48th Osho Match Game 4
Black: Morishita, Challenger
White: Habu, Osho
48th Osho-sen, Game 4, February 9th and 10th 1999
1.P7g-7f 0/0 0/0
2.P8c-8d 0/0 5/5
3.S7i-6h 2/2 0/5
4.P3c-3d 0/2 2/7
5.P6g-6f 0/2 0/7
6.S7a-6b 0/2 3/10
7.P5g-5f 2/4 0/10
8.P5c-5d 0/4 5/15
9.S3i-4h 3/7 0/15
10.S3a-4b 0/7 8/23
11.G4i-5h 3/10 0/23
12.G4a-3b 0/10 3/26
13.G6i-7h 5/15 0/26
14.K5a-4a 0/15 1/27
15.K5i-6i 1/16 0/27
16.G6a-5b 0/16 14/41
17.S6h-7g 9/25 0/41
18.S4b-3c 0/25 3/44
19.B8h-7i 1/26 0/44
20.B2b-3a 0/26 4/48
21.P3g-3f 3/29 0/48
22.P4c-4d 0/29 3/51
23.G5h-6g 18/47 0/51
24.P7c-7d 0/47 12/63
25.S4h-3g 5/52 0/63
26.B3a-6d 0/52 24/87
27.B7i-6h 7/59 0/87
28.G5b-4c 0/59 7/94
29.K6i-7i 1/60 0/94
30.K4a-3a 0/60 2/96
31.K7i-8h 2/62 0/96
32.K3a-2b 0/62 32/128
33.P1g-1f 14/76 0/128
34.P8d-8e 0/76 53/181
35.P2g-2f 40/116 0/181
36.S6b-7c 0/116 9/190
37.S3g-4f 19/135 0/190
38.P7d-7e 0/135 3/193
39.P7fx7e 3/138 0/193
40.P4d-4e 0/138 1/194
41.S4f-3g 1/139 0/194
42.B6dx7e 0/139 0/194
43.P*7f 41/180 0/194
44.B7e-6d 0/180 18/212
45.P2f-2e 5/185 0/212
46.S7c-6b 0/185 6/218
47.P4g-4f 7/192 0/218
48.P4ex4f 0/192 5/223
49.B6hx4f 1/193 0/223
50.B6dx4f 0/193 8/231
51.S3gx4f 0/193 0/231
52.P*4e 0/193 0/231
53.S4f-3g 27/220 0/231
The end of the first day. Again a position is reached that is already known
and which was undoubtedly studied by both players.
54.S6b-5c 0/220 3/234
55.P7f-7e 7/227 0/234
56.P5d-5e 0/227 22/256
57.P5fx5e 15/242 0/256
58.S5c-4d 0/242 16/272
59.P5e-5d 27/269 0/272
60.G4cx5d 0/269 29/301
61.B*6a 29/298 0/301
So far the development was exactly the same as in the third game of the
1993 Osho match between Tanigawa and Murayama. There it followed 61.P7d
G6d P2d Px2d P*2e Px2e N1g. Also possible is 61.P2d Px2d P7d G6d B*6a
instead of playing B*6a right away as Morishita played here. Black aims
at P*5b next.
62.P*5b?! 0/298 53/354
"Drop where your opponent wants to drop". Habu considered the well-known
62.B*9d Bx9d+ Px9d B*6a exchange. This seems to give white an extra move
with the edge pawn. However, with the pawn on 9d it is hard to catch the
black bishop on 6a, since B*9b followed by R6b is not possible because
black can play Bx9d+. With the pawn still on 9c, Morishita has to do
something against B*9b~R6b. Still, it seems that black can wriggle its
way out of trouble, so B*9d might be better than P*5b after all.
63.P7e-7d 29/327 0/354
64.G5d-6d 0/327 9/363
65.R2h-5h 15/342 0/363
66.B*4c 0/342 51/414
This is not where one wants to use the bishop. Habu did not like 66.S5c P7c+
Nx7c P*7b followed by Bx5b+. After B*4c it is not that easy for black, but
Morishita seems to have the better play.
67.P*5d? 34/376 0/414
"The first move a professional looks at", as Inoue 8-dan commented. However,
this natural move is bad. It will soon become clear why 67.R5i as an extra
preparation move would have been much better.
68.G6dx7d 0/376 12/426
69.P*7b 12/388 0/426
70.P*7f! 0/388 1/427
"An unexpectedly severe move" (Morishita). He intended to play 71.S6h, but
after P8f Px8f P*8e Px8e N7c the attacking base on 7f is a big problem.
Morishita had no choice but to change his plans and give white a silver
in hand.
71.S7gx7f 26/414 0/427
72.P*7e 0/414 1/428
73.S7f-6e 0/414 0/428
74.G7dx6e 0/414 9/437
75.P6fx6e 0/414 0/437
76.S*6i 0/414 2/439
This is the reason why 67.R5i was better. Suddenly Morishita's king position
is looking very weak. Still, the game is far from over.
77.R5h-5i 5/419 0/439
78.S6ix7h+ 0/419 0/439
79.K8hx7h 0/419 0/439
80.G*5a 0/419 0/439
81.P7b-7a+ 0/419 0/439
82.G5ax6a 0/419 0/439
83.+P7ax6a 0/419 0/439
84.P3d-3e?! 0/419 4/443
Aims at Px3f Sx3f P8f Px8f Rx8f with an attack on king and silver. However,
this is an overplay that gives Morishita chances against the white king.
85.G*7g 5/424 0/443
86.P3ex3f 0/424 2/445
87.S3gx3f 0/424 0/445
88.B*2h 0/424 6/451
89.L1i-1g 5/429 0/451
90.B2h-4f+ 0/429 2/453
91.P*3g? 18/447 0/453
Another natural move costs Morishita the game. 91.S*3g was the correct defence.
Then 92.+B5e G*6f +B5d P*3d (that is why 84.P3e was not good) Sx3d Rx5d Bx5d
B*7a and black is suddenly winning. After 92.+B7c, black can play 93.+P7a,
picking up the knight next. This leads to a difficult endgame with chances
for both players.
92.P*3e 0/447 2/455
93.P*4g 3/450 0/455
94.+B4f-7c 0/450 0/455
95.S3f-2g 0/450 0/455
96.B4cx2e 0/450 3/458
97.S2g-3h 0/450 0/458
98.+B7c-8d 0/450 1/459
99.R5i-5f 3/453 0/459
100.B2e-3d 0/453 0/459
101.R5f-2f 7/460 0/459
102.R8b-7b 0/460 1/460
Resigns 12/472 0/460
Time: 07:52:00 07:40:00
Morishita took 12 minutes to resign. There is no good attack for black,
while white has a devastating attack next with 103.P4f Rx4f P7f G7gx7f
Rx7f Rx7f G*6f. Black can desperately defend with G*6f, but with such a
big difference in king position Morishita judged that there was nothing
left to play for. In the final position Habu is clearly winning, but this
again was not an easy game.
This was another record breaking victory for Habu. It was his 600th official
win as a professional. He became the 20th player to achieve that, after Mori
(9-dan) did the same in 1994. Against these 600 wins there are only 209
losses, a winning percentage of 74.1%, beating Oyama's previous record by
32 games. The 13 years and 2 months it took Habu is also the fastest pace
ever, beating Tanigawa by almost 2 years. Another record for Habu that might
not be broken for a very long time.