 5/185 0/170
74.R5dx6d 0/185 10/180
75.S*6e 1/186 0/180
76.R6d-8d 0/186 11/191
77.P*8e 4/190 0/191
78.R8d-8c 0/190 0/191
79.P*7d 14/204 0/191
80.G7c-6c 0/204 0/191
81.P*6d 0/204 0/191
82.G6cx6d 0/204 3/194
83.S6ex6d 0/204 0/194
84.B3ax6d 0/204 0/194
85.G*6e 0/204 0/194
86.P*6f 0/204 4/198
Sato has patiently defended for a while, but now sees his chance to counter.
87.Rx6f S*7e and 87.Sx6f B*8i are both bad for black, so he has to move
forward.
87.G6ex6d 11/215 0/198
88.P6fx6g+ 0/215 0/198
89.G7hx6g 0/215 0/198
90.S*6i? 0/215 40/238
Somewhere Sato must have discovered a mistake in his calculations, since he
used all but two minutes of his remaining time for this move. "Calculating
the attack shows that I was clearly bad. I knew that S*6i was wrong, but
I did not see anything else" (Sato). Alternatives were 90.S*7h and 90.B*7h.
90.S*7h seems bad after G6f B*6i K4h because black escapes on the right
wing. After 90.B*7h black has the choice between defence (P*6h) and attack
(N6e). Both players thought during the game that P*6h was winning for black,
while N6e was risky. However, 91.P*6h B8g+ P7c+ Sx7c N6e S*6i K4h +Bx7f
Nx7c+ Rx7c Gx7f R*5h K3i R5i+ K2h Rx7f (diagram) and "if you look closely, I am
losing" (Habu). Indeed, after the fork B*5d P*6c Bx7f white wins with
S*1g Kx1g +Rx1i S*1h P*1f Kx1f +Rx1h etc.
The right solution is the risky 90.B*7h N6e. Then B8g+ P8d! wins by one move.
It seems that both players overlooked this move. After P8d, Rx8d P7c+ leads
to mate while +Bx7f Px8c+ Kx8c Gx7f also wins for black since white can not
keep making mating threats. Concluding: Sato should have tried 90.B*7h.
91.K5hx6i 4/219 0/238
92.B*8g 0/219 0/238
93.K6i-5h 1/220 0/238
94.B8gx7f+ 0/220 0/238
95.G6gx7f 0/220 0/238
96.R*7i 0/220 1/239
97.B*4a 8/228 0/239
98.G5b-5c 0/228 0/239
99.S*7c 11/239 0/239
100.N8ax7c 0/239 0/239
101.P7dx7c+ 0/239 0/239
102.R8cx7c 0/239 0/239
103.N*8d 0/239 0/239
104.K7b-6a 0/239 0/239
105.G6dx7c 0/239 0/239
106.S6bx7c 0/239 0/239
107.B*8c 0/239 0/239
108.K6a-5a 0/239 0/239
109.B4a-2c+ 0/239 0/239
This move defends against the mating threat S*6g Kx6g S*7h and threatens
mate with R*6a. Black wins.
110.K5a-5b 0/239 0/239
111.R*7a 0/239 0/239
112.S*4i 0/239 0/239
113.K5h-6h 0/239 0/239
114.R7i-5i+ 0/239 0/239
115.K6h-7h 0/239 0/239
Resigns 0/239 0/239
Time: 03:59:00 03:59:00
A strange game where Sato's good position turned in a difficult one without
a single bad move. Did Habu's magical powers extend to the middle game this
time?